On Dec. 5 an explosive device detonated outside a police station in Sillamae, a small town in northeastern Estonia. The incident happened about 2 a.m. and destroyed the building's ground floor window. The metal window security bars were damaged as well. According to explosives experts' initial conclusions, the blast was caused by a pyrotechnic device left by the outside window sill. There were no injuries. Police have opened criminal investigation, but no suspects have been detained yet.
Mayor of Tallinn Edgar Savisaar proposed naming the square in front of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is currently under construction in the Lasnamae district of Tallinn, after Patriarch Alexy II. The Tallinn City Government approved this proposal in its sitting on Dec. 8. The late head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Alexy II, blessed the church during his last visit to Tallinn. Alexy II was born in Tallinn in 1929 and died at his residence in Moscow on Dec. 7. He was buried at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow on Dec. 9. Savisaar described Alexy II as an "honest and fair religious leader and bearer of high moral values." He also said that he knows of "no other person having his roots in Estonia who had occupied so prominent a position."
According to the Eurostat information published Dec. 4, the Estonian minimum monthly wage is among the lowest third in the EU. The official minimum monthly wage in Estonia is 278 euro and is higher than only Bulgaria (232 euro), Romania (137 euro), Slovakia (267 euro) and neighboring Latvia. (228 euro) and Lithuania (232 euro).
