Eesti in brief - 2010-04-14

  • 2010-04-14

The Security Police Board stated in its annual report that in 2009, attempts by citizens from the so-called risk countries in the war on terror to enter into Estonia illegally grew significantly, reports National Broadcasting. Cases where the police and border guard authorities have detained persons of Afghan citizenship upon illegal entry say that their ultimate objective was to get to Western Europe via Estonia. Besides illegal entry across the borders, there are other measures used to get to Estonia - such as marriages of convenience or unfounded visa applications. Thus far there have been no identified cases where persons coming to Estonia illegally have been linked to terrorists or radical Islamic groups, noted the Security Police. “The Muslim community in Estonia follows moderate Islam and is of no threat to Estonia in terms of security. There are also no persons supporting a radical approach to Islam or Islamist terrorist groupings among those who have arrived in Estonia in the past few years,” stated the Security Police.

Even though Estonians are not keen on going out on protest marches with flags and posters, it has become apparent that they are learning quickly how to protest on-line, reports Estonian Free Press. Recently, a boycott group on the social networking Web site Facebook was one of the reasons for why the retail chain Rimi decided to reverse its decision to use imported meat for its house brand, instead of the locally-produced meat. This is important news both for local producers and for buyers, who, according to research, prefer Estonian goods to imported. When Rimi decided to start using imported meat, people gathered in protest groups on Facebook; the largest group counted up to 4,000 supporters. Rimi holds approximately 25 percent of the market in Estonia. Rimi announced three weeks ago that it would start selling only imported pork and veal for its private label products, claiming quality issues and larger product variety coming from foreign producers.

Estonian finance minister Jurgen Ligi estimated on April 13 that both the registered and real unemployment in Estonia have peaked and should start falling in the second half of the year, reports Postimees Online. “We estimate that the real unemployment has stabilized; it has been more or less the same for 6 - 7 weeks,” Ligi said. “I think that the real number of jobless has peaked,” he said, adding that this hope is supported by seasonal influences that will arrive. “In summer, temporary jobs will emerge and by the autumn, economic growth will have affected the labor market [positively] based on fundamental improvements,” he said. According to the spring forecast from the finance ministry, the real unemployment rate in Estonia will be 15.5 percent this year, falling to 13.9 percent next year and 7 percent in 2014.