Eesti in brief - 2010-07-22

  • 2010-07-21

In the first six months of 2010, the number of members of the voluntary national defense organization Defense League has grown by 474, reports National Broadcasting. This means that the organization already unites a total of 12,389 members. The number of members grew in all Defense League units. In absolute numbers the growth was the fastest in the Tallinn unit, where membership rose by 79 new members and totals 1,981. The Saaremaa unit grew the most in terms of percentage - by 14 percent, or by 55 new members - in the first half of the year. According to the organization’s press spokesman, Tanel Rutman, young men aged 20-35 are the most active new members in all units. “Taking into account the fact that thus far the Defense League has not carried out any major recruitment campaigns, and joining the organization is far from easy, the consistent growth in the number of our members is a source of particular joy,” said Rutman. He stated that the high number of new members indicates a high defense willingness and confidence in the Defense League.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Paet gave a speech on July 17 at the OSCE foreign ministers’ meeting about the future of security in Europe, reports LETA. He said that without guaranteed human rights and fundamental freedoms, there can be no talk of true security. “Defending media freedoms and human rights has to be under serious focus,” said the Estonian minister. He added that the OSCE will have to deal with resolving conflicts that have been delayed. “In order to achieve real results, attention has to be paid to issues involving Southern Ossetia and Abkhasia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria,” said Paet. “We must deal with the situation in Kyrgyzstan in order to minimize the chances of the emerging of new conflicts and to prevent the potential spreading of the conflict to other countries in Central Asia,” he emphasized. Paet also emphasized that the OSCE will also have to continue dealing with the new security threats – in the fields of climate change, energy security, cyber security as well as terrorism.