Eesti in brief - 2012-02-16

Prime Minister Andrus Ansip had an informal dinner meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and two other prime ministers at the Meseberg Palace near Berlin on Feb 13. The prime ministers of Holland and Denmark were also present. The leaders exchanged ideas on the state and future of the EU economy. One of the main topics of discussion, according to the Cabinet press office, was Greece and the second financial assistance plan. The EU is ready to help only if Greece is willing to help itself, Ansip said later in a statement. He continued by calling for strong financial discipline, a common market with unobstructed movement of services, and well-developed infrastructure. “Estonia would like to see the new multi-year budget plan focus more toward developing cross-border connectedness,” Ansip said.

Parliament has passed a resolution recognizing Estonian citizens who stood for the de facto restoration (international law never recognized a discontinuity of the country’s sovereignty after 1940) of Estonian independence during the Soviet and Nazi German occupations. “The Republic of Estonia has a big moral debt of honor, the repayment of which has been expected for many years. There is no doubt that every country has a responsibility to remember and recognize those who have fought, risked and suffered in their name. In one form or another, Estonia has memorialized those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom, but until today Parliament has not previously recognized the people who stood for restoration of Estonian independence,” said MP Marko Mihkelson (IRL), one of the bill’s authors. A passage of the resolution declared the following: “Parliament condemns the repressive politics of the Soviet Union and National Socialist Germany and the activities of persons who, in the service of these regimes, have committed crimes against humanity, irrespective of their citizenship and location of commitment of these crimes.”

Estonian Economy and Communications Minister Juhan Parts has signed an aviation agreement between Estonia and Singapore that aims to create a flight connection between the two states, LETA/Delfi reports. Singapore’s Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew signed it for Singapore. The agreement guarantees reciprocal access to flight lines, equal opportunities for businessmen, and non-discrimination based on principles of EU foundation agreements. The agreement has to be ratified by the parliament. Currently flights between the EU and Singapore take place on the basis of bilateral aviation agreements between each member state and Singapore. The agreement was signed during the third international air fair in Singapore.

Former US President George W Bush will be awarded the highest order granted to non-Estonian citizens, the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, for a leading role in the expansion of NATO that led to Estonia’s joining the alliance in 2004 and for standing firmly behind Estonia’s foreign and security policy interests as a friend and supporter, a statement by the Office of the President said. Altogether, 99 people, 15 foreign nationals among them, will be awarded state decorations on February 23 by President Toomas Hendrik Ilves.