Eesti in brief - 2004-04-08

The new air-surveillance radar in Amari, not far from Tallinn, that began operating on April 6, will be used to specify the data from the primary radar located in Kellavere in the eastern part of the country.

The ASR-8 radar, with a primary range of 120 kilometers that can be expanded to 200 kilometers with secondary antennas, will also serve the Amari airbase, which will serve as an auxiliary airfield for the NATO air forces based in Lithuania.

Res Publica's top candidate for the European Parliament is MP Urmas Reinsalu (photo). Parliament Chairwoman Ene Ergma is second, followed by MPs Eiki Berg and Marko Mihkelson, Social Affairs Minister Marko Pomerants and MP Tiit Matsulevits. The party has previously surprised the public by summoning supermodel Carmen Kass to its European Parliament election campaign, and although Kass is indeed on the party's official electoral list, she is listed 11th. Estonia will have six seats in the European Parliament.

Several thousand Finns will likely move to Estonia in the next several years thanks to the favorable tax system and lower prices, according to the Finnish Interior Ministry. The main demographic groups that may move to Estonia include pensioners, small business owners and younger people who currently reside in Helsinki. A particularly favorable scheme for Finns would be to work in Helsinki but live in Tallinn. Still, experts see differences in social services structure of Estonia and Finland as a serious problem preventing Finns from moving to Estonia.

Parliament wants to reduce the number of Estonia's Baltic Assembly delegation from 20 to three persons, cut the costs of the assembly and bring it back to decision-making. (See story on Page 2.)

President Arnold Ruutel endorsed Ester Tuiksoo (photo) as the new minister of agriculture on April 2 as the resignation of former minister Tiit Tammsaar over the grain theft scandal had been approved by the prime minister. Tuiksoo, 39, headed the Estonian Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce before the offer to take the seat of Tammsaar, who will return to Parliament. She joined the People's Party in order to become a government minister.