NordenBladet – Prince Joachim of Denmark has been promoted to the military rank of Brigadier General. The event happened in a small ceremony in the Royal Danish Embassy in Paris on September 21st 2020. It was Ambassador Michael Starbæk Christensen who presented the Prince with the document confirming his new military rank.
Prince Joachim has received a permanent degree of Brigadier General, and as defence attaché, he will report to the Danish Ministry of Defence. The ambassador in Paris is still the daily commander of the Royal Defence Attaché.
Since September 2019, Prince Joachim has followed the highest-ranking military leadership training in France at the French École Militaire following on from a long career in the Danish defence. The prince began his military training in 1987 as a recruit in the Queen’s Regiment. Since then he has been a Platoon Commander in a tank squadron at the Prince’s Life Regiment, Lieutenant of the Reserve Regiments and Captain of the Reserve Regiments. In April 2015, Prince Joachim was appointed Colonel of the Danish Reserve Army.
After a difficult summer Prince Joachim, the younger son of Queen Margrethe, began his first working day as defence attaché at the Danish embassy in Paris on September 18th. The first day in the office on Friday went well. Because the Prince receives a grant from the Danish government, he will not receive a salary in his new position or be covered for housing or similar expenses, which would otherwise come with the position.
“The appointment of Prince Joachim will strengthen cooperation in the area of security policy between France and Denmark, and the position is for three years”, said the Danish Minister of Defence when the prince was announced as new Defence attaché.
Brigadier General is the lowest ranking general officer sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. Denmark, a NATO member, has for many years been following NATO standards and adapting its rank system to closely relate. As in the armies of most other NATO nations, Brigadier General is the lowest of the general ranks, usually a brigade commander.
Featured image: Prince Joachim of Denmark (Alex Berger/CC/Flickr)
NordenBladet —At today’s sitting, the Riigikogu discussed the overview of the civil service report of 2019 by Jaak Aab, Minister of Public Administration.
The report focuses in particular on civil service, that is, civil servants of state and local government authorities, but it also gives an overview of the whole public sector and government sector. The personnel statistics covers, among other things, the number of employees, the labour costs, and the indicators of recruitment, assessment and turnorver as well as composition of staff. In addition, it gives an overview of the training and development activities, ethics and the legal framework of the Civil Service Act.
Last year, state and local government authorities employed 27,628 civil servants, which accounted for 4.2 per cent of the total employment in Estonia. „In agencies, reorganisation of the work of various sectors was continued, in order to provide a better public service both digitally and in direct communication,” Jaak Aab said.
Last year, 132,333 people worked in the public sector, which is 0.08 per cent up from a year earlier. Starting from 2008, the number of public sector employees has decreased by 13,333 people, that is, by nine per cent. 27,628 civil servants worked in civil service, that is, state and local government authorities, which is 0.2 per cent up in a year. In seven years, the number of civil servants has decreased by 2322 persons, that is, by 7.8 per cent. 22,059 civil servants worked in state authorities and 5569 in local government authorities. More than a third of civil servants were special servants, including police and prison officials, rescue service workers, etc.
The average age of civil servants remained at 43.5 years, but the average age is on the rise. There are slightly more women than men, while there are more younger men in special services.
The proportion of people with higher education is significantly larger in the civil service than in Estonia as a whole. The proportion of people with higher education was 42 per cent of all the employed in Estonia; at the same time, 61 per cent of civil servants have higher education.
The average gross monthly salary of state officials was 1877 euro last year, which is 8.6 per cent up in a year. The average gross monthly salary of local government officials was 1692 euro, which is 5.3 per cent up in a year. The average gross monthly salary in the government sector was 1494 euro, which is 9.9 per cent up in a year. The average gross monthly wage increased 7.4 per cent, rising to 1407 euro.
Aab explained the future perspectives. “With our team in the area of government of the Minister of Public Administration, we are looking for new opportunities to optimise governance and activities, on the one hand, and to use the taxpayers’ money most effectively for the functioning of the state. However, at the same time, we must not back down on quality and the quality of services, but we need to improve them even more,” Aab said. He continues to attach importance to the development of e-governance and wider use of information technology solutions in the provision of public services. Undoubtedly, we will also need to take into account the needs of developing e-governance when preparing for the new European Union 2021+ financial period. “The state needs to be smarter and more modern, and it is possible to automate many services. Then the need to communicate with state authorities for bureaucratic operations would be reduced for citizens, undertakings as well as local governments,” Aab said. “Civil service must however be able to keep abreast of global technology trends and to get used to the ever-increasing flexibility in the ways of working. Teleworking has come to stay. The corona crisis also showed this.”
Aab said that we also needed to continue moving state-salaried jobs out of the capital. “We need to value and appreciate the people who serve our country. We need to recruit the best experts in their fields to civil service and to remunerate and train them properly. The state and local governments need to develop and become more up to date as employers,” the minister noted.
During the debate, Kersti Sarapuu (Centre Party) and Heiki Hepner (Isamaa) took the floor.
The Minister of Social Affairs Tanel Kiik replied to the interpellation concerning the situation of children with chronic diseases (No 39), submitted by members of the Riigikogu Helmen Kütt, Jaak Juske, Heljo Pikhof, Jevgeni Ossinovski, Riina Sikkut, IndrekSaar and Ivari Padar on 18 June.
During the open microphone, Urmas Reitelmann took the floor.
NordenBladet —Today, the Speakers of the parliaments of the Nordic Countries and the Baltic States (NB8) held a video conference where the events in Belarus were discussed.
President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Henn Põlluaas said at the meeting with colleagues that on 25 August, the Parliament of Estonia had passed the Statement in Support of Democracy and Civil Society in Belarus. He expressed support to the aspirations of the civil society of Belarus – ending of violence, release of political prisoners and holding of new, free presidential elections.
The Speakers of Nordic and Baltic parliaments assured that their attention towards the events in Belarus would not cease.
The video conference was also attended by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who is in exile in Lithuania. She thanked the Nordic Countries and the Baltic States for their support.
NB8 is the Nordic-Baltic cooperation format that has been bringing Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania around the same table since 1992.
NordenBladet – Prince Daniel of Sweden has attended a major anniversary for one of Sweden’s largest and most important producers of electricity and research on energy.
In a visit on September 21st 2020, the prince helped mark the 120th anniversary of ABB’s operations in Ludvika and the Hitachi ABB Power Grid joint venture ceremony. Hitachi ABB Power Grids is one of the country’s biggest energy producers.
Prince Daniel was shown around the premises of the industrial giant before the ceremony. In his speech, the Prince highlighted the importance of reliable energy services as a key to, among other things, preventing diseases and fighting pandemics.
Prince Daniel gave a speech during the ceremony. His Royal Highness said: “Electricity is not just about keeping the lights on. It is about making the world a safer and healthier place, and tackling the great challenges of our time. In addition, traveling to different parts of the world, it always makes me proud to see pioneering technology developed here in Ludvika, contributing to a positive and sustainable development globally. “
Following the Prince`s speech, the CEO`s of ABB’s, Björn Rosengren, Hitachi’s CEO Toshiaki Higashihara (via link from Asia) and Hitachi ABB Power Grid’s Chairman Toshikazu Nishino spoke and praised the Prince`s involvement in highlighting the effort to create green energy.
The visit to Ludvika ended with the inauguration of the Japanese inspired garden, which also houses the world’s most powerful transformer. The prince was accompanied by Minister of Trade and Industry, Ibrahim Baylan Hitachi, representing the Swedish government.
Prince Daniel is also the first Swedish royal to be seen wearing a facemask during large parts of an official engagement. The prince wore a facemask during large parts of the visit. He took it off when he gave his speech but then he was many metres away from the nearest person. A total of fifty people were present during the ceremony. All other guests also wore facemasks.
NordenBladet – For Princess Martha Louise’s birthday, her boyfriend Shaman Durek has made a surprise visit to Norway. The couple has been separated due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and has not been able to meet for the last six months. The birthday visit was announced on her Instagram by Princess Martha Louise as she turned 49 on September 22nd 2020.
Princess Martha Louise wrote on Instagram: “I love surprises. And the best surprise ever was you turning up for my birthday, Shaman Durek, after 6 long months of being apart. It has been so challenging yet wonderful to see how, even when not seeing each other, we have deepened our connection and understanding for each other. One of the main things this corona period has shown me, is that we humans are tougher than we think and can prevail anything, but it’s better when we have our loved ones close.”
Sham Durek posted the same photo of him and Princess Martha Louise on his Instagram with the following message: “I’m so happy to see you. It’s been really difficult for me being away from the woman I love. There were times where I struggled emotionally, however my love for you is enduring and I’m blessed by God to be with my angel on her birthday. Love you forever. Happy Birthday, baby.”
It is not known how long Durek will stay, but he will start his visit with a 10 day-long mandatory quarantine as he is coming from USA.
In June, the Princess posted a picture of herself and her boyfriend on her official Instagram account where she dealt with racism. The Princess then wrote: ” Being Shaman Durek ‘s girlfriend has given me a crash course in how white supremacy is at play and the way I have consciously and subconsciously thought of and acted towards black people. How I have taken my rights for granted – never looked properly at what racism really is, because it has been comfortable for me that the system is in place.”
Martha Louise of Norway is the daughter of King Harald and Queen Sonja and was born on September 22nd 1971 in Oslo.
Featured image: Princess Martha Louise and boyfriend Shaman Durek (Instagram/@iam_marthalouise)
NordenBladet – With events on Wednesday and Thursday this week, Crown Prince Haakon has concluded his tour of southern Norway to learn more about how the coronavirus pandemic has affected Norway.The Crown Prince’s goal is to learn more about how the coronavirus pandemic has affected various Norwegian industries and the Norwegian people.
Last week the journey started in Østfold, when the Crown Prince visited a virus test station. On Wednesday and Thursday the journey continued to Vestfold and Telemark. This week has been dedicated to Western Norway. Following a visit to Kristiansund on Tuesda, where the Crown Prince was accompanied by the Crown Princess, the couple also visited Florø together on Wednesday.
The royals, upon arrival in Florø, were given a briefing on how the pandemic has been handled in western Norway and the help provided through volunteering in the municipality. Afterwards, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess met with representatives of voluntary organizations. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess met a wide range of people involved in handball, football, local politics, games and hiking teams and heard about their experiences.
The Crown Prince Couple’s Fund launched the project “Move” in 2019. It is a life program for young people who want to use their free time to prepare for the future. Young people in the transition to upper secondary school meet in their spare time and get to test activities, make friends and become better acquainted with their own strengths. The Crown Prince Couple could, in Florø, see the results of parts of this project.
On Thursday the visit continued to the city of Stavanger. Oil and energy industries employ over 40,000 people in Rogaland, and the pandemic has affected the industry in many ways. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess visited Stavanger to listen to the experiences they have had and how they look at the future. Crown Prince Haakon met with representatives of the Business Association in the Stavanger region. Here, the Crown Prince heard presentations and entered into dialogue with representatives of various parts of the industry.
Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess joined the Crown Prince for the second part of the day`s program, when the trip went to Equinor, Rogaland’s largest and most important employer, and operator of around 60 % of all oil-production on the Norwegian shelf. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess heard directly from the oil-platform Johan Sverdrup, which has now been in operation for one year.
Featured image: The Crown Prince Couple in Florø. (Simen Sund / The Royal Court)
NordenBladet – Crown Princess Mary has joined a special high-level commission within the United Nations Population Fund to help the agency follow up on its goals from last year’s 25th-anniversary summit.
The Danish Royal House announced the news on its website Thursday, saying that Crown Princess Mary was happy to join the commission and build upon its work at the Nairobi Summit from last year, which marked the 25th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development.
The ICPD25 Commission will focus on the UN’s Population Fund to highlight the three zeros: “Zero unmet need for family planning, zero preventable maternal mortality and zero sexual and gender-based violence,” according to the Royal House.
“Since 2010 The Crown Princess has been patron of the UNFPA and has throughout many years been a passionate advocate in the fight for gender equality and the advancement of women and girls’ rights,” the Royal House said. “The Crown Princess has also served as a member of the High-Level Task Force on ICPD.”
The ICPD25 Commission met for the first time on Thursday, holding a digital meeting with its members. The commission will be co-chaired by Jakaya Kikwete, the former President of Tanzania, and Michaëlle Jean, the former Governor-General of Canada. Other members of the commission include global representatives from academia, research, civil societies, human rights activists, private sector, parliamentarians, and youth leaders, according to the Royal House.
Crown Princess Mary attended the Nairobi Summit in Kenya last November where she spoke about building on the progress at the first International Conference on Population and Development.
“The desired outcome of ICPD was to give choice to the individual – and – choice can be very powerful. This milestone has fundamentally shaped the lives of women, men and families, and the societies in which they live. It has contributed to reducing poverty and hunger and improving education and health, globally. More girls today are attending and completing school, fewer are getting married or becoming mothers while still children, and more are gaining the skills they need to excel in the future world of work,” Crown Princess Mary said at the Nairobi Summit.
“So, in reality the ICPD Program of Action was not just a win for the individual and for families, it was in fact a precious gift to the entire world, a gift that would keep on giving.”
The Royal House noted that Crown Princess Mary’s participation will focus on continuing to be an “advocate for gender equality and support efforts that ensure a world where women and girls have equal rights and equal opportunities, to the benefit of all.”
NordenBladet — The National Defence Committee held an extraordinary sitting today to discuss keeping the defence spending on the current level and using loan money. The Committee adopted a relevant statement.
“The National Defence Committee firmly supports keeping the defence spending at least on the current planned nominal level. In view of the tense international security environment and the growing instability caused by the pandemic, we have the duty to ensure the sustainable development of Estonia’s defence capability.
Cutting defence spending would lead to problems today and in the future, and would undermine national defence. In case of need, we must carry out structural changes to continue developing our defence capability or close the existing capability gaps with the help of a loan.
Defence spending plans must centre on the need to stimulate Estonia’s economy.”
Minister of Finance Martin Helme, Minister of Defence Jüri Luik, and Commander of the Defence Forces Major General Martin Herem took part in the sitting.
NordenBladet — Two drafts passed the first reading
The Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in Operation ‘Sentinel’ of the International Maritime Security Construct” (211 OE), initiated by the Government, will allow to contribute with up to five servicemen to operation “Sentinel”.
In summer 2019, the United States of America launched an initiative to establish the International Maritime Security Construct IMSC, which aims to ensure the freedom of navigation and security of vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and to promote a rule-based international order. In order to achieve this, IMSC has launched the operation Sentinel in the Strait of Hormuz region.
Estonia’s priority is international relations based on international law and rules, including the ensuring of freedom of navigation. By participating in the operation, Estonia will make its contribution to increasing stability and security in the Middle East region. In autumn 2020, Estonia will contribute with a staff officer at the operation headquarters in Bahrain. By participating in operation Sentinel, Estonia will continue excellent bilateral cooperation in international missions with its strategic partners, the United States of America and the United Kingdom.
The expenses of the participation in the operation will be covered from the budget of the area of government of the Ministry of Defence.
The amendment proposed by the Bill on Amendments to the Local Government Organisation Act (212 SE), initiated by the Constitutional Committee, concerns people who are members of a municipal council and are employed on the basis of an employment contract in an administrative agency of the same rural municipality or city. In the future, suspension of the authority of member of the council will be applied to such people, instead of termination of authority. The proposed amendment does not concern officials.
The initiation of the Bill was motivated by a relevant application of the Chancellor of Justice for the Supreme Court to adopt a position. The Supreme Court had found that the restrictions in place for employees employed under an employment contract at municipal administrative agencies were not necessary and excessively restricted their right to stand as candidates. Consequently, the committee also deems it necessary to ease the restriction and supports suspension of the authority instead of termination of the authority.
The Act is planned to enter into force on 17 October when the decision of the Supreme Court will also enter into force. As of this date, it will no longer be possible to prematurely terminate the authority of the council members who are employees of municipal administrative agencies.
NordenBladet —Today, a seminar on Asia was held in the Conference Hall of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) on the initiative of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu. The main topic of the seminar was the importance of Asia for Estonia, considering the increasing impact of the Asian region in the economic, trade as well as geopolitical perspective.
In his opening address, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Enn Eesmaa highlighted the idea of the Asian Centre at the University of Tartu and the proposal of the Foreign Affairs Committee to create an Asian strategy until 2035 for Estonia.
“Estonia needs a strategy that would take into account the interests of as many social groups as possible,” he said. “We need to have clearer principles for long-term communication with the Asian countries in education, research, economy, culture and in many other fields. The Foreign Affairs Committee will continue its work through parliamentary hearings, seeking new opportunities and searching for fresh solutions,” Eesmaa said.
Deputy Chairman of the Committee Marko Mihkelson pointed out that the Foreign Affairs Committee had been dealing with Asia as an important region in several compositions of the Riigikogu. He recalled the report “The Opportunities and Interests of Estonia in Asia until 2025”, which had been prepared in 2012 on the basis of the hearings in the Committee. “Eight years ago we were not able to foresee how fast the impact of Asia in the context of global economy, politics and security would enter our daily life. The influence of China and other Asian countries in the coming years and decades may be much more defining that we can estimate today,” he said.
Rector of the Estonian Business School (EBS) and former Head of Research of the Foresight Centre Meelis Kitsing spoke about the meaning of the scenarios on global lines of power to the relations between the European Union and Asia. Using the global lines of power scenarios prepared by the Foresight Centre, Kitsing described four alternatives for Europe until 2035. In his opinion, the key factors of the scenarios are the cooperation of the EU member states and their ability to develop an infrastructure that would have an increasing role of a geopolitical instrument.
Member of Asia Update Organising Team Liisi Karindi presented a summary of Estonia’s risks and opportunities within the context of emerging Asia. Karindi drew attention to the fact that we could not ignore the growing importance of Asia in global economy and in politics, education, security and other spheres. She emphasised that, for its sustainable and successful development in the context of the growing importance of Asia, Estonia needed to expand its knowledge and formulate its ambitions.
Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rainer Saks discussed the approach of gathering the topics that are important for society into a uniform Asian strategy. According to him, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of how to define the region we term as Asia in the strategy. Saks also said that several different social groups, including the economic and academic community, must definitely be involved in the public debate on the Asian strategy.
Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu and representatives of the University of Tartu, the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute, the Government Office, Tallinn University, Enterprise Estonia, Tallinn University of Technology and ministries participated in the seminar.
