ESTONIA

Statistics Estonia: Life expectancy has increased for men and women

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet – New data from Statistics Estonia shows life expectancy at birth in 2019 was 74.4 years for males and 82.8 years for females. Men and women are expected to live 70 percent or more of their life in good health but this below the European Union average.

Life expectancy has increased for both sexes and slightly more for males. However, men are expected to live disability-free for 54.1 years and women for 57.6 years.

Ethel Maasing, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said the number of healthy life years increased compared to the year before and there was a positive change in rural areas in particular.

“Compared to 2018, when the indicator of healthy life years dropped to the level seen a decade earlier, Estonian men and women lived healthier in 2019. Males live 72.7 percent of their life in good health and females 70 percent,” she said.

Life expectancy has shown a positive trend for the past 20 years. Last year, female life expectancy increased slightly slower, by a third of a year, than male life expectancy which grew to half a year.

Male life expectancy has reached the level of female life expectancy in 1995. The gap between female and male life expectancy is smallest – at eight years – for people with higher education.

Compared to a decade ago, male life expectancy has increased by three and a half years and female life expectancy by slightly more than two years.

“At that time, it was predicted that women would live almost 10 years longer than men, but by now, the gap has narrowed to eight and a half years. However, both men and women enjoy the same number of healthy life years as ten years earlier. There have been increases and falls over the years, but in the longer term, the indicator has been stable,” explained Maasing.

Life expectancy depends on many factors, the most important of these being the environment, accessibility of healthcare services, safety at work, living standard and health consciousness.

The shorter male life expectancy is not surprising as men are more prone to risk-taking and have a greater share of physically demanding jobs or those posing more risk to health. Among men, there are also more of those who have unhealthy life styles such as higher alcohol consumption and smoking.

According to 2018 data, the average life expectancy for women in Europe was 83.6 years and for men 78.3 years.

Female life expectancy was highest in Spain (86.3) and lowest in Serbia (78.4). Male life expectancy was highest in Switzerland (81.9) and lowest in Latvia (70.1).

Compared to the European Union average, the indicator for males in Estonia is lower by more than four years. Life expectancy for females in Estonia is about a year below the European Union average.

The indicator of healthy life years for women was highest in Malta (73.4) and lowest in Latvia (53.7), and for men, it was highest in Sweden (73.7) and lowest in Latvia (51).

Considering the European Union average, the indicator of healthy life years for males in Estonia is worse than the indicator for females: for males, it is lower by ten years. The indicator for females is eight years below the European average.

Estonia: Tartu to consume only renewable electricity from 2021

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet – The City of Tartu is to enter into an agreement with AS Alexela for the purchase of electricity for street lighting and the city’s agencies and will become a city consuming only green electricity from next year..

In 2015, Tartu city council established an action plan for the city’s sustainable energy economy, the strategic goal of which is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions related to energy consumption. Based on the goal, the city will enter into an agreement to purchase electricity that will increase the share of green electricity to one hundred percent from next year.

Deputy Mayor Raimond Tamm said: “By transitioning fully to green electricity, the City of Tartu is taking a very long step towards becoming a carbon-neutral local government, because electricity from non-renewable sources accounts for the largest share of our current carbon emissions. The next big challenge for us is to introduce renewable fuels in connection with important services that the city procures, such as waste transport and street maintenance, but the possibility of this transition still needs to be analyzed.”

The contract will be concluded for the purchase of electricity for street lighting and city institutions as well as kindergartens and schools with a total volume of 19,700 MWh per year. Electricity will be purchased in 2021-2022 at the stock exchange price, AS Alexela offered a margin of 0.84 euros per MWh. Electricity supply will start on January 1.

In recent years, Tartu has taken steps to move towards a more sustainable living environment. Today, only renewable energy is used in Tartu’s public transport – all city buses run on biogas and the bicycles of the smart bike share system use green electricity.

In street lighting, energy-intensive sodium lamps are gradually being replaced by energy-efficient LED lamps. City-owned buildings use predominantly district heating, which is produced from renewable energy sources in the extent of approximately 85 percent.

Estonia: The Riigikogu passed a Statement in Support of Democracy and Civil Society in Belarus

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet — At the extraordinary sitting today, the Riigikogu passed the Statement of the Riigikogu “In Support of Democracy and Civil Society in Belarus”, submitted by 88 members of the Riigikogu.

Full text of the statement:

“The Riigikogu expresses its support to the people of Belarus in their fight for a free, democratic, and dignified future.

The Riigikogu promotes democracy, human rights and free elections in Belarus, applauds the courage of the people of Belarus to take a stand to defend their inalienable human and citizens’ rights, and expresses the solidarity of the people of Estonia with the people of Belarus.

The Riigikogu does not recognise the results of the 9 August 2020 presidential elections in Belarus, because these were not free, fair, or democratic.

The Riigikogu condemns any use of force against peaceful demonstrators, and calls on the authorities of Belarus to immediately free all the individuals arrested for political reasons.

The Riigikogu calls for the organisation of free, fair, and democratic elections at the earliest opportunity, under the supervision of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and other international organisations.

The Riigikogu urges the UN Member States and their parliaments to support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Belarus and to condemn any attempts to interfere with the right of the people of Belarus to free and democratic elections.

The Riigikogu refers to its Statement of 21 February 2006, which expresses concern for the situation in Belarus and calls attention to the fact that the long-term violation of human rights and freedoms has led the Belarus society into an impasse that can only be escaped by taking guidance from the clear will of the people.

The Riigikogu welcomes the common position of the European Union leaders, stressing the need for the European Union and its Member States to complement the sanctions with the development of a policy of long-term support for the civil society in Belarus.

The Riigikogu encourages the Government of the Republic to continue active international cooperation on all levels, and to support democracy, civil society, and free press in Belarus.”

During the debate, Anneli Ott (Centre Party), Anti Poolamets (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), Raimond Kaljulaid (unaffiliated MP), Keit Pentus-Rosimannus (Reform Party), Mihhail Lotman (Isamaa), Aadu Must (Centre Party), and Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Reinsalu took the floor.

92 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the Statement (223 AE).

 

Estonia: Tallinn Music Week (taking place August 27-30) hosts parallel art program

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet – Tallinn Music Week, taking place August 27-30, is to be accompanied by a diverse art program, organizers say, with many exhibitions being free of charge, including the Tallinn Thursday gallery tour and installations at Port Noblessner.

Fotografiska gallery boasts a Moomin Museum pop-up shop, in homage to the Tove Jansson-created children’s characters.

The Estonian Contemporary Art Development Center (ECADC) is is curating the Tallinn Thursday special tour, where galleries including the Kai Art Center, the Estonian Art Academy (EKA) gallery and the Juhan Kuus Documentary Photo Center will offer extending opening hours as they bring new works by Estonian and international artists to the public, with a chance to meet some of the creatives.

As its name hints at, the program runs only on the Thursday, August 27, though many other events accompanying TMW start ahead of the main three-day event.

The Moomin Museum pop-up shop opens on Tuesday, August 18 and runs to August 30. The store is working in collaboration with the Moomin Museum in Tampere in the creatures’ home country of Finland, and will host original work from the characters’ creator, Tove Jansson (1914-2001).

The Kai Art Center’s showing includes previously unseen, by the public at least, works by acclaimed Estonian artist Kris Lemsalu Malone and Kyp Malone Lemsalu, together with a large-scale installation which had been exhibited earlier in the year at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin.

The Temnikova & Kasela Gallery is presenting the solo exhibition “All Together” from Estonian conceptual painter Kaido Ole, in which Ole inserts himself into his newer paintings in the roles of an artist, a curator, an installer and a museum director, as well as in already-familiar guises.
Bank of Estonia museum joins Night of Museums interactive program

The Juhan Kuus Documentary Photo Centre at the Telliskivi Creative City is to show a retrospective of Estonian street photography in an expo entitled “Outlook – 40 years of Street Photography in Estonia”, a duo show by Kristel Schwede and Kadri Pettai.

Vaal Gallery on Tartu mnt 80l hosts “Shedding Skin”, which features drawings and an installation by Laura Põld and poetry and short prose by Piret Karro. Haus Gallery presents three exhibitions – Vano Allsalu’s solo show “Of Nature”, Elvi Rangell’s “Life is Good” and Elina Laurinen’s “Colour Appeals”.

International group exhibition “Grammar of Graphics” at EKA turns its attention to form, and their replication through various phrases. The Okapi gallery there is to host a pop-up art sales day, with a wide selection of works by contemporary photographic and graphic artists available for purchase. Tallinn Thursday brings many of the artists to Okapi, where they will be accompanied by a musical performance.

In addition to the Tallinn Thursday gallery tour, several other exhibitions will be open in the festival’s two main locations at Port Noblessner and Telliskivi Creative City.

Marianne Jõgi’s outdoor installation “Interaural Contour I” at the Noblessner Marina promotes both relaxation and learning. The immersive sculpture will be accompanied by composer Ülo Krigul’s sound piece “Water Itself”.

From Friday, 28 August, to Sunday, 30 August, light installations by EKA students will provide an enlightening night-time experience in the area between Krusenstern Square, Kai Art Center, PROTO Invention Factory and the Noblessner Foundry.

Telliskivi Creative City’s outdoor galley is to feature an exhibition entitled “Truth and Justice: Elders”, from Estonian avant-garde artist Raul Meel, in which the author interprets A.H. Tammsaare’s literary classic “Truth and Justice”.

Fotografiska Tallinn is also exhibiting “Exposed”, a collection of portraits of celebrities by Canadian musician Bryan Adams, “Dark Testament” by Lina Iris Viktor, “Gold” by Sebastião Salgado and “Waterproof Heart” by Ignas Pavliukevičius.

TMW 2020 Festival Pass and PRO pass-holders can get discounted entry at Fotografiska in the course of TMW.

Featured image: Exhibit at Kai Art Center (Tallinn Music Week/Kai Art Center)

Estonia: Tartu gets new €2.4-million boat-building museum complex (Lodjakoja)

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet – A €2.4-million complex, which doubles up as a museum and boat-building facility, has opened in Tartu, ETV news show “Aktuaalne kaamera” (AK) reported Monday night.

The Lodjakoja complex is managed by the Emajõgi barge society (Emajõe lodjaselts), which hopes to both present traditional boat-building work and to stimulate river traffic on the Emajõgi River, Estonia’s only fully navigable river, on which Tartu lies.

A new, two-mast vessel is already being built in the complex, with the aim for completion by 2024, the year Tartu becomes European Capital of Culture.

In addition to the museum and boat-building hall, the complex boasts a lifeguard station and winter boathouses.

“In the future, the main building will house this type of traditional shipbuilding center, with a blacksmith’s workshop, a wood workshop, exhibition room, seminars, a cafe … in short, a very versatile center, with year-round activities,” Raimond Tamm, Deputy Mayor of Tartu, told AK.

The Emajõgi barge company has signed a 10-year lease agreement with the City of Tartu; the facility ends a search for proper barge facilities going back to 2006.

The organization’s head Priit Jagomäe, the head of the Lodjaselts said that this process had been blocked twice before in the courts, but now the facility was a reality, he was looking forward to visitors, who can get a glimpse of more traditional boat-building methods.

The center opens to the public in October.

The Emajõgi, more properly the Suur Emajõgi, flows between two lakes, from Võrtsjärv, flowing eastwards through Tartu to Peipsi Järv, where it discharges.

Estonia: Interior minister Mart Helme (EKRE): Both Linnahall and Maarjamäe memorial should be demolished

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet – Interior minister Mart Helme (EKRE) says that he would have two Soviet-era edifices demolished. Helme told ERR that both the Maarjamäe World War Two memorial in Pirita, and the Linnahall in the capital’s harbor district, should ideally be removed, though he noted that his stance would be likely to draw heated debate within the cabinet.

The Linnahall was opened in 1980 in time for the Moscow Summer Olympics, and has gradually fallen into a state of disrepair since then, though last summer it provided a filming location for the soon-to-be-released Christopher Nolan thriller “Tenet”.

What to do with it has been under discussion for years, with the latest €330-million project involving the Tallink Group faltering with the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, within days of the plans being made public.

The Maarjamäe memorial was unveiled in 1975, and is distinct from the nearby Memorial to the Victims of Communism opened in 2018. Sections of the memorial are closed to the public due to the danger of structural collapse.

Proposals to restore the Soviet-era Maarjamäe memorial have been met with opposition from some quarters of the government, including Helme, on the grounds that taxpayers’ money should not be used to refurbish what is for many a controversial monument.

“My personal position is that [the memorial] is still a symbol of the period of [Soviet] occupation in the first place and, like the Linnahall and some other objects, is a symbol of this type of ugly Soviet-era modernism,” Helme told.

Helme also said that a line needed to be trod, though this would prove tricky at governmental level, between not offending those who had suffered under the Soviet occupation – the main focus of the nearby victims of communism memorial – while at the same time not denigrating the feelings of the Russian minority in Tallinn and Estonia.

Environment minister Rene Kokk (EKRE) has submitted a memorandum to the cabinet, containing various solutions on the future fate of Maarjamäe monument, which currently belongs to the state but which Tallinn city authorities have expressed an interest in acquiring.

The city government also wants several million from the state to refurbish cultural artifacts in the capital, though Helme said that this would not be practical in the case of the Maarjamäe memorial, hence his call for demolishing it.

A balance would also need to be struck in terms of interest groups and ideologies, he added.

Deputy Mayor Andrei Novikov (Center) made a proposal to the Riigkogu’s cultural committee in July that the Linnahall be restored, as an alternative to the stalled Tallink plans.

Estonia: The “HOIA” coronavirus tracing app launched by the Ministry of Social Affairs

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet – Estonia’s coronavirus exposure notification app “HOIA” launches today (August 20) and is now available to download. ERR News spoke to Priit Tohver, Ministry of Social Affairs adviser in the field of e-services and innovation, to find out what the app does and how you can use it.

“HOIA” has been created in voluntary cooperation between the Ministry of Social Affairs (Sotsiaalministeerium), the Health and Welfare Information Systems Center (Tervise ja Heaolu Infosüsteemide Keskus) and 12 Estonian companies – Cybernetica, Fujitsu Estonia, Guardtime, Icefire, Iglu, Mobi Lab, Mooncascade, Velvet, FOB Solutions, Heisi IT OÜ, Bytelogics and ASA Quality Services OÜ.

The purpose of the free app – which is optional and not mandatory – is to inform close contacts of those infected with the coronavirus and to provide them with initial instructions on how to proceed. Its aim is to limit the spread of coronavirus.

In this way, the user can quickly find out about possible close contact with a COVID-19 infected person, allowing them to take steps to protect their own health and the health of others.

It works because phones that use the app register Bluetooth signals from other nearby phones. If the signal is sufficiently close and long enough, an anonymous code referring to a close contact will be stored in their phone.

It is not possible to identify a person based on an anonymous code.

In order to use the app, you need a phone based on the Android or iOS operating system. For Hoia to function best, you need to use the close contact notification interface provided by Google and Apple.

Usability is limited to phones manufactured in the last 5 years. Android phones are suitable for all phones that support the Android 6.0 operating system. All Apple phones that support the iOS 13.5 operating system (from iPhone 6S) are compatible.

Earlier this year, when the app was first announced, Anett Numa, speaker at e-estonia briefing centre, wrote it will be based on the DP-3T protocol which has been developed by leading privacy experts and it is also in line with Apple and Google’s contact tracing API.

Estonia has chosen a “privacy-preserving path” to contact tracing, a key element of which is the principle of decentralisation that underpins several Estonian e-state solutions, she wrote.

Within this system, which is designed to adhere to recent EDPB recommendations, no entity will be able to store all of the tracing data and use it for any other purpose besides contact tracing.

Featured image: The “HOIA” coronavirus tracing app launched by the Ministry of Social Affairs. Source: Ministry of Social Affairs. 

The Estonian coronavirus mobile application HOIA is now available for download

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
-

NordenBladet — Starting today, August 20, the mobile app HOIA is available for download to your phone via www.hoia.me, helping to curb the spread of the coronavirus with the help of app users. The application notifies the user if he has been in close contact with an infected person. The phones of the users of the application exchange anonymous codes, and the state, the manufacturer of the application, or the manufacturer of the phone will not know who was in close contact with whom.

“The most effective way to limit the spread of the coronavirus is to stay at home and see a family doctor in case of symptoms of the disease and to keep a safe distance from other people when moving around. However, if we want to continue our usual life – go to work and school, theater and concerts, ride public transport or travel, then we will probably not always be able to keep a sufficient distance,” said Minister of Social Affairs Tanel Kiik. “The Health Board will continue its daily work in identifying those infected and their close contacts, but everyone of us can also contribute to preventing the spread of the virus. The application of the coronavirus is one additional effective tool for all of us to reduce potential infectious contacts. I call on Estonian people to keep themselves and their loved ones safe and to help limit the spread of the virus privately and securely by using the application. ”

If any user of the application becomes ill, he or she will mark himself / herself (ie his / her anonymous code) as ill in the application and other users will be notified of a possible close contact with the infected person. The application notifies the person if he or she has been closer to an infected person than 2 metres for at least 15 minutes. The application also provides initial guidance on how to proceed. This way, the application can also inform people whom the infected person does not know or remember, allowing them to take steps to protect their own health and the health of others.

Special attention has been paid to privacy and security when developing the application. Phones communicate with each other using Bluetooth radio signals, exchanging codes that say nothing about the users of the application. Through the application, the state does not receive any information about the identity of those infected or their close contacts.

“We put the HOIA privacy solution in place even before the programming work started. People’s locations are not monitored and health data is processed only to check whether the person who claims to be infected with COVID-19 is really sick before sending notifications,” confirmed Dan Bogdanov, Member of the Management Board of Cybernetica AS. “The development of the HOIA application has set an example for other state IT-developments.”

The application was created in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs, The Health Board, the Health and Welfare Information Systems Center and 12 Estonian companies – Cybernetica, Fujitsu Estonia, Guardtime, Icefire, Iglu, Mobi Lab, Mooncascade, Velvet, FOB Solutions, Heisi IT OÜ, Bytelogics and ASA Quality Services OÜ. In addition, the Swiss DP-3T project team contributed to the development of the application, and the solution created by it is the basis of the Estonian application.

“The main function of the application is to inform the user if he or she may have been in close contact with a person infected with COVID-19. However, information about a person’s infection and close contacts is private and cannot be disseminated. So we can say that by developing the application, we solved a kind of contradiction,” said Icefire software architect Aleksei Bljahhin. “We solved this contradiction thanks to the modern cryptography used by the application.”

For now the HOIA application can be used in Estonia. The next step is to start exchanging anonymous codes for close contacts also across borders, so that the application can be used also when traveling abroad.

For more information and frequently asked questions: https://hoia.me/en

 

Source: Ministry of Social Affairs – Republic of Estonia

Estonia: Members of the Riigikogu are drafting a statement in support of Belarus

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet — At its meeting today, the Foreign Affairs Committee continued its discussion on the situation in Belarus after the 9 August presidential elections, and supported the idea of drafting a statement of the Riigikogu in support of the democratic forces in Belarus.

The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Enn Eesmaa said that the idea to form a working group to draft the statement found support from all the political groups represented in the Committee. “We have been consistently working on issues surrounding Belarus in the Riigikogu. We hope to adopt a statement on the current developments at the plenary meeting as soon as possible,” he added.

The Deputy Chairman of the Committee Marko Mihkelson referred to a similar statement adopted by the Riigikogu in 2006, also in support of democracy in Belarus. “The situation in Belarus, in our immediate neighbourhood, affects Estonia’s security as well. Violence against the people and disregard for the organisation of fair and free elections is something than cannot be ignored, and this is what we intend to emphasise in the statement of the Riigikogu,” he said.

The Committee was also briefed on the activities of Estonia and the European Union in connection with the recent development in Belarus by the Director General of the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lembit Uibo. Deputy Permanent Representative of Estonia to the United Nations Gert Auväärt briefed the Committee on Estonia’s activities in the UN Security Council.

 

 

Estonia: Riigikogu committees formulated Estonia’s positions in support of Belarus

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet — The Foreign Affairs Committee and the European Union Affairs Committee held an extraordinary sitting today to formulate Estonia’s positions on the European Union policies regarding Belarus.

The committees heard about Estonia’s positions from Prime Minister Jüri Ratas, who will also present these today at the extraordinary video meeting of the European Council.

The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Enn Eesmaa explained that Belarus is an Eastern Partnership country that Estonia has supported for over a decade now, both directly and through the European Union. “We will continue offering our support, which is particularly important now that Belarus is standing at a crucial crossroad,” Eesmaa said.

The Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee Anneli Ott highlighted Estonia’s EUR 100,000 support package to the Belarus civil society. “This will send an important message to the citizens of Belarus, who are expressing their opinions and are putting their life and health on the line while fighting for democracy,” Ott said.

Estonia has decided not to recognise the results of the 9 August presidential elections in Belarus, because these were neither free nor fair. Estonia considers Alexander Lukashenko to have lost his mandate in connection with extensive falsification of election results.

Estonia supports the will of the Belarus people to see changes in their country, and stresses the need to hold new, free, and democratic elections. Estonia supports imposing targeted sanctions against persons responsible for the violence and the falsification of the elections. At the same time, the sanctions must not cause harm to the ordinary citizens of Belarus.

Estonia believes that the European Union must discuss the situation in Belarus and keep it in the spotlight in international organisations, including the UN Security Council, UN Human Rights Council, Council of Europe, and OSCE. The emphasis should be on preventing the possible escalation of violence and finding a peaceful political solution which would result in new elections.

Estonia supports civil society and free press in Belarus, and hopes for a larger support for this from the European Union. The government decided to support the civil society in Belarus with EUR 100,000.

 

 

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