ESTONIA

The Estonian coronavirus mobile application HOIA is now available for download

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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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.

 

 

Estonia: Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) opens final student project exhibition TASE20

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet – On Monday, the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) opened an exhibition with 34 final projects of recent bachelor’s and master’s degree students highlighted.

EKA’s final project festival TASE, where students can present their final projects, traditionally takes place in spring but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the festival was conducted virtually.

According to Pire Sova, organizer of TASE20, students still found it important to be able to present their art in its physical form.

Sova said: “[The students] really wanted to have a physical exhibition and that is partly the reason this exhibition was realized. Art is created in the physical space and meeting face-to-face in this room is very important. Especially since we have very strong painters this year and you can’t view their art from a small screen, especially if the painting is larger than you and you can’t see what the colors actually look like.”

Featured image: Exhibition TASE20 (NordenBladet)

Estonia: Artist Flo Kasearu’s exhibition “Eriolukord” (State of Emergency) opens at KUMU

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet – Artist Flo Kasearu’s exhibition “Eriolukord” (State of Emergency) opened in Tallinn’s KUMU art museum on Tuesday. The exhibition looks at how the organization of work changed in the gallery during the coronavirus crisis.

During the coronavirus crisis, employees at KUMU had the idea to observe their changing lives when the museum was closed to the public, ETV current news show “Aktuaalne kaamera” reported on Tuesday.

The museum invited artist Flo Kasearu to capture the situation and she documented staff member’s new daily routines.

For the stars of the show, the idea of ​​being in front of the camera was sometimes unfamiliar. The women are satisfied with the end result and say that they will have a beautiful memory of the after of the exhibition has ended.

”When I look at this result, people were in ignorance. I don’t think of it looking at myself, but looking at one side and the other side and behind you, you didn’t know what was coming. And maybe corona was like a reed, not knowing where to go or what to do,” KUMU’s employee Merli said, speaking about being in the middle of the crisis.

KUMU’s employee Ivi added: ”When I look at these movies now, I remembered that I wanted to work so hard, but I couldn’t, I had to come to terms with these disabilities and imagine that they were my museum visitors.”

Estonia: Riigikogu delegation to PACE: we support organising new transparent elections in Belarus

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet — The Riigikogu delegation to PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) joined the like-minded members of the Assembly in their statement on Belarus.

“As it stands, Alexander Lukashenko should do everything in his power to put an end to violence against political prisoners, and his resignation would be welcome news. It is impossible to imagine how he could continue after the Belarus elite as well as the working people have expressed their will,” said the head of the delegation Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski. She added that the Estonian delegation supports the holding of new transparent elections.

The statement says that the organisation of voting and vote counting at the presidential elections in Belarus did not respect international election standards or reflect the free will of the Belarus nation. The statement condemns the use of violence against the participants of peaceful demonstrations, and calls on the Belarus authorities to immediately release all the illegally detained individuals. Delegates to PACE encourage the parties to open a peaceful dialogue, and affirm their readiness to offer a platform for negotiations. The statement warns the Russian Federation against intervening in the internal affairs of Belarus.

Members of the Riigikogu delegation to PACE Raimond Kaljulaid, Eerik-Niiles Kross, Urmas Reitelmann, Raivo Tamm, and Vilja Toomast joined the statement.

 

 

Foreign Affairs Committee: The election result declared in Belarus cannot be considered legitimate

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet —

At its extraordinary sitting today, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) discussed the situation in Belarus after the presidential elections held on 9 August and adopted a Statement on the Belarusian elections.

“Serious evidence indicates that the results of the presidential elections in Belarus were grossly falsified. Therefore the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament of the Republic of Estonia cannot consider the officially declared election result as legitimate,” the Statement says.

The Foreign Affairs Committee will continue the discussion of this topic on Tuesday, 18 August.

Before the Statement was adopted, diplomat of the Estonian Embassy in Belarus Kalvi Noormägi told the Committee about the situation in Belarus. Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Reinsalu gave the Committee an overview of Estonia’s positions at the informal video conference of the foreign affairs ministers of the European Union on 14 August, which will address the presidential elections in Belarus and the situation in Eastern Mediterranean.

Riigikogu Press Service
Liisa Johanna Lukk
Phone: +372 631 6456, +372 5331 0789
E-mail: liisajohanna.lukk@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

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Source: Parliament of Estonia

Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees call on Belarusian authorities to immediately end use of force and persecution

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet — In their Joint Statement, the Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Parliaments of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland call on the Belarusian authorities to release all political prisoners as well as those illegitimately detained in recent days, and to initiate a social dialogue for the much-expected changes.

“We follow with regret the events in Belarus and the repressions against the citizens and media there during the presidential elections,” Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Enn Eesmaa said. “By depriving the citizens of the right to free elections, the general standards of democracy and human rights are ignored. With colleagues, we condemn such activities and underline that we are consistently ready to support the well-being of Belarusian society as well as the sovereignty of the Belarusian state,” Eesmaa said.

The Joint Statement of the Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees points out that the right of free election is a fundamental value of democracy, and freedom of speech and assembly are among the fundamental human rights. “The activities that we are observing do not fit within the democratic standards,” the Statement says.

“We are convinced that following the path of dialogue and reforms will contribute to the development of Belarus, further deepening of good-neighbourly relations between Belarus and the countries of our region, as well as the revival of fruitful relations with the European Union. We are ready to support these efforts by seeking constructive solutions for our common future,” the Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees emphasise in their Joint Statement.

Full text of the Statement of the Chairmen of the Foreign Affairs Committees.

 

 

Tõnis Lukas: Estonian culture is emerging from the crisis as strong as when it entered it

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet — The COVID-19 pandemic, which is re-emerging, is causing concern for cultural and sports organisers. The experience in the spring, when the value chains of many sectors simultaneously ceased to function overnight, is still very fresh in our minds. And the recovery has yet to be completed, even under the restrictions that continue to apply.

The crisis package provided by the Ministry of Culture to ensure that cultural and sports institutions could continue their work and hold events totalled €25 million. With the supplementary budget, we tried to ensure the sustainability of cultural organisations, and to cover their essential costs. We needed to support unemployed freelance creative people, coaches and leaders of folk culture groups.

There has been a great deal of discussion and argumentation regarding whom the aid package should definitely reach. At the same time, the cultural organisers had to keep their heads above water, look for new innovative solutions for reaching their audience, in order to survive. After all, the state budget cannot pay for one’s entire future. And in the digital age, these new approaches have been well received by the public. New innovative ways of working have been introduced and entire new online environments have been developed.

From the outset, it was clear to the Ministry of Culture that the criterion for the distribution of crisis aid, for example, in the case of institutions, could not be based only their form of ownership or administrative jurisdiction. Culture is created everywhere. The impact of some smaller events on a community or on the economic life of a region as a whole can be extremely significant. And yet, choices had to be made, since those in need included both cultural organisations set up by the state, and at the other end of the scale, freelance creative people, such as musicians, actors, artists composer and writers. The former received around €20 million in support, the latter €5 million, with the government increasing its budget for creative people several times after the true scale of the crisis became apparent.

I would hereby like to thank our creative associations for their extremely fast action and smooth cooperation in processing the creative grants and delivering them to the applicants. I would also like to thank the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, whose endowments responded quickly and also allocated their own activity-scholarships.

The crisis package grants have now been disbursed. The preparation of these kinds of measures was a first for Estonia. Despite intense and sometimes pointed exchange of views with the representatives of different areas of activity, all the needs could still not be foreseen. Sensing the budgetary limits, we had to start rather conservatively. Thus, in some areas a surplus developed, which could partially be expected.

This money – and we are talking about €2.5 million – will not be lost to culture and sport. In the near future, the Ministry of Culture will announce additional funding rounds. One of them will definitely deal with the field of folk culture. Excluded from the initial appropriation were the makers and preservers of national handicrafts, as well as our community centres, i.e. the gathering places of community cultural life. In addition, we want to provide additional support to the organisers of large musical events, for whom financial uncertainty is particularly high due to the cancelled events. We can provide even stronger support for our film industry, the different sectors of which employ people from all walks of life, and not to mention the importance of the international dimension of filmmaking. The exact terms of the new funding rounds will be worked out and the applicants will be informed in a timely manner.

In addition to the aforementioned €25 million, the state also supported the home delivery of publications, and especially county newspapers, as well as helped sports clubs pay for the maintenance of sports infrastructure. The VAT on publications, as well as digital books, was reduced from 20% to 9%. The Ministry of Culture will initiate a similar tax reduction on concert tickets, in order to help safeguard Estonian concert activity, which is in strong competition with Riga and Helsinki.

The crisis had been kind of a paradoxical. And although the lockdown was so complete in the spring, that at times it seemed that even the birds were not flying, these weeks and months have been exceptionally intensive for both cultural institutions and organisers, as well as the ministry. Uncertainty will certainly continue for some time and even now planning for the future is still impacted by a feeling in the back of one’s mind that everything can change again. At the same time, everyone must be commended for their good and accurate actions under these special conditions because, despite the fact that public cultural life became very active and diverse during the summer, no infections were recorded so far at these concerts, theatre performances and even festivals. Thank you for a safe Estonia!

What should we learn from the current crisis? After all, there must be some hope. Perhaps the fact that the crisis has helped to clarify what we are doing, why we are doing it, and who benefits from it. In all fields of activity. Of course, the crisis also tested the relationships between the state and the creators, carriers and preservers of culture, as well as everyone with each other. But we managed and we have proven that we are all standing together for the good of the entire field of culture and its continuity. Estonian cultural life will emerge from this crisis at least as strong as when it entered it.

 

Source: Ministry of Culture – Republic of Estonia

 

Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees urge China to uphold its commitments to the people of Hong Kong

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet — Chairs of ten Foreign Affairs Committees of the European Union made a joint statement to express their concern and disappointment at the People’s Republic of China’s recent decision to impose the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region without the consent of the people of Hong Kong.

Enn Eesmaa, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu, said that, since the law had been adopted by Beijing and not by Hong Kong, it constituted a direct breach of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration lodged with the United Nations. “The Declaration set out that Hong Kong would retain its autonomous executive, legislative and independent judicial power until at least 2047. China’s recent step however disregarded the agreement, and my colleagues from other parliaments and I can in no way agree to such a breach. Quite the contrary – we condemn it,” Eesmaa stated.

The Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees note that the law raises significant concern that judicial independence is being undermined by empowering Hong Kong’s Chief Executive rather than its Chief Justice is to appoint judges to hear national security cases. The signatories find that this threatens civil rights and the commercial stability.

“Allowing China jurisdiction further violates the Joint Declaration as well as the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The legislation also goes against China’s own Basic Law for Hong Kong which states that Hong Kong is to bring forward its own national security legislation”, the statement reads.

The statement also says that Hong Kong’s autonomy and independent judiciary have guaranteed the personal rights and freedoms of its people for decades and have made the territory an important keystone in the international trading system. “Given their rights and the importance of Hong Kong, this cannot be seen as a purely domestic affair. In breaching a legally binding agreement and undermining the rule of law, this also undermines the good faith among nations who enter into international agreements.”

The Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees say that article 38 causes further concern as it seeks to violate the sovereignty of other nations. “In claiming extraterritorial jurisdiction it infringes freedom of speech in countries like ours that place a high value on civil rights. It is hard to see how an extradition treaty with either Hong Kong or China could be agreed when the demands of Beijing infringe so directly on basic human rights in our nations,” it is stated.

“We urge the People’s Republic of China to rethink its decision to impose this law, and to uphold its commitments to the people of Hong Kong as well as the international community,” the signatories say to conclude their joint statement.

The joint statement has been signed by the Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the parliaments of Belgium, Estonia, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Latvia, Norway, Germany, Denmark and the United Kingdom, and the European Parliament.

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