Baltic states ban Lukashenko amid crackdown on opposition

Yahoo – AFP, Tatiana Kalinovskaya, August 31, 2020

Belarus authorities are cracking down further on the opposition after three
weekends of mass protests

The Baltic states on Monday banned embattled Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko as he cracked down further on the opposition movement following another huge rally at the weekend.

EU members Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania announced entry bans against Lukashenko and 29 other high-ranking officials, citing human rights violations.

And the White House urged Russia to "respect" its neighbour's sovereignty and democracy and "the right of its own people to elect their own leaders freely and fairly".

Lukashenko has the backing of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has raised the possibility of sending military support if Belarus "starts to get out of control."

The sanctions from Minsk's ex-Soviet neighbours came after the third weekend of mass protests since the disputed August 9 presidential election. Both Lukashenko and opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who has taken shelter in Lithuania, claimed victory.

"We are sending the message that we need to do more than just issue statements, we must also take concrete action," Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told AFP.

The Belarusian foreign ministry said the sanctions would be counterproductive.

Lukashenko appeared to dangle the possibility of public consultation on 

constitutional reforms

"The history of our independent country shows eloquently that any attempts at sanctions on Belarus only lead their initiators to the opposite effect," ministry spokesman Anatoly Glaz said in a statement. 

But Belarus would be "obliged to take appropriate retaliatory measures," he warned. 

Police move against opposition

The European Union is also seeking to impose new travel bans and asset freezes on Lukashenko's circle to punish those they say are responsible for violence, arrests and vote fraud.

The latest sanctions followed mass opposition protests in Minsk Sunday, with an estimated turnout of more than 100,000 people. There were also protests in other cities.

The Belarusian authorities on Monday detained a member of the opposition's Coordination Council, set up by Tikhanovskaya's allies to organise a peaceful transfer of power.

Liliya Vlasova, a lawyer and international mediator, was detained after a search of her home, fellow Coordination Council member Pavel Latushko, a former arts minister, told AFP. 

The search was carried out by officers investigating financial wrongdoing from a state audit body, while the grounds for Vlasova's detention were not known, he said.

Protests over disputed elections in Belarus

She was the third Coordination Council member to be detained.

Other members, including Nobel-Prize winning author Svetlana Alexievich, have been summoned for questioning as "witnesses" over an investigation launched into an alleged attempt to seize power. 

The committee's press secretary Anton Rodnenkov received a summons for questioning on Tuesday.

And a strike leader at the Belaruskali potash plant, Anatoly Bokun, was jailed for 15 days on Monday, his second such sentence.

'Somewhat authoritarian'

Belarusian border guards refused entry Monday to the country's Catholic Archbishop, Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, even though he is a citizen. They gave no explanation.

The 74-year-old archbishop had condemned violence by police and prison guards against detained protesters. A spokesman said he had returned to Poland.

And Lukashenko dismissed the Belarus charge d'affaires in Spain, Pavel Pustovoy, state news agency Belta reported, days after he had posted comments on Facebook favouring a recount of presidential ballots.

Protesters speak with Belarusian special police officers at Sunday's rally to protest 

against disputed presidential election

Lukashenko on Monday acknowledged the country he has led since 1994 was "somewhat authoritarian" in comments to the head of the Supreme Court. 

He was speaking after perhaps the largest rally against his rule in Minsk, where protesters gathered outside his official residence.

Lukashenko acknowledged that people were calling for "changes", dangling the possibility of public consultation on constitutional reforms, which he suggested could be aimed at making courts more independent -- while insisting that in his view they were already.

He rejected opposition calls for a return to the 1994 Constitution in use before he pushed through changes increasing his own presidential powers.

The Peace March event was held on Lukashenko's 66th birthday and demonstrators left ironic gifts outside the Palace of Independence, guarded by heavily armed riot police and snipers.

Numerous journalists working for international media including AFP had their Belarusian foreign ministry accreditation revoked ahead of the protest without explanation. 

The Belarusian Association of Journalists said police detained nine journalists over the weekend.

UK crime agency probes Danske Bank money laundering

Yahoo – AFP, September 21, 2018

Danske's money laundering scandal is widening (AFP Photo/Jens Noergaard Larsen)

London (AFP) - Britain's National Crime Agency is probing the activities of UK-based companies with alleged links to a money laundering scandal at Denmark's Danske Bank, it said Friday.

"The NCA is aware of the use of UK registered companies in this case and has related on-going operational activity," a spokeswoman said.

"The threat posed by the use of UK company structures as a route for money laundering is widely recognised and the NCA is working with partners across government to restrict the ability of criminals to use them in this way."

Friday's news came one day after Denmark's financial watchdog relaunched its money laundering investigation into Danske, after the nation's largest lender said "a large part" of transactions totalling 200 billion euros ($235 billion) at its Estonian branch were "suspicious".

The Financial Times reported Friday, citing people with knowledge of the UK probe, that the NCA's interest was on a UK-registered limited liability partnership or LLP.

UK corporate entities were the second biggest group, after Russians, among the about 15,000 non-resident customers at the Estonian branch, it added.

Of the accounts under investigation -- which Danske closed in 2015 -- 6,200 are considered suspicious and most of them have been brought to the attention of authorities.

The scandal engulfing Danske cost the lender's chief executive his job this week as investigators struggled to determine just how much dirty money transited through its Estonian subsidiary.

Danske itself said it could not be certain of the size of illegal sums involved.

More than 1.5 trillion Danish kroner (201 billion euros, $235 billion) transited through the Estonian subsidiary between 2007 and 2015, according to an outside law firm that carried out a probe for the bank.

Related Article:

Danske Bank CEO resigns over money laundering scandal

Danske Bank CEO resigns over money laundering scandal

Yahoo – AFP, September 19, 2018

Danske's shares plunged as the bank's CEO resigned (AFP Photo/Jens
Noergaard Larsen)

Copenhagen (AFP) - The chief executive of Denmark's largest lender Danske Bank announced his resignation Wednesday as the institution said it was unable to determine how much money was laundered through its Estonian branch.

The announcements came days after the Wall Street Journal reported that Danish investigators were probing transactions of up to $150 billion "from companies with ties to Russia and the former Soviet Union" that transited Danske Bank's Estonian branch between 2007 and 2015.

In early August, the state prosecutor's office for serious economic and international crime said the bank was being investigated and prosecutors would decide whether to press charges.

"It is clear that Danske Bank has failed to live up to its responsibility in the case of possible money laundering in Estonia," chief executive Thomas Borgen said in a statement following the conclusion of the bank's internal probe.

"Even though the investigation conducted by the external law firm concludes that I have lived up to my legal obligations, I believe that it is best for all parties that I resign," Borgen said.

The bank said it was "not able to provide an accurate estimate of the amount of suspicious transactions made by non-resident customers in Estonia during the period."

Danske Bank said it would "donate the gross income from the customers in the period from 2007 to 2015, which is estimated at 1.5 billion kroner (201 million euros, $235 million), to an independent foundation which will be set up to support initiatives aimed at combating international financial crime, including money laundering, also in Denmark and Estonia."

That sum will be booked in the third quarter. As a result, the bank revised downwards its earnings outlook for 2018, forecasting a net profit of 16-17 billion kroner instead of the previously anticipated 18 to 20 billion.

Shares in Danske Bank fell by more 3.75 percent in early trading on the Copenhagen stock exchange, in a flat market.

European countries to formalise EU defence force plan

Yahoo – News, 25 June 2018

French Defence Minister Florence Parly said the proposed new EU defence
force will include Britain

Nine EU nations will on Monday formalise a plan to create a European military intervention force, a French minister said, with Britain backing the measure as a way to maintain strong defence ties with the bloc after Brexit.

The force, known as the European Intervention Initiative and championed by French President Emmanuel Macron, is intended to be able to deploy rapidly to deal with crises.

A letter of intent is due to be signed in Luxembourg on Monday by France, Germany, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Estonia, Spain and Portugal, French defence minister Florence Parly told the newspaper Le Figaro.

The initiative involves "joint planning work on crisis scenarios that could potentially threaten European security", according to a source close to the minister, including natural disasters, intervention in a crisis or evacuation of nationals.

It would be separate from other EU defence cooperation, meaning there would be no obstacle to Britain taking part after it leaves the bloc.

"This is clearly an initiative that allows the association of some non-EU states," the French minister said.

"The UK has been very keen because it wants to maintain cooperation with Europe beyond bilateral ties."

Twenty-five EU countries signed a major defence pact in December, agreeing to cooperate on various military projects, but it is not clear whether Britain would be allowed to take part in any of them after it leaves the bloc.

The EU has had four multinational military "battlegroups" since 2007, but political disagreements have meant the troops have never been deployed.

Paris hopes that by focusing on a smaller group of countries, its new initiative will be able to act more decisively, freed from the burdens that sometimes hamper action by the 28-member EU and 29-member NATO.

Italy had originally shown interest in the proposal. The new government in Rome "is considering the possibility of joining" but has not made a final decision, Parly said.

Estonia 'e-residency' offers Brexit Brits EU loophole

Yahoo – AFP, Mike COLLIER with Mary SIBIERSKI in Warsaw, August 13, 2017

Taavi Kotka, Estonia's chief information officer, presents the e-residency IDs
project. As Brits brace for the upheaval that Brexit could bring, some are turning to
Estonia's e-residency digital ID programme to keep doing business across
the EU. (AFP Photo/RAIGO PAJULA)

Tallinn (AFP) - As Brits brace for the upheaval that Brexit could bring, some are turning to Estonia's e-residency digital ID programme to keep doing business across the European Union.

Using its knack for digital innovation to capitalise on the global explosion in e-commerce, the small cyber-savvy Baltic eurozone state became the first country to offer e-residency identification cards to people worldwide in 2014.

Touted as a "trans-national government-issued digital identity", e-residency allows users to open a business in the EU and then run it remotely with the ability to declare taxes and sign documents digitally.

It does not provide citizenship, tax residency, physical residency or the right to travel to Estonia. Applications can be made online via the www.howtostayin.eu website and cost 100 euros ($112).

Just over 22,000 people from 138 countries across the globe have become e-residents so far, including around 1,200 Brits and last year's Brexit vote triggered a boom in applications from the UK.

Before it, only three British citizens applied per week, but that shot up to over 50 in its aftermath. There was also a 75 percent spike in UK traffic on the website after Prime Minister Theresa May triggered the Article 50 EU exit clause in March.

A "soft Brexit" would mean that Britain could retain access to the European single market like non-EU member Norway. But the "hard Brexit" option that has prevailed so far would see Britain leave the European single market and the customs union, creating a nightmare scenario for UK businesses as there would no longer be free movement of goods and services.

"The UK may have chosen to leave the EU, but its entrepreneurs can still choose to remain inside the EU's business environment" through e-residency, programme director Kaspar Korjus told AFP.

E-residency spokesman Arnaud Castaignet explaind that if a British entrepreneur becomes an Estonian e-resident and establishes a company producing goods in Estonia then they "will have the same access to the EU market as any EU company."

So far the majority of companies established by e-residents are in consultancy services, IT programming, web developing, business support services.

'Insurance policy'

Winners of the Mayor of London's 2017 Entrepreneur competition say they signed up for e-residency to mitigate the risk Brexit poses for their business, a startup making environmentally-friendly wet wipes.

Ellenor McIntosh and Alborz Bozorgi both live in London but say they took up e-residency in order to be able to keep their company, Twipes, inside the EU's single market.

Billing Twipes as "the future of toilet paper", its owners say they have registered it both in the UK and Estonia to boost investor confidence.

"We had discussions with many investors from across Europe, Cyprus and Estonia in particular, and they view the uncertainty of Brexit as a huge risk," Bozorgi told AFP via email.

"We had to incorporate in both the UK and EU as a method of hedging risk," he added.

If Britain loses access to the single market, however, the company would need to source materials and produce Twipes inside the EU to keep duty free access to the bloc.

Brit Dirk Singer established his Rabbit digital marketing agency six years ago in the UK, but wary of Brexit he digitally relocated it to Estonia last year thanks to e-residency.

"I applied for e-residency shortly before the EU referendum last year. Essentially, I was not so optimistic that we would vote to stay and so I saw this as an insurance policy," Singer told AFP.

"Two of my five biggest clients are from the EU. I'm concerned that as a small UK service-based business, Brexit could start to make life difficult for me."

British writer Will Mawhood who runs the "Deep Baltic" culture website says he jumped at the opportunities and flexibility e-residency offers, especially having his company registered in a eurozone member.

"I split my time between the UK and Latvia, but since all my work is online, I often spend prolonged periods of time in other countries," he told AFP.

"People involved in my company are based in a variety of countries, so having to sign important documents in person would be unnecessarily time-consuming and complicated," he added.

Digital banking

An upgrade to the e-residency programme in May saw Finnish fintech company Holvi team up with Estonia to launch , eliminating the need for e-residents to travel to take care of business banking.

Korjus told AFP that there are signs that this uniquely Estonian digital innovation is catching on abroad.

"We've had interest from governments around the world who are keen to understand the programme and even introduce their own versions of e-residency."

He insists that safeguards are in place to prevent the programme from being abused for tax evasion or money laundering, including police checks of applicants.

Could e-residency offer a way around Brexit?

Could Estonia's e-residency program offer a way out of Britain's Brexit bind? Kaspar Korjus, director of the country's program thinks that digital nomadism could be the way forward for Britons and British companies.

Deutsche Welle, 25 Sep 2016

Since the referendum result in the UK and the impending Brexit, there’s been a rush of Britons trying to obtain residency within other EU countries so as to remain part of the EU. But the strict criteria often prevents many of them qualifying for an easy route. Now though, the Republic of Estonia might offer a way out of that bind. It has been offering e-residency permits for a couple of years as part of a wider program of e-government. This summer the country saw a jump in the number of Britons applying so they, or their companies, could continue trading as EU entities. DW talked to Kaspar Korjus, Estonia's e-residency program director.

Deutsche Welle: What exactly is e-residency?

Kaspar Korjus: E-residency in the larger context is the new nation state; we are building a whole new digital nation for global citizens. That means that every person on this planet can become an e-resident of this nation. By becoming an e-resident each person gets a digital identity, contained in a smart ID card. Once you get a smart ID card you can log in to the nation state services, you can digitally sign everything and you can be part of this new community.

Estonia has 13,000 e-residents currently
and hopes for 10 million by 2025

Why did Estonia decide to adopt this method? It's not just e-residency, but the whole thing is part of a wider program E-government.

Yes, so E-government has been in Estonia for the last 15 or so years. All Estonians have been voting on line, declaring taxes, getting e-prescriptions, signing all contracts, establishing companies; everything is done using that digital identity. Now we've just opened the borders to everyone else, so that everyone can be part of this.

The reasons are twofold: firstly, it's purely economic, so that Estonia can be bigger. Estonia has a population of just 1.3 million and the internal market compared to Germany for example is so small that we just need more customers outside of Estonia. Secondly, it doesn't add too much cost for us to open these things.

There are billions of people today all around the world who lack access to financial services or lack access to proper business services. For us to open these gates to them, it just doesn't cost us much extra. We already have the legal system, we already have the infrastructure and we already have the services, so we can just offer the same services to them also.

How many e-residents do you have at the moment?

KK: We have over 13,000 e-residents today, and we are still in a beta phase. To become an e-resident each person needs to pay 100 euros and apply online at e-resident.gov.ee and then have one face-to-face meeting at the Estonian embassy. This takes approximately two months and then a person could become an e-resident and access all the services.

Did you see the numbers shoot up after the referendum in Britain because of the threat of Brexit?

That's true, a few days after the Brexit referendum we had a ten times increase in applications from the UK. They were mainly from the start-up and entrepreneurship world. Many start-uppers were afraid of what Brexit could bring, whether they'd still be able to work with EU companies, whether they'd still be able to have employees from the EU. E-residency in that sense allows them and helps them to still run EU-based companies whilst living in the UK.

Britons can live in the UK and work
with companies in the EU via Estonian
e-residency and services

Because essentially it gives them EU membership?

It gives them an EU company, an EU bank account and EU regulations. So you don't need to apply to each separate EU country for a set of regulations as you would have the Estonian EU entity. Through that entity, you can sell all your services and regulations apply there. That means that none of the Brexit people need to move from the UK to Europe to deal with EU businesses, because they can stay living in the UK and deal with the EU through their e-residency and business in Estonia.

What do you expect from E-residents? Will there be any kind of tax burden?

E-residents usually pay taxes in the countries where they are living and creating value. E-residency does not mean tax residency. It means that e-residents can just use the platform and the business environment to facilitate their businesses.

So is that how you make sure that this doesn't become a kind of tax haven type scheme or a "letter box" company?

Yes, it is exactly the opposite. This is the opposite of something like Panama where people might have gone to try and hide their taxes and hide their companies; because e-residency is a transparent business. Each shareholder and manager is available as information to the public. We are also sharing the tax revenues with local countries and other governments. As everything is digital and so all the transactions leave digital footprints there is no way to hide, or protect any wealth you might have. That's why e-residents who join are those kinds of people who want to share transparency and show they can be trusted.

What do e-residents receive in return?

If a person is outside of the EU, from an emerging market, the main benefit is access to financial services, access to bank accounts, to online payment providers and access to crowd-funding sites etc. Most of the people today can't offer this kind of online business. The second thing is that through Estonia, people and companies have access to the EU business environment. Estonia makes all that very easy and convenient because it is all done digitally. So establishing a company takes just 10 minutes; you can open bank accounts online, everything can be signed digitally, all the contracts and taxes so it is pretty much cost free. The third reason why people apply is the freedom which an e-residency provides. Even if your country offers all the services and is pretty cost effective, people in today's world travel a lot. Sometimes those people's own countries might still require them to be physically present to sign something or declare something, but now people travel all around the world, digital nomadism is everywhere and e-residency helps run your business without having one fixed place of abode.

The more people and countries connected, the higher the value of the network

Have other countries enquired about whether or not they could offer a similar kind of program?

Yes we are actually helping many other governments to adopt this. We don't see this as a competition but rather a partnership because the more governments which offer this kind of services, the more players will be on the network and then the more value it brings to the network. We know that Lithuania is about to adopt it, we are helping Singapore, Japan and the Netherlands. Once a country starts serving its own citizens digitally as Estonia has been doing for the last 15-17 years then there is really no reason why you can't start serving other citizens too who want to take part in your business environment.

Kaspar Korjus is director of Estonia's e-residency program. If you are interested in applying for e-residency, you can go online to e-resident.gov.ee

Estonia votes amid jitters over Ukraine crisis

Estonians are going to the polls in elections dominated by economic issues. But the vote is also marked by unease over neighboring Russia's intervention in Ukraine.

Deutsche Welle, 1 March 2015

Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Roivas (Foto: dpa)

Estonians were voting on Sunday in parliamentary elections that opinion polls suggest are likely to see the current center-left coalition under Prime Minister Taavi Roivas (pictured above) returned to power.

A TNS Emor opinion poll released on Saturday showed Roivas' pro-market Reform Party in the lead with a predicted 26 percent of the vote, ahead of the Center Party of Edgar Savisaar on 22 percent.

Roivas' coalition partners, the Social Democrats, were on 19 percent. Seven other parties are also in the running at Sunday's vote, including the conservative IRL, which commanded 16 percent in the pre-election survey

The main parties have all campaigned on social issues, with promises to increase the minimum wage, reducing taxes for low earners and improving family benefits figuring largely in their platforms.

Russia's long shadow

However, the vote is also being overshadowed by fears over ex-Soviet master Russia's actions in Ukraine, following Moscow's annexation of Crimea earlier last year amid widespread allegations that it is fomenting and militarily supporting a separatist insurgency in the east of the country.

Many in Estonia are concerned that the Kremlin could attempt to destabilize other nations that were formerly part of the Soviet Union.

Savisaar, 64, a former Communist Party member and current mayor of the capital city Tallinn, alienated many Estonians last year by supporting the Crimean annexation, but still enjoys considerable backing among the ethnic Russians who make up a quarter of the Baltic country's population of 1.3 million.

It is unlikely, however, that his party, which in some earlier polls scored better than the government coaltion, would find partners with which to govern in case of victory.

'New Nordic nation'

Roivas - who at 35 is the youngest head of government in the European Union - has promised to turn Estonia into a "new Nordic country" by boosting economic growth in the eurozone state.

NATO put on a display of power in Narva

He has also emphasized that Estonia's NATO membership gives it security against any threat emanating from Russia, a view publicly shared by his defense minister, Sven Mikser of the Social Democrats.

To mark Estonia's Independence Day, the US and other NATO troops paraded on Tuesday through the city of Narva on the Russian border in what was seen as a demonstration of solidarity within the military alliance.

Ninety percent of the 60,000 people living in Narva, one of the poorest cities in the EU, are ethnic Russians.

tj/kms (AFP, dpa)

Related Article:

Estonia's governing party wins parliamentary election - New

Estonia passes gay partnership law

Iafrica – AFP, Thu, 09 Oct 2014

Photo of the rainbow flag symbolising gay pride.  

Estonia on Thursday became the first ex-Soviet republic to recognise civil partnerships for same-sex couples as parliament narrowly passed a controversial law that also paved the way for adoption rights.

The Cohabitation Act passed with 40 in favour and 38 against in the 101-member parliament, but several other laws must be amended before it can take effect.

Similar civil partnership laws apply in 14 other European countries.

The measure, which was launched by 41 legislators from various parties, has stirred intense controversy across the Baltic country of 1.3 million people.

A recent EMOR poll suggested that two-thirds of Estonians reject the measure, despite the fact that Estonia has one of Europe's highest percentages of self-declared atheists.

"In Soviet society everyone who was different was an enemy - some because of their sexuality, which was even punishable," parliamentary speaker Eiki Nestor told AFP.

"The fact that this law has passed in itself will make society more tolerant."

The legislation confers all legal rights of heterosexual marriage - including allowing same-sex couples to adopt children.

A person can adopt the biological child of his or her registered partner. It also contains a provision allowing same-sex couples who are both infertile to adopt.

The measure stands in stark contrast to the anti-gay measures and political rhetoric in other formerly Soviet countries, most notably Russia.

Estonia broke free from nearly half a century under the Soviet thumb in 1990 and went on to join the European Union and NATO in 2004.

Gay rights activist Rain Uusen applauded the fact that same-sex couples registered under the law would now have the same spousal rights of heterosexual couples on crucial matters like legal issues and health.

But protesters from the Foundation for the Protection of Family and Tradition, backed by similar US organisations and Catholic groups, have led a vocal opposition campaign arguing the law would "disfigure the moral basis of our society".

Supporters of the law including local celebrities launched a Facebook campaign that scored over 17 000 likes. They also handed out thousands of flowers to MPs in the parliament building asking for their vote.

Related Article:

US supreme court decision paves way for sweeping expansion of gay rights

No permanent NATO troop presence in Eastern Europe, Merkel says

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out permanently stationing NATO troops in Eastern Europe. She said that the alliance will defend the Baltic states, while upholding its treaty obligations with Russia.

Deutsche Welle, 3 Sep 2014

Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, Chancellor Merkel said that Russia would likely respect the territorial integrity of the three Baltic countries, but acknowledged that NATO still had to take some measures to reassure its eastern member states.

"When it comes to the question of the defense of the Baltic countries, I assume that the territorial integrity of these countries will be preserved," Merkel said, discussing Moscow's intentions in the region.

The three Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - former Soviet republics that are now NATO members - have observed the Ukraine crisis with growing concern for their own safety.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed the right to intervene to defend the rights of Russian speakers. All three countries have significant Russian-speaking minorities.

"We will adopt a series of measures at the NATO summit that will improve the ability of NATO to react quickly in this region, while respecting the NATO-Russia act," Merkel said.

Signed in 1997, the NATO-Russia Founding Act prohibits the Western alliance from basing large number of troops in Eastern Europe, where the former Soviet Union reigned supreme during the Cold War.

Merkel's comments come as US President Barack Obama visited Estonia, where he reassured Tallinn of Washington's commitment to the country's security.

Two-tier alliance?

The Western alliance is searching for a way to reassure its eastern members without provoking the Kremlin. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has proposed creating a rapid reaction force of up to 5,000 troops and pre-positioning ammunition, fuel and other military supplies in Eastern Europe.

But on Tuesday, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said that the alliance should establish permanent bases in his country.

"We should not have NATO with two-tier countries, with NATO permanent bases and without," Hendrik said during a trip to Oslo. "This is a wrong signal to send to the potential aggressor."

Non-lethal supplies to Ukraine

In addition, Germany has moved to send non-lethal supplies to the Ukrainian military, which is battling pro-Russian separatists in its eastern regions. The supplies would include bulletproof vests, field hospitals and other medical equipment.

NATO meets in Newport, Wales on Thursday, where the alliance is expected to adopt a more concrete plan to defend its eastern member states.

Although Ukraine is not a NATO member, President Petro Poroshenko will also attend the summit. Kyiv, officially a non-aligned country, has publicly stated that it would like to join the Western alliance.

slk/sb (AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Obama arrives in Estonia to reassure Baltic leaders

US President Barack Obama has touched down in Estonia. He is due to hold talks with Baltic leaders as NATO prepares to bolster its military presence in Eastern Europe amid the Ukraine crisis.

Deutsche Welle, 3 Sep 2014

Obama landed in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, early on Wednesday aboard Air Force One. He is due to meet Baltic leaders, in what is a symbolic show of solidarity with Eastern Europe while emphasizing Washington's commitment to the security of the Baltic states.

It comes a day ahead of a NATO summit in Newport, Wales, in which Obama and Western allies will approve plans to position at least 4,000 troops and military equipment in the region. That plan is an attempt to calm growing insecurity particularly among Baltic states, nervous about the Russian-backed military intervention in eastern Ukraine.

While Ukraine is not a part of NATO, alliance members in Eastern and Central Europe fear they could be Moscow's next targets, prompting the 28-nation bloc to come up with a more robust response.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed the right to intervene on behalf of Russian speakers if Moscow believes their rights are under threat. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - all former Soviet republics that are now NATO members - have significant Russian minorities.

In 1997, NATO and Russia signed an agreement in which the Western alliance agreed to not permanently station a substantial number of combat troops in Eastern Europe. On Tuesday, Moscow warned NATO against establishing a permanent presence near Russia's borders, saying it would view such a move as a threat.

"The fact that the military infrastructure of NATO member states is getting closer to our borders, including via enlargement, will preserve its place as one of the external threats for the Russian Federation," Mikhail Popov, deputy director of Russia's national security council, told the RIA Novosti news agency.

Ukraine officials say their army is locked not only in a conflict with pro-Russian separatists, but also with the Russian military. Unverified reports on Tuesday said that Russian military forces had been spotted in two major rebel-held cities in eastern Ukraine.

Putin has denied that his forces are invading Ukraine.

jr/jm (AFP, AP)

The Baltic States: From Soviet to European

A quarter of a century ago the world watched on in fascination as people from the Baltic States formed a giant human chain to demonstrate for their freedom. They have come a long way since.

Deutsche Welle, 23 Aug 2014

August 23, 1989 will forever be the day when two million Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians joined hands to form a 600-kilometer cross-border human chain. United in spirit, they used the 50th anniversary of the Soviet-Nazi pact that had tethered them to Moscow for so long, to sing for their liberty.

Although the Soviet authorities banned the mass-scale protest, dubbed the "Baltic Way," defiance took hold, and some two million people turned out to join the movement. It was a defining moment along the region's road to its 1991 independence.

Norbert Beckmann-Dierkes, head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's Latvia and Lithuania office says the demonstration was a key moment in the history of the region. "It made people understand the possibility of using peaceful means, courage and commitment to tackle the dominant political force to affect change.”

And from then on, things moved quickly. The former Soviet republics committed to political and economic structural reforms, and not long after independence, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had become members of NATO and the EU.

Back in the European fold

Riga in Latvia is European capital
of culture for 2014

Beckmann-Dierkes says the Baltic states have come a long way in the past 25 years and now boast stable political systems, a commitment to democracy, freedom of speech, assembly and press. "They are back at the heart of Europe."

Raivo Vare, Minister of State in the first government following Estonian independence and Minister of Transport and Communications in subsequent cabinets, told DW that the Baltic's return to the European fold happened "faster than imagined."

So how, when other former Soviet republic such as Ukraine are quite literally fighting to find a way into Europe, did the Baltic states become such a success story? Vare believes the answer is embedded in the history of the region.

"We only endured the Soviet regime for 50 years, and some of those who remembered life before the USSR were still alive," he said.

Not without turmoil

That said, the transition to Europe was not without its violent moments. Vare recalls the night of the January 12, 1991 when Soviet troops stormed a Lithuanian television tower. Eleven people who stood in the path of Soviet tanks lost their lives.

The streets might be old, but the Estonian
 capital, Tallinn, has come a long way since
Soviet rule

These days, the Baltic nations cut fine political and economic figures, which Beckmann-Dierkes attributes to a healthy Baltic attitude. "They had to accept certain cuts, but they had a 'we-can-do-it' attitude, and that has paid off," he said, citing stable growing economies and imminent entry into the eurozone.

Raivo Vare believes the region's economic success is related to the implementation of radical reforms and a determination to succeed. "We want a faster rate of economic growth to put us on a par with our Scandinavian neighbors."

Fear of Russia

But not everything is perfect. Relations with Russia for one thing. Besides energy dependence, some regard Russian speaking minorities in the Baltic states as reason for concern.

Vare says not enough has been done to include minorities in Baltic societies. "On the one hand you have the Eurorussians, predominantly younger people who are largely integrated," he said. "But on the other hand, older people are still influenced by Russia and Russian state media."

But Beckmann-Dierkes warns against turning the problem into something it is not. "I have not yet met anyone from the Russian-speaking minority who says they desperately want to go back to Russia," he said. "On the contrary, they understand the value of the freedom and legal security offered by the European Union."