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Tallinn, 27 January 2012 – In his speech given today, on Holocaust Memorial Day at the Centre of the Estonian Jewish Community on the occasion of the opening of the memory gallery, Prime Minister Ansip extended his thanks to everyone who saved the traditions of the Estonian Jews in World War II.

“I understand and share the grief and pain caused to your community by the Holocaust. The gallery opened today will keep alive the memory of the 974 victims of monstrous crimes against humanity. That means 974 tragic fates, nearly a thousand of our countrymen and women, an entire community for small Estonia,” the Prime Minister said.

In his speech, the head of the government called on people to contemplate good and evil more deeply on this memorial day.

“As a small nation, Estonians have always understood the suffering of the Jews and held their friendship dear. We place great value on the contribution of our Jewish community in the story of the birth, rebirth, and success of the Republic of Estonia – starting from Jewish volunteers in the Estonian People’s Army in the War of Independence to cultural and economic figures who have brought fame and success to Estonia.

For its part, the independent Estonian state has always striven to make its best efforts to ensure that our Jewish community has all ethnic cultural rights. That principle was written down in 1918 in the birth act of the Republic of Estonia, our Independence Manifesto,” said Ansip.

The Prime Minister noted that, already by 1993 the first sitting of the Riigikogu had passed an act that expressly reopened the possibility of Jewish cultural local government in Estonia.

“I would like to express my recognition of the work done by the Jewish Community of Estonia,” said the head of government at today’s memorial event. \" I am convinced that success and mutual understanding cannot be overthrown by evil intentions or inconsideration, or by any provocateurs, yellow media, or foreign political forces.”

The Prime Minister emphasised that the crimes of totalitarian regimes are indelible and can never be justified, and Estonia has unequivocally condemned them.

Full text of the Prime Minister’s address

Tallinn, Stenbock House, 13 January 2012 – At a seminar showcasing the ‘Indicators of Sustainable Development’ compendium compiled by experts from the Government Office and Statistics Estonia, it was acknowledged that while the effects of the recession are already being seen on sustainable development, the broader impact and longer-term trends will only be able to be assessed several years down the line.

The compendium focuses on four areas, two of which in turn formed the core of today’s seminar: changes in productivity and employment during the recession and the impact of the crisis on health indicators.

Janno Järve, a senior analyst from the CentAR Centre for Applied Research, said that Estonia had experienced marked growth in productivity in the last twelve years.

“In terms of indicators we’ve shot up from 43% to 69% of the EU average,” he explained. “The effect of the financial crisis on productivity was modest, and expressed itself mostly as a slowdown in growth rather than a drop. It shows how good Estonian companies are at adapting, which in turn creates the kind of conditions you need for a rapid rise in employment.”

Praxis health policy analyst Riina Sikkut highlighted the general trend in developed countries at the seminar, whereby mortality and life expectancy do not fall as a result of economic downturn – the reason for this being the typically higher standard of living and the social systems that have emerged.

“It’s true of Estonia, too, that the social system – which is much more robust than it used to be – and the relatively high standard of living have kept the effects of the recession in check to some extent when it comes to health indicators,” she said.

Two positive examples Sikkut gave were the growth in life expectancy and rise in healthy years of living during the recession. “In terms of negatives, we have the higher number of new psychiatric cases in 2008 and 2010 and the worsening of availability of health care services – the proportion of people who claimed to have had difficulty getting the medical help they needed increased in both 2010 and 2011,” she added. “And while it turns out that the number of unnatural deaths fell in 2010 overall, the number of those who died in fires and because of freezing conditions rose slightly. So a long, cold winter can have more of an impact on mortality indicators than a recession.”

In summary, those giving presentations at the seminar agreed that although the recession had not had a significant worsening effect on general indicators, individual areas need to be looked at in more detail – since a particular section of society was hit by the crisis far more painfully. Another key trend highlighted at the event was that the long-term influence of the recession could be greater, since worsening in people’s standard of living tends to manifest itself later than the drop in macro-economic indicators. Also, a further key issue discussed was the fact that in terms of health indicators, Estonians remain a long way from even the European Union average.

‘Indicators of Sustainable Development’ is an overview published by Statistics Estonia every two years. It examines progress in the four objectives of the ‘Sustainable Estonia 21’ development strategy: the viability of Estonia’s cultural space; growth in well-being; cohesion within society; and ecological balance. The compendium assesses development in these areas on the basis of 75 indicators.

‘Indicators of Sustainable Development’ is available online at http://www.stat.ee/publication-download-pdf?publication_id=25638.

Secretary of State Heiki Loot today presented to the cabinet an overview of how the Government of the Republic’s operational programme for 2011-2015 was implemented in the government’s first year of activity.

The top priorities for the government this year were keeping the public finances in order, making changes to the taxation system, increasing the competitiveness of the entrepreneurial environment, reforms in education and defence policy, incentivizing energy conservation and increasing the efficiency of the public sector.
An overview of primary activities carried out in 2011 and initiatives launched can be found on the government’s website (in Estonian): http://valitsus.ee/et/uudised/taustamaterjalid/51132/ulevaade-valitsuse-tegevusprogrammi-taitmisest

A more thorough overview of implementation of the operational programme in which the development trends in the government’s objectives are analysed, will be presented to the government along with the updated operational programme in April 2012.

Turku, 12 December 2011 – Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip and Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen said at their meeting today in Turku that the European Council’s decisions may provide support for countries in the debt crisis but that only the problem countries themselves can resolve the crisis.

Yet greater attention must be paid at the EU level to developing the common internal market, they said.

“At a time that many countries in the EU are in trouble with the debt crisis, the Baltic Sea countries stand out for their responsible financial policy,” said Prime Minister Katainen, adding that the Baltic region could be an example for others given its functioning internal market. For instance, a company can be founded using an ID card in both Finland and Estonia. One’s address can also be updated electronically using the ID card. Finns can use online Estonian public services at eesti.ee and for Estonians the respective website is suomi.fi. At the same time, the premiers said that the common market and digital internal market must continue to be actively developed and useful common e-services for the citizens and companies of both countries explored.

The heads of government said one of the reconditions for developing the internal market was to develop cross-border infrastructure within the European Union. The prime ministers said they were pleased over positive developments on the Rail Baltic project front. Ansip confirmed that cooperation has been good between the three Baltics in developing the project. By the end of next year, a joint enterprise should be set up to serve as the owner of the Rail Baltic project and be the linchpin for the entire development operation.

Katainen said they, too, considered Rail Baltic important and beneficial as it would simplify access to the European markets for Finnish products and Finnish companies operating in the Baltics and it would also benefit Finnish import.

The premiers also discussed the common energy market. Katainen said Estlink 2 was an important investment, as it would improve the reliability of energy supply of both countries and strengthen the energy security of both countries. The Finnish prime minister also expressed readiness to take part in discussions on solutions to the regional gas market, including the debate over the possible location of the LNG terminal.

After the bilateral meeting between the heads of government, the prime ministers took part in a University of Turku seminar on Europe’s future. In addition, Ansip also met Turku mayor Aleksi Randell and visited the international technology group Teleste and the centre for Turku’s European Capital of Culture programme, Logomo.

Tallinn, Stenbock House, 12 December 2011 – As of today, General Ants Laaneots is serving as adviser to Prime Minister Andrus Ansip on matters of national defence and security.

Gen. Laaneots, who retired from duty as Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces last week, will begin advising the Prime Minister on defence policy issues. He will also be responsible for reviewing draft legislation and development plans in this field.

Prime Minister Ansip said he was pleased with the general’s decision to accept the position.

“Ants Laaneots’s broad experience and military expertise are highly regarded and will help strengthen the Estonian national defence further in future. Organizing national defence in a productive manner will require efficacious leadership, rapid decision-making and cooperation between various agencies and spheres. I am convinced that the counsel of General Laaneots in his capacity as adviser to the prime minister and the entire cabinet, will make a significant contribution to achieving these aims,” said Ansip.

The national defence strategy that came into effect earlier this year emphasizes a broad-based approach where not only military defence but also community support, active participation in international alliances, increased internal security, assurance regarding functioning of vital services and development of psychological defence must all be ensured.

General Ants Laaneots was born on 16 January 1948 in Kilingi-Nõmme in Pärnu County. He graduated from the Higher Military School in Kharkov, Ukraine, the Malinovsky Military Academy of Armoured Forces in Moscow, and has studied at the NATO Defence College in Rome and the Finnish National Defence College. Laaneots served in the Soviet army, attaining the rank of polkovnik (colonel), and also served as military adviser to the commander of an infantry division and to the commanding general of an army corps.

In newly independent Estonia, Laaneots was appointed by the cabinet in autumn 1991 to establish the General Staff of the Defence Forces and from 1991-1994, Laaneots was the Chief of the General Staff. From 1994-1996 he served as director of AS ESS Lõuna. In 1997, Laaneots served as chief inspector of the Defence Forces and from 1997-1999 he was again the Chief of the General Staff.

Before becoming head of the National Defence College in 2001, General Laaneots served as head of the Baltic Defence Research Centre. In 2002, he was named defence attaché in Russia and Ukraine. From December 2006 to last Monday, Laaneots was commander-in-chief of the Estonian Defence Forces.

Ants Laaneots was promoted to general this summer.