It depends, as Postimees has published in a survey, on the place where you are going to buy the textbooks,

School in Estonia is mandatory till ninth grade, and during these academic years books are for free.

After that, every school is different.

In the 10^th grade, some schools don not give any financial aid, others do not used printed textbooks and, in some of them, the municipal government pays for the books.

For example, in Tartu County`s Nõo Reaalgümnaasium, the textbooks for two semesters in 10^th grade cost more than 50 Euros (780 EEK).

In Tallinn, if you study in the Laagna Gümnaasium, families will pay 45 or 55 Euros (between 700 and 860 EEK) depending on which foreign language are the students studying.

All, of course, if you do not want to follow the way shown by Stanford University and start using iPads instead of textbooks…

**We apologize with our readers and with Eesti Pank because of the mistake in the previous headline stating that the destiny of the Central Bank would have been decided after the elections. Off course the future of Eesti Pank is not in connection with the elections and we thank the staff of Eesti Pank for contacting us immediately and help us on offering You a better service**

Estonian Minister of Economics Juhan Parts announced that the partial sale of state-owned Eesti Post will not take place happen before March 2011, when the national Elections for the Parliament are due to take place, Bloomberg reports.

There is an absence of unity around the issue from the government according to Parts, who also supported the selling postponement to let the future administration take the decision.

Eesti Post future destiny has three options that the future leaders of the country will have to study: keeping the company in the state hands, sharing part of it whit an investor, or selling more than the 50%.

The decision of letting non-government capital entering the national postal service business by this year was taken in 2008.

Eesti Energia AS, future:

The Economy Minister also spoke about the future plans for the national energy company explaining that the possibility of building  two oil shale-fired power stations made uncertain if it will require external funding other than the public ones destined to the project.

According to Parts, it is possible that the estate will carry out with all the cost from the government reverses, without needing tap capital markets or issue a bond.

Eesti Energia which is the biggest electric public company in the Baltic, has been tempted by Canada’s SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. and France’s Alstom SA.

Both companies want to invest in the construction of both units that are expected to have a capacity of 300 megawatts each.

The Estonian economical got a little better during the first half on 2010, as some data published by Eesti Pank and widely discussed on Aripaev English portal BBN showed.

However, even during 2010 unemployment stayed ad one of the biggest problems for the country and, seen the trend of unemployment rate, it is most likely to expect that it will keep staying high also in the coming years.

And, considering that economic recovery, unemployment and imminent arrival of the Euro are altogether creating some doubts about what is going to happen, we decided to go for the help of the Governor of the Bank of Estonia, Andres Lipstok.

A help that – unfortunately – Eesti Pank denied us saying that since Mr. Lipstok already discussed about similar issues with Postimees reporters, we could easily get answers to our questions to what already published by the Estonian daily.

Let’s open Postimees then!

Lipstok’s opinion, as he said in Postimees, is that Euro has proved successful.

He said that “average inflation in the euro area has remained low, and the strong legal foundation that has guaranteed the central bank system the independence necessary to fulfill monetary policy goals has given people in Europe confidence that price rises will remain under control in the future”.

About inflation, he also stressed that the rate will be between 1.4 and 2.2% in the Euro area next years.

Economical crisis

He also pointed out that the monetary union has helped the countries during the economical crisis because, without Euro “European countries would have struggled more with the negative impacts of the financial crisis”.

Lipstok emphasized that the reaction of the countries in order to solve the problems is a sign of the desire to keep the Euro alive and can develop a more efficient system.

However, he thought that the economical crisis cannot be underestimated even if the support that Euro has received from the members ”provides a link in the monetary union that has passed its first test surprisingly well.”

“In some ways the Euro system is even stronger than it was before the crisis, as the insecurity caused by the crisis has already partially disappeared”.

Although Euro is helping to facilitate the economical activity, Lipstok believed that the European single currency has also some problems like “there are too many European countries that have not joined the monetary union yet”.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” is one of the most popular says in the world and, as experience tells, there are museums that seem to have that say written in stones at the entrance doors.

Tallinn Occupation Museum, which opening dates the summer of 2003 is the first in the country to be fully dedicated to the occupation years from 1939 to 1991, the dark times of Estonian history when the independence of the country was nothing but an aspiration and a dream.

The building itself is small and modern – but the contrast created by the light passing through its glass walls creates a somehow respectful atmosphere for what is kept in the museum’s rooms.

Right at the entrance, visitors are welcomed with informative glass panels explaining that the function and somehow motto of the museum is to avoid “the loss of memory”.

Or, better, I quote: “The gaps in memory are dangerous for the people. Estonia is the only home that Estonia has”.

Furthermore, the museum is also a memorial for the multitudes of people that are buried in unmarked graves.

To learn and to see

The museum of occupation can be divided into three different parts guiding visitors to understand and go through the harsh times Estonia lived for more than fifty years. The first part is the main hall where visitors can touch and see the marks of the history in several objects that are distributed around the gallery.

Some of them will catch visitor’s attention more than other ones as the refugee boat that was used by those who escape from Hiiuma to Gotland during the II World War.

All together with several iron prison doors, a telephone booth from the 70′s and dozens of suitcases from people who were forced to leave Estonia forming queues.

The second part of the exhibition, then is set according to historical periods during the occupation era:the first soviet occupation, the German occupation that ended with the Red Year, and then the second Soviet occupation, whit an especial focus on Stalin’s period, the deportations, the stabilization of the regime or the economic decline of the Soviet Union that lead to the instability and the vanishing of the USSR.

There are objects, clothes and documents exposed as timeless witnesses of what the occupation era was.

Some of those objects are more than curious for those who have never lived under the soviet regime, like the table game “Flying to the moon”, where the starting square is a big map of the former USSR countries.

Furthermore, there are newspapers with political propaganda, bank notes, soldier’s uniforms, tobacco and other goods complete the gallery’s collection.

All the periods have their own documentary film, that can be seen in three different languages (Estonian, English and Russian).

Each one of them is about 30 minutes long and gives thanks to real footages an explanation of the concrete situation of the Estonian people living under the two oppressive regimes.

The last part of the exhibition will take the visitors to the cellar  where some old statuettes of the communist era removed from the streets of different cities within the country are exposed for the pleasure of the visit.

Main facts:

Tallinn Occupation Museum.

Toompea 8, Tallinn.

The museum closes on Mondays.

Opening hours are from 11:00 am to 18:00 pm.

Ticket prices: Adults 30 EEK;  pupils, students and seniors, 15 EEK; Tallinn Card holders enter for free

[The article is the second part of the interview to Toomas Hiio - Estonian historian who discussed with us the Molotov Ribbentrop pact 70 years later - click here to see the fist part of the interview.]

The pact was over in 1941 but… was still the pact having any influence in Estonia?

Yes, it has. The Sovietisation continued after the World War II. Tens of thousands of Estonian citizens were arrested on political reasons.

Also the mass deportations followed in 1945, 1949, 1950 and 1951. Although the direct crimes against humanity were ended after the Stalin’s death, the last victims returned from the prison camps only in 1980s.

Repressed people and their descendants were often treated as the people of second category; impediments were made for them for example in joining to the higher education establishments, in becoming of an apartment in the conditions Soviet state apartmental policy etc.

The proportion of ethnic Estonians in the whole population has fallen from about 90% in 1940 to about 65% in 1989 due to the forced migration of labor forces from the other parts of Soviet Union.

The society was highly militarized; tens of thousands of Soviet army troops were stationed in Estonia with often resulted in the pollution of environment.

The traditional Estonian living style was destroyed with the collectivization of agriculture (the farmers were forced to join the kolkhozes, their lands were confiscated) and forced urbanization.

The latter did not avoid the economic and social backwardness – the development was much slower as in the neighboring countries (Finland) with the market economy and without ideological communist pressure in every field of life.

Estonia was closed from the free world. The overcoming of the social and moral consequences of the Soviet occupation has needed a lot of time and efforts. Etc.

Without the Molotov Ribbentrop coming into force, what could have been different in Estonia?

If you look at the countries in the neighborhood which succeeded to defend their independence you can imagine what could have been different.

But I am not very big admirer of the may-be-histories.

Did it mean anything positive for Estonia?

The positiveness we can find only in comparison with the other nations who suffered the harsh Soviet repressions.

For example if you keep in mind some nations in the Northern Caucasus who were deported as a whole.

So, it could have been even worse. Estonia has also an advantage due to its geographical position.

Also the leading Western powers paid more attention to the Baltic States as to the union republics in Central Asia for example.

Annexion was not recognized by them and the Baltic States were the former members of the League of Nations.

Since 1950s a lot of Estonians in Northern Estonian could watch Finnish TV – so, the real world which opened for us after the breakdown of the Soviet Union and the regaining of independence was not totally unknown and it was helpful during the quick development in 1990s.

Estonians had and have also the diaspora in Sweden, United States, Canada and other states.

There the knowledge of our statehood (in a form of Legation in London, Consulate General in New York and exile government in Sweden) was preserved which was very important during the restoration of our statehood in 1990s.

The absolute majority of Estonian citizens in Estonia also did not identify themselves with the Soviet Union as a Fatherland.

Therefore the restoration of Estonian independence had a support of the absolute majority of population. Probably the level of some post-communist nostalgia in Estonian society is the lowest among the all Eastern European states.

Were the rest of the countries influenced in the same ways by it?

If you mean Latvia and Lithuania then yes. History went of course otherwise in Finland, Poland and Bessarabia.

Do you think that nowadays people remember correctly about this pact?

In Estonia yes. It is a part of our school curricula and during the last 20 years the issue has been more or less constantly in the public in form of commemorations, lectures, newspaper articles, books, TV- and radio programs etc.

Do you think that the 23th of August is the best date to remember the victims of the totalitarianism?

I am an historian. At least in part “totalitarianism” is a political term.

But in the most common meaning the totalitarianism is a term which is characterizing the power system, politics and rule of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

The World War II in Europe with millions of civilian victims and its consequences in the Eastern Europe with hundreds of thousands of civilian victims were the most inhuman results of the totalitarianism in Europe.

Therefore the 23^rd of August is of course the most appropriate date to commemorate all the victims in Europe.

It is not anyway downplaying the importance of the commemoration of the victims of Holocaust on 27 January.

Of course there are similar commemoration days also in Asia and Africa where millions also suffered of the crimes against humanity which were committed by the totalitarian regimes in a broader sense of this term.

[2.2 end]

Last 23^rd of August was the 71^st anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the agreement that divided Eastern Europe in two spheres of influence, the Soviet Union and the Nazi Germany.

71 years later, the Estonian party IRL (Pro Patria and Res Publica Union), says that the 23^rd of August has to be a day to remember all the totalitarianism’s victims.

This is also the opinion of Toomas Hiio, historian that Estonian Free Press contacted after the declarations of the IRL party to have a deeper view and a historical overview about what happened in 1939 and how that moment changed the history of Estonia.

The pact divided Eastern Europe in spheres of influence. In which ways did it change Estonian history back then?

Estonia fell into the sphere of influence of Soviet Union. In the days of the defeat of Poland in September 1939 the Soviet Union demanded in an ultimate way, using the threat of direct military attack the all three Baltic States and Finland to sign the mutual assistance treaties with the Soviet Union.

According to these treaties the Soviet military bases had to be built on the territories of Baltic countries and Finland. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania signed the treaties and Soviet military bases were built on the territories of these countries, i.e. de facto Baltic States became the protectorates of the Soviet Union.

Although they remained the members of the League of Nations and the foreign legations continued their activities in the Baltic States.

Finland did not accept Soviet proposals and on 30 November 1939 the Finnish Winter War began. Estonia was in a very disgraceful situation.

In the Estonian War of Independence in 1918-1920 Finnish volunteers helped young Estonian army to resist the first attacks of the Red Army. Estonia got also the financial and material support from Finland during this war. Finns are our relative nation.

But now Estonia was an unwilling ally of the Soviet Union and had to be neutral. Soviet air force violated Estonian neutrality using Estonian airfields for the bombing of Finland. Estonia had to hinder Estonian volunteers to go to Finland.

Part of Finnish defense was built up in 1930s to the cooperation with Estonian coastal artillery against the Soviet Baltic Fleet. Now this part of defense did not function any more.

Secondly, after the German-British naval agreement of 1935 it was clear that the Great Britain has abandoned its interests on the Baltic Sea.

Before it Estonian politicians saw the Great Britain as a great military power which is guaranteeing Estonian security on the international level.

During the War of Independence British navy operated in the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland and it has been a big support for the Estonian military forces. After 1935 the importance of Germany arose in Estonian foreign policy.

Estonians did not like Germans on historical reasons but also due to the German occupation from February to November 1918. After the agreement between the Soviet Union and Germany in August 1939 Estonia was thrown into the isolation.

There were no big supporters any more. Finland and other Baltic states had their own problems. The third big state, Poland, was defeated in a very short time by the both enemies.

The defeat of Poland influenced the Estonian government to evaluate the situation as hopeless and to sign the mutual assistance agreement with the Soviet Union.

In June 1940 another ultimatum was delivered to all Baltic States. Ultimatum included the demand of the deployment of additional Soviet troops to the Baltic States and the change of governments.

All Baltic States accepted the ultimatums under the threat of the direct military attack and on 17 June 1940 Estonia was occupied by the Soviet forces. During a few days the overtaking of Estonian state by the Soviet Union took place.

The pro-Soviet governments were set up by the Soviet emissaries in all Baltic States. In the beginning of August all three states were incorporated to the Soviet Union as union republics.

Forced Sovietisation began which resulted in destroying of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian statehoods, confiscation of private property and last but not least in enormous human losses in form of political arrests and executions of elites and deportation of tens of thousands of men, women and children in June 1941.

The United States declared on 23 July 1940 the non-recognition of the political changes in the Baltic States (the declaration of the Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles).

After the World War II the most of democratic countries did not recognize the forcible annexation of Baltic States.

In January 2006 in a Judgment of Kolk and Kislyiy vs. Estonia also the European Court of Human Rights has stated, that Estonia and other Baltic States were occupied by the Soviet Union and Germany in 1940–1991.

[1.2 continues tomorrow]

Estonian government has started a campaign, known as the Fair Pricing Agreement, to avoid an uncontrolled future increase in the prices due to the euro-switch.

The campaign organized by the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry started last Monday even if it was only on the 28^th of August that organizations and were able to officially join the Agreement.

The final number of signatories is unknown yet although the online application system has already  received more than 50 requests.

“The main objective is to prevent unjustified (with no economic reason) price increases that can be connected to the adoption of euro currency” says Siim Raie, General director of the chamber.

Raie also emphasizes that the campaign is also a support for the consumer’s trust: “ it is a message from the business sector to consumer that we will no abuse the change of currency for increasing price level”.

Another reason is to prevent speeding up of the inflation, one of the biggest fears related to the Euro adoption.

The campaign aims to gather as many companies as possible although joining the Agreement is voluntary.

However, customers will know who have singed or not as Mr Raie explains: “all who have joined will get stickers and posters to let their customers know that they appreciate the principles of Fair Pricing and will keep the promise of not increasing the prices due to the changeover”

Controlling if the companies are carrying the pledge out has also been considered by Chamber and if one of them fails to fulfill the agreement there will be consequences.

“The Consumer Protection Board has the mandate by the Consumer Protection Law to supervise the campaign” says Raie, who also states that the companies that join the pledge but fail will be taken off from the lists and the signs will be removed.

The Fair Pricing Campaign, which will last till the end of June 2011, is also supported by  a media campaign that will last for the whole fall 2010.

The Estonian Cyclists Union is going to compete next month in the UCI (Union Cycliste International) Road World Championship 2010 with a team up to four people.

The competition will take place in Melbourne, Australia, from the 29th of September till the 3rd of October.

Together with the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia, the UCI forms he Triple Crown of Cycling for men at the professional level.
In the final race in Melbourne, cyclist are going to compete in a 15,9 kilometers route, with eleven laps and two steep climbs will a small uphill at the end.

Tanel Kangert and Grete Treier are two very strong candidates, as Rene Mandri, Kalle Kriit and Rein Taaramäe. In the Under 23 (U-23) category, Silver Schultz or Martin Puusepp will compete for Estonia.

For further information about the World Championship, initiated back in 1927 in Germany, you can check Melbourne official website:
http://www.melbourne2010.com.au/