The President of Estonia Honours Canadian Veterans and Canadian Armed Forces Personnel

His Excellency Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of the Republic of Estonia, accompanied by the Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister for La Francophonie, today paid tribute to Canadian Veterans and Canadian Armed Forces personnel during a wreath-laying ceremony at the National War Memorial. 

"Since Estonia regained its independence in 1991, our countries have worked together on military operations with the goal of defending peace, freedom and democracy around the world," said Minister Blaney. "We are grateful to the people of Estonia for recognizing the commitment and sacrifices of Canada's Veterans and our men and women in uniform today." 

An estimated 24,000 individuals of Estonian descent call Canada home, making it the second largest Estonian community outside of Estonia. Canada was among the first countries to recognize Estonia's independence in 1991 and was first to ratify its accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 2004. In addition, both Estonia and Canada participate in the NATO-led International Security Force in Afghanistan. 

During the ceremony, President Ilves signed the Livre D'Or, a guest book for foreign dignitaries, which records their participation in commemorative ceremonies at the National War Memorial.

More information on Canada's military history can be found on the Veterans Affairs Canada website at veterans.gc.ca.

Estonia to Study Russian Spies

The Estonian government commissioned two studies into the operations of Russian foreign intelligence services from 1930s to the present day, local news website Rus.err.ee reported.

The two new studies will cost a combined 26,000 euro ($32,500) and be carried out by a think tank, Baltic Center for Russian Studies, which is set to complete them by mid-2013, Rus.err.ee said.

The study will be “retrospective” and based on open sources, but could still yield useful findings because some things, such as recruitment methods for new agents, stay unchanged for centuries, said the think tank’s director Vladimir Yushkin.

In April, the Estonian Security Police, known as Kapo, said in a report that Estonia, a NATO member, is becoming the target of increased activity by Russian intelligence agencies looking for information about the alliance’s plans.

The report followed the arrest in February of Kapo officer Alexei Dressen who was accused of trying to hand over classified information to Russia.

In 2009, Estonian Defense Ministry official Herman Simm was convicted of spying for Russia and sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison.

Language-labeled: Estonia brands inmates ‘Nazi-style’?

A scandal is brewing in Estonia, where inmates are reportedly labeled according to how fluent they are in the national language. The practice is reminiscent of how Nazi Germany marked Jews, homosexuals and other categories of people in death camps.

Some Estonian inmates now bear the letters A, B or C on their clothes, representing the level of their language skills, says Director of the Institute of the Estonian Language Urmas Sutrop. Those barely able to communicate are labeled with “A”, “B” is reserved for those with average level, while fluent speakers are tagged with “C”.

Inmates who cannot speak Estonian at all are not marked in any way, Sutrop told the Postimees newspaper, citing a letter he had received from a prisoner.

The tags are an addition to the usual ID badges that inmates in Estonia have to wear.

“The inmate says this is very humiliating. I asked the Justice Ministry if it was true. They said it is. They said the initiative was sponsored by the inmates themselves. I asked the language inspection and they agreed with me that such labeling is wrong. They browsed through legislation and failed to find a law that would justify such actions,” he said.

Sutrop did not specify which Estonian prison labels people in that way. He stressed that the practice “is reminiscent of the Holocaust times, when Jews had a yellow Star of David attached to their chests. They branded Jews in Estonia this way from September 11, 1941.”

In addition to marking the Jewish civilian population, Nazi Germany used a color-marking system at its concentration camps. Prisoners had triangles sewn to their clothes. For instance, political prisoners wore red triangles, forced laborers wore blue ones, homosexuals and rapists wore pink marks and so on.

The Estonian government has been actively promoting the national language since the Baltic country became sovereign in 1991. The drive however came at a cost of alienating its large Russian-speaking minority. They either have to pass a rigorous language test to be granted citizenship or remain stateless.

 At the same time, use of Russian has been discouraged, provoking numerous conflicts both on everyday relations level and in the diplomatic sphere.