Worldcrunch
With Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas put on Russia’s Most Wanted list, Tallinn is drawing up clear plans on how it intends to secure its border with Russia — an idea it shares with Latvia and Lithuania. But the three small countries don’t have the territorial or strategic depth to absorb an attack the way Ukraine did, which is why they ultimately rely on NATO.
Russia is losing in Ukraine not just because of Putin’s madness and the heroism of Ukrainians, but also because Russia’s army is built for rapid invasion and occupation, not for the type of grinding war it is now fighting in Ukraine.
An Estonian e-residency that gives holders access to the country’s government services and business networks has growing takeup in both mainland China and Taiwan. For both business and political reasons.
A missile attack early Friday kills four, as civilians try to evacuate the largest Ukrainian city under Russian occupation.
The southern city, which fell to Moscow’s forces in the first days of the war, could become the clearest symbol of the success of Ukraine’s autumn drive to retake territory.
With fears of a disaster at the Zaporizhzhia power plant on the world’s mind, three men met on Thursday in Lviv, to discuss nuclear security in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres — and once again vowing to play a part in finding a solution […]
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan are due in Lviv today for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage. Sign up to our free daily newsletter. The three will discuss grain and nuclear safety, while Erdogan is also […]
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed in an interview with the Washington Post on Tuesday that although he knew about the likelihood of a Russian invasion, the Ukrainian government did not make the news public to avoid causing panic. “We knew about the war, but we could not warn the Ukrainians about it, otherwise, we would […]
The European Union has renewed its sanctions against Russia until the end of January 2023, while also taking a major step to try to reduce dependency on Russian energy exports. Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage. Sign up to our free daily newsletter. The EU energy ministers […]
A man busking in the shade, a charming archway … Going through my archives, this picture looked so familiar that I thought I’d already shown it here on Worldcrunch. But I was actually thinking of a different photograph that I took, as luck would have it, during the same tour of the Baltic states, in […]
With Britain missing its turn for the European Union presidency in light of Brexit, the rotating six-month duty has fallen into Estonia’s lap earlier than planned. Until the end of the year, the northernmost Baltic country will lead the EU through a complicated period: On top of difficult divorce negotiations between Britain and the 27-nation […]
Strange to think that only five years before we toured the Baltic states, the spire of St. Olaf’s church — which ranks among the tallest in the world — was still used as a radio tower and surveillance point by the KGB in the Estonian capital.
In 2001, Estonia became the first former Soviet country to win Eurovision. The annual song contest had become quite popular there after its first participation in 1994 and has always been since then. So much so that, in 2009, when Estonia said it would withdraw from the contest, set to be held in Moscow during […]
Not just cheap — but *free* public transport — deserves a proper public hearing. A look at the irony of those now in power, and their desire to silence legitimate debate.
TALLINN – It’s 4 p.m., and night is already falling on Tallinn. The wind is freezing. Covered in snow, the old Soviet military barracks located on the outskirts of Estonia’s capital city look like the set of a Cold War movie. Uniformed soldiers occasionally cross the courtyard. You almost expect James Bond to suddenly come […]
The small Baltic nation was caught between Soviet and Nazi ambitions, and Estonian members of SS units are remembered by some for staving off the Red Army. But others can’t forget that some 1,000 Estonian Jews, 250 Roma and 7,000 Christians were
The Baltic republic has just become the euro zone’s 17th member state, carrying low public debt and high hopes for its economy Euros take over for Estonian crowns BRUSSELS – On Jan. 1 Estonia officially abandoned its currency, the crown, to become the 17th European state — and the first of the Baltic republics — […]