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Starting September 1st, arrivals from COVID-19 high-risk countries to Estonia at both the Tallinn Airport and Tallinn ferry ports can take an optional coronavirus test.   If the test, which is free to Estonian residents, comes back negative, this means the 14-day quarantine period is eased, and fully lifted if...

Helga Merits   What do you write someone when there is no chance you are going to see each other within a short span of time?   What are you going to write when borders are closed and the person you would like to contact is out of reach?  ...

Helga Merits     I’m sorry I never took a picture of my grandmother’s kitchen.   It was small, a cupboard on one side, showing her decorated cups and plates, and a small tin of sweets.   The sink was of granite.   My grandmother used a soap beater for...

Indrek Lepson   It was a week, or so, before Christmas, 1979, when we departed from Suva, heading for the Solomon Islands, and dropped anchor at a little island on the outer fringe of Kadavu.   The island is so small that it's not even shown on the map of...

Helga Merits     I miss the long letters that I received when starting my research into the Estonian refugee community.   The elderly people were willing to write or to phone, but as they lived far away and long distance calls were still expensive, writing was the best way...

The foreign ministers of eight Baltic and Nordic countries have issued a joint statement condemning the violent suppression of protests after long-time president Alexander Lukashenko secured his sixth term as president of Belarus on Sunday. As stated in a release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "The Foreign Ministers of...

Renee Meriste   I am always right is the message we hear globally from political leaders, business people, healers, also couples at home, almost everyone says it.   The world has adopted the mentality “I am always right”, which is the biggest threat to humanity but sadly comes from a...

On Sunday, August 9, 2020, presidential elections in Belarus took place.   During the electoral campaign, the peaceful mobilization of a significant number of citizens has been met by the Lukashenka regime's use of violence and detentions of protestors, their supporters, observers, media representatives, and opposition candidates. Unfortunately, during the...

Travelers arriving in Helsinki from coronavirus high-risk countries will be tested going forward, and while the Finnish Border Guard has considered testing Estonians, the country is considered a safe place of origin currently. Travelers going to Finland from Estonia, however, need not worry. Margus Schults, CEO of Tallink Silja noted:...

Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Reinsalu (Isamaa) made a speech Wednesday at an open high-level virtual sitting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), addressing the pandemic and the challenges of sustaining peace, in which he raised the issue of the post-election demonstrations in Belarus. Reinsalu said: "From the outset,...