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Tag: Estonia

  • Bawumia flies to Estonia for digitalisation talks

    Bawumia flies to Estonia for digitalisation talks

    The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, is currently undertaking a working visit to the Republic of Estonia from January 23 to January 27, 2024.

    This information is conveyed in a press release issued by his spokesperson, Dr. Gideon Boako, on January 23.

    The press release notes that Estonia, recognized as one of the most advanced digitalized countries globally, will be the focus of the Vice President’s visit.

    During his stay, Dr. Bawumia aims to assess Estonia’s digital economy in comparison to Ghana’s.

    While in Estonia, Vice President Bawumia is scheduled to engage in bilateral meetings with key figures, including Mr. Alar Karis, President of the Republic of Estonia, Ms. Kaja Kailas, Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia, Mr. Luukas Ilves, Undersecretary for Digital Transformation at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digitalization, and Mr. Raigo Uukkivi, Director General of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, as outlined in Dr. Boako’s statement.

    The press release concludes by stating that the Vice President is expected to return to Ghana on Saturday, January 27, 2024.

    “While in Estonia, Vice President Bawumia is expected to hold bilateral meetings with Mr Alar Karis, President of the Republic of Estonia, Ms Kaja Kailas, Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia, Mr Luukas Ilves, Undersecretary for Digital Transformation, Government CIO at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digitalization, as well as Mr Raigo Uukkivi, Director General of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board,” Dr Boako stated.

    According to the press release, “The Vice President returns to Ghana on Saturday, 27th January, 2024.”

  • Estonia becomes first former Soviet country to legalise same-sex marriage

    Estonia becomes first former Soviet country to legalise same-sex marriage

    Estonia, a country in the Baltics, is now the first former Soviet republic to legalise same-sex unions.

    The nation’s parliament on Tuesday approved a law allowing gay and lesbian couples to be married and adopt kids together.

    The law would go into effect on January 1st, 2024, and is anticipated to receive the president’s approval.

    Although it has become a more contentious topic, support for marriage equality among Estonians has grown quickly in recent years.

    Around 53% of the 1.3 million population supported it, according to surveys taken in April, compared to 34% in 2021. Around 38% still find homosexuality ‘unacceptable’.

    Ethnic Russians – who became a large minority in Estonia over decades of Soviet occupation – make up the majority (60%) of those who oppose same-sex marriage.

    Estonia’s LGBT Association said: ‘This is a big step towards equality and justice so that every person can feel valued and protected.’

    Prime Minister Kaja Kallas encouraged other post-Soviet countries to follow suit.

    She said: ‘My message [to them] is that it’s a difficult fight, but marriage and love is something that you have to promote.

    ‘We have developed a lot in those 30 years, since we have freed ourselves from the (Soviet) occupation. We are equals among same-value countries.’

    Ms Kallas’ centre-right party had previously skirted around the issue of same-sex marriage as some of its MPs wanted to approve civil unions rather than full equality.

    But Estonia’s liberal Estonia 200 party and centre-left Social Democrats insisted backing full marriage equality as a condition of joining her in government after elections in March.

    Ms Kallas also risked her grip on power to get the bill passed in the face of stubborn opposition led by the right-wing populist EKRE party.

    The bill ended up in a stalemate after EKRE submitted hundreds of amendments to hold up Ms Kallas’ wider package of reforms.

    Ms Kallas then held a series of confidence votes on the matter, which effectively forced stubborn MPs on her side to back her policies or cause the coalition to topple.

  • Diplomatic reversal: Estonia, Latvia withdraw envoys to Russia.

    Diplomatic reversal: Estonia, Latvia withdraw envoys to Russia.

    Following Moscow’s announcement that it was demoting diplomatic relations with Estonia, Estonia and Latvia instructed their Russian envoys to depart.

    According to Latvia’s top diplomat, the country will sever diplomatic ties with Russia in support of its neighbour Estonia and as a result of Moscow’s ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

    “Due to the ongoing brutal Russian aggression against Ukraine and in solidarity with Estonia, Latvia will lower level of diplomatic relations with Russia effective February 24, demanding Russia to act accordingly,” Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said on Twitter on Monday.

    Earlier, Russia announced that it had downgraded diplomatic relations with Estonia and ordered its ambassador to leave, citing the Baltic nation’s “total Russophobia” following Tallinn’s recent decision to drastically reduce staff levels at the Russian embassy.

    Moscow’s move on Monday marks the first time it has expelled an ambassador of an EU country since the invasion of Ukraine began on February 24.

    “The Russian side decided to downgrade the diplomatic representative in both countries to charge d’affaires ad interim,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “The ambassador of the Estonian Republic will have to leave the Russian Federation on February 7.”

    Responding to Russia’s decision, Estonia on Monday said it would also expel the Russian ambassador from Tallinn in retaliation.

    “We stand by the principle of parity in relations with Russia,” the Estonian ministry of foreign affairs said in a tweet.

    In a January 11 statement, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu outlined plans to ease relations with Russia “to the absolute minimum”.

    “Now we are setting a limit to the number of Russian diplomats working in Estonia in order to achieve parity. Today’s step is in correlation with the low point of our relations in general,” he said, referring to ties that have been harmed by Moscow’s invasion.

    Estonian Ambassador Margus Laidre was informed of the decision after being summoned to the foreign ministry in Moscow, the ministry said, as it accused Estonia of “purposefully destroying” relations with Moscow.

    Russia slammed Estonia’s “total Russophobia” and the “the cultivation of hostility” by Tallinn to the “rank of state policy”.

    Commenting on the downgrading of ties, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the Estonian government “got what it deserved”.

    Estonia is a staunch ally of Ukraine and has called for Western countries to send tanks to Kyiv to counter Moscow’s offensive. In October, its parliament adopted a statement declaring Russia a “terrorist regime”.

    The Baltic country was once part of the Soviet Union and has had difficult relations with Russia for years.

    Russia ordered the closure of Tallinn’s consulate in St Petersburg in April.

  • Crypto fraud: Estonian duo accused of $575m scam

    Police in Estonia have apprehended men suspected of running a $575 million (£485 million) cryptocurrency scam that affected hundreds of thousands of people.

    Estonian police worked with the FBI to investigate the case, and US authorities want to extradite the Estonians Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin.

    The two 37-year-olds allegedly convinced people to invest in HashFlare, a cryptocurrency mining service, and Polybius, a bogus virtual bank.

    A federal indictment has been issued in the United States.

    A statement from the US Department of Justice (DoJ) says the pair are accused of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering – crimes punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

    The defendants have appeared in court in the Estonian capital Tallinn and are being held pending extradition to the US, the statement says.

    There was no immediate comment from their representatives.

    Giving details of the alleged scheme, the DoJ says the two defrauded victims by offering them the chance to buy into HashFlare’s cryptocurrency mining operations.

    Crypto mining uses computers to generate virtual coins for profit – a process that consumes significant amounts of computing power.

    Customers around the world are said to have purchased more than half a billion dollars’ worth of HashFlare contracts from 2015 to 2019. But the operation allegedly overstated its capabilities.

    The DoJ alleges that victims were also promised dividends if they invested in Polybius, a virtual bank Mr Potapenko and Mr Turogin said they had set up.

    The defendants are said to have raised $25m this way – but no bank was ever formed.

    They used shell companies to launder criminal proceeds, buying at least 75 properties and luxury cars, DoJ says.

    Oskar Gross of Estonia’s police cybercrime bureau described the joint investigation – which involved 100 personnel including 15 from the American side – as “long and vast”.

    It was “one of the largest fraud cases we’ve ever had in Estonia”, he said on Monday, quoted by Estonia’s ERR news agency.

    The country’s authorities also warned that technology had “broadened the risk of fraud”.

    The case comes at a time of heightened nervousness in the cryptocurrency market, following the collapse of the world’s second-largest crypto exchange, FTX.

    The firm filed for bankruptcy in the US last week, and owes its 50 largest creditors almost $3.1bn (£2.6bn), according to a court filing.

  • Estonia’s foreign minister says Russian sanctions need to go further

    Estonia’s foreign minister says that sanctions against Russia still haven’t gone far enough.

    Urmas Reinsalu said that the point of sanctions is to raise pressure to end the war and the only person who can end the war is President Vladimir Putin.

    He argued that “as we have not reached that decision point, it means the sanctions have not reached the needed altitude”.

    He didn’t specify what further sanctions should be imposed.

    Source: Aljazeera.com