Open Estonia Foundation: February-March Highlights

The Belarusian community in Estonia started monthly club meetings

On February 7, the Estonian NGO New Way for Belarus held their first club evening. These informal meetings are set to take place every month to bring together local Belarusians interested in the political and social developments in Estonia and Belarus. The first meeting focused on the history of Belarus, hosting as guest speakers Uladzimir Arlou, historian and writer from Belarus, and Jüri Adams, former Estonian politician. The second event in March discussed the identity, national symbols and cultural codes of Belarusians and featured the presentation of the new book “The Code of Absence” by a well-known Belarusian writer Valiantsin Akudovich. With support from OEF, the club will continue to meet until the end of the year.

The New Way for Belarus is a non-governmental initiative led by local Belarusian activists in Estonia. The organization aims at encouraging the emergence of a civil society in Belarus, uniting the Belarusian diaspora in Europe and the US, raising public awareness outside Belarus about the country’s culture and politics, and supporting Belarusian students abroad, who have been denied access to universities in Belarus for political reasons.

Homepage of the New Way for Belarus: http://www.valgevene.ee/en

Ukrainian NGOs and journalists studied Estonia’s transition experience

In the framework of two different but mutually supporting projects, Ukrainian NGOs and journalists paid two study visits to Estonia with the aim to learn more about Estonia’s experience in democratic transition and accession to the EU and NATO. Both projects are financed by the OEF’s East-East: Partnership Beyond Borders Program.

From February 16-20, the Estonian Atlantic Treaty Association and a number of well-known Estonian experts held a training session for Ukrainian NGOs aimed at passing along Estonia’s experience in NATO accession. The training program featured presentations by several Members of Parliament (including former prime minister Mart Laar), sociologists, professors, entrepreneurs, journalists and experts in defense and foreign policy. The Ukrainian guests also visited the 1st Estonian Infantry Brigade stationed in Paldiski, and learned about Estonia’s e-governance solutions.

Additional information: http://www.oef.org.ee/en/news/20090218043311/

In the last week of February OEF invited a group of journalists and NGO activists form Vinnitsa, Ukraine to Estonia to learn about different aspects of Estonia’s democratic transition and accession to the EU structures. The participants later shared their new knowledge in numerous radio and TV shows in Ukraine. In collaboration with Estonian journalists, 8 TV shows will be produced in Ukraine, exploring the ways in how ongoing reforms in Ukraine could benefit from the lessons learned in Estonia.

Deliberative democracy: Estonians voiced their concerns at the European Citizens Forum

On the 14th-15th March, 25 randomly selected citizens from all over Estonia assembled in the capital Tallinn to voice their concerns about their economic and social future in the EU. As a result of the two-day discussion the participants formulated a set of 10 proposals to the EU decision-makers, from an EU-wide participatory health campaign to more flexible labor policies and uniform European standards for social security policies. The 10 suggestions also included stricter control mechanisms over commercial banks in Europe and more advanced consumer protection policies in electronic commerce.

Three of the Estonian participants will participate in the pan-European Citizens Forum in Brussels in May where people from all member states will hand their consolidated proposals over to the EU officials and politicians.

Additional information:
http://www.european-citizens-consultations.eu/
http://www.oef.org.ee/en/news/20090317103501/

Internet and democracy: enemies or friends? Evgeny Morozov’s public discussions in Estonia

On March 30, Evgeny Morozov, fellow at the Open Society Institute in New York arrived in Estonia to learn about Estonia’s experience in countering cyber attacks and present his research work on democracy and new media. As part of the Open Society fellowship, Morozov is working on a book about the Internet's role in authoritarian societies.

On April 1, Morozov participated in a public discussion on the topic of the internet and authoritarianism together with an Estonian MP Silver Meikar, the CEO of Skype Estonia Sten Tamkivi and communications expert Daniel Vaarik. On April 3, he held a public lecture at the Open Estonia Foundation re-examining the core assumptions related to the internet’s influence on democratization. The lecture was followed by an open discussion moderated by Linnar Viik, board member of Estonian Information Technology College. Morozov’s presentations received an overwhelmingly positive response by the participants.

Additional information:
www.evgenymorozov.com
http://www.soros.org/initiatives/fellowship/  
http://www.oef.org.ee/en/news/20090326115758/