The ongoing civil war in Syria and the war of the West with ISIS that invovles Iraq, Syria and several other countries in the region, is the fourth time during the last fifty years that the West has used the Kurds for its security policy interests. Estonian MP, former adviser to the Iraqi government and Middle East expert, Eerik-Niiles Kross says that the US and the West need to support Kurdish independence.
Estonia has set itself the goal of making better use of digital opportunities in teaching and developing students’ digital competence – the ability to use digital technology in order to better cope with studying and working, communicating within communities and simply as citizens in a rapidly changing information society.
Energy industry is par excellence a major industry. Few businesses have larger money flows than energy. Thus, it is not unnatural that it draws attention of powerful people, public and politics. In 2000s Europe experienced major policy craze with renewable energy that is still riding the waves of popularity, albeit with first subtle hints of realism.
European ideal is not – to my mind – “being the first“ at any costs. Europe does not need to conquer anybody – these times are over and the fundamentally colonialist subconscious idea of Lisbon Strategy has faded into our Medieval past.
In the second half of the 1990s and the first years of this millennium, the secure information exchange system “X-TEE” developed in Estonia and an ID card enabling identification provided us with the possibility to offer Estonian undertakings e-services unique to the whole world: establishing companies online, submitting reports, tax returns and entry applications with legal meaning through online information systems.
Estonia is about to undergo a work capacity reform which will establish a new system to support capacity for work. The aim of the changes is to shift the attitude towards people with reduced work capacity and help them find and keep jobs.
The case for lowering the voting age is determined by demographic changes, whereby the youth has less and less political weight, especially when compared to the electorate above 60 years of age.
From the security standpoint, there are three important areas where disconnection from Russia and connection with Europe are of utmost importance.
That brings me to my main point; the biggest threat to Europe is economic populism. The European debt crisis has proved what should have been clear much earlier.
But, ironically, liberals themselves are not doing great in 2013, and with less than a year to European Parliament election, the perspective for liberals seems pretty cloudy.
