19.01.21 NEWS ... On January 1, 2020 Estonia became a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (ÜRO Julgeolekunõukogu) for the first time. ERR News looks back at Estonia's first year.
13.01.21 NEWS ... Between 165,000 and 200,000 Estonians are estimated to live outside the country right now, making around 15-20 percent of the total number of Estonians. With many communities being found worldwide, both in English-speaking countries and beyond, ERR News, in conjunction with the Integration Foundation (Integratsiooni Sihtasutus), has launched a weekly Global Estonian Report, which gives a weekly window into Estonian communities and culture from around the globe.
12.01.21 NEWS ... 'Tis the season to be jolly… or is it? Spending winter in a foreign country could be the best thing that could ever happen to someone or it can also be the saddest and the most discouraging event, writes Filipino expat Rowell Joel Lao Malabanan.
12.01.21 NEWS ... The third interview in our collaboration with "Tallinn City Center New Arrivals Project" is with Melda from Turkey who has become a favorite among her students.
31.12.20 NEWS ... ERR News looks back at 2020 which was, if nothing else, an eventful year.
20.12.18 NEWS ... With the Brexit transition period ending on December 31 2020, many United Kingdom citizens resident in Estonia are still concerned what happens next. We've put together this list of FAQs, in conjunction with government ministries and other authorities, to help answer some of the most important questions. Please note this is an updated piece which first appeared on December 20 2018, and was last updated on January 1 2021.
23.12.20 NEWS ... Christmas is here in perhaps more muted and reflective tones than many people can remember, but it's Christmas nonetheless. With that in mind, ERR News talked to Bishop Philippe Jourdan, leader of the Catholic Church in Estonia, and with it the small, but growing and vibrant minority community of Catholics in the country, to find out how things stood with current discussions in society, his experiences in Estonia, and of course what has changed and what has remained constant, with the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic.
11.12.20 NEWS ... The second interview in our collaboration with "Tallinn City Center New Arrivals Project" is with Johnny from Colombia who is never one to back down from a challenge.
07.12.20 NEWS ... What is there to do in Estonia this week? The Estonian Institute's culture.ee website and Culture Step program has some recommendations for you.
04.12.20 NEWS ... Between 165,000 and 200,000 Estonians are estimated to live outside the country right now, making around 15-20 percent of the total number of Estonians. With many communities being found worldwide, both in English-speaking countries and beyond, ERR News, in conjunction with the Integration Foundation (Integratsiooni Sihtasutus), has launched a weekly Global Estonian Report, which will give a weekly window into Estonian communities and culture from around the globe.
29.11.20 NEWS ... Of the current government ministers, Jüri Luik (Isamaa) has more experience than most, and in the same post – defense. ERR News sat down with the minister to ask him what NATO and EU membership brings, how the defense forces tick, what lies ahead in the future, and, conversely, how Estonia's armed forces have transformed since the 1990s in his first stint as defense minister.
25.11.20 NEWS ... Between 165,000 and 200,000 Estonians are estimated to live outside the country right now, making around 15-20 percent of the total number of Estonians. With many communities being found worldwide, both in English-speaking countries and beyond, ERR News, in conjunction with the Integration Foundation (Integratsiooni Sihtasutus), is launching a weekly Global Estonian Report, which will give a weekly window into Estonian communities and culture from around the globe.
23.11.20 NEWS ... This interview is first of a series carried out by Svetlana Štšur project manager of "Tallinn City Center New Arrivals Project" run by Tallinn City Center (Kesklinn) Government with support from the European Social Fund.
16.11.20 NEWS ... What is there to do in Estonia this week? The Estonian Institute's culture.ee website and Culture Step program has some recommendations for you.
09.11.20 NEWS ... What is there to do in Estonia this week? The Estonian Institute's culture.ee website and Culture Step program has some recommendations for you.
02.11.20 NEWS ... What is there to do in Estonia this week? The Estonian Institute's culture.ee website and Culture Step program has some recommendations for you.
27.10.20 NEWS ... Over the next three years, Tallinn City Center Government (Kesklinna valitsus) will take part in a pilot project to increase communication in English with new arrivals. ERR News spoke with the project's manager Svetlana Štšur to find out more.
26.10.20 NEWS ... What is there to do in Estonia this week? The Estonian Institute's culture.ee website and Culture Step program has some recommendations for you.
20.10.20 NEWS ... Are you wondering what to do in Estonia this week? The Estonian Institute's culture.ee website and Culture Step program has some recommendations for you.
01.10.20 NEWS ... The first episode of the Vikerraadio series "Harri Tiido taustajutud" (Harri Tiido's background stories) deals with why Belarus' national movement to get rid of Aleksandr Lukashenko and achieve fair elections is so restrained, why the nationalist element is not pronounced and why the movement is decidedly Russia-friendly in its statements and refrains from using EU symbols in its protests.
27.09.20 NEWS ... The submarine M-200 sank near the city of Paldiski around 60 years ago – during peacetime, in the conditions of good visibility and with an experienced captain on board. The findings of the investigation were classified. ETV+ program "Insight" helped shed light on the circumstances.
23.09.20 NEWS ... Disgraced national ski coach Mati Alaver was nicknamed "the general" within the international doping fraternity, an episode of ETV investigative show "Pealtnägija" due to broadcast Wednesday evening finds, and former ski star Andrus Veerpalu was instrumental in providing doping – essentially the illegal removal of an athlete's blood ahead of a competition, only to replace it shortly before a race to boost performance – to his son, Andreas, a skier caught up with several others following a police swoop at least year's world championships in Austria.
18.09.20 NEWS ... Of the stories published on public broadcaster ERR's online news portal (err.ee), 6.7 percent constitute original content, while the weight of original articles by entertainment portal Menu editors is just 0.5 percent, a study by University of Tartu research fellow Marju Himma suggests.
07.09.20 NEWS ... Late-night alcohol sales have been banned in several Estonian counties in recent weeks including the three most populated – Harju, Tartu and Ida-Viru counties - following coronavirus outbreaks. ERR News caught up with bar owners and managers to see how the ban has affected them so far.
04.09.20 NEWS ... It's well known that Estonia is a leader in e-governance, but what it does to help other countries implement their own e-services is perhaps less well known. ERR News spoke to Hannes Astok from the e-Governance Academy (eGA), about how Estonia has helped Ukraine in the e-governance sphere over the last decade.
20.08.20 NEWS ... Estonia's coronavirus exposure notification app "HOIA" launches today (August 20) and is now available to download. ERR News spoke to Priit Tohver, Ministry of Social Affairs adviser in the field of e-services and innovation, to find out what the app does and how you can use it.
02.08.20 NEWS ... Ian Gustav Ahlberg is the first Estonian to be nominated for a British LGBT Award, and has been recognised for his leadership skills promoting the voices of the Financial Times' LGBTQ+ community. ERR News caught up with Ahlberg last month to discuss his life, work and the differences between LGBTQ+ rights in the U.K. and Estonia.
01.08.20 NEWS ... On August 1, applications will open for Estonia's Digital Nomad Visa, which will allow people to come to Estonia and stay as a tourist, while continuing to work for a foreign employer or as a freelancer.
19.07.20 NEWS ... Estonian National Television (ETV) is turning 65 today (July 19) and ERR News celebrated the occasion by interviewing the legendary director and producer Jüri Pihel.
11.07.20 NEWS ... While many first world countries are becoming childless, Estonians are finding ways to halt their long decline in fertility, Marian Männi writes for Research in Estonia.
08.07.20 NEWS ... Nearly all universities in Estonia received more applications this year than last. The popularity of various degree programs, however, remained largely unchanged on year.
11.06.20 NEWS ... Based on an international survey, Estonia is one of the countries where relatively few people have died, or die, in firearms accidents. The number of violent fatalities has decreased by at least half in the last decade. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the strict conditions for applying for the weapons permit have therefore been justified.
27.05.20 NEWS ... Half of the victims of sexual abuse do not tell anyone about what happened to them, and around a tenth of the victims did not know anyone to talk to or turn to, ERR's Novaator portal reports. A fall in reported numbers during the coronavirus pandemic was largely because teachers and educators – those who report incidents and suspected incidents to the police the most – had been away from the children under their charge due to quarantining requirements.
21.05.20 NEWS ... 6,000 original camera negatives were given to the film section of the National Archives (Riigiarhiiv) on May 20. The negatives are from snaps by the KGB - the Soviet Union's main internal security organ - during the Singing Revolution era, and concerns mass eventsbetween 1987-1991. ETV show "Pealtnägija" had the chance to see the photos.
15.05.20 NEWS ... While the coronavirus pandemic has brought disruption and downturn to swathes of the Estonian economy, particularly the transport, tourist and hospitality sectors, one area which seems to have bucked the trend so far is the home sauna business.
06.05.20 NEWS ... When the emergency situation was introduced in Estonia to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many businesses closed their doors - but not all. ERR News has spoken to cafe owners, who would usually rely on passing trade, commuters and tourists to keep them busy, about how they have coped during this difficult time.
07.04.20 NEWS ... Such a precarious global event can have many people questioning if there is anywhere on earth yet to be significantly impacted by the coronavirus outbreak, writes Australian journalist Ben Jones, who lives on Saaremaa, the worst affected region of Estonia in the coronavirus pandemic so far.
06.04.20 NEWS ... Saaremaa has become the epicenter of Estonia's coronavirus outbreak after overtaking Harju County as the region with the highest number of cases. ERR News has created a timeline which helps to explain the chain of events which led to this situation.
02.01.20 NEWS ... On January 1, 2020 Estonia took up its seat on the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent member for the first time. Here's what you need to know about the Security Council and Estonia's ambitions for the coming years.
30.12.19 NEWS ... The last year of the 2010s has almost drawn to a close, and turned out to be as eventful a year in Estonia as it has been elsewhere.
28.12.19 NEWS ... Prime Minister Jüri Ratas (Centre) gave a year-end interview to ERR's Russian-language TV channel ETV+, covering a range of topics including the status of native Russian-speaking politicians in a coalition including the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE), the future of oil shale, the influence of big business in the country, and his relations with the president.
27.12.19 NEWS ... December 27 marks the 40th anniversary of the outbreak of the nine-year Soviet-Afghanistan war. ERR's Toomas Sildam met one of that war's Estonian veterans, who recalled the opening salvo of what was supposed to be a short operation, just three days later on December 27, with the assault on the Tajbeg Palace, near the Afghan capital, Kabul, and the assassination, after more than one previous failed attempt, of the Afghan leader Hafizullah Amin, who the Soviet Union had lulled into a false sense of security but who was suspected of being a United States spy.
20.12.19 NEWS ... Have you ever wondered where the majority of road accidents take place in Estonia? Or how about places that contain blue, black, or white in their names? Or what would happen if you flooded Estonia up to 100 meters? If so, University of Tartu senior researcher Evelyn Uuemaa has some answers for you.
28.11.19 NEWS ... Last week, Ekspress Group named Margus Linnamäe Estonia's most influential person, ahead even of the president and prime minister. The total turnover of all his companies is nearing a billion euros, with interests ranging from diapers to the media, not to mention political influence. Despite this, the tycoon has remained so mysterious that most of his employees would not recognize him on the street and goes to considerable lengths to make sure that remains the case. That is why Taavi Eilat presents an unsanctioned portrait of the man also described as Estonia's first oligarch in Pealtnägija on Wednesday.
18.11.19 NEWS ... One of the more common statements you hear about Estonia is that it is more or less the most secular, or least religious, country in Europe. Despite this, the country has a small but active Roman Catholic populace, numbering a few thousand, also getting somewhat of a boost by Pope Francis' visit in 2018.
17.11.19 FEATURE ... While the majority of public schools in Estonia provide Estonian-language education, Russian remains the primary language of instruction at a substantial number of schools, particularly in cities and regions with significant Russian-speaking populations. As educators, experts and lawmakers continue to debate whether and how to transition to a fully Estonian-language model, one tiny school in a rural borough on the northern coast of Lake Peipus continues to operate bilingually — as it has for more than a century already.
09.11.19 FEATURE INTERVIEWS ... Who Estonia's next prosecutor general will be is still up in the air at the time of writing, as current incumbent Lavly Perling comes to the end of her first five-year term. In Finland, the appointment has no such shelf-life.
04.11.19 FEATURE ... As 2020 approaches, there are few major bureaucratic processes left in Estonia that even now cannot be done online. Getting married is one — closing on a home is another. Despite this, thousands of non-locals are buying real estate in Estonia, among them Finns, Russians, and even diaspora Estonians. ERR News spoke with representatives from banks, real estate agencies, the Ministry of the Interior and a few buyers themselves about what the process of finding home, sweet home in Estonia looks like.
03.11.19 NEWS ... Operation Tractable, the large-scale, Europe-wide NATO exercise running from late October to early November, has brought hundreds of NATO personnel to Estonia, including paras from the 16th Air Assault Brigade, who took part in the largest ever military parachute drop in Estonia on Friday.
28.10.19 NEWS ... Former political prisoner Kalju Mätik passed away this month and is to be laid to rest in Tartu on Monday. Journalist and consultant Jüri Estam looks at the siginficance of Mätik's life and actions, and hopes that future generations will honor those who gave up practically everything to keep the spark of Estonian independence alive during the decades of Soviet occupation.
