27.09.23 NEWS ... Ella Marie Merle Kari tells Jerry Mercury in an interview about her summer therapy sessions at community gardens, her work as a therapist and her love of nature. She urges everyone to take some time to just be active outside.
23.09.23 NEWS ... Over the past three years, anthropologist Francisco Martínez, along with artists Anna Škodenko, Darja Popolitova and Viktor Gurov, have visited 37 basements in Ida-Viru County. Their aim has been to explore "the underground material culture of eastern Estonia's post-industrial, Russian-speaking, and ecologically devastated region."
18.08.23 NEWS ... Jerry Mercury and Estonian artist Ingrid-Silvia Erikson talk about quitting one's day job to pursue art, its challenges and how to be inspired by competitors.
16.08.23 NEWS ... For swings, slides and climbing frames in regular playgrounds, safety is usually considered paramount, though they may not always encourage children to play quite so freely. In contrast, the more recent trend of adventure or "junk" playgrounds, which is quietly spreading around the world, places a higher value on the need children have for independent play and decision-making. This week, a temporary adventure playground is being constructed in Tartu as part of the Urban Festival UIT.
04.07.23 NEWS ... After a year in Estonia, which followed my fleeing Russia, interviews with two locals in Tallinn gave me some serious thoughts. It was May 6, 2023 when I came to the Kadriorg Community Garden for the event, where people got their flower beds ready for the season. There, I was lucky to be able to contemplate the blooming flower buds of grassroots movements in Estonia. No way could I imagine something like this blossoming on Russian soil!
29.06.23 NEWS ... Since 2018, the Rural Urban Art (RUA) Festival has been bringing color and positivity to the grey walls and "never-changing cityscapes" of Estonia's small towns. But what do street artists from all over the world make of the kinds of out-of-the-way places that most Estonians have never even been to? Michael Cole headed to Viljandi County for this year's RUA festival to try and find out.
06.06.23 NEWS ... Gen. Martin Herem, commander of the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF), warns that some losses are inevitable should war break out in Estonia, and that people need to be prepared to mitigate the initial shock. The general would not close Estonia's borders during a mobilization as he is convinced the army would assemble.
03.06.23 NEWS ... Last week, ERR News was invited on board British Royal Navy amphibious assault ship the HMS Albion. Fresh from taking part in this year's Spring Storm (Kevadtorm) military training exercise, the Albion's continued presence in Estonian waters is a sure sign of the UK and NATO's enduring commitment to security in the Baltic.
30.05.23 FEATURE ... Podcasting is hardly a new phenomenon, and Estonia is often referred to as one of the foremost digital states globally, so it will come as no surprise that there is a multitude of podcasts out there, in English, about different aspects of the country.
18.05.23 OPINION ... ERR's Allan Aksiim sums up his experience and takeaway from the 2023 Lennart Meri Conference, with perspectives of other regions and states brought into perspective at the event this year.
17.05.23 NEWS ... Shameema Binte Rahman writes about the past, future and life after death of the iconic Linnahall building in Tallinn.
13.05.23 NEWS ... In his forthcoming posthumous memoirs, legendary art historian and former rector of Tallinn University of Art (now Estonian Academy of Arts) Jaak Kangilaski (1939-2022) admits to having been an agent of the Soviet military intelligence (GRU) and, behind their backs, a collaborator of Swedish intelligence, or a double agent, in a career that spanned 40 years.
12.05.23 NEWS ... "Noored Kotkad" (Young Eagles) is a boyscout-like organization financed by the Ministry of Defense via the Defense League (Kaitseliit). Their goal: Education of children and teenagers to become better citizens and to be prepared for crisis situations – like a war against Russia.
09.05.23 NEWS ... Thousands of people visited the Bronze Soldier Monument in Tallinn to honor the 1945 victory of the Soviet Army.
25.04.23 NEWS ... Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas visited Kyiv on Monday. Speaking about the European Union, Kallas gave Ukraine reason to expect more progress. However, she also advised Ukraine against asking for NATO security guarantees and to instead focus on the goal of attaining membership to the alliance. All this against the backdrop of Ukraine's long-anticipated spring counter-offensive.
18.04.23 NEWS ... For the last seven years, the sTARTUp Day business festival has been bringing all kinds of people together to celebrate entrepreneurship, creativity and inspiration in Estonia's smart city of Tartu. But what does it really mean to have a "startup mindset"? To find out, ERR News stepped into the world of unicorns, incubators and angel investors and took a look around.
17.04.23 NEWS ... Estonia's new government was sworn in today (April 17). ERR News looked at the data behind the new Riigikogu members, the government, and the coalition agreement.
04.04.23 NEWS ... Tartu and Southern Estonia 2024 celebrates Põlva as a highlight on the upside-down Estonian map and the edge of Europe for an anti-centric view of cultural significance.
31.03.23 NEWS ... This week, British Royal Navy patrol vessel the HMS Mersey stopped off in Estonia. The Mersey is midway through a two-month tour of the Baltic Sea as part of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF). To find out more about what it was doing in the Baltic and get a taste of life at sea, ERR News headed out to Muuga Harbor and stepped aboard.
24.03.23 NEWS ... "Lihtsad uudised," meaning easy or simple news, is for anyone who wants to improve their Estonian language skills. Listen and read a selection of this week's top news stories below.
23.03.23 NEWS ... This week, Tallinn's extensive port facilities played host to another NATO military ship, this time the United States Navy's USS Porter. ERR News was able to get a look round on board, on one of the first bright, crisp days of spring.
21.03.23 INTERVIEWS ... In an interview with ERR earlier this month, Estonian Ambassador to Finland Sven Sakkov spoke about the year 2022, which proved a seminal one for Finnish politics, post-Finlandization, Defense Minister Jyri Häkämies' three earthshaking words in 2007 — and the significance of the large number of beautiful old American cars in Finland.
14.03.23 NEWS ... In the short podcast series entitled "Estonia Explained," historian and ERR journalist Maarja Merivoo-Parro fuses cultural insight with research results, to create an insider's view into topics that might seem bewildering to people who are not from this neck of the woods.
04.03.23 NEWS ... Over 313,000 people voted online in the Riigikogu elections this year, setting a new record. This is the first time more than 50 percent of ballots have been e-votes.
06.03.23 NEWS ... Following record online voter turnout in the 2023 Riigikogu elections, in which more than half of all votes were cast electronically, the State Electoral Office (riigi valimisteenistus, RVT) explained to ERR exactly how online votes are counted, recounted and kept secure in Estonia.
06.03.23 NEWS ... The 2023 Riigikogu election result is known and the Reform Party have won by far the largest number of seats of any single party, at 37. Does this mean that Reform will duly enter office at the helm of a coalition government? Well, probably, though not automatically, as we will find out.
06.03.23 NEWS ... ERR News lists the key takeaways from the 2023 Riigikogu elections.
04.03.23 NEWS ... This Sunday, after six days of online and advance voting, Estonians go to the polls in the 2023 Riigikogu (parliamentary) elections. While only Estonian citizens can vote, the results will surely have an impact on everyone living in the country. On Friday, ERR News headed out to the streets of Tartu to find out what non-Estonians in the city are making of it all.
24.02.23 NEWS ... ERR News is running a series of election interview videos in English with leading members of all the parties running on March 5.
23.02.23 NEWS ... ERR News is running a series of election interview videos in English with leading members of all the parties running on March 5.
23.02.23 NEWS ... ERR News is running a series of election interview videos in English with leading members of all the parties running on March 5.
23.02.23 NEWS ... ERR News is running a series of election interview videos in English with leading members of all the parties running on March 5.
23.02.23 NEWS ... ERR News is running a series of election interview videos in English with leading members of all the parties running on March 5.
20.02.23 NEWS ... On Vastlapäev (Shrove Tuesday), thousands of buns — vastlakuklid — topped with whipped cream, marzipan, jam and many other things will be sold and eaten across Estonia. But where did they come from?
11.02.23 NEWS ... With Estonia going to the polls to elect a new Riigikogu next month, it might be timely to look at how parties win seats.
03.02.23 INTERVIEWS ... In a lengthy interview with ERR News, the mayor of Narva Katri Raik discusses her vision for Narva's future, while the city's identity as a "bridge" between Russia and the West is collapsing. Rebranding the city as the beginning, not the end, of Europe is challenging, she says. Raik also talks about her passion for writing and the history of Narva.
17.01.23 FEATURE ... Officially illegal yet flourishing under a unique tacit agreement with city authorities, street art in Tartu is becoming an integral part of the city's identity, similarly to Bristol, Berlin and Amsterdam. Tartu's street art has risen from the underground to museum archives, and will even be celebrated as part of the official Tartu 2024 European Capital of Culture program.
16.01.23 NEWS ... Svetlana Štšur writes about how the mentality of Homo Sovieticus and the inertia of old mindsets continue to shape Russians' attitudes, including towards the war in Ukraine.
13.01.23 FEATURE ... In the podcast series 'Estonia Explained', historian and ERR journalist Maarja Merivoo-Parro provides an insider's view into topics that might seem bewildering to people who are not from this neck of the woods. Part five examines the sauna culture.
11.01.23 INTERVIEWS ... After 30 years, Estonia's words carry just as much weight as those of France and Germany within the European Union, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform) said in an end-of-year interview, while speaking about the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis and the future.
01.01.23 NEWS ... ERR News takes a brief look at the year ahead.
31.12.22 NEWS ... This year's round-up of new Estonian literature in translation includes a beautifully crafted collection of poetry in three languages, the first English translation of Jüri Arrak's classic artist's book, a contemporary surrealist travelogue, a "book of falsehoods" as penned by a legendary Livonian chronicler and depicted in an eponymous novel by Jaan Kross, a translation of ERR's award-winning radio drama and more. See the complete list below!
30.12.22 NEWS ... The ERR News team sums up the outgoing year, with a month-by-month overview of more important events and developments in Estonia in 2022.
02.12.22 NEWS ... As Tartu gears up to become 2024 European Capital of Culture, discontent amongst those working in some of the city's cultural institutions has reached breaking point. With talks of a strike in the air, ERR News tried to find out how it has come to this, and what the impact might be on cultural life in the city.
21.11.22 2023 ELECTIONS ... Estonia's national elections are held every four years and the next vote will take place in 2023. ERR News lays out the basic facts.
16.11.22 NEWS ... On Tuesday, Minister of Education and Research Tõnis Lukas (Isamaa) announced a draft proposal to amend the Language Act. According to Lukas, the proposal aims to reflect changes in Estonian society by addressing the "low or nonexistent Estonian language knowledge of many employees in the service sector," including food couriers. ERR News spoke to two of Estonia's leading food delivery platforms about the proposal, before hitting the streets of Tartu to get the views of couriers themselves.
11.11.22 NEWS ... What started as a group of Erasmus students going to football matches in Tartu, soon grew into a close-knit community. Throw a bunch of flares and a drummer playing with some heart and soul into the mix, and it's easy to see how things can be taken to a whole new level, writes Michael Cole.
10.11.22 FEATURE ... During the Estonian winter, it is mandatory to wear a reflector both inside and outside cities when it gets dark. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the rule and ERR News looks at its impact.
04.11.22 FEATURE INTERVIEWS ... Curiosity and part-Estonian heritage were the key reasons Kirsten, a 21-year-old American studying international business management at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) decided to come to Estonia, even as the dark fall days and a far more reserved populace sometimes make this a challenge, she tells state integration program New in Estonia.
19.10.22 FEATURE ... After running a survey on social media to figure out expats' favorite coffee places in Tallinn, ERR News contributor Svetlana Štšur decided to deep dive into the coffee world with Jozo, an expat and professional barista from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
