22.02.19 ... Piret Mürk-Dubout is to join the board of shipping company Tallink. Ms Mürk-Dubout will take up the role on 15 April. She has been head of Tallinn Airport since 2016.

22.02.19 ... President Kersti Kaljulaid presented the annual state decorations to their recipients, as per tradition.

22.02.19 ... Russian President Vladimir Putin has joined the list of well-wishers extending their congratulations to Kersti Kaljulaid, President of the Estonian Republic, and the people of Estonia, in advance of Sunday's Estonian Independence Day.

22.02.19 ... The Haapsalu-Noarootsi ice road continues its on-off operational history this winter, being closed again on Friday. However, an ice road on Lake Peipus was opened on the same day.

22.02.19 ... The Academy of Security Services (Estonian: Sisekaitseakadeemia) formally takes on its new premises in Tallinn on Friday.

22.02.19 ... President Kersti Kaljulaid has formally announced the European elections. The elections are due to take place over two rounds in late May.

22.02.19 ... The opposition Reform Party has re-taken the lead in the opinion polls ahead of the 3 March general election, according to research carried out by pollster Kantar Emor.

22.02.19 ... Sunday, 24 February is Estonian Independence Day. The day's activities will begin on Sunday morning with the hoisting of the Estonian flag on Toompea Hill, where the flag is raised atop Pikk Hermann tower.

22.02.19 ... Powers granted to Tallinn's municipal police force (MuPo) have been the subject of debate, with interior minister Katri Raik (SDE) saying all municipalities in Estonia should get an expansion to their existing rights, including the potential use of physical force where needed. Others, including coalition party Isamaa, have expressed opposition to this, or at least to MuPo being so empowered.

22.02.19 ... Over 32,000 votes had been cast last night in advanced polling for the 3 March general election.

21.02.19 ... British-American investor Bill Browder has stated his intention to file a criminal complaint against Swedbank with Swedish authorities, over its involvement in alleged money laundering transactions, Mr Browder said on Thursday.

21.02.19 ... Rear Adm Stephen C. Evans, commander of the US Navy's Carrier Strike Group 2, has met key leaders in Estonia, reaffirming US commitment to NATO and the importance of strengthening interoperability with its allies and partners at all levels.

21.02.19 ... Congratulations on Estonian independence day have already started rolling in ahead of the actual day itself, with US President Donald Trump amongst those sending their regards to Estonian head of state Kersti Kaljulaid.

21.02.19 ... Prime Minister Jüri Ratas (Centre) backed up the Estonian Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) decision to order Danske bank to cease trading in Estonia, adding that money laundering had no place in Estonia, and that such activities did not fit with the country's values.

21.02.19 ... The investigation into the accidental firing of an air-to-air missile in Estonian airspace last summer has been concluded, with pilot error being pinpointed, the Ministry of Defence said in a press release.

21.02.19 ... Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel (Mouvement Réformateur) met with NATO troops from his country serving in Estonia, on Wednesday.

21.02.19 ... The Tax and Customs Board (MTA) has issued warnings surrounding rather amateurishly written fake messages appearing via social media site Facebook, purporting to be from the authority itself.

21.02.19 ... Electricity and natural gas grid distributor Elering has announced a €0.6 million profit rise for Q4 2018, to a net profit of €12.2 million in the quarter.

21.02.19 ... The Riigikogu passed an act on Thursday aimed at safeguarding the future of UK citizens resident in Estonia in the aftermath of Brexit, just ahead of its dissolution in advance of the Estonian general election.

21.02.19 ... Estonia's Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) has suggested its Danish counterpart make public all documents related to the Danske Bank money laundering case. The request follows reports of something of a communication breakdown between the two bodies during their original investigations into the branch, starting in 2013.

21.02.19 ... The 2019 general election effectively begins on Thursday, with the polls for advanced voting, both in person and electronically, both opening.

20.02.19 ... A proposed merger of the Environmental Board (keskkonnamet) and the Environmental Inspectorate (keskkonnainspektsioon) fell through on Wednesday after not garnering a sufficient number of Riigikogu votes.

20.02.19 ... MPs from the Centre Party, the majority coalition government party, abstained from a vote on a draft resolution on Wednesday, which proposed sanctions on the Russian Federation following the Kerch Strait incident.

20.02.19 ... Bristol Trust, the Estonian representative of arms manufacturer Sig Sauer Gmbh has contested the awarding of an automatic arms tender to Estonian defence forces to a rival company, US arms manufacturer Lewis Machine & Tool Company (LMT), making this the second time Sig Sauer Inc. has contested the deal.

20.02.19 ... The Ministry of Justice has announced the creation of three European prosecutor roles, to be sent to the proposed European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO).

20.02.19 ... The coalition negotiations following the 3 March general election could be amongst the most protracted ever, according to Minister of Justice Urmas Reinsalu (Isamaa), from one of the two junior coaltion parties. However, foreign minister Sven Mikser (SDE) from the other minor coalition partner, noted that both electoral law and the European elections which follow soon after, in May, puts a time limit on talks.

20.02.19 ... Education minister Mailis Reps (Centre) has made no promises regarding an Estonian-language upper secondary school (Estonian; Gümnaasium) in the eastern town of Kohtla-Järve, alongside the existing bilingual Järve upper secondary, in the forseeable future.

20.02.19 ... The Danske money laundering case in Estonia has now been linked to Swedish lender Swedbank, according to Swedish public broadcaster SVT.

20.02.19 ... Mary Jordan, wife of politician Eerik-Niiles Kross and also referred to in the media as Mary Kross, has hired Oliver Nääs to represent her in her case with the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA).

20.02.19 ... Estonian freestyle skier Kelly Sildaru has been named sportsperson of the month in the women's category, by US Ski & Snowboard (USSA), the national governing body for Olympic skiing and snowboarding.

20.02.19 ... Estonians top the European table when it comes to naïvity, according to media expert Raul Rebane, referring to Eurobarometer data.

19.02.19 ... The closure of Danske Bank in Estonia should not have any substantial economic impact, according to the Bank of Estonia, the country's central bank.

19.02.19 ... As reported on ERR News, the Estonian branch of Danish Danske Bank has been ordered to close by the Finanical Supervisory Authority (FSA), ending months of speculation following revelations that as much as €200 billion in potentially illicit funds had passed through the bank over a period of several years.

19.02.19 ... Whilst Estonia's Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) ordered the closing of the country's branch of Danske Bank, within eight months and with guidelines as to the minimising of upheaval for existing customers at the bank, the FSA itself, together with its Danish counterpart, is now the subject of an EU-level investigation.

19.02.19 ... The Supreme Court overruled a Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) expulsion of a citizen of the Russian Federation on Tuesday, allowing the individual, who had been living in Estonia since the 1980s, to stay in Estonia, pending no future criminal activities. The case brings to light a legal distinction between stripping a residency permit, and expelling the same individual from the country, at least in the case of longer-term residents, in practice likely to be persons with Russian citizenship or that of some other former Soviet Republics.

19.02.19 ... ERR has learned that the Estonian Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) has issued a precept which requires the Estonian branch of Danske Bank to close.

19.02.19 ... The Language Inspectorate has found that in four major cities of northeastern Estonia, more than 500 school teachers lack sufficient command of the Estonian language.

19.02.19 ... The leaders of the Social Democratic Party (SDE), Isamaa, the Centre Party, Estonia 200, the Reform Party and the Conservative People's Party (EKRE) have rejected an invitation by privately-owned TV channel Kanal 2 to a live pre-election debate on 27 February, questioning the channel's choice of Katrin Lust and Jüri Butšakov as hosts.

19.02.19 ... NATO fighter jets stationed in the Baltic states as part of NATO's air policing mission were scrambled four times last week to identify and escort Russian military aircraft in international airspace over the Baltic Sea, the Lithuanian defence ministry reported.

19.02.19 ... On Monday a court in Brussels sentenced Margus Rahuoja, a 51-year-old former senior EU official from Estonia, to four years in prison. Mr Rahuoja, a former EU director of aviation and international transport affairs, was found guilty of rape.

19.02.19 ... Speaking at an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday, Foreign Minister Sven Mikser (SDE) said that the security situation in Ukraine is worsening still, and that the country depends on increased support on the part of the European Union.

18.02.19 ... Jevgeni Ossinovski, chair of the Social Democratic Party (SDE), has proposed a compromise solution to a dispute over the language of instruction at the Järve Upper Secondary school in Kohtla-Järve, namely that the school would be become a state school teaching students from grades 1 to 12, ie. the full education cycle.

18.02.19 ... The XIII Riigikogu, elected in 2015, has entered its final week of business.

18.02.19 ... Sunday, 24 February is Estonian independence day. Events on the day, particularly the open air concert taking place in central Tallinn on Sunday evening, will mean changes to regular public transport line stops, primarily to accommodate additional passenger traffic.

18.02.19 ... Based on recent support polls for political parties in Estonia, the European Parliament elections in May will see Estonia send MEPs from three parties: Centre, Reform, and the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE).

18.02.19 ... Political parties' manifesto promises have been analysed, and the results made public, by the Ministry of Finance.

18.02.19 ... The Haapsalu-Noarootsi ice road is to reopen. The route, currently the only ice route off the Estonian coast open, was closed on Friday afternoon by the Road Administration (Maanteeamet).

18.02.19 ... Privately owned train operator Edelaraudtee is planning to overhaul the settling layers, splice bars, rails and tracks along 28 km of the Lelle-Türi railway section. The changes will make it possible for passenger trains to travel at speeds of up to 120 km/h.

18.02.19 ... Former Tallinn mayor Edgar Savisaar is to receive over €100,000 in funds confiscated from him in the course of a long-running corruption trial, though not the full sum of over €200,000 he requested.

18.02.19 ... Speaking as the Munich Young Leaders' guest of honour, President Kersti Kaljulaid said on Sunday that summarily calling certain technologies "unsafe" is no excuse to remain passive in the further development of e-services.