Op-Ed

Supplementing the spies working out of the Russian embassy has been the clandestine role of personnel at the International Investment Bank (IIB) in Budapest. Established by the Soviets in 1970 as a bank for the Soviet Comecon, it moved its headquarters to Budapest during Orban’s administration and has been acknowledged...

Journalists sometimes muse over the choice for “spy capital of Europe”. Any place that is easy for Russian spies to blend with the rest will attract representatives of other agencies. Over the years, Geneva has been singled out for Switzerland’s lax banking regulations and rigorous neutrality. New York is another,...

Laas Leivat, Eesti Elu The 24th of February is a milestone in the history of both Estonia and Ukraine. On this date Estonians mark the birth of a nation. Volodymyr Zelensky named the same day a “rebirth” of his nation. “A new nation was born at four in the morning....

Karl Altau, JBANC For Estonians, February 24 marks a day of celebration on the anniversary of the 1918 declaration of independence (Manifest Eestimaa rahvastele). This year, Estonia marks its 105th birthday. Freedom can never be taken for granted. Particularly during this time. This is especially tangible considering it being the...

Some 86,000 individuals in the Estonian diaspora are qualified to vote in Estonia’s March 2023 parliamentary elections. Casting ballots abroad is scheduled for February. It was reported that in the 2019 elections, out of 77, 881 who were qualified to vote, only 2016 actually cast their ballots (by mail or...

This article appeared in the "Üleilmse eestluse" / "Global Estonian" November 2022 newsletter in both Estonian and English(www.globalestonian.com) Riina Kindlam There used to be an unwritten rule in Estonian communities abroad that CHILDREN, ANIMALS and ELDERS were always spoken to in Estonian. Slightly older children immediately picked up on how...

Karl Altau / JBANC Following the midterm elections and the Thanksgiving break, the United States Congress is back in action, finishing up business for the year, and this 117th Session of Congress. The new 118th Congress starts its two-year cycle on January 3. This is the third article in a...

Tere kõigile! My name is Liam Kivirist and I recently became a member of the Chicago Eesti Maja, but my grandparents (Aelita and Valdek Kivirist) were long-time members when they were living in Glenview. I grew up in an Estonian-American household and during the COVID pandemic, I took an interest...

I was in Nassau, Bahamas, in 1954 on the charter schooner "Caribee", when Queen Elizabeth, on the Royal Yacht Brittania, was visiting the British Empire, which was vast. We were told in social studies that "The sun never sets on the British Empire", as Britain had holdings in every arc...

It’s perhaps one of the questions most often posed recently. At the time of this writing, Ukrainian forces were making significant gains in the eastern Russian-occupied areas. In fact, a sense of an inevitable Ukrainian victory was palpable. Putin’s bound to retaliate. But will an end to the conflict, which...