Article

2006-09-26 Europe

Estonian-American exile defeats country's final Soviet leader for presidency

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Posted by Mizzou Mafia 2006-09-26 14:17|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Excellent commentary, Mizzou.

Posted by mcsegeek1 2006-09-26 16:04|| 2006-09-26 16:04|| Front Page Top

#2 Americans seem to do quite well in Estonia. I remember an old, retired SF Colonel by the name of Einseln who became the Estonian Army Chief in the 1990's. Don't know what ever happended to him, retired retired maybe.

Posted by Besoeker 2006-09-26 16:05|| 2006-09-26 16:05|| Front Page Top

#3 good news, good comments, MM!

Posted by Frank G 2006-09-26 16:15|| 2006-09-26 16:15|| Front Page Top

#4 The Mizzou Mafia on assignment in Estonia? Rove really *is* that good!

Thanks for the commentary, MM, let us know what US policy objectives would help Estonia best...

Posted by Seafarious">Seafarious 2006-09-26 16:16|| 2006-09-26 16:16|| Front Page Top

#5 Thanks, Mizzou.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2006-09-26 16:33|| 2006-09-26 16:33|| Front Page Top

#6 Thanks for the comments.

I forgot some interesting details. The effect of Ilves' presidency:

One, the president has veto power over the parlament and is the one that invites the dominant parties to form a coalition. That's about it; the position is largely ceremonial.

But I predict two outcomes. Even though Ilves is a "Social Democrat", he will see himself in the mold of the first real post-Soviet president, Lennart Meri. Which means that he will try to be above politics. He told his party today to stop running recruitment ads with his face on them, as his party won anything. No, he won because the center-right parties supported him over the candidate of the left.

The left parties are totally screwed. I asked Ilves once about the leader of the Center Party, Edgar Savisaar (who was the main party who didn't allow his members to vote in the first parliamentary election), and he started to froth at the mouth (pull a Fox-style Clinton). Edgar Savisaar stepped down as prime minister after he was caught secretly recording conversations with his opponents (including Ilves). Even though Ilves is on the left side of the spectrum politicallly on domestic issues, he will not let the left parties form a coalition if he can help it. He's going to stick it to the pro-Russian, anti-American left.

Two, I see Mart Laar, the wunderkind behind the flat tax in Estonia becoming prime minister again. By the end of the year. He's been out of government, writing books and getting Cato awards. His time in the wilderness is about over. This is the guy that took the only economics book he'd ever read, by Friedman, and made the whole thing as government policy.

So, the end result -- Estonia will be more pro-American and NATO friendly than it ever has. "Eesti on vaba!!" (Estonia is free!!) was a sign I saw on Saturday.

Estonians certainly haven't been this fired up politically since 1991. And it was fun to be here for it.

Posted by Mizzou Mafia 2006-09-26 18:00|| 2006-09-26 18:00|| Front Page Top

#7 Besoeker, Einseln basically broke his spear in his stint as the chief of their armed forces.

The organization was still too heavily Sovietized in the mid-1990s. Einseln made a lot of changes, but a little like Rumsfeld, he fought inertia during his stint.

I don't know where he is now, but to his credit, the Estonian armed forces are much more professional than they've ever been. They are in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Their speciality is IED bombs. Some of the bomb-sniffing dogs that came back from Iraq in the last year are known by their first names.

They are talking about making the Estonian military a voluntary force, which should improve things.

Posted by Mizzou Mafia 2006-09-26 18:09|| 2006-09-26 18:09|| Front Page Top

#8 Thanks for the update Mizzou. I'd lost track of the old bugger. I was always surprised the US State Dept and the gummit permitted him to accept the job. Hope he's still cashing retirement checks.

Posted by Besoeker 2006-09-26 18:14|| 2006-09-26 18:14|| Front Page Top

#9 Seafarious,

I would see the best short-term good for U.S. policy in the Baltic States, (and Eastern Europe) to lift the visa restrictions that exist today. There has been talk about it, but little action.

My Estonian girlfriend has to pay around $170 for a U.S. visa when she goes with me on a visit. That's when the average salary is a little north of $400 a month. There are plenty of good Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Polish kids, who are now going to places like the U.K. to work, who would go to the U.S. if the visa restrictions were lifted, as they have been for countries like FRANCE. France was the home of Richard Reid for one, and I can't remember the last time a terrorist bomber came out of this region.

I think this is a travesty in the making. The U.S. has the opportunity to affect the outlook of the younger generation of these countries, but is preventing their best and brightest from coming there, even to work.

Posted by Mizzou Mafia 2006-09-26 18:17|| 2006-09-26 18:17|| Front Page Top

#10 And looking back on this entire thread, how to do I chip in to get some spellcheck on Rantburg? ;-p

Posted by Mizzou Mafia 2006-09-26 18:20|| 2006-09-26 18:20|| Front Page Top

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