Free Republic

Responding to Russia’s bullying of Estonia (see EDM, April 27, May 1, 3) the U.S. White House has invited Estonian President Toomas Ilves to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush on June 25 in Washington. The invitation itself, and the announcement’s timing in May, is the strongest demonstration of support for Estonia against Russia’s escalating threats since April 26. Estonia’s presidential office as well as the ambassador to the United States, Juri Luik, remarked that the invitation validates Estonia’s policy choices: democracy and freedom as Western values at home, participation in NATO-led peacekeeping missions, and assistance to countries in...

Rose Gottemoeller said the next generation will change how cyber defense is handled A U.S. government official said that cyber defense has been slow-moving due to the current generation of policymaker's lack of technological understanding. Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. Acting Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security, recently visited the Estonian IT College in Tallinn to deliver a speech about cyber attacks and defense. In this lecture, she noted that a major issue with current cyber defense is the fact that many policymakers around the world don't fully understand technology used today. "The truth is there are a lot of senior...

A fabulous sunken treasure may be recovered off Finland coast as archaeologist divers say they have found the wreck of a legendary 15th-century vessel. According to historic documents, the Hanneke Wrome was one of two ships that left Luebeck, Germany, for Tallinn, Estonia, on Nov. 11, 1468. Records also indicate the cargo included 10,000 gold coins and gold jewelry -- a treasure estimated to be worth more than $150 million today. Strong east winds, actually very rare in Finland, caught both vessels. While the other ship managed to get to Tallinn, the Hanneke Wrome went down in the storm with...