It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Monday, March 06, 2023
WAIT, WHAT?!
South Korea companies to pay to resolve forced labor dispute with Japan
2023-03-06 |
South Korea said on Monday that its companies would compensate people forced to work under Japan's 1910-1945 occupation, seeking to end a dispute that has undercut US-led efforts to present a unified front against China and North Korea.
The proposal was welcomed in Tokyo but faced an immediate backlash from some victims and from South Korea's main opposition party, who accused the government of capitulating to Japan.
US President Joe Biden, whose administration has pressed its two allies to reconcile, hailed the announcement as "groundbreaking".
A Japanese government source close to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters the United States had been pressing for reconciliation but that a main factor that triggered a push by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for reconciliation was the geopolitical threat from North Korea.
The disagreements over labour and women forced into Japanese military brothels have bedevilled ties between the neighbours for decades.
Under the plan, South Korea would compensate former forced labourers through an existing public foundation funded by private-sector companies, South Korea's Foreign Minister Park Jin told a briefing.
"The soured South Korea-Japan relations should no longer be neglected, and we need to end the vicious cycle for the national interest, for the people," Park said. He said he hoped Japan would respond sincerely, including by "implementing its previous public statements expressing remorse and apology".
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he welcomed the proposal and would work closely with Yoon.
Japanese companies will not be expected to make any payments under the plan but would not be blocked from donating if they wanted to, said Japan's foreign minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi.
"We welcome this as a step that returns Japan-South Korea relations to a healthy one," he said.
A Japanese government source told Reuters that Japan and South Korea were preparing for a visit by Yoon to Tokyo by the end of March. The two governments were considering arranging the visit on March 16-17, the Kyodo news agency reported.
A spokesperson for Yoon's office declined to comment.
Poor relations between the two have been a worry for the United States as it seeks to present a unified front against the rising power of China and threats from North Korea's expanding missile and nuclear arsenal.
Biden, in a statement, hailed "a groundbreaking new chapter of cooperation and partnership between two of the United States’ closest allies ... (a) critical step to forge a future for the Korean and Japanese people that is safer, more secure, and more prosperous".
SOUTH KOREAN FUNDS
Relations plunged to their lowest point in decades after South Korea's Supreme Court in 2018 ordered Japanese firms to pay reparations to former forced laborers. Fifteen South Koreans have won such cases, but none has been compensated.
Only three of those plaintiffs are still alive. Overall there are fewer than 1,300 living victims of forced labour in South Korea, according to media estimates.
Japan has said compensation was settled under a 1965 treaty, and Hayashi said his government's stance had not changed.
When Seoul first raised its proposal in January, it sparked a backlash from victims and their families because it did not include contributions from Japanese companies, including those ordered by South Korean courts to make reparations.
About a dozen protesters demonstrated outside as Park made the announcement.
"Today's humiliating resolution is a result of (the South Korean government's) consistently low posture towards the Japanese government," representatives of some of the victims said at a separate event.
Some of the 15 plaintiffs say they will reject the government plan, setting the stage for more legal battles.
"It's not a proper apology," Yang Geum-deok, one of the victims, told reporters.
The main opposition Democratic Party denounced the plan as "submissive diplomacy".
"It's a day of shame," a spokesperson for the party said.
The South Korean companies include KT&G (033780.KS), Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) (015760.KS) and other companies that benefited from a 1965 treaty between South Korea and Japan.
KT&G said it was monitoring the discussion on compensation and planned to faithfully cooperate in implementing the agreements. KEPCO said it would review the issue.
POSCO holdings said it would consider how to support the intent of the government's announcement.
Asked whether Japanese companies would pitch in to compensate, Park said both Japanese and South Korean businesses were considering a plan to contribute.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency, citing government sources, had said that as part of the deal Seoul and Tokyo had tentatively agreed to create a separate "future youth fund" to sponsor scholarships with funds from companies from both sides.
Two of the companies ordered by South Korean courts to make restitution, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (7011.T) and Nippon Steel Corp (5401.T), declined to comment on the agreement, referring to their long-held stance that the issue had been resolved under the 1965 treaty.
The row spilled over into trade in 2019, with Tokyo tightening curbs on exports to South Korea of high-tech materials used in smartphone displays and chips and Seoul filing a World Trade Organization (WTO) complaint in response.
Hayashi said the export curbs are separate from the forced labor dispute, but on Monday both countries' trade ministries said South Korea would put its WTO complaint on hold while the two sides negotiate to return trade to its pre-2019 status.
The U.S.’ B-52H bomber flew to the Korean Peninsula on Monday and conducted joint air drills with South Korean Air Force’s fighter planes. It has been three months since the last mobilization of B-52H capable of nuclear armament to the peninsula.
On Friday, the unmanned aerial vehicle MQ-9 Reaper, known as the ‘assassin in the sky,’ and the B-1B strategic bomber, also called the ‘swan of death,’ were simultaneously deployed. Showing off such extended deterrence against North Korea, which is equivalent to the ongoing deployment of the U.S. strategic assets, is deemed as an increased level of warning against the North Korean leadership that threatened provocations in response to the Freedom Shield joint drills beginning on Monday.
According to the South Korean military, B-52H deployed to the Korean Peninsula on Monday joined South Korean fighter planes F-15K and KF-16 in joint air drills over the Yellow Sea. B-52H also flew with F-22 Raptor, the U.S. Air Force’s most powerful stealth bomber, to South Korea to conduct joint drills with the South Korean Air Force in December when the North threatened to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at a normal angle. “The U.S. is keeping a promise that more strategic assets of the country will be mobilized to the Korean Peninsula in terms of frequency and strength,” said a military source.
South Korea and the U.S. are planning on the more frequent deployment of the U.S. strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula, not only during the Freedom Shield drills but also before and after it, to show off deterrence against North Korea. It was reported that the Nimitz, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the U.S., will be mobilized around March 28. “The upcoming drills will prove that the U.S.’ defense promise of providing extended deterrence (nuclear umbrella) was not an empty word,” a government source said.
Sang-Ho Yun ysh1005@donga.com · Hyo-Ju Son hjson@donga.com
CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
FTC: BetterHelp pushed users to share mental health info then gave it to Facebook
Feds propose $7.8M payment and ban on revealing 'sensitive' data to settle complaint
Even if you don't know anyone who has used BetterHelp's services, podcast fans will recognize it from its annoying adverts for its online therapists. American regulators, however, allege the company's relationship with the advertising industry is more perverse than a mere irritating jingle, claiming it betrayed loyalties that should lie with customers by passing on their mental health info to Facebook, Snapchat and others.
The Federal Trade Commission has asked the company to pay $7.8 million and slapped a ban on it sharing consumers' health data with advertisers, in a proposed settlement made public today. The settlement will resolve a 2022 complaint that claimed BetterHelp pushed users to complete an unskippable questionnaire in order to obtain services and then passed on that info to Meta and more to promote its services.
BetterHelp – whose business boomed during COVID lockdown – has denied wrongdoing, and claimed in a statement that it merely used "industry-standard practice... routinely used by some of the largest health providers, health systems, and healthcare brands."
According to the complaint [PDF], users were told by BetterHelp: "Rest assured – any information provided in this questionnaire will stay private between you and your counselor."
The commission alleged the company then went on to tweak that statement over time. The complaint claimed that in December 2020, the company changed the statement to read: "Rest assured – this information will stay private between you and your counselor" (emphasis on alteration). And in January 2021, the complaint claimed, it changed it again to state: "Rest assured – your health information will stay private between you and your counselor" (emphasis on alteration). The FTC added that in October 2021, it "removed this representation altogether."
The company is then alleged to have compiled lists of visitors' and users' email addresses, which it uploaded to Facebook to match the individuals to their Facebook user accounts in order to target them and others like them with advertisements, and is alleged to have later "re-targeted" them with advertisements to refer their Facebook friends to the service.
The filing alleged: "Between 2017 and 2018, Respondent uploaded lists of over 7 million Visitors' and Users' email addresses to Facebook. Facebook matched over 4 million of these Visitors and Users with their Facebook user IDs, linking their use of the Service for mental health treatment with their Facebook accounts."
The complaint added:
These harms were not reasonably avoidable by consumers. It was effectively impossible for Visitors and Users to know that Respondent was using and disclosing their health information for advertising purposes because Respondent actively concealed the practices through repeated misrepresentations and a lack of notice. Indeed... numerous Users expressed outrage about the disclosures upon learning of them.
The FTC also noted that BetterHelp "prominently" displayed a seal that attested to purported compliance with America's Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), a law that outlines privacy and information security protection that residents can expect for their health information.
In addition, the complaint said, BetterHelp told consumers that it was "HIPAA certified," with its customer service representatives informing consumers of this. However, "no government agency or other third party" had reviewed BetterHelp's information practices for compliance with HIPAA, let alone determined that its practices met the requirements of HIPAA.
The $7.8 million payment from BetterHelp will be used to provide partial refunds to people who signed up for and paid for BetterHelp's services between August 1, 2017, and December 31, 2020, the FTC said
"When a person struggling with mental health issues reaches out for help, they do so in a moment of vulnerability and with an expectation that professional counseling services will protect their privacy," Samuel Levine, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, noted. "Instead, BetterHelp betrayed consumers' most personal health information for profit. Let this proposed order be a stout reminder that the FTC will prioritize defending Americans' sensitive data from illegal exploitation."
The counselling company told The Register in a statement: "BetterHelp and the FTC have reached a settlement in regard to BetterHelp's advertising practices that were in effect between 2017 to 2020 ... We understand the FTC's desire to set new precedents around consumer marketing, and we are happy to settle this matter with the agency. This settlement, which is no admission of wrongdoing, allows us to continue to focus on our mission to help millions of people around the world get access to quality therapy."
The direct-to-consumer mental health platform, which is owned by Teladoc Health Inc, boomed during COVID as people struggled to secure in-person appointments, with Teladoc reporting that BetterHelp was responsible for $1 billion of its revenues in FY2022. Financial analysts at SeekingAlpha noted at the time this represented an impressive year-on-year growth of 42.8 percent from FY2021 levels of over $700 million. ®
No ‘human-to-human infection’ of bird flu in Cambodia Cambodian health authorities have confirmed that there is no human-to-human transmission of bird flu following news of a man and his daughter getting infected. Copyright: Lorrie Graham/AusAID. (CC BY 2.0). This image has been cropped.
Cambodian father, daughter infected with avian flu by birds
No human-to-human transmission authorities confirm
Virus evolving and threat of a future pandemic remains
[SYDNEY] Cambodian health authorities have confirmed that the two avian flu cases last week in Prey Veng province were “infected from birds in their village” and that “no transmission between father and daughter has been found”.
“As of today [1 March], there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission in Cambodia and the response is still ongoing,” Ailan Li, WHO Representative to Cambodia, told SciDev.Net following the death of an 11-year-old girl from the virus.
“While there have been a few infections in humans globally, so far, the virus is not known to spread from person to person easily,” she* added.
“The threat is still very low for human-to-human transmission. In terms of mutating into a transmissible virus, that’s quite a distant issue” Erik Karlsson, director of the National Influenza Centre of Cambodia and acting head of virology at the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge
The infection, which largely affects birds and animals, has a 50 per cent mortality rate in humans. Globally, 873 human cases of H5N1 and 458 deaths have been reported in 21 countries since 2003, according to the UN health agency.
“Most cases have been linked to close contact with infected birds and contaminated environments,” said Li. “However, the virus is evolving; its risk to humans must be assessed and monitored closely. The threat is real. Irrespective of the current outbreaks in birds and other animals, avian flu poses an ongoing threat to human health due to its potential to cause a future pandemic.”
Cambodian authorities had informed WHO last week of the two confirmed cases of avian influenza H5N1. The girl who died had H5 clade 2.3.2.1c virus, an endemic strain circulating in domestic poultry and wild bird populations in the country since 2013. Her father was also found to be infected with the virus.
Cambodia has reported 58 cases of human infection with the H5N1 virus, including 38 deaths since 2003 to 25 February 2023.
Human transmission risk ‘very low’
“The threat is still very low for human-to-human transmission. In terms of mutating into a transmissible virus, that’s quite a distant issue,” Erik Karlsson, director of the National Influenza Centre of Cambodia and acting head of virology at the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge in Phnom Penh, which sequenced the virus, told SciDev.Net.
He said: “We’re most worried about the highly pathogenic H5 clade 2.3.4.4 viruses that are currently circulating in the UK and North America and South America. But there are pockets of other viruses, like clade 2.3.2.1, here in South Asia and South-East Asia, that have been endemic in these birds for a long period of time. These could cause problems in poultry, and they are still a threat for spillover in humans.” Clades consist of a common ancestor and all the descendants of an organism.
“Interestingly, the H5 clade 2.3.4.4 viruses basically came from Asia in 2013-2014, spread into Europe then into North America and now in South America and they have come back into Asia. So, we’ll see if those take over as the dominant clade circulating here as well,” Karlsson added.
Since October 2021, in one of the worst global outbreaks, more than 46 million cases of avian influenza were recorded in poultry and non-poultry, including wild birds, in 86 countries; and as many as 17.7 million poultry birds have died from the disease and almost 246 million were culled. The strain has also infected mammals, such as red fox, minks, otters and seals, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health.
“It’s a reminder that we have not dealt with avian influenza appropriately. The level of circulating virus in several developing countries remains high because we didn’t take a poultry systems’ approach to control it,” said Robyn Alders, a senior consulting fellow with the Chatham House Global Health programme and an honorary professor with the Australian National University’s Development Policy Centre.
Besides avian influenza, other preventable diseases, such as Newcastle disease and fowl cholera, also cause illness and deaths in birds, Alders told SciDev.Net. She said: “It’s difficult for farmers to recognise if a bird has died from avian influenza or another disease because clinically you can’t pick the difference.”
When avian influenza H5N1 was a global concern, flocks diagnosed with the disease were culled by authorities.
“In majority of developing and other countries, no compensation was paid to farmers for the loss of their culled birds. As a result, they remain unwilling to report deaths in their flocks up to today,” Alders added.
Vaccination for avian flu
Vaccination of poultry may be needed as a broader strategy to control the spread, experts say.
“Vaccines or other interventions is a critical way that we might need to get ahead of these widespread infections,” said Karlsson. “The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly increased capacity and capability, especially in developing nations, to detect and respond to those viruses faster. A lot of countries have now developed their own vaccination production systems, which can be utilised to make vaccines for other diseases, such as potentially avian flu.”
The young girl’s viral sample was sequenced in Cambodia within 24 hours, exemplifying the way that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the capacity of countries to sequence and share data very quickly.
“The recent human case highlights the need for rapid identification of flu cases in animals and humans along with open and rapid sharing of virus sequences for regional and global risk assessments,” Frank Wong, bird flu expert at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, told SciDev.Net. *This article was edited on 3 March 2023 to correct the pronoun used in reference to Ailan Li.
The girl, age 11, died shortly after tests confirmed she had Type A H5N1 bird flu.
March 2, 2023 The Associated Press
Recent cases of bird flu discovered in two Cambodian villagers, one of them fatal, show no sign of human-to-human transmission, health officials in the Southeast Asian nation say, allaying fears of a public health crisis.
An 11-year-old Cambodian girl from a village in the southeastern province of Prey Veng died Feb. 22 at a hospital in the capital, Phnom Penh, shortly after tests confirmed she had Type A H5N1 bird flu. Her father tested positive for the virus the day after her death, but showed no strong symptoms and was released Tuesday from a Prey Veng hospital where he had been kept isolated, the Health Ministry said. He was sent home after three negative tests.
The two were the only villagers among more than two dozen tested who were found to carry the virus, the ministry said in a statement.
Bird flu, also known as avian influenza, normally spreads among poultry but can sometimes spread from poultry to humans. The recent detection of infections in a variety of mammals has raised concern among experts that the virus could evolve to spread more easily between people, and potentially trigger a pandemic. The Health Ministry said an investigation determined that the father and daughter had both “been infected from poultry at their village, and there is no indication or evidence that there was infection from father to daughter.”
Cambodia health experts spray disinfectant at a village in Prey Veng on Feb. 24.
Cambodia Ministry of Health via AP
The conclusion that they were infected directly from birds was reached by experts from the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as their Cambodian counterparts, Health Ministry spokesperson Ly Sovann told The Associated Press.
In an interview published Tuesday on the website of the scientific journal Nature, a Cambodia-based virologist said the girl who died had been infected with a different strain of the bird flu virus than the one that has been spreading worldwide for the past year and a half among wild and domestic birds.
Erik Karlsson of the Pasteur Institute of Cambodia in Phnom Penh was part of the team that tested the virus sample from the girl, and was cited as saying that it belongs to a virus group that has been found in chickens and ducks in the region for at least a decade. She was the first person in Cambodia since 2014 known to be detected with H5N1.
He said it wasn’t clear why the girl would have caught the virus after such a long time with no cases, but suggested it might be related to “a lot of global changes in agricultural practices owing to the COVID-19 pandemic that could have created the conditions for a spillover.”
“We know that, in Cambodia, the pandemic increased the amount of backyard poultry farming. Many people, for example tour guides, couldn’t work and had to supplement their incomes and sources of food for their families,” he was quoted saying. “All over the world, people are still struggling, which has resulted in changes in agricultural practices that can increase spillover risk. And changes to people’s health, for example malnutrition or being overweight, can make people more susceptible to getting infected.”
New pandemic could be caused by avian flu and mysterious 'Disease X', experts warn
Health experts who guided to country through the coronavirus pandemic have waded in on what could potentially cause the next horrific wave of disease and illness across the country
Millions of birds have been culled because of the avian flu pandemic spreading through chickens and ducks (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The UK's medical experts who advised the Government during the coronavirus pandemic have warned that a new one could be on the way.
The worst fears of scientists and experts came to fruition last month when an 11-year-old girl in Cambodia died from avian flu.
The girl first became ill just six days before her death, and suffered from a fever, cough and sore throat.
Her death was confirmed by the country's Communicable Disease Control Department, who said that the girl from the Prey Veng province “tested positive for H5N1”.
Since then, rumours and speculation has been running rampant about future pandemics.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, member of the members of the SAGE independent advisory group have warned about what the next pandemic could be.
Dr Robin Thompson, an expert in mathematical epidemiology at the University of Warwick said, when asked what he thinks is “most likely to cause the next pandemic”, said: “A range of different pathogens could cause the next pandemic. Influenza viruses and coronaviruses are possible candidates. Sponsored
"Another possibility is that the next pandemic is caused by Disease X - in other words, a pathogen that we have not yet discovered.”
Several experts have waded in on the next pandemic debate (stock) (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
And Professor Mark Woolhouse, an expert in infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh added: “If our planning is too narrowly focused on a small number of potential threats then we risk preparing for the wrong pandemic.
“Bird flu is on the list but I would rate it lower than, for example, another coronavirus.
“Nevertheless, we should prepare for both, and others besides.”
Dr Robin Thompson claimed a 'Disease X' could cause the next pandemic
Professor Graham Medley, who is the chairman of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling – a SAGE sub-group – claims that there are a “number of diseases” that are been monitored as having pandemic potential.
He explained: “Avian influenza is top of the list, but there are many others.
“A major concern is the spread of antimicrobial resistance - a gonorrhoea that was untreatable with antibiotics would be a major problem.
INDIA
Does H3N2 influenza have relationship with Covid-19?
Know what experts say
BySnehashish Roy
Mar 07, 2023
Top scientist recommends increased Covid testing as the number of H3N2 influenza increases.
Health officials are concerned over raising trend of H3N2 influenza cases associated with co-infections of Covid-19. They suggested increased testing as the number of ICU admissions is increasing.
According to a scientist, as quoted by MINT, both Covid-19 and influenza have similar symptoms and they may last two to three months and they are ‘circulating simultaneously in the community’. The top official said samples of patients suspected for influenza are being tested for Covid-19 as well.
Chairman of the Institute of Internal Medicine Education Randeep Guleria said H3N2 virus, a mutation of H1N1 virus, spreads every year around this time. The number of cases is increasing because of their mutation.
“We also see that during this time of the year when the weather changes, there is a higher chance of getting influenza and also because of the fact that we have now come back to a non-Covid state where we are not wearing masks, we're having a lot of crowding. This is also allowing the virus to spread more easily,” Guleria was quoted as saying by news agency ANI
However, the top scientist recommended a proportional increase in the number of Covid testing as the number of cases increase. "The government should immediately direct Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme to increase surveillance and testing," the official told MINT.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has started a pan-India respiratory surveillance across 30 viral research and diagnostic laboratories.
According to the a senior doctor at Delhi's Fortis Hospital, as quoted by MINT, patients with adenovirus, para influenza and covid-19 infections were seen along with those with H3N2 cases admitted to ICU, despite they were being inoculated against influenza. However, experts believe the cases are not severe.
(With ANI inputs)
The Irish Times view on the Estonian general election
The outgoing prime minister’s support for Ukraine appears to have been a key factor in her landslide victory
Estonian prime minister, Kaja Kallas , whose party has won a landslide victory in the general election, speaks to the media in Tallinn
(Photo: Sergei Grits/AP)
Mon Mar 6 2023 -
The election in Estonia has delivered a clear victory for outgoing prime minister Kaja Kallas and her centre-right Reform party. Estonia, like the other Baltic republics, Latvia and Lithuania, was an integral part of the Soviet Union before winning independence in 1991. The large shadow cast by its neighbour has been an important factor in shaping the country’s politics since, particularly after the launch of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Kallas’s term in office has been particularly notable for her strong support for Kyiv, which has been not just verbal but practical: in proportion to its size, Estonia has been the largest supplier of armaments to Ukraine and the biggest recipient of refugees.
The main opposition to Reform has come from the Eurosceptic, far-right EKRE party, which in the previous election in 2019 increased its vote from 8 per cent to 18 per cent. Its leader, Martin Helme, has stated that there can be no place for black people in Estonia while the party chairman criticised participants in a Pride demonstration and said it should not enjoy police protection. In the run-up to the election EKRE campaigned against hosting Ukrainian refugees and argued that Estonia should not needlessly antagonise Russia. It also put Reform on the defensive over an inflation rate of more than 18 per cent, much of it caused by rocketing energy bills which Kallas’s rigid free-market principles initially made her reluctant to see the state subsidising.
EKRE, however, found itself alone in the Estonian political landscape in urging a softer line with Russia. Even the Centre party, traditionally supported by the large ethnic Russian minority, was critical of Putin’s invasion, which cost it some electoral support. In the final results Reform added three seats and EKRE lost two. The entrance into parliament of the new liberal centrist formation Estonia 200 with 14 seats has widened Kallas’s political options. A coalition of Reform, Estonia 200 and the social democrats, that is of the centre-right, centre and centre-left, is one option that could provide a strong working majority.
Kallas, ‘Europe’s new Iron Lady,’ wins reelection in Estonia
Estonia’s first female prime minister has emerged as a leading hawk in the European Union by insisting Russia must be defeated in Ukraine.
CAIN BURDEAU / March 6, 2023 Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas speaks at a news conference in Tallinn, Estonia, on Monday, March 6, 2023, after overwhelmingly winning the Baltic country's general election.
(CN) — Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, a staunch supporter of Ukraine who's been dubbed Europe's new “Iron Lady,” won reelection on Sunday in a landslide.
Kallas led her center-right neoliberal Reform Party to a resounding win by taking in about 32% of the votes, the most ever for a party since Estonia gained its independence in 1991. Her party is now expected to form a coalition government, possibly with the center-left Social Democrats and Estonia 200, a new liberal party.
Amid very high inflation in Estonia and signs of war fatigue emerging across Europe, there was some doubt about the level of support Kallas could rally.
Her success then was a big boost for European Union leaders, NATO and Ukraine because Kallas is one of Europe's most hawkish politicians in her support for Ukraine.
Also, the election was a setback for far-right nationalist forces in Europe with the Conservative People's Party of Estonia picking up about 15.7% of the vote, down from 17.8% in the last parliamentary elections in 2019. This party, also known by its Estonian acronym EKRE, has anti-EU and anti-immigrant views and it has advocated reducing Estonia's military support for Ukraine in order to bolster the country's own army.
In a tweet, Kallas said her win “shows that Estonians overwhelmingly value liberal values, security founded on EU and NATO, and firm support to Ukraine.”
With her ardent backing of Ukraine and calls for unlimited military aid to Kyiv, she's given her small country of 1.3 million people an outsized voice in the EU. Estonia is providing per capita more military aid to Ukraine than any other NATO country.
She's even been dubbed by media as Europe's new “Iron Lady” because of her resemblance to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's uncompromising stance on the Soviet Union.
Even before Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine, Kallas was urging her counterparts in the EU to see Russia as a dangerous power bent on reconquering territories that Moscow once held.
Estonia was a former Soviet republic and shares a long border with Russia. Since Estonia gained independence, a large ethnic Russian population in Estonia has often felt marginalized because many Russian residents have been denied citizenship and accuse the state of mistreating them. About a quarter of Estonia's population is Russian.
The Baltic country has been a target of Russian meddling and cyberattacks, prompting its leaders, including Kallas, to warn that Moscow could attack the small country and use the plight of ethnic Russians in Estonia as a pretext for its aggression. Estonia, though, is a NATO member and a Russian attack is highly unlikely.
In a recent interview, Kallas said Ukraine has proven its strength after fighting off Russia's military and that it must be brought into the EU and safeguarded against Russia. She likened Ukraine's fight to that of Estonia's struggles for independence from the Soviet Union.
She said the war was “going much better than we thought even a year ago” because Ukraine “has survived” and the Western alliance has remained intact.
“Keeping this unity has been a big achievement for the European Union but also NATO,” she said.
Her anti-Russian stance can be traced to her personal family history too. Born in 1977 when Estonia was a Soviet republic, the 45-year-old prime minister comes from an elite Estonian family deeply involved in leading the fight for Estonia's independence from Russia in the first half of the 20th century. Her mother and grandmother also were among large numbers of Estonians deported by the Stalinist regime.
Her father, Siim Kallas, served as a Reform Party prime minister of Estonia between 2002 and 2003.
Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.
Estonia election analysis: Why the liberals won, the far-right lost, and other key takeaways
By David Mac Dougall • Updated: 06/03/2023 - FILE: Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas - Copyright AP Photo
The votes are all tallied, the winners declared, and the dust is settling on Estonia's first election since the COVID pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine is over.
The makeup of the next parliament - Riigikogu - looks familiar but also different: at the previous election in 2019 there were five parties represented, but now six parties have made it over the 5% threshold and returned MPs.
Now talks begin to form the next government and here's where PM Kaja Kallas is hoping history doesn't repeat itself: in 2019 her Reform Party won the most seats in parliament but she was outflanked by right-wing parties who went on to form a coalition of their own.
So what did we learn from the campaign and the elections? Here's our key takeaways:
1. Strong new madate for Kaja Kallas and her Reform Party
Incumbent Prime Minister Kaja Kallas had a strong night, with her centre-right Reform Party picking up three new seats, while opponents further right in the political spectrum suffered losses. Estonia's public broadcaster ERR called it a "landslide" win as Reform extended its lead over the far-right EKRE party to 15 seats.
The win, Kallas said, "also shows that Estonians overwhelmingly value liberal values, security founded on EU and NATO, and firm support to Ukraine."
The new liberal bloc which has now emerged in Estonian politics could in theory mean that Reform would only need the support of one other party to form a majority government, but Kaja Kallas talked on the campaign trail about the need for building sustainable and solid alliances with other parties, so she's likely to look at two other parties with similar values to form her coalition: Estonia200 and the Social Democrats.
2. Big breakthrough for Estonia200 party
At the last general election in 2019, the Estonia200 party fell just short of the 5% threshold to return MPs to parliament. At the regional elections they sharpened their message, targeted seats in urban areas in particular where they felt their strengths and core support lay, and now translated this into national success with 14 seats in the Riigikogu -- and a likely spot in government.
So why has this liberal, centre-right party resonated now with voters? Party co-founder Kristina Kallas (no relation to Kaja Kallas) tells Euronews that her party succeeded by appealing to people across the political spectrum.
"At this election, people were looking for the option of a new, liberal force," says Kallas.
"In Tartu, where I campaigned, it's not just young liberal progressive voters worried about populism, it was also quite elderly people who might not be value-liberal as we understand it, but populism was also something they didn't want," she explains.
"Estonia200 brought more liberal voters out to vote, and to vote for a new party," says Kallas.
Electoral commission staff count ballot papers after voting closed at a polling station in Tallinn, Estonia, Sunday, March 5, 2023
Sergei Grits/AP
3. Parties on the right took a fall in support
"This year it seems to be more important who doesn't get the votes, than who does," one Estonian voter told Euronews on election day, and that feeling seems to have prevailed with a liberal, values-based centre-right bloc emerging strongly, while parties with more traditional views (Centre Party and Isamaa) or more polarising policies (EKRE) took a hit.
"Reform Party and EKRE presented themselves as the main opponents in the election, calling for supporters of other parties to vote for them to make sure that the other one does not stand a chance to become a prime minister's party," explains Merili Arjakas, a research fellow at the International Centre for Defence and Security in Tallinn.
"While EKRE's nominal loss of two seats is not major, they had expected to take over the Centre Party's position of being a strong second party with give-or-take of 25 seats. This did not happen," she tells Euronews.
Additionally, having the Social Democrats and Estonia200 fare better than in recent opinion polls also added salt to the the right wing's wounds.
"This is why there is a widespread perception that the nationalist right lost the election," says Arjakas.
The Centre Party's vote share was down more than 36,000 votes from the last election, likely lost due to a number of factors including a popular figure who was expelled from the party last year who ran as an independent; but the security situation, the war in Ukraine, a feeling of neglect or alienation among Russian-speaking voters who traditionally vote for the Centre Party, and generally lower level of political engagement.
KRE), the candidate for Prime Minister Martin Helme casts his ballot at a polling station during a parliamentary elections in Tallinn, Estonia, Sunday, March 5, 2023.
Pavel Golovkin/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved
4. Internet voting is more popular, and trusted, than ever
For the first time in an Estonian election cycle, more than 50% of people cast their ballots on the internet. That's only possible because of the wide range of services that are available to Estonians online, the investment in system security that authorities have invested in, and the high level of trust the public has in the integrity of internet voting.
The fly in the ointment the after the votes were counted is that far-right party EKRE now reportedly wants to challenge those electronic ballots in court.
Kristi Raik, Deputy Director of the International Centre for Defence and Security in Tallinn, calls that a "Trumpist" move.
"EKRE is bringing into question the reliability of the voting procedure and wants to contest the e-vote in court. This is a dangerous game of undermining people’s trust in institutions," says Raik.
"The real reason being that EKRE gets relatively few e-votes."
Activists speak with people near a campaign tent adorned with posters depicting candidates' portraits during parliamentary elections in Tallinn, Estonia, Sunday, March 5, 2023
Sergei Grits/AP
5. What happened to Russian-speaking voter turnout?
Estonia's Russian-speaking voters have found themselves a bit politically adrift in the last year or so. Although they have traditionally sided with the Centre Party, they felt let down when it comes to continuing Russian-language education in parallel with the Estonian-language education system.
EKRE had tried to woo them, and use the arrival of Ukrainian refugees as a wedge issue: but EKRE had also been very vocal about calling for the removal of Soviet-era monuments which could in turn alienate some Russian-speaking voters.
"Looking at the districts, the turnout was remarkably lower than national average in Ida-Virumaa county and a bit lower in Tallinna Kesklinna, Lasnamäe and Pirita districts, where many Russian-speakers in the country live," explains ICDS's Merili Arjakas.
Nine political parties in all fielded candidates for Estonia’s 101-seat parliament, or Riigikogu.
Voters in Estonia have cast their ballots in a parliamentary election where initial results suggested the centre-right Reform Party of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas is on its way to a landslide victory.
Ms Kallas faced a challenge from the far-right populist EKRE party, which seeks to limit the Baltic nation’s exposure to the Ukraine crisis and blames the current government for Estonia’s high inflation rate.
Nine political parties in all fielded candidates for Estonia’s 101-seat parliament, or Riigikogu. More than 900,000 people were eligible to vote in the general election, and nearly half voted in advance.
With around 90% votes counted, Reform Party was in strong lead with 31.9% of the votes, followed by EKRE with 15.2% and the Centre Party, traditionally favoured by Estonia’s sizable ethnic-Russian minority, 14.5%.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Pavel Golovkin/AP)
Preliminary results suggested six parties passed the 5% threshold of support needed to be in parliament, including newcomer Eesti 200, a liberal centrist party.
By the time polls closed at 8pm local time, the overall turnout was 63.7%, according to initial information – a rate on par with the 2019 election. Preliminary election results were expected by early Monday.
National security in the wake of neighbouring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and socio-economic issues, particularly the rising cost of living, were main campaign themes.
Ms Kallas, 45, became prime minister in 2021 and has emerged as one of Europe’s most outspoken supporters of Ukraine during the year-long war.
She is seeking a second term, with her standing enhanced by her international appeals to impose sanctions on Moscow.
A Baltic nation of 1.3 million people that borders Russia to the east, Estonia broke away from the Soviet Union in 1991 and has taken a clear Western course, joining Nato and the European Union.
Five parties were represented in the outgoing parliament. Ms Kallas’ party has led the current coalition government with the small conservative Fatherland party and the Social Democrats.
Her centre-right Reform Party, a key player in Estonian politics since the mid-1990s, continuously held the prime minister’s post during 2005-2016 and regained it in 2021.
Polls indicated Ms Kallas’ party was likely to win the most votes in Sunday’s election. EKRE party leader Martin Helme, the prime minister’s main challenger, blames Ms Kallas for the country’s inflation rate of 18.6%, one of the EU’s highest, and accuses her of undermining Estonia’s defences by giving weapons to Ukraine.
“We’ve never questioned support for Ukraine. We’ve never questioned Estonia’s membership in Nato,” Mr Helme said in an interview with The Associated Press.
“That’s just crazy talk. But we have been very critical of the government because they have not assessed the risk to Estonia and to Estonian security and defence.”
“We have basically given away all our heavy weaponry to Ukraine, and the replacement comes within two or three years. Basically, that is an invitation of aggression,” he said.
The outspoken and polarising EKRE entered into the mainstream of Estonian politics in the 2019 election, when it emerged as the third-largest party with nearly 18% of the vote.
The eurosceptic party was co-founded by Martin Helme’s father, Mart Helme, and was part of a Centre Party-led government during 2019-21.
Ms Kallas argues it is in her country’s interests to help Kyiv. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine sparked fears in Tallinn that a Russian victory could embolden Moscow to switch its attentions to other countries it controlled in Soviet times, including Baltic nations Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
She says that Estonia’s defences remain strong as the United States and other Nato allies have supplied top-notch weapons like the Himars rocket system to Ukraine and also to Estonia.
By Press Association
UK
Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out ‘spread Covid but was covered up’
Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out campaign was a hit with the public during the pandemic but he has now come under criticism for it (Picture: PA) The Prime Minister is under pressure over his ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme during the pandemic with claims of a ‘cover up’ and that it spread Covid.
Rishi Sunak’s flagship campaign encouraged the public to go out and support restaurants with 50% discounts for diners.
But now leaked messages show the concern from then Health Secretary Matt Hancock about how Eat Out to Help Out was spreading the virus.
Around 100,000 WhatsApp messages from then Health Secretary Matt Hancock were leaked earlier this week, and in new texts, Mr Hancock can be seen showing his disapproval of the initiative. Eat Out to Help Out part of a package of measures launched by Mr Sunak in the summer of 2020.
In August 2020, while the scheme was still operating, Mr Hancock mentioned his concerns about it in messages to Simon Case, the then Downing Street permanent secretary in charge of the Civil Service response to Covid.
Mr Hanock told Mr Case that the scheme was driving up Covid cases in some of the worst hit areas and that the problems it was causing were ‘serious’.
The PM even went to Wagamama’s and served food to promote the scheme (Picture: Rishi Sunak Twitter)
Thousands of restaurants and diners made the most of the offer during the pandemic (Picture: Getty)
But he added that he had ‘kept it out of the news’, according to the Telegraph.
He said the Treasury had been informed about the ‘problems’ the scheme was causing in Covid ‘intervention areas’.
‘We’ve been protecting them in the comms,’ he said, adding that ‘thankfully’ it has not yet ‘bubbled up’.
Eat Out to Help Out offered diners 50 per cent off food and non-alcoholic drinks on Mondays to Wednesdays in August, capped at £10 per head.
The final total cost to the taxpayer was £849 million – far in excess of the £500 million original forecast by the Treasury.
The Prime Minister has now been urged to ‘come clean’ about what he knew about the risks of the scheme and explain why ‘warnings were apparently ignored and evidence concealed.’
Matt Hancock and Rishi were announced as part of Boris’s cabinet as the pandemic began (Picture: PA)
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, said: ‘We now know that Rishi Sunak’s Treasury was made aware of the evidence that his Eat Out to Help Out scheme was spreading Covid and risking public health.
‘These disturbing exchanges show the Prime Minister may have been complicit in a cover up when he was Chancellor to protect his own PR stunt at the expense of public safety.
‘He must now own up to what he knew and when about the risks, and explain why the warnings were apparently ignored and evidence concealed.’
Meanwhile, Lobby Akinnola of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group said Mr Hancock’s messages ‘confirm what many have suspected for a long time – saving lives was not the priority for our Government’.
He added: ‘It is now laid bare before us; instead of listening to scientific experts, acting urgently to save lives when it was proven that Eat Out to Help Out was risking lives… our Government chose to treat the pandemic as a vanity project to garner political points.’
A study by Warwick University, published in October 2020, concluded that the scheme had ‘caused a significant rise in new infections… accelerating the pandemic into its current second wave’.
Academics claimed the scheme contributed between eight and 17 per cent of new Covid infections at the time.
Oct 30, 2020 ... The government initiative, which cost around £500 million, caused a significant rise in new infections in August and early September ...
Oct 30, 2020 ... “The empirical estimates suggest that the scheme may be responsible for around 8-17% of all new detected Covid-19 clusters (at least two new ...
'Eat Out to Help Out' scheme drove new COVID-19 infections up by between 8 and 17%, new research finds. The government initiative, which cost around £500 ...
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Matt Hancock and Rishi were announced as part of Boris’s cabinet as the pandemic began (Picture: PA)