VZCZCXRO8514
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTL #0264/01 2111210
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 291210Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY TALLINN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0733
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TALLINN 000264 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL EAID EN
SUBJECT: ESTONIA'S EVOLVING DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE 
AGENDA 
 
¶1. (U) Summary. While a relative newcomer to the field 
of foreign assistance, Estonia continues to expand its 
role as a donor nation.  The GOE goal is to spend at 
least 0.1 percent of Gross National Income (GNI) on 
development assistance by 2010, still short of the EU 
target of 0.17 percent for new members.  Since 2006, 
Government of Estonia (GOE) assistance has focused on 
four priority countries - Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova and 
Afghanistan - although it has increased humanitarian 
donations to crisis countries in Asia and Africa.  End 
Summary. 
 
STEADY INCREASE IN ASSISTANCE 
 
¶2. (U) Total development assistance by the GOE has 
increased dramatically since Estonia was first listed as 
a donor country by the OECD in 1999.  Data collected by 
the European Commission reflects that Estonia's 
development assistance constituted 0.09 percent of GNI 
in 2006. According to Marje Luup, Development Assistance 
Division Director of the MFA, preliminary numbers for 
2007 suggest that the GOE is close to raising official 
development assistance to at least 0.1 percent GNI.  The 
GOE is also striving to meet the 0.17 percent figure, as 
suggested in the Council conclusions of the EU Council 
of Ministers in May 2005.  Bi/trilateral development 
assistance amounts in the MFA budget have also doubled 
during recent years: in 2006 it was USD 1,815,000 and in 
2007 it reached USD 3,790,000. (Note: Estonia's total 
assistance budget for 2008 is USD 22 million.  Two 
thirds of this sum is earmarked for multi-lateral 
assistance projects funneled through the European Union. 
End Note.)  At the same time, according to public 
opinion surveys, public interest in global issues has 
increased in Estonia - growing from 57 percent to 67 
percent since 2005.  These polls also indicate that 
support for assistance to poorer countries increased 
from 65 percent to 76 percent in the same time period. 
 
HOW THE GOE ADMINISTERS ASSISTANCE 
 
¶3. (U) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the lead 
agency for development assistance in Estonia, with an 
allocated assistance budget of USD 6 million for 2008. 
Other ministries, state agencies and local governments 
have budgeted over USD 2.3 million for 2008, including 
the Ministry of Defense with USD 650,000.  The MFA, 
through its Office of Development Cooperation, has 
primary responsibility for coordinating all development 
assistance policy planning and implementation.  The 
Ministry identifies potential assistance projects based 
on requests from partner countries, international 
organizations or NGOs operating in partner countries. 
Estonian civil society associations like the Estonian 
Development Cooperation Roundtable (EDCR), an umbrella 
organization for NGOs, also play an important role in 
identifying and developing assistance policy projects. 
 
GOE ASSISTANCE PRIORITIES 
 
¶4. (U) In 2006, the GOE adopted a strategy for 
development assistance establishing Georgia, Moldova, 
Ukraine and Afghanistan as priority partner countries 
through 2010.  Since that time, overall assistance to 
these countries has steadily increased.  Citing 
Estonia's own remarkable success in rapidly 
transitioning to a stable democracy with a competitive 
market economy, the GOE feels uniquely qualified to 
offer assistance to other emerging post-Soviet 
societies.  Assistance to these countries has focused 
largely on Estonia sharing its experiences with NATO and 
EU accession by sending civilian and military experts to 
offer advice on defense planning, integration into Euro- 
Atlantic security structures and implementing democratic 
civilian control over the armed forces.  Estonia has 
also assisted these countries in civil society 
development by sending expert advisors as well as 
inviting politicians and civil society leaders to 
Estonia to gain first hand knowledge of a functioning 
democracy.  Moldova, for one, has benefited from 
training received from Estonian tax and customs experts. 
 
¶5. (U) Afghanistan is one of Estonia's highest foreign 
policy priorities.  Estonian troops have served in 
southern Afghanistan since 2002. Between 2002 and 2007, 
the GOE, in partnership with agencies like the 
International Red Cross, UN High Commissioner on 
Refugees and Counter Narcotics Trust Fund, spent more 
than USD 336,000 in Afghanistan.  Projects included 
provision of blankets, linen, first aid kits and 
supplies to assist refugees, counter narcotics 
 
TALLINN 00000264  002 OF 003 
 
 
operations, support for a 2009/2010 Population and 
Housing census project, construction of an academic 
center and improvements in pediatric and women's care at 
the Helmand provincial hospital. In 2008, GOE assistance 
to Afghanistan will reach USD 500,000.  The funds are 
being used to provide medical equipment and winter fuel 
for the Helmand provincial hospital, as well as to 
support the clearing of land mines.  In March 2008, the 
GOE also sent a civilian medical advisor to Helmand to 
support the development of a sustainable healthcare 
system in the province and to help coordinate 
international aid. 
 
TRILATERAL COOPERATION 
 
¶6. (U) The GOE also seeks opportunities for trilateral 
cooperation with other donors to leverage its assistance 
resources.  MFA contacts have indicated a strong 
interest in collaborating with the Unites States. 
Estonia has already partnered with Sweden, Finland, 
Iceland, Canada and the United Kingdom on projects 
supporting Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia.  The Estonian 
MFA, in conjunction with Sweden and Finland, is 
currently lending financial assistance to young 
Georgian, Ukrainian, Armenian and Moldavian diplomats 
and civil servants who wish to study at the Estonia 
School of Diplomacy. The Estonian MFA, through the 
Council of Nordic Ministers, is also supporting (USD 
45,000) the European University of Humanities, a 
Belarusian university based in Vilnius, Lithuania. 
Under this program, young Belarusians denied educational 
opportunities due to their political beliefs have access 
to higher education.  Estonian Foreign Minister, Urmas 
Paet has commented that, 'Allocating funds for the 
university is a good way to support democratic movements 
in Belarus and provide young people with the experience 
of learning in an open society.' 
 
BRANCHING OUT 
 
¶7. (U) Estonia is also increasingly proactive in 
providing international humanitarian assistance.  In 
2006 and 2007, Estonia provided assistance to victims of 
the Indonesian earthquake as well as refugees in 
Lebanon, Darfur and the Congo. In 2008, Estonia pledged 
USD 50,000 in humanitarian assistance to Tajik children 
suffering from a cold wave, internationally displaced 
persons in Kenya, and Burmese victims of Cyclone Nargis. 
In February 2008, the GOE pledged USD 1 million dollars 
to Palestine at the Paris Donors' Conference and USD 1 
million over the next four years for reconstruction 
efforts in Kosovo.  These were the two largest single 
donations ever made by Estonia. 
 
¶8. (U) In addition to successful economic and democratic 
development, Estonia has also created a niche for itself 
in the realm of internet technology.  As such, many 
emerging democracies look to Estonia for assistance in 
development of their own IT sector.  The GOE's main 
assistance partner in this field has been the e- 
Governance Academy.  The e-Governance Academy, founded 
in 2002, is an Estonian non-governmental, non-profit 
organization, founded for the creation and transfer of 
knowledge concerning e-governance, e-democracy and the 
development of civil society.  Its mission is to train 
and advise leaders and stakeholders in using information 
and communication technology (ICT) to increase 
government efficiency and to improve democratic 
processes with the aim of building open information 
societies. 
 
¶9. (U) One of the more successful IT assistance programs 
has been the joint GOE e-Governance Academy 'Leap' 
program supporting the transfer of knowledge and 
expertise in information and communication technology 
(ICT) to educators in partner nations like Georgia and 
Moldova.  The e-Governance Academy has also conducted IT 
training and support sessions with government and public 
sector officials in Georgia, Ukraine, Macedonia and 
Kosovo. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Comment.  In its Consensus on Development 
(signed in December 2005), the EU set a goal for new 
member states to spend 0.17 percent of GNI on official 
development assistance by 2011.  The Consensus also 
identified poverty eradication as the EU's primary 
objective.  Estonia is not on track to meet either of 
these goals.  The GOE has also been criticized for 
focusing its assistance in its own foreign policy 
neighborhood and not expanding its programs to Africa. 
However, GOE efforts to administer assistance in Africa 
 
TALLINN 00000264  003 OF 003 
 
 
are hampered by the fact that currently, the GOE has 
only one diplomat in the region working out of the 
Swedish Embassy in Cairo. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Comment Continued.  Despite having been a 
donor nation for less than 10 years, the GOE has clearly 
demonstrated its commitment to not only promoting 
democratic principles, but to increasing its role in 
humanitarian assistance as well.  While recognizing that 
up to this point the GOE has focused the majority of its 
assistance efforts towards countries with which they are 
familiar, there are indications that they are gradually 
branching out to areas in Asia and Africa.  Post is 
confident that as the GOE continues to gain experience 
in regions outside the former sphere of Soviet 
influence, their capacity to identify and address 
assistance needs will increase as well. Post will also 
continue to encourage Estonia's active promotion of 
democratic government and reform in priority countries 
in pursuing our core MSP Goal of Strengthening Estonia's 
Role in the World. End Comment. 
 
PHILLIPS