Russia’s intelligence services ordered an arson attack on premises used by Milrem Robotics in Tallinn, Estonia’s domestic security agency has concluded.

The fire, which broke out in the early hours of 15 August, was the first Russian-sponsored attack in Estonia this year to evade the authorities and be successfully carried out, according to Margo Palloson, the director-general of the Estonian Internal Security Service, known as Kapo.

The Estonian foreign ministry said it would summon Russia’s chargé d’affaires over the attack.

“Today we can say with complete certainty that the arson attack on Milrem was an act of sabotage commissioned by the intelligence services of the Russian Federation,” the Estonian prime minister, Kristen Michal, said.

Continue reading Russia ordered an arson attack on Estonian defence company Milrem Robotics at Estonian World.

28 September 2026 – 04 October 2026

Not sure where to be this week? Every week, in partnership with Gamma, we present a hand-picked selection of the five most compelling events taking place in and around Tallinn – it’s time to plan your week with purpose.

Material Recycling Theme Day

Euroopa Elamuskeskus, Rävala Boulevard 4, Tallinn

Tuesday, 29 September, from 11am

Material Recycling in a New Era comes to Tallinn Design Festival for a day of big ideas and practical creativity.

Continue reading Your Tallinn hit list: the top 5 events this week at Estonian World.

On 28 September 1994, the ferry Estonia vanished into the Baltic Sea, and passenger shipping has never been the same.

On a late September night in 1994, the ferry MS Estonia left Tallinn for Stockholm and never arrived. Just after one in the morning, in seas that were rough but hardly exceptional for the Baltic, passengers felt a shuddering series of bangs reverberate through the hull. Within an hour, the ship was gone. Eight hundred and fifty-two people drowned. Only 137 survived.

The scale of the loss was staggering, but the shape of it was familiar. Maritime history is punctuated by disasters that remake the very rules of seafaring.

Continue reading How the sinking of MS Estonia changed passenger ships forever at Estonian World.

The latest information technology surveys conducted by Statistics Estonia show that the use of artificial intelligence increased significantly in 2026 compared with the year before – AI use was up both among enterprises and individuals, with the use of AI tools for private purposes rising by 53%. 

There was also a rise in the use of internet-connected devices, such as smart TVs and smart watches.

Luisa Nuka, an analyst at Statistics Estonia, the country’s official statistics agency, said that, year on year, the use of artificial intelligence grew 1.4 times among households and 1.5 times among enterprises. 

“This is probably related to the wider availability of AI-based tools and services and their integration into our daily lives.

Continue reading Estonians increasingly use artificial intelligence at Estonian World.

A new Deutsche Welle documentary explores how Soviet repression, exile and spiritual searching helped shape the Estonian composer, Arvo Pärt’s singular musical language.

A short documentary by Deutsche Welle charts Pärt’s journey from a prefabricated apartment block in Soviet-era Tallinn to the world’s leading concert halls.

Produced with the Goethe-Institut, the 13-minute film combines rare archive footage with contributions from Pärt’s family, researchers and leading Estonian musicians. It examines the composer’s discovery of Gregorian chant and the spiritual ideas behind tintinnabuli, the spare, bell-like style that came to define his work.

The documentary also traces Pärt’s departure from Estonia in 1980 and the role of producer Manfred Eicher and his ECM label in bringing the composer’s music to a global audience.

Continue reading From a Tallinn tower block to the world stage: film traces Arvo Pärt’s journey at Estonian World.

Two Estonian children’s books exploring Soviet-era memories and life without school have been selected for The White Ravens 2026, an international catalogue of outstanding children’s and young adult literature.

The annual catalogue, compiled by the International Youth Library in Munich, features 216 books in 46 languages from 62 countries and territories. Its experts select works for their literary and artistic quality, the subjects they address and their potential to appeal to readers beyond their country of origin.

The Estonian titles chosen this year are Indrek Koff and Olena London’s Ära oota midagi (Don’t Expect Anything), published by Varrak in 2025, and Ester Urbala and Ulla Saar’s Koolipõlgurid, published by Puänt in the same year.

Continue reading Two Estonian children’s books selected for White Ravens catalogue at Estonian World.

The United States has told Estonia that it will maintain its rotational military presence in the country, with a new unit due to arrive in November, according to the Estonian defence ministry.

“Estonia greatly values the presence of US forces and their contribution to security in the Baltic region. It is a cornerstone of Nato’s deterrence and defence posture, demonstrating that the allies are ready and united in defending its territory,” Martin Herem, the newly appointed defence minister, said.

US officials said the decision was separate from Washington’s continuing review of its military deployments.

Continue reading The US promises to send a new unit to Estonia in November at Estonian World.

Estonian World’s executive editor, Sten Hankewitz, drove his all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E – affectionately known as his “Pony” – from central New Hampshire to Toronto and back; he not only survived the long solo journey but found that driving an EV helped keep him sane along the way.

When Estonian World’s editor-in-chief, Silver Tambur, asked whether I wanted to drive to Toronto to cover KESKfEST, an Estonian festival held at the nearly completed diaspora centre KESKUS, my first reaction was, “Hell to the no.” Six hundred miles each way? Jebus. I would go insane – and then some.

Continue reading Toronto and back in an EV: 1,200 miles without losing my mind at Estonian World.

In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Estonian World brings you the latest reactions from Estonia. For updates from 2022, please see a separate article.

23 September 2026 – Ukrainian cops hone their skills in Estonia

A project aimed at Ukrainian police leaders brought six study groups – nearly a hundred cops – to Estonia to exchange experiences. The project aimed to enhance the professional competencies of Ukrainian police leaders and strengthen public trust in the police.vThe aim of the project is to support the Ukrainian police in their reforms, strengthen internal security and democracy, and provide Ukrainian police leaders with practical knowledge of management.

Continue reading Updates: Russia’s war against Ukraine – Estonian perspective at Estonian World.

The Baltic states have abandoned the 2030 deadline for Rail Baltica and given themselves until 2034 to open the main line, angering leaders in the Estonian city of Pärnu who say years of planning and investment were based on government promises.

Under a joint statement approved by the prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on 22 September, the railway is now expected to become operational during the European Union’s next budget period, which runs from 2028 to 2034.

The statement gives no precise opening date, replacing the firm 2030 target with a seven-year window. The three countries nevertheless promised to continue construction as close to the existing timetable as possible.

Continue reading Rail Baltica delayed again as Baltic states seek €10 billion from the EU at Estonian World.

She was five when she joined the Baltic Way, too young to understand its politics but old enough to feel thousands of voices becoming one; now, with an album 25 years in the making, the Estonian-Swiss singer-songwriter talks to Estonian World about regilaul, silence and why music became her first home.

At five, Ingrid Lukas stood in the Baltic Way and felt thousands of people become one through song. Long before she understood the politics, she understood the power of a collective voice. Decades later, after a childhood move to Switzerland, profound loneliness and a period in which her own voice disappeared, music remains her route to freedom, belonging and home.

Continue reading Ingrid Lukas: “Words tell a story – but the sound tells the truth” at Estonian World.

14 September 2026 – 20 September 2026

Not sure where to be this week? Every week, in partnership with Gamma, we present a hand-picked selection of the five most compelling events taking place in and around Tallinn – it’s time to plan your week with purpose.

Make Friends Tallinn

Gruuv, Suur-Karja 4, Tallinn

Tuesday, 22 September, from 7.30pm

BlaBla Language Exchange & Make Friends is a free-flow mingle for anyone up for meeting new people, practising languages and having a good chat, minus the awkward structured stuff.

Continue reading Your Tallinn hit list: the top 5 events this week at Estonian World.

In the autumn of 1944, as the Red Army closed in and renewed Soviet occupation became inevitable, around 80,000 Estonians fled aboard ships and small fishing boats; for many, the perilous escape marked only the beginning of years spent in displaced persons’ camps before they could build new lives in Britain, North America, Australia and elsewhere.*

In August and September 1944, as the Second World War raged, tens of thousands of Estonians scrambled to board anything that could float – from ships to small wooden fishing boats – in a desperate bid to escape their war-torn homeland, which would remain under Soviet occupation until 1991.

Continue reading Remembering Estonia’s Second World War refugees at Estonian World.

Touch the lampshade standing in the corner of the gallery and your hand encounters an unfamiliar organic, velvety texture; it was neither made on an assembly line nor moulded from synthetic plastic, but grown from fungal mycelium over several months inside a mould.

Nearby, a pair of delicate earrings catches the gallery light. They were cut from the shattered safety glass of a car windscreen, salvaged from a roadside wreck.

During KESKfEST, the Estonian festival held in Toronto from 20–23 August, Estonian World toured an exhibition featuring work by some of Estonia’s leading designers and offering a compelling glimpse of the future of circular design.

Continue reading Estonian sustainable design reinvents waste in Toronto at Estonian World.

14 September 2026 – 20 September 2026

Not sure where to be this week? Every week, in partnership with Gamma, we present a hand-picked selection of the five most compelling events taking place in and around Tallinn – it’s time to plan your week with purpose.

Pickle based comedy show

Heldeke!, Tööstuse 13, Tallinn

Tuesday, 15 September, from 7pm

Liam Duffy’s Pickle Based Gameshow arrives at Tallinn Fringe fresh from the Edinburgh Fringe, Gothenburg Fringe, FinFringe, and Mayhoots Comedy Festival, which means it has been road-tested across Europe and the pickles have survived every single stop.

Continue reading Your Tallinn hit list: the top 5 events this week at Estonian World.

In a world where music often speaks louder than words, Arvo Pärt’s compositions resonate with profound, almost spiritual clarity, and his minimalist approach, characterised by hauntingly beautiful harmonies and meditative silence, redefines the classical genre and invites listeners into an intimate dialogue of love and transcendence; here is a visual retrospective of Pärt through the years.

Arvo Pärt was born on 11 September 1935, in the Estonian provincial town of Paide, but his parents separated and, before the onset of the war, the mother and son moved to Rakvere. The childhood and early youth of the future composer were spent in the tranquil milieu of that small town.

Continue reading Arvo Pärt: a visual retrospective at Estonian World.

Aino Lepik von Wirén, Estonia’s ambassador to the Council of Europe, will chair the group preparing a special court to prosecute those bearing the greatest responsibility for launching Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Ambassador Aino Lepik von Wirén was elected on Wednesday to chair the Council of Europe’s working group on the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. The decision was taken in Strasbourg by the permanent representatives of the Council’s member states, acting on behalf of their foreign ministers.

Her appointment gives Estonia a prominent role in one of Europe’s most significant attempts to establish individual criminal responsibility for the decision to wage war.

Continue reading Estonian envoy elected to lead work on tribunal for Russia’s invasion at Estonian World.

The Estonian composer, Arvo Pärt, has become the first Estonian to receive the Goethe Medal, one of Germany’s most prestigious cultural honours, recognising a body of work that has touched and connected listeners around the world.

Arvo Pärt has spent much of his creative life exploring what can emerge from silence. In Weimar, Germany, that pursuit was honoured with the Goethe Medal – an official decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany and the country’s most important award for international cultural exchange.

Pärt received the medal alongside the Italian translator Anita Raja and the Greek theatre director Prodromos Tsinikoris at a ceremony on 28 August, the birthday of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Continue reading Arvo Pärt becomes the first Estonian to receive Germany’s Goethe Medal at Estonian World.

07 September 2026 – 13 September 2026

Not sure where to be this week? Every week, in partnership with Gamma, we present a hand-picked selection of the five most compelling events taking place in and around Tallinn – it’s time to plan your week with purpose.

“Could have been an email” comedy show

Ratas & Kohv Hipodroomi, Tallinn

Tuesday, 8 September, from 7pm

This improvised comedy show dives headfirst into the glorious, soul-crushing absurdity of corporate life: onboarding sessions, culture decks, vision statements, the “one big family” that definitely isn’t a family and the promised pizza that never arrives.

Continue reading Your Tallinn hit list: the top 5 events this week at Estonian World.

Estonia remains among the world’s top 10 education systems, according to the OECD’s latest PISA results; its 15-year-olds outperformed the OECD average in science, maths and reading, but the country’s reading score has fallen to its lowest level since Estonia first took part in the assessment.

More than 760,000 students in 91 countries and economies took part in PISA 2025, which measures how well 15-year-olds can apply their knowledge to unfamiliar problems.

Estonian students scored 527 points in science, 508 in mathematics and 499 in reading. A new assessment of computational problem-solving produced a score of 541. When non-OECD participants and the Chinese jurisdictions are included, Estonia ranked sixth in science, eighth in mathematics and reading, and seventh in computational problem-solving.

Continue reading Estonia remains among the world’s best education systems in PISA 2025 – but reading scores fall at Estonian World.