19 October 2026 – 25 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.

Make Immigrants Great Again Comedy Show

Ratas&Kohv, Uus-Veerenni, Tallinn

Thursday, 22 October, from 7pm

Make Immigrants Great Again is an evening of stand-up comedy about identity, culture shock, belonging and the absurdity of navigating the world when you are perpetually from somewhere else.

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

For the 13th year in a row, Estonia is the country with the most competitive tax code in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, according to the Tax Foundation’s annual International Tax Competitiveness Index.

Estonia’s top score is driven by four positive features of its tax system.

“First, it has a 22 percent tax rate on corporate income that is only applied to distributed profits. Second, it has a flat 22 percent tax on individual income that does not apply to personal dividend income,” the Tax Foundation says.

“Third, its property tax applies only to the value of land, rather than to the value of real property or capital.

Continue reading Estonia has the most competitive tax system in the OECD – again at Estonian World.

The US fashion brand Gap has opened its first store in Estonia, which is also its only standalone outlet in Scandinavia and the Baltics.

The nearly 340 sq m (3,700 sq ft) shop opened on 15 October on the second floor of Tallinn’s Ülemiste shopping centre.

It sells Gap’s women’s, men’s and children’s collections, including jeans, logo sweatshirts, chinos and T-shirts.

Estonian choreographer Ženja Fokin trying on a Gap hoodie. Photo by Kalev Lilleorg.

The opening is part of Gap’s broader strategy to strengthen its position in the Baltics and expand its presence in Europe.

Continue reading Estonia gets its first Gap store at Tallinn’s Ülemiste Centre at Estonian World.

The secretary-general of NATO, Mark Rutte, urged Europe to strengthen its conventional defences and called for faster advances in drone and air defence technology during a lecture at Tallinn University of Technology, adding that NATO is facing no imminent miliary threat.

However, Rutte did warn that Russia was intensifying hybrid attacks across Europe and remained a long-term danger to the alliance.

“If there is a build-up, like there was before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, then we will see it and we will deal with it,” Rutte told students and researchers at Tallinn University of Technology, known as TalTech.

Continue reading NATO chief says there is no imminent military threat to alliance at Estonian World.

Estonia will lower the minimum voting age for European Parliament elections from 18 to 16, while reducing the minimum age for candidates from 21 to 18; the changes will take effect in 2029.

The Estonian parliament passed the amendment by 59 votes to 28. It lowers the voting age from 18 and the minimum age for candidates from 21.

The right to vote and stand will apply to Estonian citizens and citizens of other EU member states who have permanent residence in Estonia.

The amendment was first proposed in March 2024 by 45 MPs, who argued that young people should have a greater role in discussions and decisions on European issues.

Continue reading Estonia to lower the voting age for the EP elections at Estonian World.

Estonian energy-storage company Skeleton Technologies has reached a valuation of more than USD1 billion after a strategic investment led by Siemens, as it prepares to expand manufacturing and research in the United States to serve the fast-growing AI data-centre market.

The companies did not disclose the investment’s value or the terms of the deal. Skeleton chief executive Taavi Madiberk described it as a nine-figure round. The investment will support a planned expansion of US manufacturing, including domestic production of cells, and research and development in Silicon Valley.

Powering the AI boom

Skeleton said it planned to invest more than USD200 million in the US scale-up and research programme, working with hyperscalers – large cloud and computing companies – to develop power systems for AI data centres.

Continue reading Skeleton Technologies valued at more than USD1 billion after Siemens-led investment at Estonian World.

NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte and Estonia’s prime minister, Kristen Michal, are due to hold a joint press conference at 12:25 PM after talks on Ukraine and the future of the alliance.

Rutte is due to meet Michal at Stenbock House. The two leaders will discuss the future of the alliance and support for Ukraine before holding a joint press conference at 12:25 PM.

Michal said NATO’s presence in the Baltic region could be seen in allied aircraft responding to airspace violations, ships deployed under Baltic Sentry and allied units serving on land.

Continue reading Live: NATO chief Mark Rutte and Estonian prime minister Kristen Michal hold a press conference at Estonian World.

Estonia’s new president, Ülle Madise, used her first address to warn that fear, indifference and political hostility were corroding public trust, urging the country to stand behind Ukraine and give every child the chance of a good education.

Madise was sworn in as Estonia’s president on Monday, calling on the country to rebuild trust, stand firmly behind Ukraine and make sure every child has the chance of a good education.

Madise took the oath of office before the Estonian parliament, pledging to defend the constitution and laws, exercise her powers justly and impartially, and fulfil her duties to the best of her ability.

Continue reading Ülle Madise takes office as Estonia’s president with a call to rebuild trust at Estonian World.

12 October 2026 – 18 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.

Magnus Kirt: The Comeback

Kai Art Centre, Tallinn

Monday, 12 October, from 6pm

Magnus Kirt: The Comeback tells the extraordinary story of Estonia’s javelin star, from a hard-working youngster to world number one, before a devastating shoulder injury at the 2019 World Championships in Doha changes everything.

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

When the landscape offers wood and brewing grain in abundance, what do Estonians do? Fashion the wood into tankards and fill them with fresh beer, of course.

The Estonian wooden beer tankard, or õllekapp, is a fine example of rustic craftsmanship. Made from smoothly polished wooden staves, fitted together to form a cylinder and held in place by wooden hoops, it is a sight to behold. Better still, it is a pleasure to hold when filled with fresh beer and topped with a generous head of foam. Beer-loving admirers of practical art, sip and rejoice – this is the vessel for you.

Continue reading The Estonian wooden beer tankard and the brew within at Estonian World.

Virko Veskoja discovered Britain’s emerging jungle scene through late-night Finnish radio and recreated its futuristic sound on homemade equipment in 1990s Estonia; more than three decades later, he is bringing the music back to its source.

In early 1990s Estonia, Britain’s rave revolution arrived after dark and at a distance. Virko Veskoja would tune into Finnish radio broadcasts carrying frantic breakbeats, weightless strings and sampled voices from the rapidly changing UK underground.

It sounded unlike anything he had heard before: a new technological language, “like machines trying to communicate with people”. For a young producer in a country emerging from Soviet occupation, the music opened a portal into another world.

Continue reading From Finnish radio to Tottenham: Estonian jungle pioneer LU:K makes UK debut at Estonian World.

Estonia transferred hundreds of millions of euros to state-backed venture capital funds before the money could be invested, leaving €261 million on deposit even as the finance ministry borrowed to cover day-to-day spending, the National Audit Office has found.

Almost €466 million has been allocated from the state budget to funds managed by SmartCap, a subsidiary of the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency. The audit office said the size and timing of the transfers had not been matched to the funds’ investment needs.

By the end of 2025, SmartCap’s portfolio included investments in 17 companies and 16 sub-funds.

Continue reading Estonia criticised over €261 million in idle venture funds at Estonian World.

Norway’s arrest of the Russian state-owned vessel Professor Molchanov in Svalbard raises a question of direct relevance to Estonia and its Baltic neighbours: could they legally take similar action closer to home? Marcello zur Mühlen examines the limits of coastal-state power.

On 2 September, the Norwegian authorities seized the Russian state-owned vessel Professor Molchanov at the port of Barentsburg in Svalbard.

The action followed an order issued by the Nord-Troms and Senja District Court at the request of Ukraine’s state energy company, Naftogaz. In maritime law, this kind of detention is known as the arrest of a ship.

Continue reading How Norway was able to arrest a Russian state-owned ship in Svalbard at Estonian World.

In less than half a century, Estonia’s white-tailed eagle has risen from near-extinction to a population of about 300 breeding pairs; its return is one of Europe’s most remarkable, yet little-known, conservation successes.

On a winter morning beside Matsalu Bay, the silhouette may appear first: vast wings held above the steel-grey water, a short white tail and the measured wingbeats of a bird built to command the coast.

Half a century ago, such a sight had all but vanished from Estonia.

By the 1960s, decades of persecution, habitat loss and poisoning by organochlorine pesticides had pushed the white-tailed eagle to the brink of extinction.

Continue reading How Estonia brought the white-tailed eagle back from the brink at Estonian World.

Estonia’s economy is emerging from recession, with the Bank of Estonia forecasting growth of about 2.5 per cent this year and in each of the next two years.

The recovery is being driven by tax changes, higher public spending and stronger exports. The uniform basic tax allowance introduced this year has lifted household incomes and consumption, while government spending financed by borrowing has provided a further boost.

Conditions abroad have also improved. Manufacturing exports are benefiting from the diversification of Estonia’s markets in recent years, while the global surge in investment in artificial intelligence has helped to revive international trade.

Continue reading The Estonian economy is set for 2.5% growth at Estonian World.

Fragmented markets and limited access to growth capital risk forcing Europe’s most promising technology companies to look elsewhere, leading Baltic investors have warned.

Europe must produce technology companies valued at €100 billion or more if it wants the sector to make a meaningful economic impact, according to investors speaking at the Baltic VCA Summit in Haapsalu in late August.

Sten Tamkivi, a partner at Plural, and Rainer Sternfeld, a partner at NordicNinja, argued that geopolitical tensions were reshaping capital flows just as Europe sought greater technological independence in defence, energy, space and other strategic industries.

Continue reading Europe must think bigger to create global technology champions at Estonian World.

05 October 2026 – 11 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.

Don Cossack Choir Serge Jaroff

Tallinn’s St John’s Church, Freedom Square 1

Wednesday, 7 October, from 7pm

The Don Cossack Choir arrives in Tallinn with one of choral music’s more remarkable backstories.

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

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.