The City of Toronto has granted legal heritage protection to St Peter’s Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, recognising the mid-century modern building as a landmark of the city’s Estonian-Canadian community.

The City of Toronto has formally designated St Peter’s Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Toronto as a heritage property, giving legal protection to one of the most important Estonian-built landmarks in Canada.

The designation, approved on 25 June, recognises the church at 817 Mount Pleasant Road as a property of cultural heritage value or interest. It follows years of campaigning by members of the congregation and supporters of Toronto’s Estonian community, who argued that the church was not only a place of worship but also a monument to the postwar Estonian diaspora.

Continue reading Toronto designates St Peter’s Estonian church as a heritage property at Estonian World.

Paper Mill Coffee and The Brick Coffee Roastery have placed 29th and 43rd in a new European ranking, putting Estonia’s still-young speciality coffee scene firmly on the map.

Two Estonian cafés have been named among the 50 best coffee shops in Europe in the latest ranking by The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops. Paper Mill Coffee, a speciality roastery and bakery with three cafés in Tallinn, was placed 29th, while The Brick Coffee Roastery, based in the Telliskivi creative quarter, came 43rd.

The ranking considers the whole café experience, from coffee quality and barista skill to atmosphere, service and the way a place feels once you are sitting down with a cup in hand.

Continue reading Two Tallinn coffee shops named among Europe’s 50 best at Estonian World.

Rail Baltica was meant to be the railway that carried the Baltic states into the heart of Europe – instead, it has become a warning about what happens when political ambition, optimistic forecasts and megaproject economics meet reality; Karsten Staehr argues that the project’s spiralling costs, repeated delays and shrinking ambitions were not an accident, but a failure hiding in plain sight.

Rail Baltica has recently been in the news again, and not in a positive light. The project is behind schedule, significantly over budget and being cut back.

The plan to link the Baltic states to the European rail network increasingly appears doomed to failure.

Continue reading Karsten Staehr: Rail Baltica – a predictable failure at Estonian World.

Players from a French youth football team have been accused of attacking Estonian boys after a match at an international tournament in Tallinn; earlier, the French side had brought a Palestinian flag on to the pitch during a penalty shootout.

Players from the French club FC Vaujours allegedly punched and kicked boys from FC Flora, the Estonian side, after a penalty shootout at an international youth football tournament in Tallinn.

The incident took place on Sunday at the Estonian Football Association’s indoor hall, where more than 100 youth teams from across Europe were taking part in one of Estonia’s best-known junior tournaments.

Continue reading French youth footballers accused of attacking Estonian boys at the Tallinn Cup at Estonian World.

In a forested corner of northern Estonia, Indrek Kasela is building a festival without VIPs, algorithms or corporate gloss, where cinema, art and music are treated not as entertainment, but as a way of making life feel larger.

There are festivals, and then there is KiKuMu. For Indrek Kasela, the entrepreneur, art patron, cinema owner and now festival organiser behind it, the difference is not a matter of branding but of intent.

What he has built in northern Estonia, now returning for its second edition, is less a conventional festival than a giant salon in the woods: a place where artists share equal billing, no one wears a VIP wristband and the point is not simply to entertain, but to send people home charged with energy and ideas.

Continue reading Inside KiKuMu, the Estonian festival taking on algorithms, VIP culture and bad taste at Estonian World.

The Estonian basketball player, Kerr Kriisa, has been charged in the United States over an alleged fraud scheme that prosecutors say obtained more than USD2.2 million from two victims.

A federal indictment accuses the former NCAA guard of using false stories and fake identities to obtain money from two victims. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Kriisa, 25, a former guard for Arizona, West Virginia, Kentucky and Cincinnati, was arrested by FBI agents in Kentucky on Friday, 3 July. He is expected to be extradited to West Virginia, where the federal case has been brought.

According to a newly released indictment, Kriisa faces five counts of wire fraud, a federal offence involving alleged fraud carried out through electronic communications such as emails and text messages.

Continue reading Estonian basketball player Kerr Kriisa is charged in a $2.2 million US fraud case at Estonian World.

The 17th International Street Art Festival Stencibility filled the streets of Tartu, Estonia, with more than 30 new works, turning walls, corners and underpasses into an open-air gallery.

Held from 11–14 June, the festival brought together 25 street artists, mainly from the Baltic states, alongside participants from elsewhere in Europe, the United States and Malaysia.

The artists included Facio (Argentina/Portugal), Yubia (Spain), Thobek (Latvia), A. Bran (Lithuania), Danny Rumbl (the Netherlands), El Rughi (Italy), Human Robo 96 (Germany), Staselė Jakunskaitė (Lithuania), Tron Karton (Latvia), Sigrit Villido, Seljo, Maari Soekov, Sänk and Kairo from Estonia. Pala and Simona Lass, also from Estonia, created their first street art works during the festival.

Continue reading Gallery: Street artists bring dozens of new works to Tartu at the Stencibility festival at Estonian World.

06 July 2026 – 12 July 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.

Uus Laine Summer Tournament

Uus Laine, Kopli 4, Tallinn

Tuesday, 7 July, from 7pm

The Uus Laine Summer Tournament is back for its sixth edition, giving you and your overconfident group chat another chance to prove that all those late-night arguments about pop culture were not entirely wasted.

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

The US policy of not recognising the annexation of the Baltic states formed an international anchor which fostered the hope that justice would one day prevail, and strongly influenced the behaviour of other Western states for 50 years.*

The Welles Declaration

My experience is that the US – the biggest Western democracy – has helped Estonia and the Baltic states the most with their legal and moral position in assessing the Soviet occupation and annexation of 1940. The publication of the declaration by acting Secretary of State Sumner Welles (substituting for Cordell Hull) on 23 July 1940 truly deserves to be celebrated.

Continue reading The role of the United States in the restoration of Estonia’s independence at Estonian World.

Riho Ühtegi, a retired major general, says he is ready to run for president, adding a defence-focused name to a contest in which the chancellor of justice, Ülle Madise, has so far been the leading consensus candidate.

Ühtegi, the former commander of the Estonian Defence League, has said he is ready to run for president of Estonia after five public figures proposed him as a possible candidate.

Ühtegi, a retired major general, told the Estonian media outlet Delfi that he would be prepared to stand. “Yes, of course I would,” he said. “These are difficult times for Estonia, and every citizen of the republic should be prepared to help improve the situation in some way.”

His name was put forward by composer Sven Grünberg, entrepreneur Hugo Osula, film producer Kris Taska, actor and director Hendrik Toompere, and entrepreneur and economic expert Raivo Vare.

Continue reading A former Defence League commander enters Estonia’s presidential race at Estonian World.

Ülle Madise, Estonia’s chancellor of justice, is being discussed as a possible consensus candidate after president Alar Karis ruled out seeking a second term.

Madise, one of the country’s most respected constitutional voices, has emerged as a leading contender to become Estonia’s next president.

Her name is being put forward as parties begin testing possible candidates after president Alar Karis announced that he would not seek a second term. Although the proposal has so far been made publicly by the Social Democratic Party, Madise is being presented less as a party candidate than as a possible consensus figure capable of attracting support across the Estonian parliament.

Continue reading Ülle Madise emerges as the frontrunner in Estonia’s presidential race at Estonian World.

More than half of Estonian residents do not follow any religion, but many still believe in fate, higher powers, sacred places and life after death, according to a new survey.

Estonia is becoming less churchgoing rather than simply less believing. A new survey on religious identity suggests that organised religion is continuing to lose ground, while private spirituality, folk belief and looser forms of faith remain firmly present in Estonian society.

The report, The Religious Identity of Estonia’s Population 2026, was commissioned by the Estonian interior ministry and carried. The survey, based on 1,550 adult respondents, continues a research series on life, faith and religious life that has been conducted in Estonia since 1995.

Continue reading Estonia is less religious, but not less spiritual, a survey finds at Estonian World.

Estonian artist Kristi Kongi’s Chromatic Drift turns the great hall of Kumu, Estonia’s leading art museum in Tallinn, into a luminous and unsettling journey through colour, memory and the inner weather of the artist’s mind.

A review of Kristi Kongi’s Chromatic Drift at Kumu

There is another sky,
Ever serene and fair,
And there is another sunshine,
Though it be darkness there…
– Emily Dickinson

In her new solo exhibition, Chromatic Drift, Kristi Kongi has transformed the great hall at Kumu into a pulsating and powerful parallel universe, in which the paintings on display feel like sudden thoughts, fleeting impressions and ephemeral fantasies – all dashing madly through an artist’s mind.

Continue reading What is it like to climb into an artist’s mind? at Estonian World.

Estonia has been ranked first among European Union member states in a new European startup and scaleup scoreboard, underlining the country’s outsized role in the bloc’s technology economy despite weaker productivity and trade indicators.

The European Startup and Scaleup Index placed Estonia at 160.4 per cent of the EU’s 2020 average in 2025, making it the EU’s top performer. The index, part of the European Startup and Scaleup Scoreboard, measures countries across 36 indicators covering startups, scaleups, finance and broader innovation conditions.

Estonia ranks first in the European Startup and Scaleup Index 2025, ahead of Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands.

Continue reading Estonia ranks first in the EU startup and scaleup index at Estonian World.

29 June 2026 – 05 July 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.

New Jersey Youth Symphony

The Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre Concert and Theatre House, Tallinn

Monday, 29 June, from 7pm

Founded in 1979, the New Jersey Youth Symphony has long been a magnet for some of the finest young musicians in the state.

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

British newspaper The Sunday Times, the weekend edition of The Times, recommends Tallinn as one of the best European cities to visit this summer.

The list, compiled by the newspapers freelance travel writer, Sean Newsom, features 25 destinations across Europe that have “more to offer than a breeze”, considering the current heatwave that’s made many people in Western Europe suffer.

The 25 cities on Newsom’s list are, in his words, “destinations that offer brain food as well as feasting, partying and picnics. In many, but not all, you’ll enjoy low-season hotel pricing too, because despite the roasting heat of July and August, many of us are still determined to holiday on a Mediterranean beach.

Continue reading UK paper names Tallinn among the best European cities to visit this summer at Estonian World.

As much of Western Europe becomes unbearably hot, Estonia has a chance to turn its climate, space and slowness into a serious tourism advantage.

Europe’s summer holiday map is being redrawn. For decades, the logic was simple: go south. A proper holiday meant heat, glare, sand, wine and a certain amount of voluntary dehydration. The Mediterranean had the weather, the mythology and the market.

That bargain is becoming less attractive. A summer of 40°C (104°F) streets, overheated trains and nights spent negotiating with a hotel air conditioner is not everyone’s idea of civilisation. Climate change has not abolished the appeal of the south.

Continue reading Editorial: Estonia’s cool opportunity 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.

28 June 2026 – The next Ukraine recovery conference to take place in Tallinn

This week, the fifth Ukraine recovery conference officially concluded in Gdansk, Poland. The next such conference is scheduled to take place in Tallinn in 2027.

9 June 2026 – President Zelenskyy and first lady Olena Zelenska visit Estonia

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, visited Estonia on 9 June as Tallinn hosted the Nordic-Baltic Eight summit, with Ukraine’s defence, pressure on Russia and European security at the centre of the talks.

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

President Alar Karis has announced he will not stand for a second term, throwing Estonia’s presidential race wide open and prompting opposition parties to accuse the governing coalition of forcing out a head of state who enjoyed broad public trust.

Karis made the announcement on 23 June in the Estonian town of Rapla, during his speech at Estonia’s Victory Day parade, saying it would be the final time he addressed the nation as head of state on the occasion.

“Dear people of Estonia, as the head of state I wish you a happy Victory Day and a joyful Midsummer Eve for the last time,” Karis said.

Continue reading Estonia’s president Alar Karis says he will not seek a second term at Estonian World.

Estonia has received its first IRIS-T SLM medium-range air defence missile system, marking a significant step in the country’s effort to strengthen its air defence amid heightened security concerns in the region.

The Estonian Air Defence Wing took delivery of the first mobile IRIS-T SLM system at Ämari Air Base on 22 June. The system, procured by the Estonian Centre for Defence Investments from the German defence company Diehl Defence, will give the Estonian Defence Forces the ability to engage aerial threats at greater distances and altitudes than its existing short-range systems.

Brigadier General Riivo Valge, commander of the Estonian Air Force, described the arrival as an important moment for both the Defence Forces and the Air Force.

Continue reading Estonia receives its first IRIS-T medium-range air defence system at Estonian World.