U.S. Government Assistance to Estonia
and the Support for Eastern European Democracy (SEED) Act

For more than a decade, the United States Government issued millions of dollars in grants to well over 100 governmental and non-governmental institutions in Estonia, for a range of projects designed to strengthen Estonia's democratic, social and economic development and to enhance Estonia's ability to become a full and active member of NATO and the European Union as well as other regional and international institutions.
A list of U.S. Government Assistance Projects to Estonia administered by the U.S. Embassy in Tallinn (SEED funds)

[Please note: The text below addresses only one element of U.S. assistance to Estonia, namely those projects that were funded under the Support for Eastern European Democracy (SEED) Act. Information on the work of the Peace Corps, present in Estonia, from 1992 until 2002, can be found in our website's archive. Military and security assistance to Estonia is administered by the Office of Defense Cooperation. A list of Embassy grants for cultural projects can be found here.]

History

U.S. assistance to Estonia began in October 1991, shortly after Estonia's reassertion of independence. Assistance was administered by the U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under the 1989 Support for Eastern European Democracy (SEED) Act, and focused on three priority areas: re-establishing pluralistic democracy; promoting economic reform; and protecting the environment.

In 1996, Estonia became the first country in central Europe and the NIS to "graduate" from USAID's bilateral assistance program. (More information on USAID's assistance to Estonia and Estonia's graduation is available here.) The USAID office in Tallinn closed in 1996, but the Embassy continued to issue U.S. SEED assistance to Estonia.

The Northern Europe Initiative

Launched by the Department of State in September 1997, the Northern Europe Initiative (NEI) provided a policy framework for developing cooperative and mutually beneficial relationships between the U.S. and the states of the Baltic Sea region in six priority areas: business and trade; law enforcement; civil society; energy; environment; and public health.

The U.S. government provided assistance - primarily from funds appropriated under the Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act - to help Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania achieve their stated objective of integration with major Euro-Atlantic institutions and to increase their cooperation with each other and with neighboring states.

NEI projects, awarded to both government entities and non-governmental organizations, were designed to address concrete practical needs in ways that promoted cooperative cross-border and regional linkages. They ranged from large-scale multi-million dollar management projects to small, targeted NGO-run development programs. Many of these projects were co-financed by other governments in the region and/or private NGOs.

As the Northern Europe Initiative placed a heavy emphasis on cross-border cooperation, another element of the Northern Europe Initiative consisted of providing travel grants to selected individuals from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, to visit Russia for conferences, projects, and other events that advanced regional cooperation.

The Enhanced Partnership in Northern Europe, or E-PINE, is the successor to the Northern Europe Initiative (NEI). Whereas one of NEI's primary goals was to assist the integration of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into European democratic structures, the launching of e-PINE in October 2003 recognizes the Baltic States as full partners in this community of democracies. Estonia's membership in the NATO and the European Union are confirmation of this new reality.

E-PINE consists of three main areas of partnership that are designed to face new challenges both in the region and in the world: cooperative security; healthy societies; and vibrant economies.

The State Department's Northern European Initiative archive

The Democracy Commission Small Grants Program

One important element in the Northern European Initiative was the continuation of the SEED-funded Democracy Commission Small Grants program, which was launched in 1994 to support initiatives contributing to the local development of democracy in the countries of Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. Grants were awarded to indigenous NGO's for projects whose aims included building democratic institutions, fostering a strong and independent media, support of civic education, respect for the rule of law, human rights, anti-trafficking in persons, support for market reforms.

Over the course of the past ten years, the Democracy Commission Small Grants Program has provided grants to over 80 non-governmental organizations in Estonia. Grants to Estonian NGOs were awarded for a vast array of activities: some areas of particular attention included work with at-risk youth and in crime prevention, projects to combat trafficking in persons, HIV/AIDS prevention, integration of non-Estonians, improving opportunities for and advancing the rights of the physically challenged, teaching of tolerance, and environmental protection and education.

In light of Estonia's successful economic and political transition and its accession to the European Union, the United States Government planned to conclude issuing SEED grants to Estonia by the end of September 2004.

Links to the websites of several recent Democracy Commission recipients:

Caritas

Peipsi Center for Transboundary Cooperation

Tartu Child Support Center

Estonian Society for HIV Positive People


Examples of past grantees' work with web-based components:

Estonian Newspaper Association

Integration Foundation Book Project

Museum of Harju County virtual exhibition on the history of the Jews and the Holocaust

Greengate's Russian-language website

Press Release: U.S. Embassy Commits over 2.5 Million Kroons
to Estonian Projects in One Week