Frihetslunch till Estlands ära

Idag fick jag äran att med make delta i lunch i Gyllene salen med anledning av statsbesöket av den estniske presidenten. Givetvis var det en fin tillställning med delikata rätter. Eftersom det är tjugo år sedan Estland med sin "sjungande revolution" erövrade sin självständighet var det en frihetslunch.

Jag fick förmånen att sitta bredvid bland andra två estniska entreprenörer som berättade om företagande, livsvilkor och utbildning i Estland. Plattskatt 21 %. Höga sociala avgifter för företagen, menade de. 35 %. Kan man väl tycka i Sverige också. När det gäller utbildning har man intagningsprov för eleverna i första klass. Då har barnen gått i en ettårig förskola först. Men vad gäller e-learning verkar man ligga långt framme. Esterna berättade också om självständigheten och yttrandefriheten. Hur världen öppnade sig för dem 1991.

Eftersom jag gjorde en semesterresa till Tallinn sommaren 1990 fick jag ur turistperspektiv ytligt uppleva kommunismen och förtrycket. Jag beskriver den i ett specialarbete jag gjorde under en eftergymnasial utbildning (arbetsmarknadsåtgärd) som jag deltog i 1992-93. Arbetet handlade just om "Estonia´s independence". Jag beskriver det kommunistiska systemets planekonomiska tänkande i shoppingerfarenheter:

"In one shop only socks were sold, and there had obviously been a lack of socks since the shop was overcrowded. All the products lay on shelves behind a counter where the shop assistants stood. Often with a bored attitude. If I wanted to buy something a shop assistant gave me a piece of paper with the price which I took and gave to a woman at a cash register. There I paid the price, got a receipt and went to the counter again. I gave the receipt to a third assistant who gave me the thing I had bought. It is evidently a good system against shoplifting, but I think it was a waste of time.

I was also surprised when I came to Tallinn´s largest department store. In the department for shoes it was actually possible to stroll with a basket and look around and try on shoes, although watched by assistants. But there were only six baskets and for this reason the queue meandered some metres away. In the beginning of the queue stood an assistant who kept the queue in order.

There were also so-called "currency shops" which only welcomed tourists with foreign currency. The shop offered imported spirits, cigarettes, chewing gums, Coke, electric mixers and such things that were very attractive to the Estonians. But they or their currency were not welcome. Of course they were allowed to go to the ordinary food shops, but there they had to stand and wait for their turn a long time. Women often needed two hours a day only to buy food! There was really a shortage of food and the state had had to introduce food rationing some years before. The rationing was laughable. 600 g coffee per person and year, for instance."

Och några reflektioner om monopolet som yttrade sig i form av attityd och bemötande och är viktiga minnen i värnandet av näringsfriheten:

"I saw that the shop assistants, the hotel staff and the waitresses did not care about the profits for the firm they worked for. They were slow and irritated and did not concentrate upon service. I think this was because the state owned everything and the employees had no influence on their situation. In one restaurant we were not let in with the reason that there "was no room". We saw through the windows that there was. When the doorman realized that I was a Swedish tourist there were suddenly lots of tables free."

Jag tänker på hur folk fortfarande kämpar för demokrati i närheten av oss i Belarus-Vitryssland. Hur viktigt det är att de sanktioner som är möjliga att genomföra verkligen vidtas.

Carl Bildt skrev en tänkvärd artikel om den baltiska kampen i GP i söndags.