Word: estonians
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When Poland was admitted to the European Union, politicians across Europe viewed the prospect of Poles moving into their countries with xenophobic disdain. In 2005, Philippe de Villiers, leader of France's Euro-skeptic Mouvement pour la France, darkly warned of the "Polish plumber and Estonian architect" triggering "the demolition of France's social and economic model." Before the E.U. admitted 10 new members in 2004, populist fears of unwashed hordes stealing jobs from locals led most of the old E.U. countries, including Germany, Austria and France, to seal their labor markets. In the end, only three...
Listen to the rhetoric of politicians across Europe and you won't hear the relationship between Poles and their host countries described in such friendly terms. In 2005, Philippe de Villiers, leader of France's Euro-skeptic Mouvement pour la France, darkly warned of the "Polish plumber and Estonian architect" triggering "the demolition of France's social and economic model." Before the E.U. admitted 10 new members back in 2004, populist fears of unwashed hordes stealing jobs from local workers led most of the old E.U. countries, including Germany, Austria and France, to keep their labor markets closed...
...brutality of occupation. Built in 1840 by Russian Czar Nicholas I, it was used as a prison and execution site by both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. But one Friday night not long ago the fortress was pulsating with hundreds of youngsters--some speaking Russian, others Estonian--packed into the place for an all-night techno rave. "It was an experiment, the first time we've done this," says Andrus Villem, the Patarei's project manager, who wants to exorcise the ghosts by turning the fortress into an impromptu arts center...
...parking, buy bus tickets or check your children's school schedule. Wi-fi hot spots are ubiquitous, and the nation's most famous start-up is Skype, the Internet phone titan, which eBay acquired for $2.6 billion. That's slightly more than the annual output of the entire Estonian economy 15 years...
...budget surplus, and its national debt is shrinking rapidly. Naturally, there are growing pains: the unemployment rate has fallen so sharply, from 14% in 2000 to about 4% today, that businesses are scrambling to find workers. "This is the best time in our history," says Sten Tamkivi, Skype's Estonian operations manager. Skype has 250 people in Estonia and reckons that it will have exhausted the local labor market once it gets to 350. Employers are extra nice. "Every evening I'm almost standing at the door and asking everyone as they leave, 'Did you enjoy yourself...