Dalai Lama visits Estonia

Tibet's spiritual leader, the 14th Dalai Lama, visited Estonia in August as a part of a tour of several European countries.

The 76-year-old monk, who has lived the majority of his life in exile in India after the takeover of his country by the Chinese in the 1950s, resigned his largely symbolic role as political leader of the government-in-exile earlier this year.

Some have understood the move to be a signal to the world that the Tibetan government-in-exile is a democratic, progessive institution.

Whilst in Tallinn, the Dalai Lama reflected on the tumult of the last century, including the coming and passing of the Eastern bloc.

"When we look at the start and the end of 20th century, we see that humankind has changed a lot," he stated.

"We pay more attention to environmental issues... and human rights are more honoured."

On the next leg of his trip, the Tibetan leader said that the democratic revolutions in Northern Africa showed that democracy could spread ever, and that it was only a matter of time before it touched China too.