Vice-President of the Riigikogu discussed online elections and energy security with his Norwegian counterpart

Kivimägi gave his Norwegian counterpart an overview of Estonia’s online elections and pointed out that more than half of the votes in Estonia were cast online, and therefore more young people participated in elections. He also admitted that voter turnout could always be higher. The Vice-President of the Riigikogu noted that Estonia was happy to share its experience in holding online elections with other countries.

Speaking of energy and the potential of renewable energy, Kivimägi said that the time of producing electricity from oil shale had come to an end, but the price of electricity in Estonia was unfortunately still considerably higher than in Finland and Scandinavia. “Energy in Estonia is often two times more expensive than in Finland, which also means that Estonian businesses are in a worse competitive situation in comparison to the companies in Finland and the Nordic Countries,” he said, and explained that another underwater interconnector cable between Estonia and Finland would be needed to balance the price. “Unfortunately, the construction of such a connection will take many years,” Kivimägi said, and added that Estonia was using biofuels and developing wind energy, and that soon the power grid of the Baltic States would be desynchronised from Russia’s grid. “Energy security is very important for us,” he said.

The situation of the state budgets of Estonia and Norway, changes in the taxation system, events in the European Capitals of Culture Tartu and Bodø in 2024, and the technical aspects of parliamentary work were also discussed at the meeting.

Photos (Erik Peinar)

Riigikogu Press Service
Maris Meiessaar
+372 631 6353, +372 5558 3993
maris.meiessaar@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: Vice-President of the Riigikogu discussed online elections and energy security with his Norwegian counterpart

Source: Parliament of Estonia