Kivimägi will speak in a panel dedicated to defending democracy. “The biggest threat to democracy is war. War in Europe, Russia’s continuing aggression against Ukraine,” he said.
“The outcome of this war bears existential significance for Europe. Among other things, it will determine whether Europe, USA, and the rest of the free and democratic world accept in silence the use of force in carrying out expansionist ambitions, or not. Both Ukraine and Europe need fair and lasting peace based on international law, territorial integrity, and sovereignty,” Kivimägi emphasised.
The Vice-President of the Riigikogu urges countries to increase aid to Ukraine and use Russia’s frozen assets to benefit Ukraine. Kivimägi affirmed that Estonia continued to be committed to establishing a special tribunal in the framework of the Council of Europe, to prosecute Russia’s leadership for the crime of aggression.
The President of the National Assembly of France Yaël Braun-Pivet, Speaker of the Riksdag of Sweden Andreas Norlén, and Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk will speak at the discussion.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Conference. It first took place in 1975.
Speakers and presidents of parliament from the member states of the Council of Europe and its partner and observer countries, as well as the heads of parliamentary delegations participate in the Conference.
Chairman of the Constitutional Committee Hendrik Johannes Terras said that the Committee had moved to send the Bill to the third reading in the plenary on 26 March. “As a second decision, we made a proposal to the plenary to amend the Constitution as a matter of urgency,” he added.
Members of the Riigikogu submitted two motions to amend to the Bill on Amendments to the Constitution by deadline, and the Committee decided to support both. According to Terras, this means that the plenary of the Riigikogu will have to choose between the motions to amend.
The Bill on Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia (536 SE), initiated by 61 Members of the Riigikogu, originally provided that Estonian citizens and stateless residents as well as citizens of European Union and NATO countries would be allowed to participate in municipal council elections. At present, in addition to Estonian and EU citizens, the right to participate in local elections extends to aliens who reside in Estonia on the basis of a long-term residence permit or the permanent right of residence, who have attained 16 years of age by the election day and whose permanent place of residence is located in the corresponding rural municipality or city.
According to one motion to amend, which was submitted by 55 members of the Riigikogu, the right to vote in local elections would be revoked for third-country nationals residing in Estonia and, from the next elections onwards, stateless persons would not be allowed to vote in local elections as well. Stateless persons would be allowed to vote at this year’s local elections. The presenters of this proposal said that it would give stateless persons sufficient time to apply for Estonian citizenship if they so wish and to participate in the next local elections as Estonian citizens.
According to the second motion to amend, which was submitted by 26 members of the Riigikogu, the right to vote would be revoked from this year’s local elections for both the third-country nationals residing in Estonia and for stateless persons. As a result of the amendment, only the citizens of Estonia and the EU countries would be able to participate in local elections.
At the third reading of the Bill to amend the Constitution in the plenary of the Riigikogu, a representative of the Constitutional Committee will deliver a report, and after the questions and answers session, a debate will be held where the representatives of parliamentary groups can take the floor. Then, the submitted motions to amend will be reviewed, and the method of amending the Constitution will be decided. In order to adopt the resolution to consider the Bill to amend the Constitution as a matter of urgency, a four-fifths majority of the Riigikogu is required. This means that at least four times as many members of the Riigikogu must vote in favour of amending the Constitution as a matter of urgency than against it.
If the method of amending the Constitution receives the required majority of votes, the Riigikogu will decide to pass the Bill as an Act. A two-thirds majority of the votes of the members of the Riigikogu, that is, at least 68 votes, will be needed for the Bill to amend the Constitution to be passed.
If none of the two votes – on the method of amending the Constitution, or passing the Bill – receives the required majority of votes, the Bill on Amendments to the Constitution is deemed to have been rejected, and it will be dropped from the proceedings.
The next municipal council elections will take place in Estonia on 19 October this year.
The interpellators pointed out that, for three years in a row, record few children had been born in Estonia. In a five-year comparison, the number of births has decreased by a third, and according to forecasts, the birth rate will fall further. They noted that, while 25,000 children were born in 1988, and 15,000 children were born in 2015, now less than 10,000 children are born per year. The interpellators wanted to know if Estonia was in a birth rate crisis and what the government was doing to improve the situation.
When replying to the interpellation, Prime Minister said that that was a serious problem. “The whole of Western society is facing similar complex challenges,” Michal said. He pointed out that, in our region, there was a similar problem in Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. “The Ministry of Social Affairs has been tasked with preparing a comprehensive analysis and, as a result, policy recommendations that experts believe could increase the number of births. The deadline for submitting the comprehensive analysis to the government is June of this year.”
“The monitoring and analysis of population processes is an ongoing activity in Estonia and covers a significantly broader range of topics than just the issue of birth rate,” Michal said. He pointed out that, at government level, a broad-based government commission on population policy had been set up, chaired by the Minister for Social Protection, and researchers from various universities, members of the government, and sectoral heads in ministries as well as experts were involved in the work of the committee.
Michal noted that the governance budget of the Ministry of Social Affairs’ administration would support children and families with about €1 billion, which was about 2.2% of Estonia’s GDP, putting it at the top of the European Union. “The billion to support children and families will be distributed as follows: circa 424 million for family allowances, 364 million for parental benefit, circa 100 million to ensure pension and health insurance cover for parents and circa 13 million for maintenance allowance.”
Riina Solman from Isamaa Parliamentary Group took part in the debate on behalf of the interpellators. In addition, Tanel Kiik took the floor on behalf of the Social Democratic Party Group, Vadim Belobrovtsev on behalf of the Estonian Centre Party Group and Evelin Poolamets on behalf of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Parliamentary Group. Prime Minister Kristen Michal also took the floor.
Prime Minister also replied to interpellations concerning the impact of the car tax on families with children (No. 705) and the funding of the Russian-language news website Delfi and television channel ETV+ (No. 715). Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas replied to interpellations concerning Maarjamaa School (No. 710), and the shrinking of the area of use of the Estonian language (No. 711) and the area of use of the Estonian language as an academic language (No. 716).
Interpellators Mart Maastik, Helir-Valdor Seeder, Riina Solman, Priit Sibul and Aivar Kokk withdrew the interpellation concerning telecommunications services (No. 712), submitted to Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs Liisa Pakosta, scheduled for the agenda, and therefore it was not deliberated.
Aleksandr Tšaplõgin, Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart and Helmen Kütt took the floor during the open microphone.
Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Formation of the Riigikogu committee of investigation to assess the risks related to COVID-19 modified mRNA vaccines” (557 OE), submitted by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, was related to an address calling for the stopping of the use of modified mRNA vaccines for COVID-19, for the initiation of their recall and for the provision of scientific evidence indicating that the use of such vaccines entails no risk of human DNA damage. According to the draft Resolution, the use of COVID-19 modified mRNA vaccines in Estonia would be suspended for the time of work of the committee of investigation to be established.
Martin Helme from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group and Irja Lutsar from Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate.
The Constitutional Committee as the lead committee moved to reject the draft Resolution. 40 members of the Riigikogu supported the rejection of the draft Resolution and 10 voted against. Thus, the draft Resolution was dropped from the legislative proceedings.
“According to President Niinistö’s report, the security situation of the European Union has steadily deteriorated in recent years, the world has become more dangerous and increasingly crisis-prone. That is why we, as Europeans, need to prepare ourselves in order to cope in the new reality, to keep our comfortable and free way of life and to survive,” Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Peeter Tali underlined.
Tali said that the European Union Affairs Committee had studied Niinistö’s report in February, when they had approved Estonia’s positions on strengthening Europe’s civil and military readiness. “It is a detailed report, and it is useful for everybody to know about its conclusions because on the basis of this report, the European Commission will prepare the White Paper on security.”
Deputy Chairman of the National Defence Committee of the Riigikogu Leo Kunnas pointed out that in the current unpredictable security situation and in the context of deepening confrontation between democracies and totalitarian states, Europe’s defence capability needed to be dramatically strengthened.
“In order to fill the gap caused by the underdevelopment of the defence capabilities of European countries over the past 30 years, during the next decade, European countries should invest at least 800 billion to trillion euros more than previously planned in strengthening military defence and improving crisis preparedness,” he said.
The European Union Affairs Committee discussed the positions of the Government on strengthening Europe’s civilian and military readiness that are based on Niinistö’s report at its 14 February sitting, and approved the positions with its amendments that underline the key role of completing the construction of Rail Baltic and Via Baltica.
President Sauli Niinistö will also meet with President of the Riigikogu Lauri Hussar and President of the Republic Alar Karis today. Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee Peeter Tali and Ambassador of Finland to Estonia Vesa Vasara will participate in the meeting with the President of the Riigikogu. Later today, Niinistö will visit the International Centre for Defence and Security.
The public sitting will be held in the Conference Hall of the Riigikogu, starting at 11 a.m., and it can be followed online on theRiigikogu web page. Video recording will be available on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.
Photos (author: Erik Peinar / Chancellery of the Riigikogu)
According to the Bill on Amendments to the Family Benefits Act and Other Act (547 SE), initiated by the Government, from 1 October 2026, the survivor’s pension will be replaced with the survivor’s benefit, which will guarantee a monthly benefit to children who have lost a parent, regardless of the pension qualifying period or the number of children of the deceased parent. The purpose of the benefit to be established is to compensate for the costs of bringing up a child – partially in the event of the loss of a parent and fully in the event of the loss of both parents.
The amount of the survivor’s benefit will be uniform for children and will take into account the cost of maintaining the child and its real value will be preserved over time through indexation. According to the bill, the new base amount of the benefit will be EUR 272, and according to forecasts, the benefit to be paid out will reach approximately EUR 345 in 2026.
The survivor’s benefit will be paid until the child reaches the age of 19 or, if the child continues their studies, until the age of 21. Under the Bill, the circle of educational establishments that will allow receiving the benefit will be wider than for the survivor’s pension, and it will also be possible to receive the survivor’s benefit at the same time as the work ability allowance.
An Act was passed
The Riigikogu adopted the Act on Amendments to the Farm Animals Breeding Act (551 SE), initiated by the Government. It re-transposes the relevant European Union directive and establishes a regulation for horse competitions which was mistakenly omitted from the Act when the updated version was adopted.
According to the amendment, the conditions for competitions for equidae and the requirements for prior notification of the organisation of competitions are established. The conditions for competitions may not discriminate between equidae which are registered in Estonia and originate in Estonia and equidae of another Member State. The requirement does not apply at competitions organised for improving the breed and at historic and traditional events.
71 members of the Riigikogu supported the passing of the Act and there was one abstention.
A Bill was dropped from the proceedings
The Riigikogu rejected at the first reading the Bill on Amendments to the Riigikogu Rules of Procedure and Internal Rules Act (552 SE), initiated by Members of the Riigikogu Rain Epler, Kert Kingo and Arvo Aller. It was intended to lay down more clearly the rules for meeting the obligations of members of the Government and other persons to appear before committees of the Riigikogu and to present documents.
Mart Helme from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group and Lauri Laats from the Centre Party Group took the floor during the debate.
The Constitutional Committee moved to reject the Bill at the first reading. 45 members of the Riigikogu supported the rejection of the Bill and 15 voted against.
The Prime Minister began his report by acknowledging that, in today’s world where political currents are unpredictable and turbulent, a clear goal is more important than ever before. “Our goal is a high value-added economy, a protected and secure Estonia, and efficient governance,” he said.
Michal pointed out that Estonia’s economic recession had ended in the fourth quarter of last year and the economy was growing again, and Estonia’s exports of goods and services had also increased. According to the Prime Minister, people’s well-being has also increased. The average gross pension increased by 11 percent, bringing the ratio of the average old-age pension to the average wage to an all-time high of 49 percent. The average gross monthly salary increased by eight percent. After-tax wage income grew by 4.2 percent over the year – outpacing price increases, which were 3.5 percent. “And this is a good achievement, given the current economic climate,” the Prime Minister said.
Speaking about energy, Michal highlighted the successful merger with the Western European frequency area and confirmed that the energy mix must include renewable electricity, nuclear energy, new controllable capacities, and storage technology. “In addition, modernized electricity and gas networks that ensure energy security and availability in any situation, be it a storm, heavy snow, damaged lines, or cyber-attacks. Without clean, available, and affordable energy, it will be very difficult for companies to find new markets.”
“According to the latest survey, 88 percent of Estonian residents feel safe in their home country. And that is the way it should stay. We work every day to ensure that confidence is sustained and boosted,” Michal said. He explained that the primary task of the Estonian government was to ensure that military capabilities commensurate with NATO’s defence plans were developed as a matter of urgency. “This means that Estonia’s defence spending will rise to five percent of GDP very quickly, either next year or the year after, depending on how quickly it will be possible to procure equipment and ammunition and to deliver it to Estonia,” Michal said. He added that our allies must also contribute much more to their security and collective defence.
According to the Prime Minister, it is also necessary to strengthen the defence industry in both Europe and Estonia. He pointed out that Estonia has a technology sector with a strong community – the large and successful IT companies that are currently contributing to economic growth were once small start-ups. “A similar development is possible in the defence industry: to first be a new and small flagship of Estonian start-up sector, which will grow into a successful global company,” Michal drew a parallel. He added that products from defence industry companies were needed both in the defence sector and in everyday life, for example in agriculture, transportation, education, and medicine.
Michal also highlighted the need to support local language and artificial intelligence technologies, excessive bureaucracy, Estonia’s high ranking of 11th in the European Innovation Scoreboard, the transition to Estonian-language education, the extension of the obligation to study, the reform of vocational education and the country’s record spending on research and development.
Tanel Kiik (Social Democratic Party), Anti Poolamets (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), Urmas Reinsalu (Isamaa), Margit Sutrop (Reform Party), Igor Taro (Estonia 200) and Lauri Laats (Centre Party) took the floor during the debate.
The Riigikogu concluded the first reading of a draft Resolution
The explanatory memorandum to the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Formation of the Riigikogu committee of investigation to investigate the facts relating to the termination of the activities of Nordica” (543 OE), submitted by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Parliamentary Group, notes that, due to the seriousness of the management errors and the significant investments made in Nordica in previous periods, it is necessary to immediately form a committee of investigation of the Riigikogu. . In order to ensure the credibility and broad-based nature of the committee of investigation, it should include at least one representative from each parliamentary group of the Riigikogu.
Mart Helme from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, Mart Võrklaev from the Reform Party Group, Mart Maastik from Isamaa Parliamentary Group and Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart from the Centre Party Group took the floor during the debate.
The motion made by the Constitutional Committee to reject the draft Resolution at the first reading was not supported. 35 members of the Riigikogu were in favour of the motion and 38 were against. Thus, the first reading of the draft Resolution was concluded.
The Riigikogu heard replies to two interpellations
Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur replied to the interpellations concerning the impacts the rise in VAT will have on the budget of the Ministry of Defence (No. 709) and concerning the acquisition of ammunition (No. 714), submitted by members of the Riigikogu.
On the motion of the Constitutional Committee, the first reading of the Bill on Amendments to the Identity Documents Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (572 SE), initiated by the Government, was excluded from the agenda for today.
Aleksandr Tšaplõgin, Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart,Riina Solman, Vladimir Arhipov and Mart Helme took the floor during the open microphone.
The Speakers noted that Russia, emboldened by impunity, continued to blatantly violate principles of the UN Charter and mock fundamental human rights. “Russia, aided by its accomplices, continues its genocidal warfare against Ukraine and its people, threatening the continent and the world,” they say in the Joint Statement made in Vilnius.
According to the Speakers, the effectiveness of international guarantees for thousands of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) at the mercy of Russian captors is seriously undermined, as Russia does not give sufficient access to the prisoners of war and hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), other international and humanitarian organizations operating in the temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation territories of Ukraine and in Russia. “The denial of access to internment facilities for independent monitors, combined with the adoption of broad amnesty laws for Russian servicepersons, contributes to impunity for systematic torture and ill-treatment of POWs,” they pointed out.
In the opinion of the Speakers, these war crimes reflect Russia’s state policy of terror and disregard for international law. “This is not the work of rogue soldiers – it is a deliberate state policy aimed at breaking Ukraine’s resistance through terror. The Kremlin not only allows these crimes but actively encourages them. Public figures in Russia have explicitly called for inhumane treatment, and even execution of Ukrainian PoWs, often using dehumanizing terms in public discourse and through State-owned media,” they wrote in the Joint Statement.
The Speakers of the Parliaments of seven countries underlined that the only way to stop these atrocities was by holding Russia accountable and ensuring Ukraine had the means to defend itself. “The international community must support Ukraine until its victory over the aggressor state and ensure accountability of perpetrators and masterminds for violations of international law. Only this way will lay the path towards a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine and Europe,” they said.
In the Statement, the Speakers urge Russia to implement its international commitments with respect to international humanitarian law, and adhere to the provisions of the Geneva Conventions. They also urge Russia to grant immediate and unhindered access for the ICRC and other relevant international organizations and mandate holders to the PoWs in order to fulfil their mandates in the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russian Federation.
The Joint Statement was signed by President of the Riigikogu of Estonia Lauri Hussar, Speaker of the Eduskunta of Finland Jussi Halla-aho, Speaker of the Saeima of Latvia Daiga Mieriņa, Speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania Saulius Skvernelis, Marshal of the Sejm of Poland Szymon Hołownia, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk, and Vice President of the Althing of Iceland Bryndís Haraldsdóttir. Tomorrow, the Speakers will attend the celebrations of the 35th anniversary of restoration of independence of Lithuania and deliver speeches at a festive sitting of the Seimas of Lithuania.
The Speakers of Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine convene in Vilnius to discuss further support to Ukraine and European security. “Our task is to present a united front and do everything in our power to increase military support to Ukraine, strengthen sanctions and put Russia’s frozen assets to good use, as well as invest significantly more into our own security and defence to deter the aggressor,” Hussar said.
In addition to the President of the Riigikogu, Speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania Saulius Skvernelis, Speaker of the Saeima of Latvia Daiga Mieriņa, Marshal of the Sejm of Poland Szymon Hołownia, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk, Speaker of the Eduskunta of Finland Jussi Halla-aho, and Vice President of Althing of Iceland Bryndís Haraldsdóttir are taking part in the events. The Speakers will also adopt a joint statement in support of Ukraine and then give a press conference together.
Tomorrow, the parliamentary leaders will take part in celebrating the 35th anniversary of restoring Lithuania’s independence and give a speech at a festive sitting in the Lithuanian Seimas.
The programme also includes a visit to Lukiškės Prison, which has been given a make-over as a cultural space, and the Vilnius TV Tower.
Photos (will be added in accordance with the programme; author: Erik Peinar / Chancellery of the Riigikogu)
