Today and tomorrow, President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas is in Moldova, where he participates in the joint official visit of the Speakers of the Parliaments of the Nordic and Baltic States.
Ratas said that the main topic of the visit would be the war launched by Russia and its consequences, including Moldova’s ability to manage the large influx of refugees from Ukraine. “We confirm our readiness to contribute to Moldova’s stability and security. During our visit, we also express our support for Moldova’s closer political and economic integration with the European Union,” he added.
In Chișinău, the Speakers of the Baltic and Nordic Parliaments will meet with President of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova Igor Grosu, the Chairs of parliamentary factions, and parliamentary groups. On Tuesday, they will give a joint press conference in the Parliament Building. The Speakers will also have meetings with Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova Natalia Gavrilița and visit the refugee centre.
Besides the President of the Riigikogu, Ināra Mūrniece from the Parliament of Latvia, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen from the Parliament of Lithuania, Matti Vanhanen from the Parliament of Finland, Andreas Norlén from the Parliament of Sweden, Masud Gharahkhani from the Parliament of Norway and Birgir Ármannsson from the Parliament of Iceland participate in the visit. Denmark is represented by Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Karen Ellemann.
At the meetings held during their two-day working visit to Helsinki, Finland, the delegation of the National Defence Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) discussed how Finland’s decision to apply for NATO membership would influence the security of Finland, Estonia and the Baltic Sea region, and in which areas Estonia and Finland as NATO allies should particularly intensify their defence cooperation.
In the opinion of Chairman of the National Defence Committee Enn Eesmaa, the Defence Committees of Estonia and Finland have excellent, long-standing cooperation and Estonia is very happy that Finland has recently applied to join NATO. “We strongly support the accession decisions of both Finland and Sweden,” he said. “In our discussions with our Finnish colleagues, we spoke about the additional investments of Estonia and Finland to strengthen the defence capability of both countries and about Russia’s criminal military activities in Ukraine. We promised our northern neighbours that the Riigikogu would ratify the protocols on Finland’s accession to NATO as soon as they would be submitted for parliamentary proceedings.”
Deputy Chairman of the National Defence Committee Leo Kunnas added that the Finnish Defence Forces that were based on a reserve army were very strong and Finland’s contribution to collective defence and the security of our region would be significant.
During the visit, the National Defence Committee held a joint sitting with the Defence Committee of the Eduskunta (Parliament of Finland), which is chaired by Petteri Orpo. The members of the National Defence Committee also met with Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces, General Timo Kivinen, Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson and representatives of the National Emergency Supply Agency of Finland, and visited the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA).
Members of the National Defence Committee Heiki Hepner, Peeter Rahnel and Mati Raidma also participated in the visit, along with the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Committee.
The National Defence Committee of the Riigikogu has been cooperating closely and holding annual working meetings with the Defence Committee of the Eduskunta since 1993.
Today, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) discussed the priorities of the Czech Presidency of the European Union, including supporting Ukraine, strengthening the defence capability of Europe and the need to uphold the unity of Member States, with the delegation of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic.
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Marko Mihkelson said that Ukraine had to win the war Russia had started against it and restore its territorial integrity without any concessions. In his opinion, Ukraine needs constant military and economic support of the West to achieve that. “We have to be ready to support Ukraine for months, maybe even for years,” he added.
Mihkelson thinks that it is important at the same time to continue putting pressure on Russia. “We have to continue working to impose new sanctions as well as move towards ending the energy dependence of the European countries on Russia,” he explained.
Mihkelson emphasised that as an important political signal, Ukraine needed the status of a candidate state for membership of the European Union at the first opportunity. He is also convinced that it is necessary to do everything to support investigating Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine. “War criminals must not go unpunished but have to bear full responsibility for the crimes they have committed,” he said.
Strengthening of the defence capability of Europe was also discussed at the meeting. In Mihkelson’s opinion, it is necessary to ensure that Finland’s and Sweden’s accession to NATO would be rapid and smooth. He also thinks that the defence and deterrence posture of the alliance should be strengthened and its forward presence on the NATO eastern flank should be enhanced.
Mihkelson pointed out that in further supporting of Ukraine, continuing pressure on Russia and strengthening the defence capability of Europe, it is important that the Member States showed unity. At the meeting with his Czech colleagues, he expressed happiness that the Czech Republic considered keeping and strengthening the unity of states important also during its Presidency of the EU, which will begin on 1 July.
Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Czech Parliament Marek Ženíšek, Vice-Chair of the Committee Jaroslava Pokorná-Jermanová and members of the Committee Marek Benda and Vladimír Balaš participated in the meeting with the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu.
For the first time in Estonian history, NATO allies conducted live-fire exercises of multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) at two different locations in Estonia.
The M270 multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) was fired by 19th Battery of the 26th Royal Artillery Regiment of the British Army. The exercise was carried out at the Estonian Defence Force’s Central Training Area (Keskpolügoon) in Harjumaa, Estonia.
The two rocket systems fired together short-range trainer rockets, all of which struck their intended targets.
“The MLRS is the only precision fire system in the British Army. It can fire 12 missiles in less than a minute, up to 84 kilometers,” said Lieutenant Lauren Bailey, the unit’s safety officer.
Meanwhile, US allies fired M142 HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems on naval targets north of the Undva peninsula in Saaremaa.
Undva was also the location for target practice by US A-10 subsonic attack aircraft. The entire operation took place under the supervision of Estonian command and coordination elements.
“After receiving a call for fire support, we determined the targets in cooperation with the Estonian unit. Then, we transmitted this information digitally to the battalion under my command and executed the mission flawlessly,” described Colonel Chris McKee, commander of the 169th Field Artillery Brigade, in Saaremaa.
The live-fire exercise were part of the joint NATO exercise Defender Europe 22 and the Estonian Defence Force exercise “Siil 2022”.
“I have always been impressed by the proficiency of the Estonian Defence Force and the Defence League. They are highly competent soldiers. We’re always happy to come here and train with them. It’s a win-win for both sides,” said Brigadier General Jori Robinson, Commander of the 175th Wing of the Maryland Air National Guard.
The long-range multiple launch rocket system has the capability to attack high-value targets at long range. Multiple launch rocket systems use a “shoot-and-scoot” tactic to avoid enemy counterfire.
The weapon systems employ long-range precision munition that is capable at firing at ranges beyond 300 km. The main tasks of the multiple launchers on the battlefield are to suppress and destroy high-value enemy targets. Their role is to eliminate potential threats before they are able to cause damage.
Today, the delegation of the National Defence Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) goes on a two-day working visit to Finland on the invitation of the Chairman of the Defence Committee of the Eduskunta (Parliament of Finland).
In the opinion of Chairman of the National Defence Committee Enn Eesmaa, the long-time excellent cooperation of the Defence Committees of Estonia and Finland is all the more important now when Finland has recently applied to join NATO. “We strongly support the accession decision of both Finland and Sweden. It has a huge impact on the security of Estonia and our region more widely,” he said. “During the visit, we will discuss with our Nordic neighbours plans for further strengthening of defence capabilities and cooperation between parliaments as well as confirm the readiness of the Riigikogu to ratify the protocols on accession to NATO as soon as they are submitted to the Parliament.”
The delegation of the National Defence Committee will have a meeting with the Defence Committee of the Eduskunta that is chaired by Petteri Orpo. The members of the Committee will also meet with Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces General Timo Kivinen, Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson and representatives of the National Emergency Supply Agency of Finland, and visit the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA).
Besides the Chairman of the National Defence Committee, Deputy Chairman Leo Kunnas and members of the Committee Heiki Hepner, Peeter Rahnel and Mati Raidma participate in the visit.
The National Defence Committee of the Riigikogu has closely cooperated with the Defence Committee of the Eduskunta and held annual working meetings since 1993, which makes it the Committee with the longest bilateral cooperation relations in the Riigikogu.
NordenBladet – Good morning! Make sure to find some time now, since this blog is going to be a long one! Celebrations in our home again! Namely, my younger daughter is 14 years old today. Estella and Ivanka have their birthdays exactly two years and one week apart. Estella Elisheva was 16 years old on May 16th, and Ivanka Shoshana is 14 years old today on May 23rd. We have always celebrated their birthdays together, on the last weekend of May or the weekend before. This year we celebrate on May 29th.
We woke Ivanka with gifts, flowers and birthday song and I festively lay the table before she went to school – as always, a homemade cookie cake was not missing from the table. It gets more and more difficult to make presents to the children because they already have everything. Actually the thing is that on ordinary days they get more new things than on birthdays because we buy the things whenever there is a need for that and not when there is the „duty” to do so.
Usually, every year, Ivanka Shoshana has let me know what she wants for her birthday (mostly soft toys) but this year she didn’t know what to wish. Thus we had to figure it out on our own. One day I played music from my phone to the spekers and asked her to choose the music what to listen to. She searched from YouTube and found Liis Lemsalu. Then I got the idea that one gift could be Liis Lemsalu’s concert. I gave a hint to Margus. Margus then immediately ordered a Liis Lemsalu fan T-shirt and took concert tickets for the end of May. Besides, Ivanka went to play table tennis with her Dad, also went to the museum and got the game Wonders of the World. We gave her a sports watch, necklace and an hour of massage.
(Blog continues after the photo gallery and in between)
I now move backward towards the beginning with the news.
Yesterday was again the 22nd or Helena-Reet’s and Allan’s day or Love Day or Lasagne and/or whipped cream cake day ❤ ❤ ❤ . We woke up early – birds were singing and the sun was shining and hands were itching to start with gardening works. For breakfast I made fresh sea cabbage salad and along with it freshly pressed orange juice, and for dinner we had of course the lasagne that I had made.
The recipe for sea cabbage salad has been created by myself and those of you who like fish/seafood, then grab a pencil and write it down because it is really the BEST! Yum!
You will need: 1 pack (500g) Kapten Grant’s natural sea cabbage salad
1 pack (380g) Alma 5% classic cottage cheese
2 cans (2 x 185g) chopped tuna fish in brine or in tomato sauce
4 tomatoes (chop into cubes)
80-100g peeled pumpkin seeds
For garnish a strawberry and a primrose!
PS! You may like this idea or not but the food always tastes better when it has been beautifully served. Table cloth, flowers in a vase, self made clay dishes, a beautiful paper or cloth napkin, well served food. I always place the food on the plate beautifully and add garnish. Spring is a great time for that, since in the garden there are already several herbs (oregano, thyme, chives, etc) and flowers are also suitable for garnish (currently there are primrose, dandelion and pansy, soon there will be fireweed, lilacs, cornflower, lavender and marigold, etc)
Let’s continue on the topic of birthdays and celebrations! On Friday, 20 May we celebrated in O’Learys in Tallinn Ülemiste Center Allan’s brother’s Ardo’s 45th birthday! We played bowling and Shuffleboard.
Now about the garden and gardening! FINALLY the weather is warm and it’s possible to work in the garden! Life in the countryside is sooo cool!
This year spring came late. April still had night frosts, snow and sun all interchangeably, mainly we could cut the branches, build the stack for firewood, and rake. Now in May I have already been able to work in the garden. Last year Allan made me two wooden flowerbeds which were taken into use this year. I sowed salad, dill and onion and planted chives, oregano, thyme and peppermint that had already been pre-grown. Afterwards I gazed happily at the beautiful result for an hour! It is such a good feeling to look at things you have done with your own hands. That feeling when you are sweaty from head to toe, muddy but satisfied. After gardening works I walk several circles in the garden and simply look at what has been done, a hundred times, I smile to myself, enjoy it and feel endlessly happy. There’s no other way in the nature and in the garden. The nature liberates you and makes you happy!
Besides herbs I also planted flowers to the flowerbeds and pots – white and lilac chamomile, „Cardonna” sage, Arends rockfoil (white and light pink), lavender, daffodils and marigolds. I also replanted some lilies. Unfortunately, most of the lilies that I planted last year, went out. Now I am wiser when choosing flowers. It’s good to ask before buying, which flowers will endure the Northern winter and which will not, and for the sake of saving money it is wise to plant to the flowerbeds the permanent plants, not seasonal plants.
Allan had pregrown the flower seeds and made me a flowerbed! I hope something will come out of it finally. He was smiling widely and glowing with happiness when he made the flowerbed. It’s going to be a Toots-flowerbed, including different things like marigolds (Calendula officinalis L.), dahliae (Dahlia pinnata Cav.), tobacco flower (Nicotiana alata Link and Otto), sage (Salvia splendens Sellow ex Schult.), dragon flower (Antirrhinum majus L.), and zinnia (Zinnia elegans dahlienflora)…
There has been more planting. From Palivere we brought lilies-of-the-valley and planted them home under the fir trees. Besides, we bought from Juhan’s plant business and Hortes gardening center young bushes – beautiful yellow forsythia (Forsythia Minigold) and pink-blossomed Spiraea japonica „Magnum Rose”. Every year we add something to the garden. Me and Allan we are both great fans of gardening and this is one thing that bonds us together – we love being in the garden and in the nature, it is fun to plan together, design together and care for the garden together. Like A.H. Tammsaare said – work hard and labor, then comes love 🙂
AND THE MOST IMPORTANT GARDENING EVENT… on May 13th we planted in the garden two mother-and-father trees – two oak trees „Fastigiata”. Now we have in the garden personal trees for Estella, Ivanka, and my mother and my father!
It seems I must post blogs more often, since it is difficult to reflect on everything all at once… still several things are left out 🙂 But that’s all for this time… I’ll now go outside to mow the lawn!
Today, President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas starts his three-day official visit to Azerbaijan.
During the visit to Azerbaijan, Ratas will have meetings with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Speaker of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan Sahiba Gafarova and Prime Minister Ali Asadov. The President of the Riigikogu also plans to meet with the Minister of Digital Development and Transport and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. At the meetings, the relations between Estonia and Azerbaijan as well as further cooperation between the countries will be discussed.
The President of the Riigikogu is accompanied on the visit by Chair of Estonia-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Friendship Group Sven Sester and Chair of the Environment Committee of the Riigikogu Yoko Alender.
20 April this year marked the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Estonia and Azerbaijan.
In Saaremaa, the Navy was tasked with taking the entire Kura Kurk (Irbe straights) and the port of Mõntu in Saaremaa in order to ensure the laying of minefields by transmitting information to their units and to detect the movement of opponents.
In order to carry out this task, a radar station was set up with another in reserve to have the widest possible area under observation. The radar will provide the Navy with sufficient observation of both the Kura Kurk and the area around the port of Mõntu. “We can see over 40 kilometers away with what is happening in this area all the way to Latvia, even the smallest fishing boats can be identified,” said Janno-Joosep Naaber, the head of the monitoring group. “In addition, there is also a camera with a very high zoom at the top of the radar, which has thermal performance.
Here at night you can even see, rabbits moving in the grass behind the coast i.e. we have good observation, the detection capability is good and first security is also guaranteed by us.””The force we have here is enough to deal with the first attack, but we are not a combat unit. We are the eyes and ears, then when displaying the situation at sea to our combat units,” he explained. “If we find an opponent, we can get the relevant units to react. The plus of the current position is that we have more power to react. We have the resources to man the posts, patrols and, of course, the radar itself.”
Since SIIL 2022 is the first time that they have actually been on the scene with this unit, consequently many things are still being practiced. “We have written everything down on paper, but it’s now a real practice for this unit to see how these things actually work in the field. How long do they work, how long do they take and how long will it take to pack this whole thing up and move away here,” Naaber said.
A Finnish army infantry company and a group of combat engineers started a cooperation exercise today with the Scouts Battalion in Tapa, and next week the combined unit will take part in the maneuver phase of the exercise Siil/Hedgehog 2022.
The Contingent of the Finnish Army consists of a jaeger company made up of reservists, which uses the armoured vehicles Pasi as well as a group of combat engineers and a close air support controller. The deputy commander of the Scouts Battalion during the exercise is the Commander of the Finnish Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Risto Kohonen.
In total, during the exercise , the size of the Finnish contingent is more than 200 Finnish Defence Forces members.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Eero Aija, commander of the Scouts Battalion, the initial cooperation with the Finnish units has gone very well and a common language has been found. “I’m sure that by the end of the week, the jaegers will be integrated into the scouts,” said Lt. Col. Aija.
The Estonian-Finnish combined unit will conduct cooperation exercises this week, and by the beginning of next week the battalion will be ready to participate in the exercise Siil/Hedgehog in Southern Estonia.
Additional information: 1st Infantry Brigade, Public Affairs Officer captain Ott Aro, 5302 8317
Today, the heads of the delegations of the Nordic Countries and the Baltic States (NB8) to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) meet in Tallinn. The meeting will focus on developments in the security situation of the region in light of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
“We have invited our colleagues from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to Estonia in order to discuss together the security situation caused by Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and to prepare for the OSCE PA Annual Session that will take place in Birmingham, UK, in July,” Chair of the Estonian Delegation to the OSCE PA Mati Raidma said. “We want to speak with the representatives of the Baltic States and the Nordic Countries about supporting Ukraine, and about war refugees, humanitarian aid and cooperation.”
Representatives of the delegations of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland to the OSCE PA meet at the Riigikogu, the Parliament of Estonia, to discuss the security situation. OSCE PA President Margareta Cederfelt will also participate in the meeting. Heads of the NB8 delegations plan to hold a video conference with Head of the Ukrainian Delegation to the OSCE PA Mykyta Poturaiev.
The Riigikogu is represented at the meeting by Chair of the Estonian Delegation to the OSCE PA Mati Raidma and Alternate Member of Delegation Anti Poolamets.
The delegation will also visit the International Centre for Defence and Security to discuss the situation in Ukraine with experts.
