Hussar greeted the Armenian delegation and commended the increasing closeness of Estonian-Armenian relations. “We are happy to find more and more opportunities for high-level meetings. The cooperation of the friendship groups of our national parliaments is another excellent example of adding value to the relations between our two countries. We support the steps Armenia is taking towards the European Union, and this is also the key topic for our discussions today. We hope to hear from you what Estonia could do to help you in this,” he said.
Another topic was the need to achieve stability in the Southern Caucasus region. Armenia’s Prime Minister declared that the Armenian people wanted to achieve peace both with Azerbaijan and Türkiye, because peace was a prerequisite for developing democracy.
The parties also discussed Armenia’s relations with Russia, further support for Ukraine, and the situation in Georgia.
Also present at the meeting were the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson, Deputy Chairman of the Estonia-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group Tanel Kiik, and the Estonian Ambassador to Armenia Marge Mardisalu-Kahar.
Photos of the meeting: Erik Peinar, Chancellery of the Riigikogu.
Hussar described Denmark as a friendly and valuable partner for Estonia in the European Union and NATO, but also in the Nordic-Baltic cooperation format NB8, where Denmark holds the presidency this year. In July, Denmark will also become the presidency country of the Council of the European Union.
“The meetings will provide an opportunity to discuss key topics of European security, including how we could best help Ukraine in the continuing war of aggression by Russia, tighten sanctions against Russia, and consequently start using frozen Russian assets in support of Ukraine,” Hussar said. He added that future cooperation with the USA would also be an important topic at the meetings.
Another topic will be cooperation between Estonia and Denmark, where Hussar sees the most potential in energy and green topics, as well as new technologies and defence industry. Topics of NATO June summit and strengthening of critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea are also on the agenda.
The President of the Riigikogu will meet the Speaker of the Folketing Søren Gade, Deputy Speakers Leif Lahn Jenseni, Karina Adsbøli, Karsten Hønge, and Lars-Christian Brask, as well as the Chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee Christian Friis Bach. He is also planning to meet with the Minister for Resilience and Preparedness Torsten Schack Pedersen and the Europe Minister Marie Bjerre. The schedule also includes a visit to the public-private green transition cooperation platform State of Green and a meet-up with of the local Estonian community in the Estonian embassy.
The President of the Riigikogu is accompanied on the visit by the Chair of the Estonia-Denmark Parliamentary Friendship Group Maris Lauri and Member of the Riigikogu Enn Eesmaa.
Photos (will be added in accordance with the programme; author: (Erik Peinar / Chancellery of the Riigikogu)
There were also visitors from different countries, such as Switzerland, China, Germany, USA, Finland, Argentina, Spain, Kenya, Italy, Canada, and Malaysia.
The Riigikogu Open House Day began with a musical greeting by the Brass Quintet of Tallinn Police Orchestra and the Riigikogu Choir. The programme of this year’s Open House Day was dedicated to the Year of the Estonian Book and the forthcoming Song and Dance Celebration.
At the opening, the President of the Riigikogu Lauri Hussar expressed joy to be able to meet everyone in Estonia’s most important building. “Here, the most important decisions are made. The most important task of the Riigikogu is to adopt laws and resolutions. And this is what the Riigikogu is also capable of doing. Yes, through debates, through heated discussions, but we are able to make decisions. Today, however, besides discussions and engaging conversations, this building is filled with dance and song and celebration,” Hussar said.
Hussar expressed his joy of being part of the Riigikogu choir that greeted the guests on the Open House Day and, by the way, has set its sights on participating in this year’s Song Celebration. “This is a wonderful example of how the parliament can cooperate in a joint effort. The Riigikogu choir has representatives from all political parties and this is the best example of how to build Estonia’s future,” said the President of the Riigikogu.
“The multidimensional idea of the Summer Dance and Song Celebration, ‘Iseoma’ (‘Kinship’), is also the perfect word to describe today’s event. On the one hand, it shows the relationship between a single person and the state. On the other hand, it reminds us that all of Estonia is kinship for us. And we entrust our country to the Riigikogu on every election day,” said the head of the Estonian Song and Dance Celebration Foundation Margus Toomla.
The representative rooms and working rooms of the Riigikogu as well as the offices of parliamentary groups, where the people could meet the members of the Riigikogu, were open all day. Guided tours of the Riigikogu and visits to the Tall Hermann Tower were very popular among guests. Members of the Riigikogu Kristo Enn Vaga and Anti Poolamets conducted guided tours.
During the traditional café discussion members of the Riigikogu Kristo Enn Vaga, Ando Kiviberg, Madis Kallas, Rene Kokk, Riina Solman and Lauri Laats discussed how the government and the citizens can prepare for unexpected situations. The discussion was moderated by Urmas Vaino.
Four school teams and two Riigikogu teams took part in the traditional Open House Day Quiz. In a close-run competition for the first place, team Riigikogu 2, including Enn Eesmaa, Andrei Korobeinik, Eerik-Niiles Kross and Toivo Mängel, came out on top. Team Riigikogu 1 took the second place. Third place and the title of the best school team was awarded to Team 1 of Gustav Adolf Grammar School, which consisted of Mirtel Rist, Marie Muinasmaa, Mortimer Tooming, and Mikk Toots. The quiz was prepared and conducted by acknowledged quiz players Indrek Salis and Aare Olander.
The National Library of Estonia, Katariina Jee Mobile Library, Tallinn Libraries, Estonian Children’s Literature Centre, Estonian Film Institute and State Elder August Rei Foundation organised activities to celebrate the Year of the Estonian Book. The day closed with a concert dedicated to the Song and Dance Celebration, with gigs by Kalamaja Mixed Choir, dance group Sõleke from Tallinn Hobby Centre Kullo, and garmon players Karmoškaässad.
The Riigikogu celebrated its 106th anniversary with this year’s Open House Day. The first representative body elected by the people in independent Estonia – the Constituent Assembly – convened in Tallinn on 23 April 1919. The Riigikogu has been holding an annual Open House Day to celebrate that event since 1999. This year, the Open House Day took place for the 25th time.
Photos (Erik Peinar / Chancellery of the Riigikogu).
In the Joint Statement, the Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees call upon President Trump and the U.S. Congress to demonstrate true leadership in confronting the global threat posed by Russia as an aggressor state. They urge to end the policy of appeasement and take instead a united, resolute stance against Russia’s terrorist regime. “We strongly warn against yielding to its blackmail and deception,” they say.
In the opinion of the Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees, strong leadership is also needed across European countries, along with reinforced transatlantic solidarity. “We call on European countries to immediately confiscate Russia’s frozen assets and redirect them to support Ukraine. There can be no compromise and no external pressure on Ukraine regarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” they emphasise in the Joint Statement.
The Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees call upon the United States and other NATO members to admit Ukraine into NATO without delay, and urge the EU Member States to accelerate Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. “We must not repeat the mistakes of Munich in 1938. Negotiating with the war criminal Putin is evidently futile; his main objective is to undermine and humiliate our ally, the United States,” they say.
The Joint Statement calls upon all states to ensure that Vladimir Putin and all those complicit in his crimes are brought to justice. “Lasting peace and security are impossible without accountability for the war crimes committed by his regime,” the Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees underline.
The Joint Statement has been signed by the Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees of the parliaments of the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Marko Mihkelson signed the statement on behalf of Estonia.
Mario Kadastik, Head of the Estonian Delegation to the European Interparliamentary Space Conference, which is organising the meeting, said that while so far the military and civilian components had been kept very clearly apart in the use of space, there had been cross-use in the context of the war in Ukraine. “This new reality now needs to be brought into broader focus as to how we can more effectively use and develop both civil and military infrastructure in space to ensure space-based security in the future,” he added.
On the opening day of the meeting, which will be held at Tartu Observatory, the politicians and experts will focus on how to use space technology to ensure maritime security, taking into account recent incidents of damage to underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. As one option, the space sector can support better surveillance to identify threats and support security.
Another topic to be discussed will be the potential of cyber defence in the development of the space sector. The impact and the opportunities the space cybersecurity training area being developed in Estonia will have for the development of space sector and the security of satellite technologies in Europe will also be addressed. Representatives of the European Space Agency, the European Space Research Institute, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, and Estonian companies Cybernetica, Spaceit and Kappazeta will take part in the discussions.
On the second day of the meeting, the European parliamentarians will visit the European Space Agency’s business incubation centre in Tartu, where they will meet Estonian space sector entrepreneurs. The incubator was opened in 2017, and its aim is to help Estonian start-ups reach the international market by providing them with initial funding and industry mentoring. The centre’s lead partner is Tartu Science Park.
The two-day event will bring together policy makers and experts from ten European countries. The meeting is part of the Presidency of the European Interparliamentary Conference on Space, which will also include a plenary session in Estonia in autumn.
Please note: Members of the press who wish to cover the event are asked to register by Friday, 25 April at the latest atpress@riigikogu.ee. The debates can be followed directly. The working language of the meetings will be English.
Programme on Monday, 28 April
8:45 – tour of Tartu Observatory
10:45 – 16:30 – discussions at Tartu Observatory
Programme on Tuesday, 29 April
10:45 – Visit to European Space Agency’s business incubation centre and meeting with entrepreneurs
“We are deeply concerned about the reports of the arrest of high Tibetan religious leader Tulku Rigzin Hungkar Dorje on 25 March 2025 at a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) during a joint operation involving Vietnamese police and Chinese agents, and the subsequent announcement of his death by his monastery Lung Ngon on 3 April 2025,” the Support Group writes in a joint statement.
The Support Group points to reports which indicate that a group of officials from the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China, the Religious Affairs Bureau of Gade County Government, the National Security Bureau of Golok Prefecture government and the Intelligence Department of Qinghai Province arrived in Vietnam on the morning of 5 April.
According to the information available to the Tibet Support Group of the Riigikogu, in August 2024, the authorities of the communist People’s Republic of China conducted an interrogation of high Tibetan religious leader Tulku Rigzin Hungkar Dorje, allegedly in connection with the failure of religious leader Hungkar Dorje to provide a sufficiently warm welcome to the (internationally unrecognised) Panchen Lama appointed by the Chinese government, and Hungkar Dorje’s commitment and work to preserve Tibetan religion, culture and language through local schools that are independent of the state authority.
The Support Group’s concerns are compounded by conflicting accounts of the circumstances surrounding the death of the religious leader, including the facts that the initial cause of death of Tulku Rigzin Hungkar Dorje according to the Vietnamese authorities was a heart attack, and that the Chinese authorities briefly showed Tulku Rigzin Hungkar Dorje’s death certificate to Lung Ngon Monastery in Tibet, but did not allow the monastery to retain or make copies of the documents.
“We emphasise the obligation of states to take responsibility in cases of death in custody and stress that a failure to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation constitutes a violation of the right to life. The right to life is one of the fundamental human rights and is guaranteed in all universal international human rights instruments,” the Support Group underlines in its statement.
“We call upon the international community to urge the Vietnamese Government to uphold its international legal obligations and ensure a credible and transparent investigation of this deeply concerning case.”
The Tibet Support Group of the Riigikogu is chaired by Juku-Kalle Raid; members of the group are Annely Akkermann, Anti Allas, Ester Karuse, Ando Kiviberg, Eerik-Niiles Kross, Leo Kunnas, Hanah Lahe, Tõnis Lukas, Evelin Poolamets, Anti Poolamets, Henn Põlluaas, Marek Reinaas, Urmas Reinsalu, Riina Sikkut, Kalev Stoicescu, Tarmo Tamm, Toomas Uibo, Kristo Enn Vaga and Jaak Valge.
The Constituent Assembly, which acted as the representative body of the people and the legislative power of Estonia, met for the first time Estonia Concert Hall in Tallinn on 23 April 1919, and elected August Rei as its Chairman. The task of the first parliament was to lay the foundations for the Estonian statehood, and to adopt the Constitution and the Land Act. The Constituent Assembly worked until 20 December 1920, when the functions of the representative body were taken over by the first Riigikogu.
The celebrations for the 106th birthday of the Riigikogu began yesterday evening, when the St. George’s Night signal fire was welcomed in the Governor’s Garden at Toompea, and candles were lit in memory of all the members of the Constituent Assembly.
It has become a tradition oft the Riigikogu to open the Parliament buildings and the Tall Hermann Tower to the public on its birthday week. This year, the Riigikogu will hold its Open House Day for the 25th time.
The Open House Day will take place on Saturday, 26 April, and bring thousands of visitors from Estonia and abroad to the Parliament. All activities and events are free.
The programme of this year’s Open House Day is dedicated to the Year of the Estonian Book and the forthcoming Song and Dance Celebration.
The events of the Open House Day take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The programme is available on the Riigikogu web page.
The Riigikogu did not support the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Formation of the Riigikogu committee of investigation to investigate the security of the process of online elections of the Riigikogu” (576 OE), submitted by the Centre Party Group. Its purpose was to form a committee of investigation consisting of representatives of all parliamentary groups that would analyse the risks related to and the legality of e-elections and, if necessary, make proposals on how to improve the process of online elections and to make it more secure. According to the initiators, the security of online elections is critical to safeguarding the fundamental principles of democracy.
Varro Vooglaid from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group and Lauri Laats from the Estonian Centre Party Parliamentary Group took the floor as representatives of their parliamentary groups during the debate.
The Constitutional Committee moved to reject the draft Resolution at the first reading. 48 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion and 16 were against. The draft Resolution was dropped from the legislative proceedings.
Evelin Poolamets, Varro Vooglaid, Mart Helme, Aleksandr Tšaplõgin, Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart,Lauri Laats and Vladimir Arhipov took the floor during the open microphone.
Video recordings of the sittings of the Riigikogu can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/riigikogu.
(Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)
The Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a proposal to the Government of the Republic to lower the VAT on food to 9 per cent” (579 OE), submitted by the Estonian Centre Party Parliamentary Group, proposed to lower the VAT on the main food groups (vegetables, cereals, dairy, meat, and fish products) to 9 per cent. The purpose of the draft Resolution was to lower the price of food products in the context of the general price increase.
Vadim Belobrovtsev from the Estonian Centre Party Group and Tanel Kiik from the Social Democratic Party Group took the floor during the debate.
15 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the draft Resolution. The draft Resolution dropped from the legislative proceedings as a majority vote of the members of the Riigikogu was needed for the Resolution to be passed.
The aim of the Bill on Amendments to the Value-Added Tax Act (593 SE), initiated by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, was to lower the VAT rate on foodstuffs to 5 per cent in order to curb the increase in foodstuff prices. The VAT rate on foodstuffs, including potatoes, fruit and vegetables, is 22 per cent in the current Act.
Arvo Aller from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group took the floor during the debate.
The Finance Committee as the lead committee moved to reject the Bill. 44 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion and 14 voted against. The Bill was dropped from the legislative proceedings.
Mihkelson said at the meeting with Republican Senators Rick Scott and Mike Lee that the threat from Russia and China, and tensions in many parts of the world, had led the Alliance into one of its most challenging periods since the Second World War. “Putin believes strongly that to go down in history, Russia must conquer, expand, kill and threaten. His aim is not only destroying Ukraine as a state, but also dismantling NATO and the existing security architecture of the whole Europe,” Mihkelson stated. In his opinion, China is also involved in the plans to change the world order.
The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee underlined the need to continue providing strong support and military assistance to Ukraine and to ensure that Ukraine remained a sovereign state. “We must keep in mind that Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine is not an isolated local process. Russia’s shadow war against the West has been going on for years. Force is the only answer that Russia understands,” he said.
According to Mihkelson, the West must show Russia that aggression does not pay, because otherwise their ambitions will not be limited to Ukraine. He said that for this reason, Estonia had sharply increased its defence spending, which would be at least five per cent of GDP from the next year, and had consistently supported Ukraine. “We understand that it is dangerous to remain alone. This is why we are investing, carrying out defence procurements and the necessary capability developments, and supporting strong partnerships with like-minded countries in Europe and North America,” he noted, adding that Estonia also stood for raising the defence spending target agreed upon in NATO.
Mihkelson believes that protecting trans-Atlantic security and NATO unity is of utmost importance today. “Your presence in Europe and on NATO’s eastern flank, as well as a strong and united allied space, will also work as a deterrent to Russia, who would like to see the Alliance divided and weak,” Mihkelson said at the meeting with US senators, and called for strengthening transatlantic cooperation also in energy.
