Due to human error, two Estonian Air Force jet trainers L-39 turned to Finnish airspace south of Utö Island yesterday at 14.02 local time. Incident occurred over international waters, when planes took part in a training exercise with allied warship. The violation of the airspace lasted for less than a minute.
Estonian Air Force launched a safety investigation to determine the causes of the incident. The Estonian Ambassador in Finland reported an unfortunate incident to the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and confirmed that Estonia would take measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Estonian Air Force routinely organizes training flights and joint exercises with Estonian and Allied units to support the exercises of the Defence Forces, to train joint terminal attack controllers, intercept controllers and Allied airmen who are securing Estonian airspace.
The delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) is on a visit to Belfast and London. The visit will last until Friday. At the meetings, the problems relating to Brexit and implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol as well as their possible solutions, and the issues of bilateral relations will be discussed. The members of the Foreign Affairs Committee will also examine the situation in the customs offices on the border of Northern Ireland.
“The United Kingdom is a key ally and partner for Estonia, and they have made a significant contribution to ensuring our security,” Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson said. “Now, when Great Britain is no longer a member of the European Union, it is especially important to continue the earlier excellent cooperation and find ways for strengthening it. Let it be even closer partnership in business diplomacy, e-residency, cybersecurity, green issues or in other fields,” he added.
The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee explained that the aim of the visit was to strengthen the cooperation between the parliaments of the two countries, and the colleagues from the UK were expected to visit Estonia soon.
The Estonian delegation will start the visit in Belfast, where they will meet with the representatives of the Executive Office of Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium and the civil society. They will also visit the customs offices of Northern Ireland.
On Wednesday, the visit will continue in London with meetings with Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons Nigel Evans, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee Tom Tugendhat, Chair of the Defence Select Committee Tobias Ellwood and members of the committees. It is also planned to meet with the representatives of the Scotland House in London and Ambassador of the European Union to the United Kingdom João Vale de Almeida.
On Thursday, the delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee will meet with former Prime Minister Theresa May and representatives of think tanks. The visit will end with meeting with the Estonians living in London.
The delegation consists of Chairman of the Foreign Affairs committee Marko Mihkelson and members of the Committee Mailis Reps and Raivo Tamm. Vice-President of the Riigikogu Hanno Pevkur will join the delegation at meetings in London.
The discussions at the meeting of President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas and President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Miloš Vystrčil today focused on strengthening bilateral relations in the fields of energy and digitalisation. Economic cooperation, defence cooperation, green transition and energy security were also spoken about.
Ratas said that the Czech Republic was a close partner and a like-minded ally for Estonia both in the European Union and in NATO. President of the Riigikogu thanked the Czech Republic for their contribution to NATO Baltic air policing. He recalled that in 2019, the Czech forces were present in Ämari Air Base, and expressed hope that they would return soon. “The cooperation between our countries has been long, this December we will celebrate the centenary of our diplomatic relations,” Ratas pointed out.
Energy security, green transition and the measures to counter the sudden rise of energy prices were discussed in greater detail at the meeting. Ratas emphasised that the rise of gas and electricity prices must not prevent the achievement of the green targets. According to him, Estonia’s positions regarding the green package “Fit for 55” are being drawn up. “The transition should be fair and not take place at the expense of people,” Ratas underlined, and added that the synchronisation of the Baltic energy networks with those of West Europe was also under way.
“Estonia has formulated the target of climate neutrality by 2050, and decided that production of energy and oil from oil shale must end by 2040 at the latest,” Ratas said. “This will be a time for transformation in order to find new energy sources and to solve the social-economic issues as well. Estonia sees solar and wind energy as alternatives, and is ready also to consider taking into use of nuclear energy, because this is a potential alternative to fossil fuels.” Ratas admitted that it was definitely necessary to hold a debate on the adoption of nuclear energy because the issues relating to financing and also the emotions of people needed to be resolved.
Both speakers acknowledged that there was still unused potential in bilateral relations, and agreed that the topics relating to energy and digitalisation would be dealt with further in the framework of parliamentary cooperation. According to the President of the Czech Senate, the interest of their entrepreneurs in cooperation is great.
Chairman of the Estonia-Czech Republic Parliamentary Friendship Group, member of the European Union Affairs Committee and the Finance Committee Aivar Sõerd also participated in the meeting. He highlighted the close and excellent parliamentary relations between the two countries. Speaking of climate neutrality, Sõerd remarked that achieving these targets would provide opportunities for innovation, and it would also be possible to apply for support from the Recovery Plan for Europe.
This morning, President of the Riigikogu Jüri Ratas and President of the Czech Senate Miloš Vystrčil opened the Czech-Estonian business forum at the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In his opening address, Ratas called on focusing on bilateral economic cooperation and to look for wider possibilities for cooperation in digitalisation and artificial intelligence.
Tomorrow, Miloš Vystrčil and the delegation accompanying him will visit e-Estonia Briefing Centre. After the visit to Estonia, the President of the Czech Senate will go on a visit to Lithuania.
Yesterday, President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Miloš Vystrčil and the delegation accompanying him arrived on a three-day visit to Estonia.
This morning, President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas and his Czech counterpart will open the Czech-Estonian business forum at the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Czech and Estonian companies from various industrial sectors participate in the forum.
After that, the President of the Czech Senate will have a meeting with President of the Riigikogu Jüri Ratas at Toompea. Chairman of the Estonia-Czech Republic Parliamentary Friendship Group, member of the European Union Affairs Committee and the Finance Committee Aivar Sõerd will participate in the meeting.
At noon, Miloš Vystrčil will meet with President Alar Karis in Kadriorg.
Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology Andres Sutt and Minister of Foreign Affairs Eva-Maria Liimets will also have meetings with the President of the Czech Senate. On Tuesday, Miloš Vystrčil and the business delegation accompanying him will visit e-Estonia Briefing Centre. After the visit to Estonia, the President of the Czech Senate will go on a visit to Lithuania.
This week, more than two months long pre-operation training of the infantry platoon BKN-11 Estpla came to an end, in preparation for a service in Mali starting from December with a French unit serving as part of the Allied Battlegroup in Tapa.
“Training has given soldiers the opportunity to identify with the area of operation in Mali, which has given the whole unit a broader understanding of the challenges and expectations ahead. During the training, we have overcome our weaknesses and the final exercise went very well for us,” said First Lieutenant Mihkel Tamm, BKN-11 Estpla platoon commander.
The final exercise Sleipnir-11 was to practice the most common tasks and situations that await the unit in the area – base protection, conducting patrols and participating in the rapid reaction unit.
“The training of the mission team has been carried out by Scout Battalion’s soldiers and officers, who have extensive experience in missions abroad and have been training for a long time,” said next Barkhane’s contingent commander Major Rauno Vahimets, adding: “final exercise here does not end the training, in the deployment area the skills and knowledge will be constantly updated”.
The BKN-11 Estpla is an infantry platoon that will replace the BKN-10 Estpla currently serving in Mali, which began its service at the Gao military base in August this year. The main area of activity for the Estonian contingent located in Gao base on the Niger River in Mali is the urban environment.
The tasks of the Estonians in Mali are military defence and joint patrols with units of the French Defence Forces, on the basis and composition of which the Estonian contingent operates.
The French counter-insurgency operation Barkhane aims to support the fight against Islamic extremists in five Sahel countries (Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad) and thus to contribute to the fight against illegal immigration and human trafficking towards Europe.
At the meeting with President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu today, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Marko Mihkelson emphasised that, although at present the energy crisis was the most burning issue for the people of Moldova, the country as a whole needed to make smart choices in diversifying its sources of energy.
“Now is the time when Europe must show solidarity with Moldova and support the reform policy of its Western-minded government. Moldova has a historic opportunity to irreversibly take the course towards the European Union,” Mihkelson said.
The challenges faced by Moldova in its fight against corruption, in building up the rule of law and improving the welfare of its population, and on its way to integration with the European Union were discussed at the meeting.
Until tomorrow, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee participates in the joint visit of the Chairmen of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Parliaments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to Chișinău, Moldova. The Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees also had meetings with Speaker of the Parliament of Moldova Igor Grosu and Deputy Speaker Mihail Popșoi, Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Kulminski, as well as with the Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and European Integration, and the Chair and members of the Committee on National Security, Defence and Public Order. Tomorrow, the Chairs of Baltic Foreign Affairs Committees will meet with Prime Minister of Moldova Natalia Gavrilița.
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Marko Mihkelson is on a joint visit of the Chairmen of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Parliaments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to Chișinău, Moldova. The visit will last until Friday.
“It is natural that we want stability and growth of welfare in Europe. Therefore, it is important that Moldova, too, would do well in a long-term perspective. The Eastern Partnership Summit will take place in December and we regard our visit as a preparation for this meeting,” Mihkelson said.
“We support Moldova in continuing its journey of European integration, developing the rule of law, fight against corruption, and keeping the course of reforms. During the visit, I and my Baltic colleagues hope to get a survey of how we could help Moldova in this,” Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee noted. “We will also discuss possibilities for cooperation, the latest internal policy developments in Moldova and the energy crisis,” he added.
Today, the Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees will meet with Speaker of the Parliament of Moldova Igor Grosu and Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Moldova Mihail Popșoi, as well as with the Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and European Integration Doina Gherman, and Lilian Carp, Chair of the Committee on National Security, Defence and Public Order and members of the Committee. Meetings with the representatives of the parliamentary friendship groups of the three countries are also planned.
At 11.35, the Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees will give a press conference at the parliament building.
Tomorrow, the Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees of the Baltic States will meet with President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu as well as with the representatives of the European Business Association and the NGOs.
On Friday, the programme of the visit will continue with meetings with Prime Minister of Moldova Natalia Gavrilița and the representatives of international financial institutions.
At today’s sitting, the Riigikogu discussed the proposal of the Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise to deprive Mailis Reps of deputy immunity and to continue court proceedings concerning her.
In her report, Ülle Madise said that neither making the proposal nor even depriving an MP of their deputy immunity means that they are guilty of an offence. “This also does not stop their authority as a Member of the Riigikogu. The authority of a Member of the Riigikogu terminates if the court finds them guilty and the decision enters into force,” the Chancellor of Justice explained. She added that depriving Mailis Reps of deputy immunity simply allows the court proceedings to continue in order to find out the truth.
In addition, the Chancellor of Justice outlined the content of the accusations against Reps.
56 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of depriving Mailis Reps of deputy immunity.
A Bill passed the first reading
The objective of the Bill on Amendments to the Local Government Organisation Act (400 SE), initiated by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction, is to allow binding local referendums. The explanatory memorandum says that the Local Government Organisation Act that was in force in 1993–1999 set out local referendums as one of the instruments for carrying out local authority. The Bill would not exactly restore the earlier provisions of the Local Government Organisation Act; instead, it’s wording would allow municipal councils to provide for an option for the local residents themselves to bring about referendums as public initiatives.
During the debate, Mihhail Stlanuhhin (Centre Party) and Henn Põlluaas (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor.
The proceeding of one Bill was carried over to the next sitting
Due to the end of the sitting, the Bill on Amendments to the Youth Work Act (411 SE), initiated by the Social Democratic Party Faction, was carried over to tomorrow’s sitting. Its purpose is to support the participation of youth in hobby education and activities, and to prevent a situation where any additional state support could be drastically reduced. For this purpose, the support allocated from the state budget for hobby education and activities in municipalities must not be lower than during the previous budget period. The Bill should also prevent a situation where no budgetary means are set aside for paying the additional support.
Today, the members of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) elected the Board of the Estonian Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), which consists of President Toomas Kivimägi and Vice-Presidents Marika Tuus-Laul, Helmen Kütt and Helle-Moonika Helme.
The main aims of the activities of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) are to promote cooperation between parliaments and members of parliament, to participate in the processes of ensuring global peace and security, to protect human rights and to develop representative democracy. Estonia was a member of the Union in 1921–1940 and restored its membership after regaining independence in 1991.
All members of the Riigikogu belong to the Estonian IPU Group, and elect the board of the group. The Board, which includes the President, who received the most votes from the plenary assembly, and three Vice-Presidents, constitutes the Riigikogu delegation to the IPU.
The aim of the activities of the delegation is to develop inter-parliamentary relations, and to introduce in international forums the Estonian state and the positions of our state on topical issues.
President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas spoke about the challenge and opportunity of tackling climate change at the European Conference of Presidents of Parliaments of the member states of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Athens today.
“We all share a concern and a sense of responsibility for creating a successful and sustainable Europe,” Ratas said in his speech in Athens. “Tackling climate change appears to be a pressing challenge for every country, but we must view it as an opportunity. It is an opportunity to modernise our economies, ensure a sustainable growth.”
Ratas emphasised that a clean and healthy environment was an important component of the realisation of all human rights. He pointed out that the right to physical and moral health, family life and personal integrity of each human being depended crucially on healthy ecosystems.
“We have to recognise that nature has no borders. The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land we inhabit is the responsibility of us all,” Ratas said. “Every human being has the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.”
Ratas gave his counterparts an overview of Riigikogu’s work in integrating international standards and agreements in the national legislation and implementing climate related legislative amendments in accordance with the Fit for 55 Package. He explained that Estonia worked together with recognised experts in order to develop scientific research, technological solutions and innovations.
Ratas added that through education, projects and environmental competitions, Estonia had established a structured youth engagement. “Young people as equal partners to decision-makers are valuable contributors to the climate action,” he said. “We strongly believe that the openness of the regulatory process along with accurate analyses help to raise public awareness about the importance and opportunities of the green transition.”
The agenda of the President of the Riigikogu for today and tomorrow also includes several bilateral meetings with his counterparts. Today, Ratas met with Vice-President of the National Assembly of France Laetitia Saint-Paul, and President of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives Éliane Tillieux and President of the Belgian Senate Stephanie D’Hose. Excellent mutual parliamentary relations and cooperation in issues relating to security, energy and climate change were discussed at the meetings.