The Foreign Affairs Committee had a video meeting today with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland Pekka Haavisto to discuss the security situation in the region, Russia’s activities in the border regions of Ukraine, and issues concerning Belarus.
The Chairman of the Committee Marko Mihkelson emphasised that Russia’s activities and any developments in Ukraine must be kept under close scrutiny at all times. The parties highlighted the crucial importance of European Union cohesion, solidarity with Ukraine, and all-round support to free and successful Ukraine.
Regarding Belarus, strict sanctions are both important and necessary. “We must continue supporting the sovereignty of Belarus and demand that new free and fair presidential elections be organised in Belarus. Today, the best way to put pressure on the Lukashenko regime is to enforce strong and effective sanctions,” the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee said.
Mihkelson expressed his happiness over the strong bilateral relations and close exchange of information between Estonia and Finland. He highlighted the report on the future cooperation of Estonia and Finland which is to be completed in February. The report outlines the state of bilateral relations and suggests new opportunities for cooperation.
The Chairman of the Committee raised the issue of qualified majority decisions in the EU foreign and security policy, and the possibilities for enhancing the speed and strength the foreign policy of the Union. The participants also exchanged ideas about the upcoming meeting of EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs, and the OSCE Chairmanship of Finland in 2025.
At today’s sitting, the Riigikogu received an overview of the Estonian Digital Society Development Plan until 2030.
When introducing the development plan, the Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology Andres Sutt said that Estonia had created a unique ecosystem that was difficult to copy. “Digital prowess has made us known all over the world. World-changing digital solutions crop up and grow into unicorns here. Digital prowess has helped us be bigger than could be presumed by the size of our population or economy. Estonia has been a trailblazer,” Sutt said.
The Minister underlined that, in order to continue to be a trailblazer, just tinkering on what we already had was not enough, and customer-centeredness and adoption of the latest technology were needed as well. “All this will also have to be cybersecure. These are the principles we have observed when drawing up the new digital society development plan,” Sutt said.
The minister enlarged on three sub-aims set out in the development plan: the development of digital governance, connectivity and cybersecurity.
In terms of digital governance, the development plan has put the focus on the quality of public services and public administration, which marks the next maturity level and development stage of digital governance. “Up until now, the use of IT has been targeted mainly at enhancing the public sector, but now we are shifting the focus on the value created for people in the form of user experience,” minister Sutt explained.
As regards connectivity, he said that the aim was simple: by 2030, ultra-high-speed, reliable and affordable telecommunication would be available independently of location in Estonia. “For that, we will improve the availability of communications services and the affordability of accession in rural areas by developing access networks. It is important to develop the 5G‑base infrastructure and the provision of services, in order to also be ready for 6G in the future,” Sutt said.
Regarding cybersecurity, Sutt noted that it was the enabler of digital society. “Without it, there would be no trust, without which digital services have no users, that is, meaning or impact. That is why, in cybersecurity, the aim is to have a cyberspace that is secure, reliable and resilient to cyber threats.”
The minister also spoke of money and explained that the total need had been estimated to be slightly over 1.2 billion euro over ten years.
Chairman of the Economic Affairs Committee Kristen Michal gave an overview of the presentation of the development plan at an Economic Affairs Committee meeting.
During the debate, Andres Metsoja (Isamaa), Kert Kingo (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), Andrei Korobeinik (Centre Party), Heiki Hepner (Isamaa), Peeter Ernits (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) and Kalle Grünthal (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor.
The Riigikogu passed an Act
The Act on Amendments to the Maritime Safety Act (455 SE), initiated by the Government, is intended to continue supporting international maritime transport through Estonian ports and to motivate consignors to direct their trade flows through Estonian ports where possible.
The Act reduces the fairway dues payable for January to December 2022 by 50 per cent. According to the explanatory memorandum, the reduction of fairway dues will contribute to ensuring preservation of jobs in the sector, which will have a direct positive impact on the state budget and will help prevent an extensive need to make employees redundant.
During the debate, Aivar Kokk (Isamaa), Mihhail Stalnuhhin (Centre Party), Peeter Ernits (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) and Annely Akkermann (Reform Party) took the floor.
73 members of the Riigikogu were in favour of passing the Act.
Two Bills passed the second reading
The Bill on Amendments to the Medicinal Products Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (413 SE), initiated by the Government, will bring the Medicinal Products Act into conformity with the legal acts of the European Union that provide for rules on clinical trials on medicinal products for human use, clinical trials for veterinary medicinal products, and medicinal products under hospital exemption.
The Bill provides for the possibility to prepare and use advanced therapy medicinal products on a non-routine basis in hospitals. Standards will be set to ensure the quality and safety of medicinal products, and monitoring of treatment. Such advanced therapy medicinal products can be prepared and used only in accordance with the specifications of a specialist in Estonia and under his or her professional responsibility to treat an individual patient in hospital. They are medicinal products called advanced therapy medicinal products in the EU that are divided into gene therapy, somatic cell therapy and tissue engineered medicinal products and that offer patients advanced therapies for the treatment of certain types of diseases and dysfunctions. On the basis of the data obtained from the use of a medicinal product under hospital exemption, it will be possible later to start clinical trials with the medicinal product and then to reach application for marketing authorisation. The hospital exemption regulation allows planning specific development paths and cooperation opportunities between Estonian universities, biotechnology companies and hospitals.
The Bill will simplify the process for applying for authorisation for clinical trials, in particular when the applicant wishes to conduct a trial in many EU member states. In this case, throughout the whole process, the applicant communicates with the medicines agency of one Member State who coordinates the whole process and information exchange between the applicant and other Member States in the EU and who prepares the report on the scientific assessment of the application for trial. In the future, application for authorisation for a clinical trial will take place on the basis of a single application in all Member States with the help of a single authorisation application dossier through the clinical trials portal and in a paper-free manner. In the future, the sponsor will also pay a one-off payment in a Member State upon application for a clinical trial. At present, the sponsor pays three different fees in Estonia: a fee to the State Agency of Medicines, a fee to the ethics committee and a state fee. The Member States will assess an application for a clinical trial jointly and a single joint final decision will be drafted. The final results of a clinical trial will be in a joint database and publicly accessible and therefore more information will be public. The summary of the assessment of the trial as well as the results of the trial and the inspection will be made public.
Standards will also be set in order to ensure the quality and safety of the medicinal products that are administered to subjects in the course of clinical trials. Special attention will be paid to high-level protection of patient rights and safety.
During the debate, Anti Poolamets and Kalle Grünthal from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party took the floor.
The amendments proposed under the Bill on Amendments to the State Assets Act (421 SE), initiated by the Government, concern the activities of partially State-owned companies and foundations established by the State as well as the activities of ministries in performing the functions of the State as a shareholder or a founder.
In January last year, the Government approved the principles of participation policy on why and how the State is involved in companies. The Bill provides for setting out the consequent amendments in the Act.
The approved principles set the direction that the State would have a holding only in the companies where this is necessary in view of public interest or for some other strategic consideration. Earning revenue through participation in business is not an independent aim for the State, but an additional aim accompanying acting in public interests. In the future, the participation of the State will be renewed regularly at least every five years.
The most important amendment in the Bill is making it obligatory to set out the expectations of the State as the owner and regularly updating them every three years. The reporting principles of partially State-owned companies and of foundations whose founders include the State will be amended. The presentation of forecasts will be synchronised with the state budget strategy process.
With the Bill, deciding on the retaining of holdings kept only for the purposes of gaining revenue will be transferred from the ministerial level to the level of Government, but in the case of smaller holdings, where the participation does not exceed 10 per cent, the right to make decisions will be granted to the ministries.
Pursuant to the Bill, the accounting services of State foundations will be consolidated under the State Shared Service Centre.
The explanatory memorandum to the Bill points out that the new regulation will concern the activities of all ministries, as well as 28 companies and 65 active foundations where the State was an owner or a (co-)founder as at June 2021. At the end of 2020, the volume of assets of such companies and foundations was 7.8 billion euro and 2.2 billion euro respectively, the volume of revenues 1.7 billion euro and 0.9 billion euro, and the number of employees around 12,000 and 13,700.
The first reading of a Bill was adjourned
Due to the end of the sitting, the deliberation of the Bill on Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia for Changing the Procedure for the Election of the President of the Republic (462 SE), initiated by members of the Riigikogu Jaanus Karilaid, Kersti Sarapuu, Viktor Vassiljev, Peeter Rahnel, Mihhail Stalnuhhin, Dmitri Dmitrijev, Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski, Marko Šorin, Enn Eesmaa, Aadu Must, Kaido Höövelson, Tarmo Tamm, Jüri Ratas, Oudekki Loone, Siret Kotka, Erki Savisaar, Natalia Malleus, Igor Kravtšenko, Imre Sooäär, Marek Jürgenson, Mihhail Korb, Martin Repinski, Marika Tuus-Laul, Mailis Reps, Martin Helme, Urmas Reitelmann, Leo Kunnas, Uno Kaskpeit, Merry Aart, Peeter Ernits, Riho Breivel, Kert Kingo, Kalle Grünthal, Jaak Valge, Paul Puustusmaa, Alar Laneman, Helle-Moonika Helme, Rene Kokk, Henn Põlluaas, Mart Helme, Anti Poolamets, Siim Pohlak, Ruuben Kaalep, Andrei Korobeinik and Raimond Kaljulaid, which provides for the direct election of the President of the Republic, will continue at tomorrow’s sitting.
The explanatory memorandum emphasises that the election of the President of the Republic directly by the people meets the expectations of society and gives the people an additional opportunity to participate in making decisions that are important to the nation, thereby bringing people closer to the state.
Today, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) is visiting Finland to meet with President of Finland Sauli Niinistö and to discuss the security of the region.
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson thinks that it is very important right now to share information with our closest partners and allies in order to ensure the security of our region and to do everything possible to prevent deepening of the security crisis around Ukraine. “As Member states of the European Union, Estonia and Finland have a major role in shaping the foreign and security policy of the Union. At the moment, it is especially significant because the future of the whole Euro-Atlantic security architecture may depend on our decisions,” Mihkelson said before the visit.
The members of the Foreign Affairs Committee will also meet with the representatives of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs and visit the Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats and the Estonian Embassy.
On Wednesday morning, the Foreign Affairs Committee will have a video conference with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland Pekka Haavisto.
The Estonian delegation includes Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson and members of the Committee Raivo Tamm, Indrek Saar, Mailis Reps, Henn Põlluaas and Ruuben Kaalep.
At the meeting with President of the Parliament of Montenegro Aleksa Bečić, President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas emphasised that Estonia supported Montenegro’s aspirations to become a member of the European Union.
The discussion at the meeting of the Presidents of Parliaments focused on mapping the possibilities for future cooperation between Estonia and Montenegro, on allied relations in NATO and Estonia’s support to Montenegro in the accession process with the European Union. “During the years after gaining independence, Montenegro has built up a well-functioning society and achieved international trust,” Ratas said. “Estonia, who was first country to establish diplomatic relations with Montenegro and ratified the association agreement, supports Montenegro’s aspirations to become a member of the European Union.”
Besides the opportunities for bilateral cooperation in digital and cyber sectors, exchanging of experience in the education sector and strengthening the communication between parliamentary committees were spoken about as well.
The President of the Riigikogu acknowledged Montenegro’s contribution to the work of the Cooperative Cyber Centre of Excellence and its participation in the Enhanced Forward Presence of the NATO allies in Latvia.
Enlargement of the European Union and the global developments affecting it were spoken about at the meeting with President of Montenegro Milo Đukanović. The President thanked Estonia for support and wished the cooperation would become closer bilaterally as well as in the framework of the enlargement of NATO and the European Union.
In the afternoon, the President of the Riigikogu opened the Honorary Consulate of Estonia, where Tomislav Čelebić is the Honorary Consul. Ratas underlined in his speech that Honorary Consuls were invaluable partners in introducing Estonia, assisting Estonian citizens and conducting business diplomacy activities: finding partners for Estonian companies or communicating with potential investors.
The President of the Riigikogu is accompanied on the visit by members of the Riigikogu Sven Sester and Kalvi Kõva. The Estonian delegation also met with Prime Minister of Montenegro Zdravko Krivokapić, with whom the situation in West Balkan was discussed.
President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas is on an official visit to Montenegro. He is accompanied by members of the Riigikogu Sven Sester and Kalvi Kõva.
The visit will begin with the meeting with President of the Parliament of Montenegro Aleksa Bečić. After that, the Estonian delegation will meet with Prime Minister of Montenegro Zdravko Krivokapić and President Milo Đukanović.
Main topics to be discussed at the meetings are the enlargement of the European Union, the current situation in West Balkan, the defence cooperation in NATO, the hybrid attack launched by the Belarusian regime on the eastern border of the European Union and the relations with Russia, as well as strengthening of bilateral parliamentary relations and perspectives of cooperation, in particular in the digital sector.
In the afternoon, the President of the Riigikogu will open the Honorary Consulate of Estonia. Tomislav Čelebić will be the Honorary Consul of Estonia in Montenegro. The opening of the Honorary Consulate takes place at a symbolic time, because this year Estonia and Montenegro celebrate the 15th anniversary of establishing of diplomatic relations. On 13 June 2006, Estonia became the first country with which Montenegro established diplomatic relations.
The delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) visited Washington to meet with members of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States. The meetings focused on strengthening the security of the Baltic States and the possibilities for preventing the deepening of the security crisis in our region.
In the opinion of Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson, there could not have been a better time for the visit than now when both the Senate and the House of Representatives are discussing the defence budget for the next year. One of the key topics at the meetings was the Baltic Security Initiative budget package or the defence assistance to the Baltic States. Mihkelson emphasised that it was vital to continue the Initiative at least to the current extent or to increase the assistance, which would help to fill the key gaps in our defence planning.
Mihkelson also spoke of the latest developments on the border of Ukraine. “At the moment, it is very important to demonstrate the unity of the NATO allies. We are standing behind Ukraine and we are ready to help the Ukrainians with real defence capability,” Mihkelson said. “Due to the escalation of Russia’s possible military activities against Ukraine, the situation is undeniably critical. Attack against Ukraine is an attack against us all, against the democratic countries,” he added.
Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee Indrek Saar underlined that the visit proved that the worrying security developments in our region caused concern also to Estonia’s most important ally the United States. “The meetings confirmed that our concerns are shared and that the Americans understand the importance of defence assistance for Estonia and the other Baltic States,” he said. Saar added that the discussions at the meetings had also focused on how to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Baltic States next year.
The delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee included Chairman of the Committee Marko Mihkelson and members of the Committee Indrek Saar, Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski and Raivo Tamm.
The delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) is on a visit to Washington, D.C., where the meetings will focus on strengthening allied relations and security cooperation. The visit will last until Saturday.
The delegation includes Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson and members of the Committee Indrek Saar, Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski and Raivo Tamm.
“The United States are Estonia’s most important ally, whose contribution to ensuring the security of the Baltic region and to deterrence measures is priceless,” Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee said. “The Baltic Security Initiative budget package, which was approved in the Congress last year, has a significant role for Estonia. In the context of the latest security developments, the hybrid attack launched by Belarus and the events in the border regions of Ukraine, continuing of the Initiative at least to the same extent and enhancing of deterrence capacity are without doubt of key importance to our security,” Mihkelson added.
Today, the Estonian delegation has scheduled meetings with Chair Jeanne Shaheen and Ranking Member Ron Johnson of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, with Chair of the U.S. Helsinki Commission Ben Cardin and member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services Kevin Cramer. They will also meet with co-chair of the European Union Caucus Representative Joe Wilson and representatives of the US Department of State.
Tomorrow, the delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu will meet with Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez, as well as with Chair Bill Keating and Ranking Member Brian Fitzpatrick of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Energy, the Environment and Cyber. They will also have meetings with leaders of the House of Representatives Baltic Caucus Ruben Gallego and Don Bacon, co-chair of the European Union Caucus Brendan Boyle and member of the Committee on Armed Services Liz Cheney. The delegation will also meet with the representatives of the US Department of State dealing with European and Eurasian affairs and Russian issues.
On Friday, the delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee will participate in a round table on the developments of the US foreign policy at the Heritage Foundation and meet with the representatives of European and NATO policies of the US Department of Defense. The visit will end with a meeting with the Estonian experts working in Washington.
The Board of the Riigikogu, the Estonian Heritage Society and the Estonian Flag Association call on celebrating the Day of Perpetual Estonian Nationhood on 30 November and to fly the national flag on the occasion.
“30 November is the equinox of the liberty of the Republic of Estonia, because on that day, the time of freedom and the time of captivity of our country achieve equal lengths,” President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas said. “This means that the number of days as an independent country and the number of days of occupation during our 104 years of history are equal.”
“On behalf of the Board of the Riigikogu, I invite to decorate all houses with blue-black-white, because from that day onwards, our country has been independent for more days that we have lived under different occupation powers,” Ratas said. On behalf of the Board of the Riigikogu, he proposed to raise national flags on the occasion of the Day of Perpetual Estonian Nationhood at sunrise on 30 November and to lower them at sunset.
At Toompea, the day will begin with raising of the national flag at the Tall Hermann Tower at 8.49 a.m. The raising of the flag will be assisted by Archbishop of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church Urmas Viilma, representative of the August 20th Club Rein Veidemann, representative of Memento association Peep Varju, Home Daughter Marie Elisabeth Kleinot and Young Eagle Erik Tinnuri.
At 10 a.m., a virtual conference dedicated to the equinox of liberty will begin in the Conference Hall of the Riigikogu. The opening address of the conference will be delivered by President of the Riigikogu Jüri Ratas. President of the Academy of Sciences Tarmo Soomere, Head of the Tallinn City Archives, historian Küllo Arjakas, Professor Emeritus of Tallinn University Rein Veidemann and Research Editor if the Estonian Public Broadcasting Maarja Merivoo-Parro will present speeches.
President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas attends the hybrid conference of the Speakers of the Nordic and Baltic (NB8) parliaments in Copenhagen. The discussions will focus on the hybrid attacks against European countries launched by the Belarusian regime and illegal immigration, and on future cooperation between the Baltic States and the Nordic Countries.
At the traditional meeting of the Nordic and Baltic Speakers, all participants first give an overview of significant topical issues in their parliaments. The Speaker of the Danish parliament will speak about the organisation of work between the parliament and the government.
The Speakers of the parliaments of Latvia and Finland will give a survey of involving citizens in the work of the parliament. Estonia has made a proposal to enhance the cooperation between the standing committees in order to achieve tangible results, like launching the debate of Social Affairs Committees for mutual recognition of digital prescriptions.
The Nordic-Baltic cooperation, or NB8, has been bringing Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania around the same table since 1992. The first meeting of the NB8 Speakers took place in 1997 in Karlskrona, Sweden.
The delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) is visiting New York until Tuesday to get an overview of Estonia’s activities as an elected member of the UN Security Council.
The delegation includes Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson and members of the Committee Indrek Saar, Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski and Raivo Tamm.
In Mihkelson’s opinion, the Estonian diplomats, headed by Permanent Representative of Estonia to the United Nations Sven Jürgenson, have convincingly proved that even a small country can be both visible and credible in the UN Security Council. “The rich experience gained during the two years will undoubtedly be useful in ensuring Estonia’s security within the framework of the United Nations and other international organisations,” Mihkelson said.
Tomorrow, the delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee will meet with President of the United Nations General Assembly Abdulla Shahid and the Executive Director of Security Council Report. They will also observe the Arria-formula meeting on Syria, which will be held in the UN Security Council and chaired by Estonia.
Meetings with Assistant Secretary-General in the UN Department of Political Affairs Miroslav Jenča and United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix are planned for Tuesday. The Estonian delegation will also watch the Security Council’s meeting on Middle East.
On Wednesday, the visit of the Foreign Affairs Committee delegation will continue in Washington, D.C.