NordenBladet — Finland and Estonia are launching a yearlong study aimed at further developing relations between the two countries. This was decided when Prime Minister Sanna Marin and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas met today in Helsinki. Today’s visit was Prime Minister Kallas’ first official visit abroad, which reflects the good and close cooperation between Finland and Estonia.
“Finland and Estonia have an excellent, special relationship. That said, we can still develop and strengthen our joint efforts in many areas. A long time has passed since the last report was published on this subject in 2008,” said Prime Minister Marin.Former ministers Anne-Mari Virolainen from Finland and Jaak Aaviksoo from Estonia have been appointed to lead the study. Foreign policy institutes in both countries will support their work. Topics to be addressed in the study include digitalisation, trade, education, contacts between citizens, and security issues.
In their talks, the Prime Ministers also discussed the situation with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures in place to manage it. They also addressed topical EU issues such as climate policy, EU–Russian relations and the themes of next week’s videoconference of the European Council. Topics on the agenda for the videoconference of EU leaders include the COVID-19 pandemic and security and defence cooperation.During her visit to Helsinki, Prime Minister Kallas also met with President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö.
NordenBladet — On February 11th, the government decided that the Lifetime Achievement Awards for Culture will be awarded to Eha Komissarov, Tiit Pääsuke and Enn Säde. The Lifetime Achievement Awards for Sport will be awarded to Õnne Pollisinski and Gunnar Paal. The government’s decisions are based on the proposals made by the respective commissions.
“The Culture and Sports Awards are the highest recognition through which the government expresses its gratitude and recognizes the people of culture and sports. These people have enriched and passed on our national idea and have been an inspiration to many of our compatriots with their achievements, “said Minister of Culture Anneli Ott.
Culture awards
Lifetime Achievement Award winner, art historian and curator Eha Komissarov has worked at the Art Museum of Estonia since 1973, and during this century been one of the creators and promoters of the Kumu Art Museum’s programme. She has been a teacher and mentor to many younger artists and curators and and actively supported the organization of the Tallinn Print Triennial as well as other important art events and undertakings. According to those who nominated her, she can be considered to be the mother of Estonian contemporary art – how we see art and what we understand to be art has been largely shaped and influenced by Komissarov. She was nominated for the State Lifetime Achievement Award by the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art.
Lifetime Achievement Award winner, painter Tiit Pääsuke will celebrate his 80th jubilee birthday in December of this year. Last year, a survey exhibition of his work called Nostalgiata opened at the Tartu Art Museum. According to those who nominated him, Pääsuke is a living legend among our painters. He has been a teacher and keeper of traditions for a long time. He was also nominated for the State Lifetime Achievement Award by the Estonian Academy of Arts, the Estonian Artists’ Association, the Art Hall Foundation, and Tartu Art Museum, as well as Kadri Mälk and Jaan-Eik Tulve.
Lifetime Achievement Award winner, sound engineer and sound director Enn Säde has worked on 25 feature films and 80 documentaries. Among many others, these include feature films like Tuulte pesa, Naerata ometi, TV-miniseries Lindpriid, and the documentary Nõialoom. According to those nominating him, Säde’s work has significantly impacted the next generation of filmmakers. He was nominated by the Association of Estonian Film Journalists, Estonian Film Institute, Black Nights Film Festival, Estonian Filmmakers Association, Sõprus Cinema, Estonian Film Industry Cluster, as well as Rein Maran, Toivo-Peep Puks and Rein Raamat.
The amount of each Lifetime Achievement Award for Culture is €64,000.
Five annual national culture prizes will be awarded. The recipients are Jiři Tintěra, for his work in the city of Valga; the artist Flo Kasearu, for her solo exhibitions; as well as art historian, curator and playwright Eero Epner, for his work in all these areas. The annual award will also be awarded to the prolific internationally renowned jazz musician Jaak Sooäär and art historians Epp Lankots and Triin Ojari, who have studied leisure culture in 20th-century Estonia.
The amount of the annual prize is €9,600. In the case of a creative team, the prize money will be divided among the team members.
Sports awards
Lifetime Achievement Award winner and swimming coach Õnne Pollisinski has made a long-term contribution as an Estonian underwater sports coach, leader of the relevant sport association, and developer of the sport. She has promoted swimming as a sport for Estonians with special needs. In addition, under Pollisinski’s guidance, Estonia has won many medals at title competitions. She was nominated by the Estonian Paralympic Swimming Association, and her nomination was supported by the Estonian Society of Patients with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus, the Estonian Underwater Association and the Down Syndrome Association.
Lifetime Achievement Award winner, journalist and sport leader Gunnar Paal will receive the award for his significant contribution as a sports leader and sports journalist. He was one of the managers of the Tallinn Sailing Regatta Press Center for the Moscow Olympic Games and the Secretary General of the Estonian Olympic Committee (EOK) from 1989 to 1997. Currently Paal is an honorary member of the Estonian Olympic Committee. He is a founding member of the Estonian Olympic Academy and has written several works on Estonian sports and the Olympic movement. He was nominated by the Estonian Olympic Academy.
The amount of each Lifetime Achievement Award for Sport is €40 000.
The annual prizes for sport will be awarded to Kelly Sildaru for her gold medals in the Junior World Championships and Winter X Games in slopestyle and volleyball coach Avo Keel taking the Latvian team to the finals of the European Championship. The winners of annual awards also include the following: Urmo Aava, for organising the first WRC Estonia; trainer-of-the-year Anna Levandi; rally driver Ken Torn, for coming in first in the final round of the ERC3 and ERC3 Junior season; and Natalja Inno and Peeter Lusmägi for successful organisation of a sports week.
The amount of each annual prize is €9,600. In the case of a sports team, the prize money will be divided among the team members.
The national culture and sports prizes, along with the national science prizes and the Ferdinand Johann Wiedemann Language Prize, will be awarded on February 23rd, the eve of Estonian Independence Day, in the hall of the Estonian Academy of Sciences.
NordenBladet — At today’s sitting, the Riigikogu authorised the candidate for Prime Minister Kaja Kallas to form a Government. 70 members of the Riigikogu supported Kallas and 30 were against.
In her speech, Kallas highlighted the most important objectives of the activities of the new Government. The programme sets down the challenges of Estonia the implementation of which will be the outset for all activities of the Government.
“For me, it is not a matter of choice what to do. I wish to do my utmost to make life good for people in Estonia. Good to think, good to work, good to learn, good to raise children, and good to enjoy our beautiful nature. I wish to see Estonia smile again, and not frown and withdraw into a corner with its fist in its pocket. I wish to see an Estonia that is open to new ideas and interesting opinions. An Estonia that is moving towards the future with a brave, wide and smart look,” Kallas said. She noted that COVID-19 was currently the priority for practically every Government. A health crisis. Even the most closed of countries have not escaped the deadly virus. The health crisis has delivered a hard blow to economy as well as society as a whole. In Estonia, too.
Kallas stressed that the second wave of COVID-19 was absolutely the first thing that the new Government would start to address immediately. The recent infection rates are indeed stabilising, but the danger is far from over. “Our aim is to keep Estonia as open as possible, in order that people could go to work, children could go to school, and economic activity would continue as well,” Kallas explained. She added that, according to scientists, there was only one way to be able to open our society without losing human lives and risking a collapse of our medical system. It is vaccination of a critical mass of Estonian people.
“I also wish to acknowledge our previous Government in the resolution of the crisis. Yes, there are many things we would have done differently and to which we have drawn attention from the opposition. However, in the grand scheme of things, Estonia has followed the right path. I think that, by today, all political powers have understood that real scientists and not political virologists are the ones who will lead us out of this crisis.” Kallas thanked all the good Estonian people who had sacrificed so much for the sake of the health of their fellow citizens.
Kaja Kallas also mentioned the crisis of values. “Why do we have to insult and demean others when we express our views? Why do we have so much hatred against one another? What has happened to dignity?”
“The worst thing that a member of a Government can do to Estonia is to provoke and escalate conflicts. This is what the new Government will definitely not do. We will not divide society according to the principle of ‘them’ and us’. ‘They’ are also our people,” Kallas emphasised.
Kallas discussed the deepening economic crisis and the mental health crisis resulting from that. In view of that, the new Government will make efforts to keep the economy going to a maximum possible extent and to restart the sectors that have suffered under the restrictions. The European Union supports will be of help here, but we will have to use them very wisely. Spending the money cannot be a goal in itself.
“We must fight to ensure free movement for people, goods and services again. So that investments would come to Estonia and the existing companies would see opportunities to expand their activities here. We will have to restore Estonia’s reputation as a business-friendly country,” Kallas stressed. She explained that the crisis had given us an opportunity to organise our work more flexibly, and legislation should favour flexibility more than before. The needs of teleworking must be met by a relevant infrastructure. Unfortunately, working in more distant places in Estonia is hampered by a poor Internet connection. At the end of the day, it is not just a question of employment; it is a question of elementary living conditions. “Therefore we will invest European Union money to construct fast Internet connections to all places in Estonia,” Kallas said.
The candidate for Prime Minister also spoke of the corruption crisis. “Agreed rules must be abided by. Under rule of law, decision-making must not be influenced with hidden money. A compromise in this regard would destroy the credibility of not just a political party or a Government, but of the whole country in the eyes of its citizens.” She underlined, “The new Government is willing to be more consistent. At the same time I think that the rules to regulate the funding of political parties or the work of the parliament should be established under the cross-party principle or at least with the support of a qualified majority.”
Kallas also pointed out the crisis of Estonia’s international reputation. In her words, it is not someone’s malicious fabrication or imagination. The people who are representing our country abroad have experienced it on a daily basis in recent years. “We wish to live in a forward-looking country that is taken into account both in Europe and in the world arena. That was our common goal both when we gained our independence and when we restored our independence – to remain Estonians but to also be Europeans.”
When speaking of the crisis of truth, Kallas said that we were living at an age where lies spread quickly and far. “In today’s information society, it is easier than ever to publish lies and next to impossible to prevent their spread. Even the intentions of the incoming Government have already been attacked with lies aiming to frighten people. Lies about rising taxes, a mass influx of immigrants, homosexual propaganda at national level, etc.,” Kallas said. People no longer know what to believe and what not to believe. This in turn jeopardises the credibility of decisions in the eyes of the people. Therefore we have set as our aim to involve researchers and experts in all sectors. However, by the same token, the Government also needs to be convincing and open when explaining its decisions, she said.
In Kallas’s words, we are indeed in a crisis situation, but if we act wisely, we can turn the crisis into a foundation for the future. “The crisis enables us to contribute more to the digital government of Estonia and to simplify the communication of people and companies with the state. Likewise, the crisis is the right time to make our industry cleaner and greener. The ‘smarter’ jobs also give an opportunity to pay better salaries to people. We will pay special attention to Ida-Viru County where it will be necessary to involve investments that require people with such skills. They are there in Ida-Viru County.”
Kallas noted that, in order to realise everything she had outlined in her speech, money was needed, but the state budget situation was complicated, to say the least. “We cannot live beyond our means endlessly, and therefore striking a balance between expenditure and revenue will become an unavoidable duty at some point. We are aware that this cannot happen overnight.
At the end of her presentation, Kallas said, “What is my advantage over my predecessor Jüri Ratas? No, not the fact that I am a woman. Nor the fact that half of the ministers are women. The advantage is that I have a better coalition partner and this will leave more time and energy for me to commit myself to serving the country.”
The candidate for Prime Minister replied to numerous questions of members of the Riigikogu.
During the open microphone, Mart Helme, Peeter Ernits and Kalle Grünthal took the floor.
NordenBladet — At its today’s sitting, the European Union Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) decided to support the Government’s positions on the European Commission proposal for a directive on adequate minimum wages. The objectives of the proposal are to reduce in-work poverty and to ensure a decent living for workers who are disadvantaged on the labour market.
Deputy Chair of the European Union Affairs Committee Riina Sikkut pointed out that the aim of the proposal was not to establish a uniform minimum wage in the European Union, but to create clearer reporting and monitoring, and a transparent way of setting minimum wages. “This position will enable Estonia to continue with the current system, or to agree upon minimum wage in cooperation of social partners,” Sikkut added.
“However, it is important to recognise that increasing of minimum wage in Estonia could contribute to improving the livelihood of underprivileged people, reducing poverty risk and maybe even reducing gender wage gap.” “Minimum wage should be sufficient to protect a person working full-time from poverty risk.”
Member of the Committee Oudekki Loone said that the proposal was a step in the right direction. She emphasised that, above all, the social partners should agree upon minimum wage. “First, Estonia should support concluding collective agreements, and deal with the issue of minimum wage in this way. In the countries with a high collective bargaining coverage, the percentage of low wage earners is smaller, and the level of minimum wage relative to the median wage is higher,” Loone explained.
“In order to ensure real free movement of labour, and not free movement of wages in the European Union, it is necessary to ensure that workers could stand for their rights and interests in the same way in all countries of Europe. Workers are free when their rights are protected,” Loone said. She added that the importance of collective agreements should be highlighted and concluding of sectoral collective agreements should be promoted at the negotiations.
The proposed directive makes a distinction between countries with statutory minimum wages and countries where minimum wages are based on collective bargaining. The Member States that have statutory minimum wage should in the future take into account the purchasing power of minimum wages and the general level of gross wages. The adequacy of minimum wage should also be assessed, using indicative reference values, like whether the minimum wage is 50% of the average wage or 60% of the median wage. In Estonia, the size of minimum wage is agreed upon by the representative organisations of employers and trade unions, therefore Estonia’s position is that we are among the countries where minimum wage is set by collective bargaining.
The European Union Affairs Committee decided to support the positions of the Government on the basis of the opinion of the Social Affairs Committee. The Committee supported the principle that each worker should be ensured an adequate minimum salary, and the Directive must not violate the autonomy of social partners or the freedom of Member States to set minimum wages.
The European Union Affairs Committee discussed this topic also at its sitting on Friday, when the representatives of the European Commission Representation in Estonia, Estonian Trade Union Confederation, the Estonian Employers’ Confederation and the Ministry of Social Affairs introduced the proposal and their positions.
NordenBladet — This week, the Riigikogu Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will participate in the winter plenary session of the Assembly. They will attend the session remotely, via a video bridge. The Estonian delegation has requested initiating debates in support of civil society in Belarus and Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
“In both cases, there have been clear violations of the principles of human rights,” Head of the Estonian delegation to PACE Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski said. “Therefore, we consider it important to raise these issues in the Assembly. Given the heightened attention towards Navalny’s arrest and detention, it may be assumed that the topic of Belarus will remain somewhat to the background this time around. It is all the more important then that we make an effort to keep the issue of Belarus on the agenda.”
Jufereva-Skuratovski said that the Assembly would also discuss the issues relating to COVID-19 vaccines.
On Tuesday, the elections of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights, the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will be held.
In the afternoon of that day, the joint procedure in response to situations where a member state violates the fundamental principles upheld by the Council of Europe will be voted on. The initiative has gained wide support, but the delegation of the Russian Federation has expressed a wish to table amendments.
Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski will also take the floor at the debates on the observation of the parliamentary elections in Georgia and the German presidency on Monday. On Wednesday, member of the Estonian delegation Vilja Toomast will speak about vaccination against COVID-19. Raimond Kaljulaid and Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski wish to speak in support of Navalny at the current affairs debate on Thursday.
The video meetings will also be attended by members of the Estonian delegation Eerik-Niiles Kross, Urmas Reitelmann and Raivo Tamm.
NordenBladet — At its public sitting today, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) discussed the latest developments in Belarus with leader of the Belarusian opposition Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and asserted Estonia’s continuing solidarity with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s mission and the people of Belarus.
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Enn Eesmaa emphasised that Estonia had actively supported the democratic changes in Belarus, and had kept the situation in Belarus in the focus of several international organisations. “We observe with constant attention the events in Belarus and support the people there in their fight for free and democratic future. Their activities and their welfare are very close to our heart,” he said.
Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson recalled the Statement in Support of Democracy and Civil Society in Belarus adopted by the Riigikogu, and assured that the attention towards the events in Belarus would not cease. He wanted to know how the international community could contribute to putting pressure on the regime and reaching new, free and democratic elections in Belarus.
Tsikhanouskaya gave the Foreign Affairs Committee an overview of the recent developments in Belarus and the ways how the international community could support the civil society in Belarus. She underlined the need for imposing targeted sanctions and stressed the importance of solidarity and justice.
Tsikhanouskaya thanked Estonia for its support, and emphasised that the people of Belarus would not get tired from fighting for democratic and free society. She also encouraged the people of Estonia to support those who had been arrested and repressed in Belarus by sending them support postcards.
The meeting was also attended by members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Imre Sooäär, Indrek Saar, Mihhail Lotman, Raivo Tamm and Ruuben Kaalep.
NordenBladet —The world’s largest and oldest international agriculture and food fair International Green Week in Berlin has been exceptional in several aspects. For the first time, the 95th Green Week fair was held virtually.
The Global Forum for Food and Agriculture and its high-level meeting of agriculture ministers held in parallel to the fair were also virtual. The meeting hosted representatives from nearly 100 countries. This makes it the largest meeting of ministers in its history by number of participating countries.
The main topic for this year’s forum was “How to feed the world in times of pandemics and climate change?”
„The topics discussed in the meeting are extremely important, as the world cannot allow for this health crisis to turn into a food crisis. Countries must act together, just as they’ve done in tackling the pandemic,” Minister of Rural Affairs Arvo Aller stated.
The key issues of the meeting were the continuation of international food trade consistent with WTO rules; strengthening cooperation across the health, agricultural, veterinary and environmental sectors; mitigating climate change; reducing food loss; and the implementation of new technologies and innovation in agriculture.
“The world is in a situation, where hunger is an increasing problem. An estimated two billion people do not have regular access to adequate food, while three billion people cannot afford even the cheapest healthy diet. At the same time, obesity and diet-related illnesses are also increasing. These are the biggest challenges we are facing and require a broad-based societal commitment to solve in light of the pandemic and climate change.”, Minister Aller noted.
The results of the GFFA will be integrated into the current United Nations discussions on food systems and, in particular, into the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit to be held in September.
NordenBladet — The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu is meeting the Belarus opposition representative Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya at a public sitting today to discuss the most recent developments in Belarus.
The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Enn Eesmaa says that the situation in Belarus must be constantly monitored by the international community. “We continue to support the people of Belarus on this crucial fork in the road and in their fight for a democratic future. The sitting today will provide us with a direct and up-to-date overview of the latest developments, and express the continuous solidarity of the Estonian nation with the people of Belarus,” he said.
The public sitting starts at 2 p.m. and is streamed online with simultaneous Estonian interpretation.
NordenBladet — At a video conference today, the new Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives Gregory Meeks and the Chairmen of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Parliaments of the Baltic States discussed opportunities for future cooperation and emphasised the importance of protecting democracy in the world.
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Enn Eesmaa underlined that Estonia highly appreciated the consistent support the United States had shown for decades, and their policy in ensuring the security of the Baltic States. He expressed thanks to the US Congress for adopting the budget package for the security of the Baltic region and asserted that Estonia took its security cooperation commitments very seriously. “The United States are a key ally for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. We hope to have close ties and cooperation with our colleagues on the other side of the Atlantic also in the future,” he said.
The Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee assured that the Baltic States were an important partner for the United States. Meeks said that he had been following the politics and achievements of the Baltic States, and he considered them remarkable. The relations between the European Union and the USA, NATO’s partner relations and cyber security were also discussed at the meeting.
Eesmaa pointed out that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had been actively supporting the democratic changes in Belarus, Ukraine and Georgia. “The Eastern partners need our common support. The welfare of these countries is particularly close to our heart and of critical importance to European security,” the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu said.
Eesmaa also proposed his colleagues to initiate a US-Baltic parliamentary supervision programme in support of democracy and civil society in Belarus, Ukraine and Georgia. The programme would include parliamentary hearings and meetings, with the aim of supporting the strengthening of democratic societies. The Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees agreed that protection of democracy and human rights was an important cooperation opportunity for the Baltics and the United States.
NordenBladet — The Act passed at today’s remote attendance sitting of the Riigikogu allows the Court en banc to be postponed for good reason and to be held partially or fully electronically.
Under the current Act, the Court en banc has been convened every year on the second Friday of February, without exceptions.
Under the Act on Amendments to the Courts Act (298 SE), initiated by the Constitutional Committee, in the Court en banc, voting and elections may be held by ballot paper, electronically, in written form or in any other manner provided for in the procedure of the Court en banc.
The amendments passed today also provide that the term of office of members of local government bodies who are judges elected by the Court en banc extends for as long as the following Court en banc appoints new members to replace them.
84 members of the Riigikogu were in favour of passing the Act. The Act enters into force on 8 February.
A Bill passed the first reading
The Bill on Amendments to the Traffic Act and the Road Transport Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (299 SE) will create a legal basis for checking the special systems of motor vehicles and their trailers. Considering the rapid technological development and the potential need to respond flexibly to the implementation of new technologies, the Bill will establish a general framework for checking special systems and for the bodies engaged in the checking. In particular, at present this concerns fuel tanks of the vehicles running on natural gas. The aim of the innovation is to ensure the safety of vehicles using compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas as fuel.
According to the plan, starting from 2021, vehicles that use natural gas will have to begin to undergo mandatory regular checks where the conformity of the fuel tanks of such vehicles will be checked.
Generally, the safety of vehicles is ensured through regular roadworthiness testing supplemented by the roadworthiness tests carried out by traffic supervision. However, the fuel tanks of the vehicles using natural gas are mostly covered or are situated at the roof of the vehicle, which means that their condition cannot be sufficiently assessed at roadworthiness testing. Besides, the inspection requires specialist knowledge, for example, the competence to assess micro-damages to fuel tank, which it is not expedient to expect from all roadworthiness testers. At the same time, in the future, roadworthiness testers will still have an obligation to verify the overall safety of the gas supply system, for example, that the system does not leak.
At present, the natural gas tanks of vehicles are mostly checked at dealerships whose employees have undergone relevant trainings and do the checking according to the manufacturer’s guidelines, which roadworthiness testers cannot always readily access.
