NordenBladet —The annual field training exercise Spring Storm started on May 15 with the formation of reserve units, followed by movement to assembly areas to commence the joint operational training. “Knowing the landscape and environment of our homeland is crucial for defending Estonia, and that is exactly what we practice together …
Source: Estonian Defence Forces
NordenBladet —After initial days of unit formation and refresher training, the Estonian Defence Forces, Defence League members, reservists, and allies participating in Exercise Spring Storm 23 are ready to begin the more active phase of the exercise. “The most active phase of Spring Storm begins tomorrow, and we can also expect …
Source: Estonian Defence Forces
NordenBladet —
The Bill on Amendments to the Alcohol, Tobacco, Fuel and Electricity Excise Duty Act and the Act on Amendments to the Alcohol, Tobacco, Fuel and Electricity Excise Duty Act and Other Acts (145 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the first reading. According to it, the excise duty rates on alcohol and tobacco products will be raised in order to increase excise revenue and to influence the availability of alcohol and tobacco products.
According to the Bill, alcohol excise duty which was last raised in 2018 will rise by five per cent per year in 2024–2026. The excise duty on cigarettes and smoking tobacco has been raised by five per cent per year in recent years, and an equally high rise is planned for 2024–2026. According to the Bill, the excise duty on tobacco liquids will also rise by five per cent per year over the next three years, and the minimum amount of excise duty paid in the case of cigarillos will grow to the same extent.
With a view to supporting the competitiveness of Estonian agricultural producers, according to the Bill, the planned rises in the excise duties on diesel fuel for specific purposes planned for 2024–2027 will be cancelled which means that the rate of excise duty on diesel fuel for specific purposes will remain at 21 euro per 1,000 litres.
During the debate, Tanel Kiik from the Centre Party Group, Aivar Sõerd from the Reform Party Group, Martin Helme from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group and Mart Maastik from Isamaa Parliamentary Group took the floor.
Isamaa Parliamentary Group and the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group moved to reject the Bill at the first reading, but the plenary did not support the motion. 21 members of the Riigikogu supported the rejection but 54 voted against it.
The Bill on Amendments to the Gambling Tax Act (146 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the first reading. It will raise the tax rates on various types of gambling games in order to increase the state budget revenue.
The current five-per cent tax rate for remote gambling and toto will be raised in two stages according to the Bill: the tax rate will rise to six per cent in 2024 and to seven per cent in 2026. Under the Bill, the tax rate for lottery and commercial lottery will rise from 18 to 22 per cent from 2024. According to the explanatory memorandum, the rise in tax rates is planned in such a manner that it would not have a significant impact on market participants and would not bring about a need to make fundamental reorganisations in the gambling sector.
Siim Pohlak from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction took the floor during the debate.
Isamaa Parliamentary Group and the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group moved to reject the Bill at the first reading, but the motion was not supported. 19 members of the Riigikogu supported the rejection of the Bill but 53 voted against.
The Bill on Amendments to the Value Added Tax Act (147 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the first reading. According to it, the VAT rate will rise from 20 to 22 per cent from 1 January 2024. In addition, under the Bill, the current nine-per cent reduced rate for accommodation will be repealed from 1 January 2025 which means that the VAT rate for accommodation will also be 22 per cent.
According to the explanatory memorandum, the main purpose of the amendments is to move towards a balanced state budget through increasing the receipt of state revenue. Another purpose is to make the tax system more efficient by reducing VAT derogations.
During the debate, Jaak Aab from the Centre Party Group, Arvo Aller from the Conservative People’s Party Group, Raimond Kaljulaid from the Social Democratic Party Group, Maris Lauri from the Reform Party Group, Igor Taro from Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group and Priit Sibul from Isamaa Parliamentary Group took the floor.
Isamaa Parliamentary Group, the Centre Party Group and the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group moved to reject the Bill at the first reading, but the Riigikogu did not support the motion. 29 members of the Riigikogu supported the rejection but 54 voted against.
The Bill on Amendments to the Income Tax Act and the Military Service Act (148 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the first reading. Its purpose is to eliminate the costly and ineffective tax incentives, to raise and harmonise the income tax rate and to replace the regressive income tax exemption with a single income tax allowance.
The Bill will eliminate from 2024, in the case of natural persons, the increased basic exemption for people who maintain a child and the increased basic exemption for a spouse, and their right to deduct housing loan interest from their taxable income.
Under the Bill, the income tax rate for natural persons and companies will rise by two percentage points, that is, from 20 to 22 per cent from 2025. At the same time, the 14-per cent reduced rate on the regularly distributed profit of companies will be eliminated and, in connection with this, the seven-per cent income tax withheld on the dividend paid to natural person will also be eliminated.
The Bill will eliminate the regressive income tax exemption and establish a single income tax allowance of 700 euro per month, that is, 8,400 euro per year from 2025. Persons of old-age pension age whose tax allowance is equal to the average old age pension will constitute an exception.
In addition, the Bill will correct the inaccuracies that the European Commission has identified with regard to the transposition of the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive 2 in the Income Tax Act, in order to avoid infringement proceedings from the European Commission. Also, a technical amendment will be made to the Military Service Act by omitting the reference to the provision to be repealed in the Income Tax Act.
During the debate, Kersti Sarapuu from the Centre Party Group, Priit Sibul from Isamaa Parliamentary Group, Hendrik Johannes Terras from Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group and Rain Epler from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Parliamentary Group took the floor.
Isamaa Parliamentary Group, the Centre Party Group and the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group moved to reject the Bill at the first reading, but the motion was not supported. 27 members of the Riigikogu voted for the rejection, but 54 were against it.
The deadline for submission of motions to amend all the four Bills concerning taxes was set as 5.15 p.m. on 31 May.
The Riigikogu made a Statement in support of Ukraine
At Wednesday’s sitting, the Riigikogu passed with 92 votes in favour the Statement of the Riigikogu “In Support of Ukraine’s NATO Membership” (90 AE), submitted by 95 members of the Riigikogu, to support Ukraine’s wish to join NATO as the only way to guarantee a rules-based world order, sustainable peace and the security of European democracies. According to the Statement, the Riigikogu considers it vital to formulate the specific and unambiguous steps necessary for Ukraine’s rapid integration into NATO at the Vilnius Summit, and to grant Ukraine an invitation to join the Alliance.
During the debate, Raimond Kaljulaid from the Social Democratic Party Group, Enn Eesmaa from the Centre Party Group, Peeter Tali from Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group, Urmas Reinsalu from Isamaa Parliamentary Group, Eerik-Niiles Kross from the Reform Party Group and Henn Põlluaas from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group took the floor.
In addition, Minister of Social Protection Signe Riisalo replied to the interpellation concerning the reduction of benefits to large families (No. 6), submitted by members of the Riigikogu. During the debate, Riina Solman and Priit Sibul from Isamaa Parliamentary Group and Varro Vooglaid and Leo Kunnas from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group took the floor.
Minister Riisalo also replied to the interpellation concerning the means-tested basis of family benefits (No. 8). During the debate, Riina Solman from Isamaa Parliamentary Group and Varro Vooglaid from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group took the floor.
The sitting ended at 1.19 a.m.
Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)
The video recording of the sitting will be available to watch later on the Riigikogu YouTube channel. (Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)
Riigikogu Press Service
Karin Kangro
+372 631 6356, +372 520 0323
karin.kangro@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee
Link uudisele: Bills amending Acts concerning taxes passed the first reading in the Riigikogu
Source: Parliament of Estonia
NordenBladet —
The President of the Baltic Assembly Urve Tiidus explained that Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine had a massive impact on our security and economic situation. “Although every possible step has been taken to help Ukraine and ensure security in the region, a lot remains to be done,” Tiidus said, declaring that the Eastern Partnership countries have always been able to rely on the unwavering support of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. “The Baltic Assembly prizes its cooperation with the national parliaments of Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova very highly and will continue to promote close cooperation between the Eastern Partnership countries and the Nordic and Benelux countries as well, and fight to keep them highlighted in the brightest colour on the lists of priorities of the European Union and NATO.”
The Conference starts tomorrow at 9 a.m. in the Conference Hall of the Riigikogu with a meeting between the Presidium of the Baltic Assembly and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna. This will be followed in 10 a.m. by the opening session, with speeches by the Presidents of the three Baltic parliaments and the Vice-President of the European Parliament Roberts Zīle. The session from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. is dedicated to discussing the promotion of defence cooperation and the second session from 2 to 4 p.m. to strengthening democracy.
The Baltic Assembly is a consultative cooperation organisation of the parliaments of the three Baltic States which discusses issues of mutual interest. In 2023, it is Estonia who holds the presidency of the Baltic Assembly, with emphasis on the resilient, secure, reliable, and sustainable Baltic region.
Riigikogu Press Service
Maris Meiessaar
Phone: +372 631 6353, +372 5558 3993
E-mail maris.meiessaar@riigikogu.ee
Questions press@riigikogu.ee
Link uudisele: Eastern Partnership Conference of the Baltic Assembly focuses on strengthening democracy
Source: Parliament of Estonia
NordenBladet —The Spring Storm exercise started with the formation of defense force units, followed by moving to the terrain to their initial deployment areas to commence joint operational training. “Knowing our homeland landscape is crucial for defending Estonia, and that is exactly what we practice together with our allies during the …
Source: Estonian Defence Forces
NordenBladet —
Chairman of the State Budget Control Select Committee Urmas Reinsalu said that the Committee had three proposals for the future to the National Audit Office. “The National Audit Office should assess the fulfilment of the national defence tasks from the point of view of both NATO membership and the country’s own defence capability. Secondly, the relevant institutions should implement the recommendations made by the National Audit Office to the State Secretary and the ministers, and thirdly, we would like to meet again in six months’ time to find out what has been improved on the basis of the recommendations,” he pointed out.
The National Audit Office recommended that the State Secretary should regularly inform the Government of the Republic about the national defence capabilities of different areas of government and their shortcomings, agree on the principles for the establishing of primary reserves of agencies in cooperation of government departments, and issue instructions to the ministries on what information related to the national defence action plan may be shared with the government institutions and persons involved in the performance of national defence tasks.
The National Audit Office recommended that the ministers set out priorities in the budgets of the ministries in order to eliminate the capacity gaps related to broad national defence tasks, to assess how many national defence posts should be available in the area of government for the performance of national defence tasks, and to distribute the most operational information possible to the agencies and persons involved in national defence tasks.
Deputy Chair of the Select Committee Maris Lauri said that the report gave a good overview of where there were shortcomings and whether the things were moving towards improvement. “I think that this audit is useful not only to the ministries but also to other agencies connected with the sector more broadly. I agree with the State Secretary that not everything has to be managed by the state, but also by ministries. There is no need to establish central management, it would make the system too rigid,” the Deputy Chair added.
Audit Manager of the National Audit Office Silver Jakobson introduced the National Audit Office audit report “Preparedness for the Implementation of the National Defence Action Plan” at the sitting of the Select Committee. State Secretary Taimar Peterkop, National Security and Defence Coordination Director of the Government Office Erkki Tori, Minister of the Interior Lauri Läänemets, Undersecretary for Rescue and Crisis Management at the Ministry of the Interior Viola Murd, Undersecretary for Defence Planning at the Ministry of Defence Tiina Uudeberg, Director of Audit of the National Audit Office Ines Metsalu-Nurminen, Auditor of the National Audit Office Henry Sinivee participated in the discussion.
Riigikogu Press Service
Eleen Lindmaa
+372 631 6456, +372 5551 4433
eleen.lindmaa@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee
Link uudisele: Select Committee was given overview of preparedness to implement national defence action plan
Source: Parliament of Estonia
NordenBladet —
In the Statement submitted by 95 members of the Parliament, the Riigikogu expresses determination to reinforce the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states in Europe and to achieve a lasting peace, and expresses its conviction that the politics of spheres of influence in Europe continues to pose a threat to the security of the continent. According to the Statement, the Riigikogu proceeds from the goal set by NATO member states at the Bucharest Summit in 2008 that Ukraine will join the alliance, and takes into account the application for accession to NATO submitted by the Government of Ukraine last year.
Ukraine submitted the official application to join NATO on 30 September last year. Estonia, together with other Baltic States, has always expressed its support to Ukraine in joining NATO and considers it necessary to plan concrete steps for Ukraine’s accession to the organisation at NATO Summit in Vilnius on 11–12 July.
In the Statement, the Riigikogu underlines the need to decisively strengthen the security architecture that has served the security of free and democratic Euro-Atlantic countries well, and expresses support for the people of Ukraine who are fighting for freedom. The Riigikogu also recognises the fact that Ukraine’s victory over the Russian Federation, which is waging a war of aggression, and Ukraine’s subsequent accession to NATO constitute the only way to ensure the rules-based world order, lasting peace and the security of the democratic countries of Europe.
The Riigikogu affirms in the Statement that it is fair vital to formulate the specific and unambiguous steps necessary for Ukraine’s rapid integration into NATO at the Vilnius Summit, and to grant Ukraine an invitation to join the Alliance.
Since the beginning of the last year, the Riigikogu has adopted a total of five Statements and one Communication to condemn Russia’s activities and to express support to Ukraine. On 22 February, the Riigikogu adopted the Statement submitted by 94 members of the Riigikogu to mark the passing of a year from the beginning of the full-scale military aggression by the Russian Federation in Ukraine and to express their respect for the heroic people of Ukraine.
Photos (Erik Peinar / Chancellery of the Riigikogu)
Riigikogu Press Service
Karin Kangro
+372 631 6356, +372 520 0323
karin.kangro@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee
Link uudisele: The Riigikogu issued a Statement in support of Ukraine’s NATO membership
Source: Parliament of Estonia
NordenBladet —
At the beginning of the sitting, points of order were raised, and 19 interpellations and three Bills and draft Resolutions were submitted. Chair of the sitting Toomas Kivimägi stopped the raising of points or order. He said in justification that that was the right of the chair of the sitting. Thereafter he allowed half an hour for delivering Bills and draft Resolutions and interpellations. “When stopping the raising of points of order as well as stopping the delivery of Bills and draft Resolutions and interpellations, we are not using our own discretion. Our consideration is to ensure order at the sitting of the Riigikogu so that the Riigikogu would be able to do its work and would be able to adopt laws and Resolutions which is our main job,” he explained.
Thereafter the chair declared a 50-minute recess for a sitting of the Board of the Riigikogu. At the meeting, the Board discussed whether to stop the delivery of Bills and draft Resolutions and interpellations at today’s sitting. President of the Riigikogu Lauri Hussar and Vice-President Kivimägi moved to stop the delivery of Bills and draft Resolutions and interpellations. However, since the third member of the Board Jüri Ratas did not agree to that, the motion was put to a vote at the plenary sitting. 55 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion.
In Kivimäe’s words, the Board discussed the possibility of restricting the time-limit for delivering Bills and draft Resolutions and interpellations in the future as well but as no consensus was reached, the Board made no decision to that effect today.
The Riigikogu passed four Resolutions
At today’s sitting, the Riigikogu passed the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Appointment of Members of the Supervisory Board of the Bank of Estonia Who Are Members of the Riigikogu” (25 OE), submitted by the Finance Committee, which appointed members of the Supervisory Board of Eesti Pank (Bank of Estonia) who are members of the Riigikogu. Anti Allas from the Social Democratic Party Group, Jaanus Karilaid from the Centre Party Group, Aivar Kokk from Isamaa Parliamentary Group, Andres Sutt from the Reform Party Group, Jaak Valge from the Conservative People’s Party Group, and Igor Taro from Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group were appointed as members of the Supervisory Board of Eesti Pank (Bank of Estonia).
The Supervisory Board of the Bank of Estonia consists of a Chairman, representatives of the parliamentary groups of the Riigikogu and specialists of the field. The principle to govern the forming of the Supervisory Board is that each parliamentary group of the Riigikogu nominates one of its members and the Chairman of the Board nominates four specialists of the field.
74 members of the Riigikogu were in favour of passing the Resolution.
The Riigikogu passed the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Appointment of Members of the Supervisory Board of the Guarantee Fund” (26 OE), submitted by the Finance Committee. Members of the Riigikogu Aivar Sõerd from the Estonian Reform Party Group and Martin Helme from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group were appointed as members of the Supervisory Board of the Guarantee Fund. The Supervisory Board of the Guarantee Fund has a total of nine members.
65 members of the Riigikogu were in favour of passing the Resolution.
The Riigikogu passed the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Appointment of Members of the Supervisory Board of the National Opera Who Are Members of the Riigikogu” (92 OE), submitted by the Cultural Affairs Committee. Members of the Riigikogu Ester Karuse from the Estonian Centre Party Group, Signe Kivi from the Estonian Reform Party Group and Kadri Tali from Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group were appointed as members of the Supervisory Board of the National Opera. The supervisory board of the national opera is composed of eleven members.
68 members of the Riigikogu were in favour of passing the Resolution.
The Riigikogu also passed the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Appointment of Members of the Supervisory Board of the National Library of Estonia Who Are Members of the Riigikogu” (93 OE), submitted by the Cultural Affairs Committee. Helmen Kütt from the Social Democratic Party Group, Anti Poolamets from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group and Vilja Toomast from the Estonian Reform Party Parliamentary Group were appointed as members of the Supervisory Board of the National Library of Estonia. The Supervisory Board includes seven people in total.
69 members of the Riigikogu were in favour of passing the Resolution.
Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)
The video recording of the sitting will be available to watch later on the Riigikogu YouTube channel. (Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)
Riigikogu Press Service
Eleen Lindmaa
+372 631 6456, +372 5551 4433
eleen.lindmaa@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee
Link uudisele: The Riigikogu appointed its representatives to four supervisory boards
Source: Parliament of Estonia
NordenBladet —
Today’s sitting of the Riigikogu started with the raising of points of order again which lasted for two hours.
President of the Riigikogu Lauri Hussar stopped the raising of the numerous points of order by members of the Riigikogu with the following justification: “I do agree that members of the Riigikogu cannot be deprived of their right to raise points of order that is guaranteed by law, but this does not mean that the chair of the sitting has to answer the questions asked by members of the Riigikogu endlessly. The chair of the sitting has the right to assess points of order and has the right to stop accepting them because points of order should not prevail over the performance of the constitutional functions assigned to the Riigikogu, that is, legislative activities,” Hussar explained.
The chair of the sitting also held a vote on the issue of stopping the raising of points of order concerning the agenda. 52 members of the Riigikogu supported that motion and there were no votes against.
Thereafter the Riigikogu approved its nine-item agenda for this working week. 51 members of the Riigikogu were in favour, with 37 against.
After that, the delivery of Bills and draft Resolutions and the submission of interpellations started again. After numerous documents had been delivered, President of the Riigikogu Lauri Hussar declared a recess for deliberation.
After the Board of the Riigikogu had deliberated for 50 minutes, the chair of the sitting, Vice-President of the Riigikogu Toomas Kivimägi gave an overview of the discussion that had been held in the Board.
“The Board held a discussion in order that the Riigikogu would be able to perform one of its fundamental roles which is to adopt laws and Resolutions, under § 65 of the Constitution,” Kivimägi said. He noted that, throughout the past week, the Riigikogu had been unable to deliberate any Bills and therefore, at the meeting, members of the Board Lauri Hussar and Toomas Kivimägi had proposed to stop the delivery of Bills and draft Resolutions and interpellations for that day.
“The initiation of Bills and draft Resolutions and the submission of interpellations is a particularly important right of a member of the Riigikogu which is guaranteed by the Constitution. At the same time, the right to submit interpellations must not hinder the Riigikogu from performing other work,” Kivimägi said. He pointed out the recently published commentaries to the Constitution that stated the following: “At the same time, however, it must be taken into account that the exercise of the right to submit interpellations should not develop into a deformity that has no place in the parliamentary system. This means that the right to submit interpellations must not bring along an opportunity to overwhelm parliament with interpellations so that the parliament is unable to perform other functions assigned to it by the Constitution.”
Kivimägi referred to the fact that, for a full week, as a result of the exercise of the right to deliver Bills and draft Resolutions and interpellations, the Riigikogu had been unable to perform its other functions at its sittings, including to discuss the items on its agenda for the sitting. According to him, in such a situation it was justified, in the interests of the Riigikogu as a whole, to take steps to strike a balance between different rights and to enable the Riigikogu to perform all its functions.
He emphasised that the Board of the Riigikogu arranged the work of the Riigikogu, and clause 18 of subsection 2 of § 13 of the Riigikogu Rules of Procedure and Internal Rules Act gave the Board of the Riigikogu the right to decide on the procedural issues not regulated in Acts. Therefore, two members of the Board had decided to move to stop the accepting of Bills and draft Resolutions and interpellations for that day under clause 18 of subsection 2 of § 13 of the Riigikogu Rules of Procedure and Internal Rules Act. Two members of the Board had agreed to the decision while the third member Jüri Ratas had not agreed to holding a vote on this issue.
As there was no consensus in the Board, the motion of the two members of the Board had to be put to a vote. The result of voting: 53 votes in favour, no votes against and no abstentions.
During the opening of today’s sitting, members of the Riigikogu were able to deliver 12 Bills and 11 interpellations.
Opposition members protested strongly against the decision. After numerous protests had been submitted to the chair of the sitting and the chair had rejected them, the Riigikogu started to deliberate the Bill on its agenda.
The Riigikogu concluded the first reading of a Bill
The Bill on Amendments to the Family Benefits Act and to the Act on Amendments to the Family Benefits Act, the Family Law Act and the Employment Contracts Act (17 SE), initiated by the Government, is planned to increase the amount of maintenance allowance and reduce the allowances for families with many children that were agreed upon less than a year ago.
According to the Bill, the maintenance allowance paid to a child when the person obligated to pay maintenance does not pay maintenance or does not pay it in the required amount will increase from 100 euro per month to 200 euro per month from 1 January 2024. In Estonia, single-parent families are the poorest compared to other family types – a third of single-parent households are at risk of poverty.
According to the Bill, from 1 January 2024, the allowance for families with many children will be 450 euro per month for three to six children, and to 650 euro per month for families with seven or more children.
The Bill is intended to repeal from 1 July 2023 the regulation on gradual termination of the payment of allowance for families with many children, according to which the allowance for families with many children is paid until the youngest child of the family attains 19 years of age. As the regulation has been in force for just a few months, this change will not affect many families.
The indexing of the allowance for families with many children with the pension index, which was due to enter into force from 1 May 2024, will also be abandoned.
Minister of Social Protection Signe Riisalo presented the Bill and Karmen Joller gave an overview of the discussion that had been held in the Social Affairs Committee.
During the debate, Jürgen Ligi (Reform Party), Irja Lutsar (Estonia 200) and Jevgeni Ossinovski (Social Democratic Party) took the floor.
The deadline for submission of motions to amend is 5.15pm on 29 May.
During the open microphone, Igor Taro took the floor.
The sitting ended at 9.45pm.
Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)
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.)
Riigikogu Press Service
Gunnar Paal,
+372 631 6351, +372 5190 2837
gunnar.paal@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee
Link uudisele: Riigikogu began its working week with continuing stand-off
Source: Parliament of Estonia
NordenBladet —
At the meeting, the Vice-Presidents thanked each other’s countries for their contribution to helping Ukraine in the war of aggression waged by Russia. Kivimägi pointed out that the most important for Estonia was that Ukraine would win the war with Russia.
“Ukraine is also fighting for our freedom. I thank Czechia, who has kindly received Ukrainian war refugees – in this, we are in a similar situation with you,” Kivimägi said to his Czech counterpart. The Vice-President of the Riigikogu underlined that it was important to win the war as soon as possible also because it had affected and was still affecting the entire European economy, and high inflation and a deficit in the state budget were painfully felt by the people.
Kivimägi said that unlike Czechia, Estonia had a common border with Russia, and therefore we felt the impacts of the war more directly. For example, the fact that the citizens of third countries have the right to vote at local elections is causing concern. “I find it hard to accept that Putin’s voters can also vote in Estonia. I think it is fair to suspend the right of Russian citizens to vote in Estonian elections,” he stated.
The Vice-President of the Czech Senate underlined that it was necessary to continue helping Ukraine until the war had been won and the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine had been restored.
The delegation of the Czech Parliament is on a visit to Estonia until Thursday and will also meet with the Estonia-Czechia Parliamentary Friendship Group. The delegation will visit NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, the National Library of Estonia, media companies and educational establishments, and meet with the Government, the President and representatives of the Academy of Sciences.
Riigikogu Press Service
Maris Meiessaar
Phone: +372 631 6353, +372 5558 3993
E-mail: maris.meiessaar@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee
Link uudisele: Kivimägi to his Czech counterpart: We have to win the war so that pressure on European economy would end
Source: Parliament of Estonia