The Speakers of the parliaments of six countries bordering on Russia participate in the meeting that takes place immediately after the 105th anniversary of the Tartu Peace Treaty. The debate will focus on continuing support to Ukraine in the war of aggression launched by Russia, and on Russia’s hybrid activities in Europe. Relations with the United States and the situation in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Belarus will also be discussed.
The Speakers will adopt a joint statement and give a joint press conference in the assembly hall of the University of Tartu. After that, the Speakers from five countries will hold an public debate with students on achieving a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.
The meeting of the Speakers will be hosted by President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Lauri Hussar. The meeting will be attended by Speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania Saulius Skvernelis, Speaker of the Saeima of Latvia Daiga Mieriņa, Marshal of the Sejm of Poland Szymon Hołownia and Speaker of the Eduskunta of Finland Jussi Halla-aho. Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk will participate in the official meeting via video bridge.
“European commitment to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine is vital, and therefore our delegation will keep the issue of supporting Ukraine firmly in focus,” Head of the Estonian delegation Kadri Tali underlined.
Today, the Assembly will hold debates on the autumn parliamentary elections in Georgia and the urgent need for free and fair elections in Belarus. The President and Vice-Presidents of the Assembly will also be elected.
Tomorrow, the Assembly will discuss the situation of women, children and the hostages in Gaza, and hold a debate on the need for a renewed rules-based international order, with a statement by President of the European Court of Human Rights Marko Bošnjak. Regulating the activities of mercenaries and private military and security companies will also be discussed.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister of Luxembourg Luc Frieden and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel will address the plenary of the Assembly in the framework of Luxembourg’s Presidency. There will also be a debate on Europe’s demographic ageing and discrimination against the elderly. A ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp will be held.
On Thursday, the Assembly will discuss European commitment to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. Kadri Tali will speak at the debate “Women in economy”, where she will analyse the opportunities for women in Estonia and in the world both from a historical perspective and today. The Assembly will also discuss regulating content moderation on social media to safeguard freedom of expression, and the protection of the profession of lawyer.
Mihkelson and Stoicescu acknowledged the exchange of information between Estonian authorities as well as the visibly improved readiness of NATO and EU coastal states to react swiftly and inspect suspected vessels. According to them, such vessels must always be inspected very thoroughly before they are allowed to continue their journey.
The Chairmen of the Committees think that the Allies should have a better overview of sanctioned vessels currently sailing in the Baltic Sea, as this will allow them to increase the speed of response if necessary. “We also believe that NATO’s capability to have an overview of the developments below the water’s surface in the Baltic Sea must be strengthened as well. Having situational awareness of the developments on the surface of the sea only is no longer sufficient,” they pointed out after today’s meeting, where the agencies gave an overview of the situation.
Mihkelson and Stoicescu noted that the pattern of damaging or disruption of underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale aggression in Ukraine was evident. “Nothing like this has ever happened before. There are clear reasons for this trend, which cannot be explained solely by negligence, undersea deficiencies and accidents. There is a lot of work ahead to identify the real causes,” they said.
The Chairmen of the Committees reaffirmed that they considered the continuation of the NATO joint effort, the Baltic Sentry mission, very necessary. “At the same time, NATO and the EU allies need to continue enhancing their cooperation and information sharing,” they said. “NATO and the EU must not refrain from acting as masters in the Baltic Sea. This is a new reality that Russia, which demands from others that they should take into account the new reality, must learn to live with.”
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu discussed the damaging of the submarine cable between Latvia and Sweden in the Baltic Sea at its today’s sitting. National Security and Defence Coordination Director of the Government Office Erkki Tori and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence Kaimo Kuusk gave an overview of the situation. Chairman of the National Defence Committee also participated in the sitting.
The Bill on Amendments to the Estonian Defence Forces Organisation Act and the Economic Zone Act (enhancing maritime security) (565 SE), initiated by the Government, was submitted for proceedings in the Riigikogu last week. The Bill specifies the state supervision tasks of the Defence Forces and the use of military force in the territorial waters of Estonia to enhance Estonia’s maritime security. The Bill will ensure that the Defence Forces will have sufficient flexibility to operate at sea, so that they would be ready to respond rapidly to threats that come from the sea. The National Defence Committee will be the lead committee of the Bill.
The focus on security comes from the priorities of Poland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union. “Poland’s focus on European security is definitely also our focus, and the directions taken by Poland also largely reflect Estonia’s,” he said. “Poland has set an ambitious programme for its presidency – after all, this is inevitable in the current security situation. We are keen to contribute towards carrying out this ambitious programme.”
Tali intends to remind his foreign colleagues that the defence of Brussels starts at Narva River, and that Russia’s hybrid warfare impacts us all. “We need to present a united front and enhance our defence capability in a spirit of solidarity, and our ambitions could be much higher. We need this ourselves as Europeans, regardless of who is the current President of the United States.”
Tali also sees a need to focus on protecting the underwater infrastructure in Europe, particularly in the Baltic Sea, and on curbing the activities of Russia’s shadow fleet. “Protecting the Baltic Sea infrastructure concerns all of us. We need to intensify our efforts and improve our performance,” Tali said, adding that the necessary actions and cooperation opportunities could ideally be agreed during the Polish Presidency.
Before the start of the COSAC meeting, there was a video meeting of the Chairmen of the European Union Affairs Committees of Baltic Sea countries, with a focus on Russia’s shadow fleet. Other topic to be discussed at today’s meeting, aside from the Polish presidency priorities, is European Union budget for combating the consequences of climate change.
COSAC is a cooperation format that brings together the Committees for Union Affairs of the national parliaments of the 27 Member States of the European Union.
“We give our full support to Armenia on its path towards joining the EU. It is a lengthy and complicated process but we are ready to share our experiences and support Armenia in carrying out the necessary reforms. I firmly believe that Armenia belongs in Europe,” Hussar said at the meeting with Armenian leaders.
Other topics of conversation included the situation in the Southern Caucasus region and the world at large, including the impact of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Hussar emphasised the need to continue supporting Ukraine, because if Ukraine should not win the war initiated by Russia, the future of many other countries would become under threat as well. “If Russia’s imperialist ambitions should come out on top in Ukraine, countries like Armenia would also find it difficult to continue their independent development,” he said, adding that Ukraine needed every kind of support from the democratic world, here and now.
The seven European Speakers met the Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan, President of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan and Vice President Hakob Arshakyan, as well as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The heads of parliaments also took part in a panel discussion with Armenia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Justice focussing on peace, democracy, and Armenia’s European ambitions, with topics ranging from regional security, democratic development and reforms, and further cooperation with Nordic countries and Baltic states, as well as the EU. Today’s schedule includes a meeting with the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations and the Standing Committee on European Integration of the National Assembly of Armenia.
The Speakers of the parliaments of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden are taking part in the three-day visit.
Photos (Erik Peinar / Chancellery of the Riigikogu)
Chairman of the Estonia-Latvia Parliamentary Friendship Group Peeter Tali said that the purpose of the visit was to learn about the educational life near the Estonian-Latvian border. “In January last year, we met with the delegation of the Latvian parliament in Valga, and today we are making a return visit to the region of Smiltene on the other side of the border to discuss improving vocational education in border areas, the priorities of the Estonian-Latvian cooperation programme, and civil protection,” Tali added. “We will certainly also discuss in depth the issues relating to the construction of Rail Baltic and the reconstruction of Via Baltica as a four-lane road.”
The delegation of the Estonia-Latvia Parliamentary Friendship Group of the Riigikogu will meet with the Latvia-Estonia Parliamentary Friendship Group of the Saeima at Smiltene Secondary School. They will also have meetings with the representatives of the local government of Smiltene and visit Smiltene Technical School.
The delegation of the Estonia-Latvia Parliamentary Friendship Group consists of Chairman Peeter Tali, Deputy Chair Ester Karuse and members of the group Irja Lutsar and Anti Poolamets.
“Aleksandr Lukashenka, who has been governing Belarus with the support of the Russian regime for the past 30 years, is organising another election farce on 26 January in an attempt to embellish his dictatorial regime with a false mask of democracy, all the while repressing human and civil rights,” the Foreign Affairs Committee says in a Statement issued today.
The Foreign Affairs Committee recalls the Statement of the Riigikogu of 25 August 2020, and declares that it will also not recognise the upcoming sham elections, which will take place under the strict control of the regime. It also calls on organising free and democratic presidential elections in Belarus at the first opportunity under the supervision of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and other international organisations.
“The Foreign Affairs Committee calls on the international community to exert pressure on the Belarus regime to put an end to the repressions and to free the people imprisoned for expressing their views,” the Committee says in the Statement, adding that according to the Viasna Human Rights Centre, 1,256 political prisoners are currently illegally detained in Belarus because of their political views.
The Foreign Affairs Committee supports the statements of the European Parliament, the OSCE, and several national parliaments and governments of the European Union Member States that condemn the organisation of sham elections in an atmosphere of repression and intimidation, and in violation of all international legal provisions.
“The Foreign Affairs Committee expresses its support to the people of Belarus in their fight for a free, democratic, and dignified future, and calls on continuing active international cooperation on all levels to support democracy, civil society, and free press in Belarus,” the Committee says in the Statement.
The Foreign Affairs Committee issued the Statement at its today’s sitting where the developments in Belarus were discussed with the representative of the Embassy of Estonia in Lithuania.
The Statement of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu in Estonian and English
The adoption of the Statement of the Riigikogu in Support of the People of Georgia (564 AE), submitted by 49 Members of the Riigikogu, was supported by 59 members of the Riigikogu, while 9 voted against it.
The statement declares that Estonia respects the right of each country to democratically choose their path in organising their society and entering into allied relations with other countries, and that in line with this principle, Estonia has supported the development of Georgia through close cooperation and has spoken out against the actions of the Russian Federation that threaten Georgia’s sovereignty and undermine its territorial integrity.
“Over the past decade, Estonia has followed the influencing activities of the Russian Federation in polarising the Georgian society and interfering with the democratic elections in Georgia with growing concern. The results of the Georgian parliamentary elections, which took place last October in an atmosphere of violence and intimidation, do not express the free will of the Georgian people,” the Statement reads. “The governing party Georgian Dream, which enjoys the support of the Russian Federation, is using the fraudulent election results to achieve complete control over state institutions and repress the opposition and the civil society.”
In its Statement, the Riigikogu refuses to acknowledge the legitimacy of the parliament and the government of Georgia that were formed after the parliamentary elections that took place in an atmosphere of rigging and intimidation of citizens, as well as the legitimacy of the appointed President; instead, it recognises Salome Zourabichvili as the legitimate President and supports her efforts to put an end to the constitutional crisis in the country.
The Riigikogu expresses its support to the democratic forces in Georgia who are demanding new parliamentary elections that are inevitable for resolving the constitutional crisis and restoring democracy, condemns the brutal repression of peaceful demonstrations with the support of advancing Russian imperialism, and calls on ending any use of violence or persecution, as well as on liberating all political prisoners. The Riigikogu also calls on other national parliaments to condemn the violent actions of the governing regime in Georgia.
The Riigikogu urges the European Commission and the Member States of the European Union to impose sanctions on the Georgian politicians and officials involved in the violent repression of peaceful protests and in persecuting the representatives of the Georgian civil society. The Riigikogu also calls on severely restricting communications with the institutions of the illegitimate government of Georgia until free and fair elections have taken place, and on supporting the representatives of the Georgian civil society and the still surviving free media who continue to work in the name of a free society, despite intimidation and persecution.
“The Riigikogu expresses its solidarity with the Georgian nation who is defending its human rights, Constitution, democracy, and the future of Georgia within the European Union,” the Statement says.
In Hussar’s opinion, the visit of the Speakers of the parliaments of seven countries will provide an opportunity to reaffirm strong support for Armenia’s democratic development and closer relations with the European Union. “At the meetings, we will focus on the global security situation, including the impacts of the war of aggression launched by Russia and support for Ukraine, as well as the achievement of lasting peace and stability in the South Caucasus,” he said.
During the three-day visit to Yerevan, the Nordic and Baltic Speakers will meet with President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan, President of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen Simonyan, Vice President of the National Assembly Hakob Arshakyan, and Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan. They also plan to have a meeting with the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations and the Standing Committee on European Integration of the National Assembly.
On Thursday, the Speakers and Deputy Speakers, together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Justice of Armenia, will participate in a panel discussion on peace and democracy, and Armenia`s European integration, where regional security, democratic development and reforms, and further cooperation with the Nordic Countries and the Baltic States and the European Union will be discussed.
The Speakers of the parliaments of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden participate in the visit.
Members of the Riigikogu Jaak Valge, Ants Frosch, Henn Põlluaas and Leo Kunnas asked if the Ministry of Social Affairs was going to organise or fund campaigns to promote natural family and having many children.
Sikkut explained that the Ministry of Social Affairs itself did not directly conduct campaigns. Social partners engage in raising awareness. “We select our social partners by way of a competition, generally every two years, and the Estonian Association of Large Families is one of our partners. Their work has involved conferences and media campaigns as well as other activities that also support the natural family and having many children,” Sikkut said.
She added that the latest call for applications for finding strategic partners had been announced at the end of the previous year, and the purpose of the grant was to promote the role of non-governmental organizations in shaping and implementing policies in the social and health sectors. The call for applications also included a programme to support the well-being of children and families and parenthood, and a programme to promote the inclusion of children’s rights. In addition, the Estonian Association of Large Families organises activities related to the upbringing of children and to the acknowledging and empowerment of families with children, like the Large Family of the Year Award and the Large Family Day, “Pearl Fisher” awards for parents of large families and the Autumn Family Day, as well as the conferences “Happy Young People”, “Happy Man” and “Happy Woman”. These activities have also been continued so far. The results of the new call for applications for social partners will be announced in February. These activities can be expected to also continue in the following years.
Sikkut stressed that, undoubtedly, more Estonian children should be born. “But quantity is not everything. We cannot say that there is one right way to raise children or one right family if we want more children to be born. Every child is welcome, and different families need different kinds of support. Some need economic support, and some need flexible childcare – we must provide all that if we want children to be born. So in addition to ensuring that all children are born into a supportive environment, it is particularly important that they get a good education and a good command of Estonian,” Sikkut said.
On the motion of initiators, the first reading of the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a proposal to the Government of the Republic on the establishment of a temporary solidarity tax for the banking sector” (535 OE), initiated by the Estonian Centre Party Parliamentary Group, was excluded from the agenda for the sitting on Thursday.
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart,Rain Epler and Kalle Laanet took the floor during the open microphone.