The Estonian delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is taking part today and tomorrow in the work of the extraordinary plenary session of the Assembly in Strasbourg, France. The agenda includes a vote on the expulsion of Russia from the organisation.
According to the Head of the Estonian delegation to PACE Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski, Estonia is actively cooperating with our Nordic and Baltic colleagues (NB8) to expel Russia from the Council of Europe.
Jufereva-Skuratovski said that now that Russia was waging a large-scale war against Ukraine which kills and injures civilians and children, all delegates to the PACE must stand united and support the expulsion of the aggressor from this value-based organisation. “There is no justification for the regime which has caused the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the 21st century, whose aftermath Europe will have to deal with for decades to come,” she stated.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy will speak to the delegates today at 1 p.m. The discussion can be followed on the PACE web page: https://pace.coe.int/en/pages/session-20220314
If the PACE supports expelling Russia from the Council of Europe by a two thirds majority, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe will decide in the next few days whether to request Russia to leave the Council of Europe or not.
Members of the Estonian delegation to the PACE Eerik-Niiles Kross and Raivo Tamm will also take part in the extraordinary plenary session of the PACE.
Members of the European Union Affairs Committee Riina Sikkut and Anti Poolamets are taking part in the Conference on the Future of Europe, which is held today and tomorrow in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. Chairman of the Committee Siim Kallas and member Oudekki Loone are attending remotely.
This afternoon, discussions will take place in Working Groups (WG). Anti Poolamets is taking part in the WG on European democracy and Riina Sikkut in the WG on Digital transformation, which she is chairing together with Finnish MP Elina Valtonen. Oudekki Loone is taking part in the WG on Migration, and Siim Kallas in the WG on A stronger economy. The Working Groups are embarking on a new stage in their work where the recommendations of the citizens’ panels are being examined with a view of formulating these into proposals to be presented to the Plenary Assembly.
This will be followed today and tomorrow by five Plenary Sessions whose agendas are titled youth, education and culture; EU in the world; stronger economy, social justice and jobs; digital transformation; and migration.
The Conference on the Future of Europe is a citizens-led series of debates and discussions that enable people from across Europe to share their ideas and help shape our common future. This takes place on a multilingual digital platform where every European citizen can share their ideas through national as well as European citizens’ panels.
The conclusions of the discussions are explored at the Plenary Session of the Conference. The Conference as a public forum offers an opportunity to engage in an open, inclusive, and transparent discussion with the citizens on a variety of priorities and problems.
In today’s webinar, more than 400 local government representatives received an outline of the state’s activities in organising the reception of Ukrainian war refugees, and were given answers to questions that have arisen so far. The meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Association of Estonian Cities and Municipalities. The webinar can be viewed here.
“The state, together with local governments, has established primary reception points where people can receive emotional support, information about their opportunities in Estonia and register. We’re also providing accommodation for those who have no friends or relatives in Estonia,” said Kaisa Üprus-Tali, Head of Crisis Assistance at the Social Insurance Board. “We’re grateful for the local governments who have already been active and helped provide necessary assistance to the families who have escaped the war. In addition to non-governmental organisations, local governments will be an important partner to the state in the coming months to assimilate people who have arrived from Ukraine into the community.”
During the webinar, the municipalities asked practical questions regarding the employment of refugees, health services and organisational issues related to the establishment of the daily lives of Ukrainian war refugees.
Jan Trei, Deputy Director of the Association of Estonian Cities and Municipalities, confirmed that local governments are willing to assist the state in helping Ukrainian war refugees. “We must show the solidarity and readiness of both the state and local governments to help Ukrainians and provide all possible assistance and humanitarian aid. As the crisis is new for both, it’s important that the state provides practical information and guidelines to local governments. Based on this, we held today’s information day and plan to hold future such meetings also,” explained Jan Trei.
Across the European Union (including Estonia), people fleeing the war in Ukraine have been granted temporary protection, and from March 9, refugees can apply for a residence permit in Estonia in one day. This permit extends many state and local government services and benefits to war refugees, from labour market services provided by the Unemployment Insurance Fund and family benefits paid by the Social Insurance Board, to social assistance and subsistence benefits provided by local governments. Children are also guaranteed access to education, which is also provided by local governments.
In addition to Kaisa Üprus-Tali, Undersecretary for Rescue, Emergency Services and Crisis Management, Viola Murd, Undersecretary for General Education and Youth Policy of the Ministry of Education and Research, Liina Murd, Head of the Jobseeker’s and Employers’ Services Department of the Unemployment Insurance Fund, Katrin Liivamets, Undersecretary of Cultural Diversity of the Ministry of Culture Piret Hartman and Head of the Tallinn Social and Health Care Board, Raimo Saadi, spoke at the information day. The day was opened by Hanna Vseviov, Undersecretary of Social Affairs of the Ministry of Social Affairs.
At the meeting of President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas with Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom, Leader of the Labour Party Keir Starmer and Shadow Secretary of State for Defence of the UK John Healey, assistance to Ukraine that is fighting against Russia’s aggression, and the helping of war refugees were discussed.
Ratas underlined that Estonia and the United Kingdom had close and strong relations that had lasted for a long time. He thanked the UK for their contribution to Baltic air policing. “At present, we have to act with greater unity to help Ukraine,” Ratas said. “The world has changed a lot in a short time, and several countries have also made historical decisions in granting military aid to Ukraine and in enforcing sanctions.”
Speaking of the contacts with the members of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine and of what other countries could do to help Ukraine, Ratas emphasised the need to establish a no-fly zone urged by the Ukrainians.
Both Ratas and the British MPs stated that Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine would have a significant impact on the whole Europe. In this context, energy security and cyber defence were discussed in greater detail at the meeting.
The President of the Riigikogu noted that the events in Ukraine directly concerned many people in Estonia and their close ones and acquaintances. “It is important that all people, regardless of their nationality or mother tongue, stay calm and stand together – as a society and as a nation,” he added.
Ratas said that Estonia supported Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, and helped Ukraine bilaterally as well as through NATO, the European Union and international cooperation. The Estonian people and companies support the Ukrainian war refugees. “The war refugees from Ukraine are fleeing the evil of Putin’s regime,” Ratas pointed out. “It is important to provide the Ukrainian war refugees shelter and a safe place to stay until they will be able to return home.”
Members of the Riigikogu Lauri Läänemets and Eduard Odinets also attended the meeting with the British MPs.
“We stand united in solidarity with Ukraine and condemn in the strongest possible terms Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
We strongly believe that every possible option should be employed to help Ukraine withstand the fight to protect its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
We welcome the official application of Ukraine to join the European Union as full-fledged member.
Supporting Ukraine’s efforts on its way to the European Union and granting Ukraine the European Union candidate status as soon as possible would be a powerful and an effective response to Russia’s military aggression as well as to Ukraine’s request for help at this difficult time for it.
We well understand that Ukraine’s struggle is not only for its own future, but for the future of Europe as a whole. Therefore, a swift response to Ukraine’s application for the European Union membership would also mean support for the viability, security and stability of the European Union itself.
We affirm our readiness to provide broad support for Ukraine on its path towards becoming a full-fledged Member State of the European Union and call upon parliaments of other Member States of the European Union to do the same.
We call on our governments and those of other EU Member States to start taking practical steps towards Ukraine’s EU membership.”
At today’s sitting, the Riigikogu discussed draft Resolutions concerning the possibilities to reform the electricity market, submitted by Faction Isamaa and the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction. The Riigikogu did not support them.
The Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a proposal to the Government of the Republic” (497 OE), submitted by the Faction Isamaa, provided that the Government needed to develop a plan to reform the electricity market to protect small consumers in connection with the extraordinary electricity price rise due to the energy crisis.
During the debate, Sven Sester (Isamaa) and Jevgeni Ossinovski (Social Democratic Party) took the floor.
24 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the draft Resolution and 29 were against. As a majority vote of the members of the Riigikogu was needed for the draft Resolution to be passed, the motion was not supported. Thus, the proceedings on this draft Resolution have been completed.
The Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a Proposal to the Government of the Republic” (513 OE), submitted by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction, made a proposal to the Government to suspend the electricity stock exchange in Estonia for at least a year and to establish a nationally regulated price; and to suspend Estonia’s participation in the CO2 trading system or the ETS mechanism for at least a year.
Mart Helme (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor during the debate.
17 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the draft Resolution and 26 were against. As a majority vote of the members of the Riigikogu was needed for the draft Resolution to be passed, the motion was not supported. Thus, the proceedings on this draft Resolution have also been completed.
President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas discussed issues relating to the security of our region and defence cooperation as well as giving military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine with Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin, who was on a visit to Tallinn today.
“Bilateral relations between our countries and parliaments have traditionally been close and warm, as they are also now,” Ratas said. “At critical times, it is especially important that we stand together, meet as much as possible and talk to each other.”
Both Ratas and Marin think that in today’s changed security situation, it is important to enhance the defence capability of countries. The Prime Minister of Finland said that Finland planned to increase its defence budget. She also pointed out that the attitude of the Finnish people towards NATO membership had become more supportive.
Ratas underlined that all members of the European Union had to support Ukraine in different ways. According to him, Estonia has given Ukraine humanitarian aid and military aid in the amount of 200 million euro this year. Ratas acknowledged and thanked Finland for their historical decision to grant military aid to Ukraine.
Ratas said that Estonia had established a simplified procedure for border crossing for citizens of Ukraine. He added that by now, more than a thousand Ukrainian refugees had reached Estonia and around 300 of them were children. Most of the refugees stay with their relatives and acquaintances.
The President of the Riigikogu noted that Estonia supported granting Ukraine the status of a candidate country for accession to the European Union, taking into account the conditions of accession and in accordance with Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union. “Ukraine is a European country that is fighting for European values on the battlefront,” Ratas said.
Both Ratas and Marin highlighted Europe’s unity and solidarity in imposing economic sanctions against Russia, and acknowledged that signs of their impact were already being felt. They also considered it important to fight against disinformation. Ratas thinks that national TV channels have an instrumental role here, and he added that Estonia had banned the broadcasting of Russian propaganda channels.
Member of the Estonia-Finland Parliamentary Friendship Group and Deputy Chairman of the National Defence Committee of the Riigikogu Leo Kunnas said that many Ukrainians who were living and working in Estonia had returned to their homeland to fight against the aggressor. Kunnas also expressed concern about worsening of the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.
Chair of the Estonia-Finland Parliamentary Friendship Group Helmen Kütt, who participated in the meeting, emphasised the excellent bilateral parliamentary relations and expressed hope that they would continue also in the current situation.
Information on the current state of the corona pandemic was also exchanged at the meeting. Marin and Ratas admitted that the numbers of infections were dropping and hoped that this trend would continue. The also think that we are better prepared for next outbreaks and there will no longer be extensive lockdowns.
A transport ship, carrying Piranha V armoured personnel vehicles and other equipment for the Danish Defence Forces docked in Paldiski harbour this morning, marking the return of Danish forces to the enhanced Forward Presence/NATO Battlegroup in Estonia.
Next week, Danish troops from the Viking Company; a part of the Jutland Dragoon Regiment, will arrive to Amari airbase and deploy to Tapa. There they will become a part of the UK-led NATO Battlegroup and integrate with the Estonian 1st Brigade.
“The Danish Defence Forces have been a part of NATO’s Battlegroup here in Estonia since 2018. The last contingent left in March 2021, and now we are returning, thereby reaffirming our commitment to the NATO Battlegroup, the deterrence of any adversaries and to the defence of Estonia,” says Major Michael Krogsgaard, Denmark’s Senior National Representative to the NATO mission in Estonia. “I know that the Danish soldiers and officers are highly motivated and very much looking forward to training and serving here in Estonia with our colleagues from the Estonian 1st Brigade as well as the British and French troops.”
The Danish Royal Army’s Viking Company of about 150 troops will formally replace the French 5e Dragons Regiment as the additional element in the NATO Battlegroup in Tapa. Another 70 Danish troops will serve in logistics and as military police officers.
The Viking Company consists of three mechanized infantry platoons with Piranha V armoured personnel carriers, logistical detachment, a sniper section and a forward-based Fire Observer team, able to call for indirect fires.
At the Warsaw Summit in June 2016, the leaders of NATO’s 28 members decided to deploy NATO battlegroups to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland due to the changed security environment. The leading country of the NATO Battlegroup in Estonia is the United Kingdom, with France and Denmark as contributing countries. Iceland also contributes to the mission. The first battle group arrived in Tapa in April 2017.
Exercise Saber Strike Estonian phase will commence on 7th March at Central Training Area and northern coast of Estonia , where US, UK, Finnish and Estonian units exercise Air Defence.
“During Saber Strike, we’re conducting air and missile defense training with our NATO Allies,” said U.S. Army Col. Patrick Thompson, 164th Air Defense Artillery Brigade commander. “This training helps build inoperability among our NATO Allies and partners.”
US 10th AAMD will carry out live fire exercise from new Stryker-based Air Defence system. This is the first time when 10th AAMD uses this system outside its base in Germany.
Helsinki Air Defence Regiment, US, UK and Estonian Air Defence units, Belgian, UK and Polish fighters, Estonian training jets L-39 and transportation aircraft M-28.
„This is the first time for Estonian Air Defence to lead a complex exercise which incorporates middle and short range air defence systems, communication systems of different countries supported by air assets, said LTC Tanel Lelov, commanding officer of EST Air Defence Battalion.“ Saber Strike will test readiness of our Command and control systems as well as skills and knowldege“.
Helsnki ir Defence Regiment will bring to Estonia NASAMS mid range air defence system, US will present new Stryker based air defence systems, Estonian will use Mistral air defence weapons.
Saber Strike is a US-led multinational exercise held since 2010. Saber Strike started on February 28 in wiesbaden with practicing units road march from Wiesbaden, Germany to exercise places in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Poland and Czech Republic. Altogether 13 000 service members from 13 countries will take part of the exercise. This years exercise takes place in winter time that enables to practice in austere conditions. Training activities this year include live fire exercises, raiway operations, aerial resupply, air defence and air assault exercises.
Lieutenant General Martin Herem, Commander of the Estonian Defense Forces, met today in Ämari with General Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff , to discuss the security situation, strengthening NATO’s Eastern wing and ways to support Ukraine and end Putin’s war.
“All our discussions in recent days have focused on how to better help Ukraine and end this unjustified Russian aggression against an independent Ukrainian state, “said Lieutenant General Martin Herem, adding that although the threat of war in Estonia is low, the Allies are constantly monitoring the situation and ready to further support the region.
In Ämari, General Milley met with the leadership of the Estonian Defense Forces and the members of the U.S. military serving in Estonia.
“The United States military has deployed forces in support of NATO Allies and partners, to assure our commitment to NATO and deter Russian aggression” said Milley. “Our commitment to NATO is ironclad, and we will fulfill our duties and responsibilities as an Article 5 member.”
The Estonian Defense Forces has so far supported Ukraine with, among other things, missiles of anti-tank system Javelin, 122-millimeter howitzers, anti-tank mines, ammunition and food rations. Estonia will continue to provide both lethal and non-lethal military assistance to Ukraine.
Last week, the Commander of the Estonian Defense Forces met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson and NATO Allied Commander General Tod D. Wolters, Admiral Rob Bauer, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, and representatives of the NATO Multinational Corps Northeast and the Multinational Division North.
On February 24, the Russian Federation launched a full-scale military operation against Ukraine. This is a gross and unprovoked aggression against an independent state that violates international law. On the same day, the Allies decided to activate NATO Defense Plans, a proactive step to ensure that Allied forces and military capabilities are in place at the right time.
NATO and the United States have made strong decisions to strengthen security in the Baltic region. The US is stepping up deterrence in the Baltic and Polish regions by sending fifth-generation F-35 fighters, AH-64 assault helicopters and an 800-member unit to the Baltic Sea.