Today, the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) will discuss foreign policy as a matter of significant national importance. The debate was initiated by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu. Reports will be made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Eva-Maria Liimets and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson.
In his report, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee will focus on the security of Estonia, the unity of our allied space and protecting it through Estonia’s foreign policy activities, including also through parliamentary diplomacy.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Liimets will deliver the annual address on foreign policy to the Riigikogu. Her speech will give an overview of the main directions of Estonia’s foreign policy and Estonia’s positions.
The reports will be followed by questions to the speakers and comments by the representatives of political groups and members of the Riigikogu.
Today, a new Estonian task force Wisent 3, which was sent to Poland to support the country in repelling a hybrid attack from Belarus, started its operations.
Main body of task force Wisent 3 is formed of members of Northern and Southern Territorial Defence Districts of Estonian Defence League (EDL). Together with EDL members, an Estonian Defence Forces’ camera team and a national support element will start also their service. The task force consists of about 60 members.
“Members of the previous contingent have done a great job which we are honored to continue. We are convinced that cooperation with Polish units will be close and successful,” said Lieutenant Colonel Arti Levandi, Commander of task force Wisent 3. “We are also pleased that members of Estonian Defence League are now able to apply previously learned skills in an international setting.”
Task force Wisent 3 will be deployed to Poland until mid-March and operates in the same area as the previous task force. The unit will continue to work with Polish 18th Mechanized Division. The name of the task force means the European bison, symbolizing strength and power in Polish cultural space.
Estonia sent its first task force, with almost 70 members, to Poland in the beginning of December, and it was manned on the basis of reserve troops, active duty soldiers and civilians. The second task force served in Poland from mid-January to mid-February.
Deployment of Estonian task force to Poland is a bilateral defense co-operation project. Estonian task forces have constructed over 40 kilometer border barriers, carried out 40 media operations and conducted observation flights to monitor the border area.
More than 200 legislators from the United States Congress, the European Parliament and national parliaments across Europe issued a statement in support of Ukraine. The Statement is a sign of strong and broad support to Ukraine and encourages to look for a diplomatic solution and jointly prepare a package of economic sanctions.
Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Marko Mihkelson, Deputy Chair of the Committee Mihhail Lotman and members of the Foreign Affairs Committee Henn Põlluaas, Ruuben Kaalep, Raivo Tamm, Indrek Saar, Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski and Eerik-Niiles Kross joined the Statement.
Statement:
“Transatlantic Legislators Statement in Support of the Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity of Ukraine
As legislators across the transatlantic community our support for the sovereign territorial integrity and political independence of Ukraine remains unwavering. We believe that Ukraine, like all sovereign nations, has the right to determine its own political and security future and we commend the Ukrainian government for the significant steps it has taken over the last 30 years to enact democratic and economic reforms reflective of the shared and longstanding norms and values of the liberal democratic nations.
The military buildup of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border as well as those currently involved in military exercises in the Baltic Sea, Black Sea, the Arctic and the Republic of Belarus not only threatens that progress but stands as an existential threat to Ukraine’s future and independence.
Transatlantic unity has never been more critical to preserving our democratic values. Our determination and resolve must be resolute.
To that end and in the spirit of our shared democratic values, we call on the transatlantic community to continue to use all possible diplomatic means to facilitate the deescalation of the ongoing tensions, while coordinating our efforts so we speak with one voice and stands united in the face of Vladimir Putin’s destabilizing efforts and reiterate our support for the Ukrainian people and their right to self-determination.
While diplomatic efforts persist, we urge our governments to immediately provide Ukraine with the lethal and non-lethal military assets required to defend themselves. We further urge our governments to prepare a set of coordinated and harsh economic sanctions ready to be implemented should the Kremlin undertake any further incursion into the sovereign territory of Ukraine.
Conflict is not inevitable, and de-escalation is possible.
The cost of war is too great, and meaningful and coordinated steps towards détente must be taken.”
Today, the Riigikogu discussed the implementation of the Estonian civil society development concept as a matter of significant national importance at the initiative of the Constitutional Committee. Everyone agreed that the Estonian residents are more involved in charity and that new donors are constantly emerging, which is why the government should find ways to promote charity work.
Minister of the Interior Kristian Jaani focused his presentation on the current situation in the development of the civil society and emphasised the importance of continuing with the implementation of the Estonian civil society development concept.
Jaani described the civil society in Estonia as strong and free. The civil society has increasingly contributed to our economy. In 2019, non-governmental organisations initiated by citizens made EUR 207 million in business revenue, with EUR 164 million of this coming from non-profit organisations; this forms about 2% of Estonia’s GDP. NGOs employ nearly 12,000 people.
At the end of 2019, social enterprises employed nearly 1,800 people and their business revenue reached almost EUR 45 million.
Jaani said that one in two Estonians have volunteered at some point. He referred to the studies on volunteering, commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior, which show that nearly 49% of the Estonian residents volunteered during the year leading up to the study. In 2013, only one in three had done the same. While in 2015 EUR 30 million was donated to NGOs, in 2020 the donations totalled at EUR 48 million.
In the international donations ranking World Giving Index, Estonia ranks 53rd among 114 countries. Although Estonia is the highest ranking Baltic state, we still have a lot of room for growth compared to many welfare states such as the Netherlands, Denmark, or Sweden.
Minister of the Interior touched on the main challenges of the civil society, including the need to create the conditions for the civil society to act quickly and flexibly, and outlined the possible ways for the state to give a hand in promoting charity work.
He suggested reviewing the conditions and limits for donations by businesses, seeking out the appropriate solutions in cooperation with businesses and partners, and increasing the flexibility of the current terms and limits. Today, legal persons can donate to NGOs without paying the income tax only up to a certain limit. A private person may deduct up to EUR 1,200 a year.
Minister Jaani concluded by saying that a strong civil society is the corner stone of democracy that needs to be built together.
The Executive Director of the Network of Estonian Nonprofit Organizations Kai Klandorf explained that donations allow us to help those who need our help to overcome an accident, difficult circumstances, or wrong choices. Those who find themselves in a situation that none of us are really safe from, and that we would also need the goodness of others to overcome if these should ever happen to us.
There are over 2,500 organisations in Estonia who collect donations; the donors thus contribute to saving lives, organising cultural and sports events, leading study and hobby groups, and defending democracy. Klandorf defines all these organisations and their donors as part of the civil society.
The civil society is viable when there are active and aware people who use different means and channels for participating in social life, volunteering, joining an organisation at their own initiative, participating in making the decisions that shape their lives, serving their community in a local government or at the national level by getting involved with initiatives they care about, and of course, donating.
Statistically, female donors outnumber men two to one; however, regardless of the age or gender, donating is on the up. In 2020, almost EUR 49 million worth of donations were declared in Estonia. A mere five years ago, this was EUR 18 million less. “This is a rapid increase. We are donating larger and larger amounts and with increasing frequency,” said Klandorf. “Actually, we have a lot to be grateful for. One could even say that charity is doing well.”
Nevertheless, for every regular donor in Estonia, there are still three who do not donate. “A closer look at the amounts tells us that an average donor gives as much a month as a good cup of coffee costs,” she explained. “We could definitely give to charity more than the price of one cup of coffee a month.”
Klandorf feels that Estonia has reached the economic wellbeing where most of us could feasibly comfortably donate one or two percentages of their income to charity.
Klandorf suggested that the government could promote donations by setting a separate limit that is not dependent on other deductions. Today, all tax-paying natural persons who donate may use deductions of up to EUR 1,200 a year; however, she feels that donations in public interest could be subject to a separate limit, and instead of a specific amount we should follow the principle that every citizen with a conscience donates 10 percent of their income.
“Promoting donation culture does not only help to support the capabilities of NGOs and mitigate different challenges in the society, but also enhances the solidarity and wellbeing in the whole society,” Klandorf concluded. “By personally contributing, we form a connection to that field; it is an important component of social activism and the functioning of the civil society, and thus democracy.”
Entrepreneur and co-founder of the technology company Bolt Martin Villig explained charity from an entrepreneur’s point of view. He spoke about his community, which has already given birth to the Education Fund and Jõhvi School, and which has received around EUR four to five million in donations from the founders over the last three years.
Villig referred to Jõhvi School as an excellent example of cooperation between the public and private sectors as well, only with an added contribution from 50 entrepreneurs and businesses. “Every time I see an opportunity to contribute and serve my private interests, or an opportunity to resolve social challenges, I lend a hand,” Villig said.
Speaking more broadly about how entrepreneurs view charity, Villig described most IT industry entrepreneurs as huge patriots of Estonia. “This is why we want the head office to be located in Estonia, although the businesses are built up globally. This means that although Estonian market is fairly small and we cannot build very large companies here, if we create jobs here that are knowledge intensive, and build products that are used across the globe, a big chunk of the export turnover and the taxes end up back in Estonia,” he explained.
Another key is also to think about charity on the global scale while building companies on global scale. “We are of course contributing in Estonia, but not only; our communication is actually global in scope,” Villig said and gave the example of the Founders Pledge, a charity organisation that has 1,700 members across the world by now. “An entrepreneur makes a pledge that if at one point in the future they would be doing well and their company has grown, they would make an agreement with the organisation and donate a certain percentage of their new assets to charity,” Villig explained. The average percentage has reached about 13 by now.
Villig sees a need for businesses and organisations to think about donations just like they do about investments. He also feels that in addition to monetary donations it is also important to think along and transfer the business mindset to the charity sector. This was the idea behind the Good Deed Foundation which is coordinating the Education Fund; the Foundation unites a community of volunteers, whether financial analysts, HR experts, lawyers, etc., who are ready to contribute their time or money if an initiative needs a helping hand.
Villig stressed the need for transparency. “When we are doing something, it needs to be clear to a wider circle why we are doing this,” he said. “In education we see that the better the people who join us and the better the values and foundations people grow up with, the less the state needs to worry about them later: there is less crime, better awareness of healthy eating and exercise, and all this dramatically reduces our social expenses in the future.”
The second key concept is cooperation with the state. He suggested testing out fresh ideas with private money and see if these bring a positive effect that coincides with national priorities, and from that point forward the state could start to offer co-financing. “We are able to import changes and mindsets quicker,” Villig said.
The technology industry has grown over the past five to six years by 25% a year, currently offering 8,000 jobs and about two billion in turnover, large part of which is formed by export, and about EUR one billion in foreign investments came in last year. The industry pays around EUR 500 million in taxes a year.
In comparison, Estonia’s state budget was around EUR 13 million last year, and the value of our technology companies was around six billion, i.e. nearly one half of the current state budget.
Villig predicted that the state budget could be around 30 million in ten years’ time, and the net worth of the Estonian founders of technology companies could be around 40 billion. He suggested that a one percent investment from one’s assets to charity every year would be quite reasonable. “In ten years, this could potentially be around 300 or 400 million,” Villig predicted. “This would help us solve some pretty dire social challenges in Estonia as well as in the global context.”
If a business can currently donate 10% of the profit they made the previous year or 3% of the salary fund this year tax-free, we could consider raising this to 10–15% of the total retained profit, which the businesses could contribute towards charity. He concluded by calling on all entrepreneurs to consider donating.
Chairman of the Constitutional Committee Toomas Kivimägi said that the number of people who are willing to donate exceeds the number of people who are actually doing it by two to three times. For example, the percentage of regular donors in Estonia is 12 percent, and nearly one in two have made single donations. While 27% of Estonians donate in a single month, in Finland this number is 39% and in Sweden 57%. “This is a sign that we still have a long way to go,” Kivimägi remarked.
Kivimägi is not in favour of doubling the deductible amount from EUR 1,200 to 2,400. He suggested introducing the deduction of an additional EUR 500 or 600 only if these are donations.
He emphasised personal approach in collecting donations and highlighted the importance of regular donations. Although financial donations form quite a large amount, a lion’s share of these go to a very small number of organisations, which he sees as a problem. People can also contribute their time, which can be measured in financial terms. In conclusion, Kivimägi sees helping others as a privilege.
The reports were followed by questions to the speakers and comments by the representatives of factions and members of the Riigikogu. During the debate, Andres Metsoja (Isamaa), Peeter Ernits (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), Lauri Läänemets (Social Democratic Party), Heiki Hepner (Isamaa), Marko Šorin (Centre Party), and Margit Sutrop (Reform Party)took the floor.
President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas expressed Estonia’s full support to Ukraine at the meeting with Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk today in Kyiv.
Ratas underlined that there was no doubt in the global democratic community that Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity were unconditional. “Invasion of an independent state is a grave violation of international law,” Ratas said. He recalled that the war in Donbass had been going on for eight years already, and it had to stop immediately.
Ratas assured his Ukrainian counterpart of the cooperation of like-minded democratic states and allies, and promised that Ukraine would not be left alone. “It is our duty to support Ukraine in your fight for your territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Ratas said.
Current security situation and plans for interparliamentary cooperation were discussed at the meeting.
At the meeting with Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, Ratas also assured that Estonia supports Ukraine in every way both bilaterally and in international organisations. Security cooperation, including military assistance, development cooperation and humanitarian aid, as well as cyber defence cooperation were discussed.
The President of the Riigikogu gave a speech at the digital development and digital services forum Diia Summit. He spoke about the digitalisation of democratic societies through the example of Estonia and emphasised that the development of digital governance must be citizen-focused, and the legislation should support it.
The President of the Riigikogu is accompanied on the visit by Chair of Estonia-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group of the Riigikogu Mati Raidma and Member of the Riigikogu Urmas Reinsalu. In the afternoon, the Estonian delegation laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and commemorated the victims of the Great Famine of the 1930s in Ukraine (Holodomor). Tomorrow, the Estonian delegation will visit the Administrative Border Line with Crimea and get information about the situation there.
At today’s sitting, the Riigikogu concluded the second reading of the Bill that is intended to create better preconditions for the use of civil resources in ensuring independent defence capability and in hosting allies, and that will comprehensively update the regulation of national defence duties.
The Bill on Amendments to the National Defence Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (417 SE), initiated by the Government, will clarify the imposition of the duty to grant use of items and the expropriation of items, and the relevant powers will be granted to the Defence Resources Agency and the Defence Forces or an agency of executive power authorised by the Government.
The current National Defence Duties Act will be repealed, and the issues relating to the duties will be set out in the National Defence Act.
In the course of the second reading, amendments were also made to the Bill. Among other things, amendments were made to the list specifying when the Government can establish the conditions for the payments from the state budget for the use of additional state funds. Mobilisation and demobilisation were included in the list besides increased defence readiness, state of emergency and state of war.
The deadline for entry into force was also changed. If the Act is passed, it will enter into force on 1 March.
President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas is on an official visit to Ukraine. He is accompanied by Chair of Estonia-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group of the Riigikogu Mati Raidma and Member of the Riigikogu Urmas Reinsalu.
The visit will begin with a meeting with Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk.
After that, the President of the Riigikogu will give a speech at the digital development and digital services forum Diia Summit, where he will talk about the digitalisation of democratic societies through the example of Estonia.
In the afternoon, the Estonian delegation will lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and commemorate the victims of Holodomor (Great Famine) in Ukraine, in whose memory the monument “Bitter Memory of Childhood” has been erected.
During the visit, the Estonian delegation will meet with Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal. They will also have a meeting with Head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Ukraine Jarno Habicht and visit the incubator of technology start-ups Lift99.
On Wednesday, the Estonian delegation will visit the Administrative Border Line with Crimea to learn about the situation there. They will also go to the port city Kherson, and meet with Head of Kherson Regional Council Oleksandr Samoilenko and Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine Anton Korynevych.
The main topics discussed at the meetings will be the security policy situation, bilateral relations and Estonia’s support to Ukraine, relations with Russia, NATO and the European Union, as well as development cooperation and humanitarian aid.
President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas and Speaker of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan Sahiba Gafarova spoke of strengthening the meaningful bilateral relations both at sectoral and parliamentary level.
According to Ratas, the relations between Estonia and Azerbaijan are excellent and friendly. “We have long traditions of cooperation in IT and education, but they could be more substantial and closer,” Ratas said.
Gafarova and Ratas both underlined the need to strengthen parliamentary relations, and exchange of experience as well as meaningful cooperation in different fields, from cooperation in education and cooperation between universities to economic and environmental connections and the strengthening of digital cooperation. The development of relations at the European Union level to ensure energy security was also considered important.
The Speaker of the Parliament of Azerbaijan recalled that the relations between the two countries had been excellent already since the restoration of independence of both countries. April of this year will mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Estonia and Azerbaijan.
Deputy Chairman of the Estonia-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Friendship Group Mihhail Korb, who participated in the meeting, pointed out that there were around 2000 Azerbaijanis in Estonia, who were actively engaged in cultural exchanges between the two countries.
Deputy Chair of the Social Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Helmen Kütt acknowledged the warm relations between the people and expressed hope that Estonia would be able share its experience in social and health care, like its achievements in e-Health.
Today and tomorrow, members of the Estonian Delegation to the Baltic Assembly (BA) are on a visit to Switzerland to get an overview of the activities of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), and to meet with the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian scientists working there.
Head of the Estonian Delegation to the Baltic Assembly Aadu Must said that the CERN laboratory is one of the most prestigious centres for research work in the world, attracting the top experts in their field. “During our two-day visit, we and our Baltic colleagues will get an overview of the activities of the centre and discuss the current and future cooperation with the representatives of the CERN: We also plan to meet with the researchers of our three countries who work in Switzerland,” Must said.
Deputy Head of the Estonian delegation to the BA Sven Sester also participate in the visit.
Speaker of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan Sahiba Gafarova is on a visit to Estonia on the invitation of President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas.
In the morning, the Speaker of the Azerbaijan Parliament will have a meeting with the President of the Riigikogu at Toompea and sign the Riigikogu guest book.
The meeting will also be attended by Deputy Chairman of the Estonia-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Friendship Group and member of the Economic Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Mihhail Korb, Deputy Chair of the Social Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Helmen Kütt, and Head of the Estonian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski.
In the afternoon, Gafarova will meet with Minister of Foreign Affairs Eva-Maria Liimets, and have a meeting with President Alar Karis in Kadriorg.