Estonia: EKRE rejects concessions, will continue obstruction

The Conservative People’s Party of Estonia (EKRE) has no intention to make any concessions and will continue to obstruct the current coalition government’s work in the parliament, the Riigikogu, in autumn 2023, EKRE chairman Martin Helme stated, ERR reports. Earlier, the coalition suggested that opposition parties withdraw questions and legislative proposals so as not to clog the Riigikogu’s autumn agenda. Helme said that any such discussion was “meaningless and irrelevant,” insisting that the time to seek compromise was during the spring session of parliament. He demanded that the coalition repeal the “homosexual law” first, referring to legislation legalising gender-neutral marriage. Also, Helme criticised proposals on media regulation, measuring the average speed of motor vehicles, and registering bus and boat passengers, which he said would turn Estonia into a “surveillance state.”