Estonia expects European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to propose a solution this week to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna stated, ERR reports. He noted that a legal solution already existed to provide guarantees to Belgium against claims from Russia. Tsahkna insisted that there was no need for…
Estonia’s consumer price index (CPI) rose by 5.2% on year in September 2025, driven mostly by a 7.7% increase in food prices, according to Statistics Estonia, ERR reported. Prices for goods rose by 2.8% and services by 8.9%. Compared to August 2025, the CPI fell by 1.1%. This was the first time that the CPI…
Estonia needs more skilled foreign labour, Hando Sutter, CEO of the Estonian Employers’ Confederation (ETK), stated, ERR reports. Speaking on ETV, Sutter noted that Estonia’s employment rate was now one of the highest in history. At the same time, the number of births was likely to be the lowest in 100 years in 2025, he…
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna panned comments by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel who implied that the Baltic States and Poland bore indirect responsibility for Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, ERR reported. Tsahkna said that the reason for Russia’s aggression lies in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “inability to come to terms with the collapse of the…
Employer and trade union groups in Estonia have begun talks on raising the minimum wage, ERR reports. Under an agreement signed in 2022, the minimum wage was to rise to 50% of the average wage by 2027. The monthly minimum wage would thus increase by about EUR 100 to just under EUR 1,000 in 2026….
Building a “drone wall” on NATO’s eastern flank is a priority for Estonia’s and Europe’s security, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal stated, ERR reports. Speaking at the European Council and European Political Community meeting in Copenhagen, Michal said that political support from NATO allies to strengthen the defence alliance’s eastern border was “very strong.” He…
Altogether 126 people in Estonia renounced their Russian citizenship in the first eight months of 2025, according to data from the Estonian Ministry of Interior, ERR reports. In the whole of 2024, only 107 residents in Estonia gave up their Russian passports. The Russian embassy in Tallinn did not accept applications in the period from…
Russia’s use of “shadow fleet” tankers in the Baltic Sea is increasingly dangerous for the region, according to a report from the Military Intelligence Centre (Luurekeskus) of the Estonian Defence Forces (EDF), ERR reports. Restricting the shadow fleet would reduce Russia’s revenues and military capabilities, and greatly improve security in the Baltic Sea region, the…
Estonian President Alar Karis has asked the Supreme Court to declare proposed amendments to the law regulating religious organisations unconstitutional, ERR reports. Earlier, the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, passed a law to curb the influence of foreign organisations on churches in Estonia. There are concerns over the Estonian Christian Orthodox Church’s (EKÕK) canonical ties to…
