Estonia’s Minister of Justice, Kalle Laanet (Reform), has proposed that citizens of “aggressor states” be deprived of the right to vote in local elections in Estonia, ERR reports. The ban would apply to nearly 69,000 Russian and Belarusian citizens who are permanent residents in Estonia. The voter turnout in Estonia’s previous municipal elections in October…
Estonia’s Political Parties Financing Surveillance Committe (ERJK) has asked six political parties whether they received services that may be classified as prohibited donations from the Liberal Citizen Foundation (SALK), ERR reports. ERJK sent the inquiries to current ruling coalition parties Estonian Reform Party, Estonia 200, the Social Democratic Party (SDE), as well as the opposition’s…
Parties in Estonia’s ruling coalition government enjoyed the support of 44.4% of voters in June-July 2023, according to a new Norstat poll for the Institute of Societal Studies (YI), ERR reports. The survey showed that the Estonian Reform Party of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas had the support of 28% of voters, while the Social Democratic…
The decision of NATO’s Vilnius summit not to invite Ukraine to join the alliance reflects the view of the leaders of the bigger Western countries on how the war in Ukraine may end, Estonian MP Raimond Kaljulaid (SDE), head of the Estonian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, says. Writing in an opinion piece for…
Due to a budgeting mistake, Estonia’s Ministry of Education and Research will have insufficient funds to finance the transition to Estonian-language education in Russian-language schools in 2024 and beyond, ERR reports. The former government allocated the same amount of funds (EUR 41mn) for switching to Estonian-language tuition for each year in 2024-2026 as for September-December…
Estonian MEP Yana Toom of the Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond) visited Russia to meet with pro-Russia activist Zoja Paljamar, who was barred from entering Estonia for security reasons, ERR reports. Toom said that she was visiting her sister in Russia. “Perhaps someone also has a relative in North Korea, too,” she explained. Toom announced on…
Candidates for the new position of the government’s special representative in Estonia’s Ida-Virumaa county include Peep Peterson and Jaanus Purga, ERR reports. Peterson, member of the Social Democratic Party, is former minister of health and labour and former chairman of the Confederation of Estonian Trade Unions (EAKL). Jaan-Hendrik Toomel, current head of EAKL, said that…
Estonia’s Minister of Interior, Lauri Läänemets (SDE), does not support the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority’s (TTJA) proposal to begin monitoring media bias in news programmes, ERR reports. The ministry’s media adviser, Andres Jõesaar, rejected the idea as well. Speaking on ETV’s “Aktuaalne Kaamera,” Jõesaar stated that there was no problem that required such…
The Estonian Reform Party has seen an increase in voter support, while support for its coalition partner, Estonia 200, continues to fall, according to the latest weekly Norstat poll published on 5 July 2023, ERR reports. The survey indicates that support for Reform currently stands at 27.4% of voters, followed by the Conservative People’s Party…