On June 9, Social Democratic MP Raimond Kaljulaid submitted a written inquiry to Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna and Interior Minister Igor Taro (both Eesti 200), asking how it is possible that Belarusian tour companies are still bringing busloads of Belarusians to Tallinn — people who, he said, support Russia's aggression in Ukraine.

According to Kaljulaid, he was simply walking to work one morning on Toompea Hill when he noticed several buses with Belarusian license plates parked at the foot of the hill. "I saw a bus with Belarusian plates and a cheerful group of Belarusians had gotten off and were getting ready to visit and tour the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral," Kaljulaid said.

The sight prompted Kaljulaid to reflect on the scale of tourism from Belarus. To his surprise, he found several Belarusian travel companies online offering bus tours from Minsk to Tallinn.

According to the website of Belarusian tour operator VR-lines, visitors are taken to destinations such as Ekaterina Park (Kadriorg Park) and the Orlov Palace (Maarjamäe Palace). The names of the attractions consistently reflect the Tsarist era and Estonian spellings are entirely absent from the site.

Minister's reply took a month

In his written response, which arrived this Wednesday, Tsahkna stated that he fully agrees with Kaljulaid's concerns. However, he did not rush to propose an immediate solution.

To limit travel by Belarusian nationals, Estonia banned the entry of Belarusian passenger cars and other motor vehicles designed to carry fewer than ten passengers as of July 1, 2024. However, the ban does not apply to larger tour buses.

As a result, Belarusian tourists are still free to enter Estonia on group tours, as long as the vehicle carries more than ten passengers.

Tsahkna added in his letter that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intends to discuss the matter jointly with the Ministry of the Interior. According to him, the goal is to find a solution for halting tourism trips from Belarus.

Ministry of the Interior in vacations season

Interior Minister Igor Taro and ministry Secretary General Tarmo Miilits are currently on vacation. At Thursday's government meeting, they were both represented by Deputy Secretary General for Internal Security Joosep Kaasik. ERR was unable to obtain a comment from him.

After several inquiries, the Ministry of the Interior did respond, stating that the matter is being addressed and that they will sit down with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the earliest opportunity. Exactly when that will happen remains unclear.

As a result, there appears to be no immediate solution in sight to the issue Kaljulaid raised more than a month ago.

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