"When alcohol consumption in society is high, then some of those people eventually reach a stage where they are so dependent on alcohol that drinking begins right outside the store," the mayor told "Vikerraadio" on Thursday.

"This is a larger social problem. Of course, the country's overall alcohol policy is overseen by the Ministry of Social Affairs, and naturally they must also work hard on it. For specific individuals, preventive measures will no longer have any effect; the only thing that can really help is alcohol treatment," he said.

Ossinovski recalled that in 2015–2018, when he served as minister of health and labor, a free treatment system was created for people with alcohol problems.

"That system still exists in Tallinn today. There are not enough places, of course, and the need is greater, but in principle people can get help. Now the city mainly deals with it in a law enforcement context in cooperation with the police," Ossinovski said.

"But naturally, when the weather is nice, people still gather and drink alcohol, often in quantities that lead them to behave inappropriately afterward. This is our societal reality," he noted.

The mayor does not support driving away drinkers by removing benches in public spaces.

"Then they just settle a bit farther away and do the same thing. It seems like an easy solution, and residents do suggest it, but that way the benches are also taken away from everyone else who could use them at other times," the mayor said.

Tallinn wants to reintroduce alcohol licensing system

Speaking about solutions, Ossinovski said that one of the most accessible services in Estonia is the liquor store.

"We have them literally on every corner. The city has proposed to the state that the alcohol licensing system be reinstated, because at the moment in our very liberal republic, any store can simply notify the business register that it will now sell alcohol and then start doing so. The local government has no means to regulate the matter," the politcian said.

"Why should we remove benches from Kristiine Center if we could instead get rid of the liquor store there that is causing a social problem," the mayor said.

Ossinovski explained that the number of alcohol sales points could be reduced, and larger clusters of them could be broken up.

"The other thing that the city had not been doing for quite a while, but which we have now started doing systematically this summer, is more effective monitoring of bars associated with public order violations — mainly in the Old Town, but not only there. There are also so-called basement bars in residential districts where similar activities take place. We have already issued orders to various bars in the Old Town," the mayor said.

Teenagers in Kesklinn

Some residents have also taken issue with teenagers gathering in Tammsaare Park close to Viru keskus shopping center.

"Two years ago, the gathering place was Musumägi, last year it was Kanuti Garden. Now it's Tammsaare Park. There's a clear reason for this movement. After Musumägi was renovated, proper lighting and police cameras were installed there. We drove through with a police patrol, and there was not a single person there, because young people understand they are under police surveillance. Then they moved to Kanuti Garden, the police also put that area under greater supervision, and now they have moved to the next place," the mayor said.

"Tammsaare Park also needs more lighting and cameras, and then they will move away from there as well, but naturally no one doubts that they will then move to another green space in central Tallinn," Ossinovski said.

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