The state budget presented by the Reform Party does not look to the future but only deals with the present, designed as a vote-buying tool ahead of local elections.

First, the numbers. Estonia's national debt will grow by €7.7 billion in four years, from €9.7 billion to €17.5 billion. Along with that, interest payments will rise from €184 million to €464 million.

That is a staggering sum — about 1 percent of GDP. Estonia currently invests about the same amount, for example, in research and development or allocates it to municipalities to help fund teachers' salaries. All of these are unavoidable necessities. But if the state spends as much on avoidable expenses — interest payments — then something is seriously out of balance.

Government politicians boast that teachers' salaries are rising, that police officers and rescue workers will get more money. Fine. But all of these raises are financed with borrowed money. And on top of that, the pay hikes are not limited to essential workers.

Of course, good people in the public sector also deserve decent pay. But it is not responsible policy when those same rescue workers, teachers and cultural employees are not told that there is no actual money for those raises. Instead, they — together with all other taxpayers — will pay for their raises through looming tax increases and the loss of purchasing power caused by inflation. Individual salaries can certainly be raised, but the overall payroll budget should be frozen. That would force real choices to be made.

Right now, members of government practicing irresponsible budget policy are simply trying to please voters while hiding their true intentions. Salaries will also rise, for example, for tax officials, Financial Intelligence Unit employees and environmental inspectors. Automatic indexation will also lift the pay of Riigikogu members and ministers.

The budget also shows a 7 percent increase in the government's own expenses. That is a clear sign of an inability to steer the state toward a balanced budget. No cuts have been made, nor are they planned. The finance minister's mental gymnastics — that even if expenses don't rise, it can still be called a "cut" — directly reveal a mindset that refuses to recognize problems. If that is the thinking in government, then it is inevitable that the budget brought before the Riigikogu will be built on uncontrolled growth of spending.

The European Union's permitted budget discipline relaxations are being exploited to the maximum. In practice, this means short-term relief financed at the expense of the future. Forgotten are the principles on which Estonia's earlier success rested: balanced public finances and a strong economy. These values underpin both Estonia's security and prosperity, but the governing parties have cast them aside in order to boost Reform Party and Eesti 200 results in local government elections.

It is both laughable and frightening that Prime Minister Kristen Michal calls the document presented to the Riigikogu "a budget for security and prosperity." Laughable, because it is so far from the truth. Defense spending accounts for just over a third — 38 percent — of the deficit. Frightening, because it seems the government is led by someone straight out of George Orwell's cult classic 1984, repeating phrases like "war is peace" and "ignorance is strength," with a new addition: "poverty is prosperity."

So where does the other two-thirds of the deficit go? No surprise there — into fulfilling election promises, such as abolishing the tax hump, along with public-sector salary increases and higher social spending. Eliminating the tax hump (Estonia's basic exemption reduction scheme – ed.) is Reform's most expensive pledge. While the instinct is the right one, it should not be implemented now and certainly not with borrowed money, but only once the budget is balanced.

From this follows my proposal to Riigikogu members. First: Estonia is a parliamentary state — assert yourselves! Do not let Estonia be driven into a ditch. Second: think of Estonia's future, of your children and their friends. Do not saddle them with the debt burden the government wants to impose. They deserve a country where they can create, prosper, build a family and a home and be proud of it.

Politically, this means three decisions. Freeze state spending. End the automatic indexation of social expenditures, which drives uncontrolled growth in permanent expenses. And postpone the elimination of the tax hump until the budget is balanced.

In addition, real cuts must be considered and launched. Education and healthcare financing require reform. The flood of new legislation must be reined in. The job of a Riigikogu member is not just to press a button — it is to assert authority and take responsibility.

For voters, it is important to remember that this is a vote-buying budget ahead of local elections. It is the same trick we saw before parliamentary elections: first promises are made, and then the voter is saddled with the bill through tax increases, declining purchasing power and impoverishment.

We cannot accept a situation where today's well-being is borrowed at the expense of future generations. The Riigikogu is the heart of our Republic of Estonia. Now is the time to step forward and say: this budget must not be implemented!

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