In the draft state budget for 2026, the ISS, has been allocated €44,883,000 for 2026, compared with a budget of €78,926,000 for this year. This means a fall of €34,043,000, or 43 percent.

The sum allocated for 2025 to the agency was a relative outlier compared with previous years. In 2024, the budget was €48,537,000, and stood at €47,760,000 in 2023.

2022 also saw the ISS receive greater funding than usual in the state budget, at €77,800,000, though this was the year when the bulk of the construction of the authority's new headquarters on Tõnismägi took place.

As to why the budget spiked in 2025 only to drop again for next year, ISS director Harrys Puusepp told ERR that as the agency's budget structure is classified. This makes explaining it in detail a complicated matter. What Puusepp could say was that the fluctuations are due to one-off investments allocated for capability development in relation to national security.

"In this case, one of the reasons for the fluctuation is that ISS, like other institutions under the Ministry of the Interior, received part of the funds allocated for comprehensive national defense," Puusepp said.

"However, as with other state institutions, we've also had to make some spending cuts," Puusepp went on.

The state budget's explanatory memorandum notes that the ISS is responsible for identifying, preventing, and mitigating threats to the constitutional order.

"To this end, the ISS focuses primarily on strengthening social cohesion and resilience against division, enhancing cybersecurity and counterintelligence capability, protecting state secrets, improving economic security, preventing and countering terrorism and radicalization, and developing preparedness for CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, and/or nuclear material-related) incidents. For these purposes, €44.88 million are planned for 2026," the budget document states.

Foreign Intelligence Service funding has risen year-on-year

The sums allocated to the ISS external counterpart, the Foreign Intelligence Service have steadily risen over the years. The agency's budget has more than doubled over the past four years, figures show.

In 2022, the agency received €28.5 million in funding, rising to €33 million the following year, €37.6 million in 2024 and €45 million this year. In the 2026 state budget meanwhile, the foreign agency has been allocated €60 million, a rise of a third on year.

Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur (Reform) told ERR that it is in the Estonian state's best interests to ensure the optimal possible early warning and intelligence capabilities. "These sums are primarily related to the creation of certain technical capacities," Pevkur said.

The minister added that institutions must also be able to operate under crisis conditions.

"From the lessons of the war in Ukraine, it is clear to us that all our institutions, including foreign intelligence, must have survivability — in other words, if any threat arises, we all understand that their current location is a rather obvious target, and we must have the ability to continue working even under crisis conditions," Pevkur went on.

The defense minister was unable to disclose further details about the Foreign Intelligence Service's funding.

As for the Estonian Defense Forces Intelligence Center (Välisluurekeskus), Pevkur said its funding falls under the EDF's remit, and the funds allocated to it depend on the decision of the EDF commander.

The 2026 state budget's explanatory memorandum reveals the state is to allocate €84.3 million towards organizing intelligence and early warning capabilities next year, compared with €67.7 million for this year: A rise of 24 percent on the year.

The activities Foreign Intelligence Service and the Defense Forces Intelligence Center are also seeing convergence, the document stated, adding a more detailed description will not be made public.

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