Last week, the Riigikogu passed legislation stating that conscripts must be able to speak the national language at B1 level or higher to be called up. This means they should be able to understand simple commands and participate in training.

Those who have not attained the B1 level will continue to be eligible for call-up until they are 28, provided they have improved their language skills.

But Kõlvart argued that conscription is not just about military training, but about equalizing opportunities for young men.

"This means that, in addition to acquiring military-related skills, many young people in the Defense Forces have also been able to obtain a driver's license, and their Estonian language skills have been improved if necessary. Now the government has decided to remove Estonian language instruction from military service, and insufficient language proficiency will from now on be a valid reason to skip conscription. But this brings with it several troubling issues that, unfortunately, were not considered when this decision was made," he said.

The chairman said the state now plans to exclude up to one-fifth of young men each year who could otherwise be part of national defense.

"This is yet another step in a series of moves by the current government telling a large part of the Estonian population that they are not needed by the state and that they somehow do not belong here. Military service has so far been a good opportunity to unite young people from different backgrounds, but now it is being used to divide. There are so few of us, this is not something we can afford to do – to simply discard and isolate part of our population," Kõlvart said.

The Center Party chairman added that conscription is not just an opportunity but also an obligation.

"Starting next year, however, the state will allow this obligation to be waived in the case of insufficient language proficiency. Among other things, this step sends rather confusing signals to those learning Estonian."

Kõlvart believes Estonia's two most successful integration projects have been sports and military service.

"With this decision by the country's leadership, one of them is being eliminated. By closing military service to young people with poor language skills, we are losing an important tool that benefited not only national defense but also young people's education and integration," the Center Party chairman said.

Until now, young people have been able to begin service with lower-level language skills, which the Estonian Defense Forces says hinders effective training.

The Estonian Defense Resources Agency told ERR the requirement is necessary because training is conducted in Estonian and increasingly involves complex weapons, communications systems, and specialized terminology.

"A person with language skills below the B1 level cannot sufficiently understand instructions or course content, which in turn would prevent successful completion of effective military training," communications manager Daisi Želizko-Kask told ERR last week.

Center MPs voted in favor of amendment

Despite Kõlvart's criticism, Center Party MPs in the Riigikogu voted in favor of the change.

The party raised no objections and proposed no amendments during the passage of the bill.

When the final vote took place on November 19, four of the Center Party's eight MPs were absent. The four who were present voted in favor, including Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart, who is Mihhail Kõlvart's wife.

Center Party faction leader Lauri Laats acknowledged that the language requirement had slipped past the party's attention.

"Since the provision on Estonian language proficiency was added to the bill together with several other amendments as part of a consensus decision by the National Defense Committee before the second reading, we overlooked it due to a communication issue. In the final vote, we proceeded based on the original version of the bill, but we still believe the language issue in the law needs to be revised," he said.

The second reading was concluded on November 5 without a vote.

This article was updated to add comments from Lauri Laats and information about how MPs voted.

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