Sixty Riigikogu MPs voted for the amended bill, four voted against, and there were no abstentions. Nineteen MPs did not vote.

The draft bill expands opportunities for participation in the activities of the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) enable more reservists, conscripts, and civilians than before. To do so, several laws will be amended, including the Defense Forces Service Act and the Defense Forces Organization Act.

The amendments aim to increase both flexibility and efficiency regarding the involvement of personnel without the need to increase the number of those in active service roles during peacetime. The draft law creates a new type of service – voluntary service – which allows reservists to temporarily participate in the performance of EDF tasks while holding non-staff positions.

It also expands the opportunities for conscripts to contribute to EDF tasks by allowing them to participate in international naval operations after completing a certain type of training.

In December, President Alar Karis chose not to proclaim the Act on Amendments to the Military Service Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts, which had been adopted by the Riigikogu on November 19, as he considered it to violate the principle of equal treatment.

In his ruling, Karis highlighted that, according to the Constitution, Estonian citizens are obliged to participate in national defense.

"If a certain group is allowed to avoid conscription, this must be done in accordance with the principle of equal treatment," Karis wrote. This principle is enshrined in Article 12 of the Estonian Constitution.

"Although conscripts who lack Estonian language skills are not exempted from military service, they are not called up for conscription until they have acquired the necessary level of Estonian," the president noted. "A person may, in fact, know the language, but if they don't have a proficiency certificate, they cannot be compelled to fulfill their constitutional duty of national defense."

The requirement for conscripts to have B-1 level Estonian language skills was removed from the amendment to the Defense Forces Act as the Riigikogu did not want to hold up the entire bill over one provision.

"These are provisions that the Defense Forces and the Defense League have been eagerly awaiting. They are all important, but I consider voluntary service to be particularly important and would like to highlight it. This is a new type of service that gives both reservists and even conscripts the opportunity to contribute much more to national defense," said Kalev Stoicescu (Eesti 200), chair of the Riigikogu's National Defense Committee.

At the same time, however, the introduction of the language requirement is moving forward by alternative means.

A separate bill is expected to be adopted in March, which will also give young people without sufficient Estonian language skills the opportunity to learn Estonian at the state's expense for a year before joining the defense forces.

"This language training is, of course, formally voluntary. However, for the first time, the state says it is prepared to pay for it. After that, a new test will be administered. If, after this test, a person is still unable to demonstrate sufficient language proficiency, then they will have to continue studying at their own expense," said Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur (Reform).

Pevkur added that such a case should not entail any significant additional costs for the state. The language courses will be run in cooperation with the Integration Foundation.

"There will be 200-300 places reserved there, because they are currently able to train up to 3,000 applicants per year, which means 200-300 places will be reserved for the Defense Forces," said National Defense Committee member Vladimir Arhipov (Center).

According to Arhipov, the Center Party is likely to support the bill in its current form. For them, however, making Estonian language learning compulsory would be a red line. However, another member of the National Defense Committee, Raimond Kaljulaid (SDE), doubts the potential effectiveness of these additional courses. He believes Estonian ought to be learned to the required level in schools.

"If, for some reason, a person has not mastered Estonian, even at a low level, during all those weekly language lessons, then why do we think that it will be possible for them to do so later on some other course? However, ultimately it is a compromise and worth trying," said Kaljulaid.

Concerns have additionally been raised that the inclusion of a language requirement may create a new opportunity to evade military service. According to Pevkur, there are ways to prevent this.

"If someone deliberately begins to evade service, it is possible to influence them through fines and secondary sanctions, such as suspending their driver's license or fishing license," said Pevkur.

---

Follow ERR News on Facebook and X and never miss an update!