Speaking on radio show "Stuudios on peaminister," Michal said the differing paces at which the construction work on Rail Baltica is progressing in the different countries involved is not a sign of poor cooperation between the Baltic states.

"From a practical point of view, I would say that our cooperation with Latvia and Lithuania is very good. I admit that Latvia may not be building at the same speed as us. We are actually the most diligent of the Baltic countries in that regard. We have no reason to be ashamed of that. But we are still maintaining this positive pressure. The Latvians have said a lot depends on what the next budgeting period will be like. And there is quite a lot of money earmarked for these connections," Michal said.

The Estonian PM added that when it comes to security, pan-Baltic cooperation is practically flawless.

"We are working together in the 3B and NB8 formats, which Estonia is leading this year. In terms of infrastructure, we have done everything we can and will certainly continue to do everything we can to help the Latvians build faster," said Michal.

Michal pointed out that with each passing year, construction costs are increasing.

"Our goal, however, is to kindly pressure the Latvians through Europe and with the help of European funding, to accomplish what they have promised by 2030. What is the alternative? Do we give up, leave it unfinished, and say that the dream of the Republic of Estonia from the time of Lennart Meri – that we want to be connected to the heart of Europe – will not come true? No, this has to be done," Michal said.

On Tuesday, Ministry of Climate Secretary General Marten Kokk said Latvia is a few years behind Estonia in its construction of Rail Baltica. Kokk pointed to Latvia's financing plans for the current year, though also said the completion of the railway by 2030 is still possible.

The Latvian Ministry of Transport told ERR that Latvia is making the construction of the railway heavily dependent on EU funding, including the amounts planned in the country's next seven-year budget framework (2028-2034).

Last Thursday, Māris Dzelme, board chair of Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas (EDzL, European Railway Lines), the company leading the construction of the Latvian component of Rail Baltica, said the completion of the first phase of the railway could be delayed by three to five years.

Opening of ice roads depends on Transport Administration

This weekend, ERR reported that locals in Läänemaa have begun driving on self-made ice roads. Doing so is entirely at their own risk. Michal said the opening of official ice roads is a decision for the Transport Administration.

"This is down to the Transport Administration to decide, not for the government to say: 'now you can or can't build an ice road,'" Michal said.

At a crisis meeting on Tuesday morning, the Transport Administration opted to abandon an earlier plan not to build ice roads and to start preparing to open one between Estonia's two largest islands, Saaremaa and Hiiumaa.

Michal: Food security chain must be guaranteed

According to a recent report by the National Audit Office, the Estonian Stockpiling Agency (Eesti Varude Keskus, EVK) had altered the government's crisis stockpiling expectations on its own initiative. The audit revealed that the government had set the Stockpiling Agency the target of being able to provide enough food to feed the entire population for 14 days. However, the agency has since changed that of its own volition, with the goal now to be able to feed 10 percent of the population for one month.

"The government wants us to have enough food reserves to ensure food security. I myself have recently spoken with the head of the Stockpiling Agency. Our general understandings are not so different. The plan should be to ensure that Estonia has crisis reserves that are appropriate, including from a financial perspective. These reserves also have to be rotated, as there is a certain time frame after which, they will go off. The goal should not be to buy food, store it and then throw it away, but instead to rotate the reserves," Michal said.

"The next step in this chain is the creation of crisis stores. We have agreements with around 80 stores, and by the end of the year there will be approximately 110 crisis stores. They have generators and so on. And from there, we ought to move on to food production and food producers in this chain, so as not to create the false impression that we have food in stock for three or four days, so everything is fine. In fact, this food security chain has to be guaranteed. I don't think there is as much of a contradiction here as it may seem, but we will definitely be discussing it," Michal added.

"Acquiring, setting up, and practicing with crisis reserves, as well as preparing for crises is a long process. I would like to emphasize that it is not just about having specific reserves for a specific time, but it requires an entire chain. We have goods, they are rotated so that we don't waste money or food. Security comes from a long, functioning chain," he said.

Michal added that he now intends to wait to hear proposals on this issue from Ando Leppiman, head of the Stockpiling Agency, and Minister of Regional Affairs and Agriculture Hendrik Johannes Terras (Eesti 200).

"I think that as a result of this audit, the entire chain needs to be reviewed as a whole. I also know that various pilot projects are planned for this year to test out the effectiveness of this chain," Michal said.

Michal was also asked whether the government is considering abolishing the recently introduced and much-discussed car tax.

"The car tax is an annual tax that goes towards paying for roads. If you want roads built, then we will build them with that money. Road construction will start this year," Michal said.

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