The Center Party and Isamaa, which make up Tallinn's ruling coalition, have included in the city budget a plan to increase funding for district-level entertainment events by nearly €400,000. This money would be used to organize, among other things, Midsummer bonfires and New Year's celebrations. These are enjoyable events, but now is not the time to be expanding the party budget.

Tallinn lacks the basic foundations of crisis preparedness. The city has no Tallinn-specific risk assessment from which civil protection measures could be derived. The existing crisis plans are either incomplete, outdated or not compiled at all.

There is no clear answer to how the city would function in the event of a major power outage, water shortage, cyberattack or military threat. Public communication, shelter options, crisis management responsibilities — all of these issues require systematic and well-funded solutions.

Local governments play a central role in civil protection. The questions are highly practical: Do people know what to do, where to go and where to get help during a crisis? Are apartment buildings prepared for prolonged power outages? Does the city have functioning crisis centers and clear chains of command? These are not matters that can be solved at the last minute.

The cautionary example of Kyiv

General Martin Herem recently described Kyiv, based on his experience in Ukraine, as a city where life seems to go on: McDonald's is open, there's rush hour traffic and the traffic lights are working. At the same time, the city is largely dark and cold, its critical infrastructure has suffered heavy damage and preparations for air raids have been inadequate.

According to Herem, in the regions near the front lines, energy facilities have been protected with concrete barriers and sandbags, whereas in Kyiv, too much faith was placed in air defense systems. At some point, those defenses were breached and the result was a humanitarian disaster: essential services like electricity, heating and water were cut off. This is not a criticism of Ukraine, but a sobering lesson. Even a society hardened by war and extraordinarily resilient pays a steep price for lack of preparedness.

This is precisely the connection Tallinn should heed. Crises don't always strike with immediate and total collapse. Often, life seems to carry on as usual — until it becomes clear that there are no contingency plans, the infrastructure is unprotected and responsibility is scattered. By then, it's too late to ask why nothing was done sooner.

Preparation requires additional funds

Parempoolsed made a concrete and substantive proposal to the Tallinn city budget: to keep spending on district-level entertainment events at 2025 levels and to redirect the planned €382,000 increase toward supporting apartment buildings' crisis preparedness and strengthening civil protection budget lines. This does not mean banning celebrations or ending traditions — it's about setting a responsible order of priorities: safety first, then entertainment.

A public sector budget always reflects value choices. If entertainment budgets are prioritized over crisis preparedness, a clear message is sent to city residents: partying is more important than readiness. Recent experience across Europe suggests the opposite. Crises don't ask whether the budget is tight or when the next elections will be held.

That's why 2026 in Tallinn should be a year of crisis preparedness, not entertainment. It means making investments that may not be immediately visible. The mayor won't get to cut ribbons or appear on big stages. The value of these decisions will only become evident in a moment of crisis, when preparation, clear plans and deliberate action determine how well the city and its people cope.

Entertainment was, is and will remain. But the cost of postponing investments in crisis readiness could be very high.

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