Riigikogu National Defense Committee head Kalev Stoicescu (Eesti 200) said the purpose of the Civil Crisis and National Defense Act is to consolidate previously fragmented legislation and create a comprehensive system that would function effectively in both peacetime and wartime.

"The threat landscape has changed and the state cannot afford slow responses due to bureaucratic obstacles. The bill incorporates lessons learned during the coronavirus crisis as well as from the war in Ukraine," the committee chair said. He added that it is one of the most important and anticipated laws of the year, affecting hundreds of thousands of people in Estonia and their responsibilities during times of crisis.

The bill's lead rapporteur has been Mati Raidma of the Reform Party, who has worked extensively on refining it together with government agencies and members of parliament. The foundation of the extensive draft was prepared at the Government Office.

However, on February 10, the bill suffered an unexpected setback from the government's perspective when four coalition and independent MPs with military backgrounds — Peeter Tali (Eesti 200), Alar Laneman (Reform Party), Meelis Kiili (Reform Party) and Leo Kunnas (independent) — pushed through a sweeping package of amendments in committee.

The so-called "generals' amendments" passed with the support of opposition representatives and have now sparked sharp disagreements within the governing coalition.

"The new proposals are full of contradictions and in their current form they certainly cannot be enacted into law," Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur (Reform Party) told ERR.

According to Pevkur, the aim during the bill's second reading in the Riigikogu plenary is to remove unnecessary amendments from the draft. "If that fails, the initiator of the bill has the option of withdrawing it altogether, but for now we will try to resolve it peacefully," Pevkur said.

The sticking point

According to the four MPs with military backgrounds, the primary aim of their proposals is to prevent situations in which state agencies can ignore critical obligations or interpret them to suit their own interests.

In addition, they proposed creating four county governor positions to coordinate crisis management efforts across four regions of Estonia.

One of the most critical issues highlighted by Peeter Tali is the absence of a regional level of command.

In his assessment, it is unlikely that the Government Office or the government would be able to centrally and operationally manage nearly 80 local governments in the event of a major crisis.

Committee member Raimond Kaljulaid (SDE), who opposes the proposed amendments, said that the desire to include a detailed list of agency tasks in the law is dangerously rigid. He said that the names and administrative areas of ministries change virtually with every new government. "Will we rework the law every single time?"

The SDE MP also warned that institutions like the public broadcaster (ERR) cannot be obligated to perform new functions without including them in the debate first.

While the committee has managed to compromise on some issues, such as removing the proposal to create four regional coordinators and approving the creation of a military tribunal for wartime, some committee members and the defense minister remain skeptical in terms of whether the main points of contention can be resolved and the bill passed.

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