Skip to main menu 17.04.24 NEWS ... This year's Riigikogu Open House Day takes place on Saturday April 20, with a focus on cultural diversity. The Estonian parliament celebrates its 105th anniversary this year.
20.04.24 NEWS ... On Friday, Kusti Salm, permanent secretary of the Estonian Ministry of Defense, awarded medals to U.S. troops serving in the 1-187th Battalion for their participation in international military operations at a ceremony in Võru.
20.04.24 NEWS ... Sleet and snow is expected in a number of locations on Saturday morning. With temperatures between -2C and +1 C, roads will remain slippery.
19.04.24 NEWS ... Officials at the Ministry of the Interior will hold meetings with congregations of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (MPEÕK) to try and convince them to cut ties with Russia.
19.04.24 NEWS ... The Social Democratic Party (SDE) have handed in their list of candidates for the upcoming European Parliament elections to the electoral commission for registration.
19.04.24 NEWS ... On Friday, Eesti 200 submitted their list of candidates for June's European Parliament elections to the electoral commission for registration.
19.04.24 NEWS ... On Friday, Parempoolsed submitted their list of candidates for June's European Parliament elections to the electoral commission for registration.
19.04.24 NEWS ... Russian troops have made advances of five kilometers, while the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been forced to cede areas that are not conducive for defensive actions, said Col. Ants Kiviselg, commander of the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) Intelligence Center. However, there is no sign of a collapse, he added.
19.04.24 NEWS ... Road conditions will worsen and become more wintery this weekend and into next week, the Environmental Agency said on Friday. Snow and sleet are forecasting slippery roads are expected.
19.04.24 OPINION ... Urmas Reinsalu is trying to convince right-wing voters that Isamaa are the most competent economic experts, the most patriotic force and the ones who decide what gets discussed both downtown and on Toompea Hill, Tõnis Saarts finds in Vikerraadio's daily comment.
19.04.24 OPINION ... Every foreign worker who comes to Estonia legally should be welcomed here as they contribute to prosperity. Unfortunately, relevant discussions often confuse immigration, labor migration and recently also helping war refugees, writes Raul Puusepp.
19.04.24 NEWS ... A major part of the classic Estonian landscape is its bogs and meers, an ecosystem which even has global significance, according to Tallinn University (TLÜ) researcher Martin Küttim.
19.04.24 NEWS ... Center party members who believe privacy rules were broken at last Sunday's mayoral vote are still considering whether it is worth going to court. Several legal issues stand in their way, including the fact it is difficult to violate the rights of members who did not vote on the day.
19.04.24 NEWS ... Estonian driver Paul Aron, who this season is taking part in the Formula 2 Championship with Hitech Pulse Eight, will also be able to compete in the Formula E series in May. After a training day for young drivers last weekend, Aron told ERR that Formula E and Formula 2 cars are completely different and that the experience will only benefit him.
19.04.24 NEWS ... Leaders of the Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian parliaments stressed the importance of supporting Ukraine in a joint statement to the Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson, saying U.S. aid is "indispensable".
19.04.24 NEWS ... The unpredictable spring so far this year has prevented tomato plants in Estonia from getting the necessary sunlight, though in any case produce from larger firms will be ready for sale in just a few weeks.
19.04.24 NEWS ... Liisa Oviir, head of the Political Parties Financing Surveillance Committee (ERJK), has sent a letter to European Parliament elections candidates to remind them that EU funds must not be used for personal campaigns. The committee has launched proceedings in the case of MEP Jana Toom (Center).
19.04.24 NEWS ... Reform and the Social Democrats (SDE) are both forecast to pick up two mandates at the European Parliament elections in June, a new poll by Kantar Emor and commissioned by ERR shows.
19.04.24 NEWS ... "Lihtsad uudised," meaning easy or simple news, is for anyone who wants to improve their Estonian language skills. You can listen to a selection of this week's top news stories by clicking on the player above, and read along from the text below.
19.04.24 NEWS ... Anna Hints and Tushar Prakash's latest work "Sauna Day" is set to premiere at Cannes next month during "Critics' Week" ("Semaine de la critique"). The short film invites viewers into the world of Southern Estonian men, who go to the dark-intimate space of a smoke sauna after a hard day's work. Beneath their tough exteriors lies a desire for connection, veiled in secrecy.
19.04.24 NEWS ... The Supreme Court has accepted a cassation complaint from the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) against the Tartu County Court's decision to annul the fine imposed on Raul Eamets, a former lecturer at the University of Tartu, for violating a procedural restriction.
19.04.24 NEWS ... No one should be required to indicate how they voted during the course of a secret ballot, head of the Chancellor of Justice's office Olari Koppel said Thursday.
19.04.24 NEWS ... Estonian tennis player Ingrid Neel and her doubles partner Ulrikke Eikeri defeated Anastassia Potapova and Vera Zvonareva 3-6, 6-4, 10-3 in the WTA 500 Stuttgart Open. Neel and Eikeri will now face Barbora Krejčíková (Czechia) and Laura Siegemund (Germany) in the semi-finals.
19.04.24 NEWS ... The European Council meeting that ended Thursday affirmed that Ukraine's air defense and ammunition shortages need to be resolved post haste. But Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform) said that some states still feel the war does not concern them.
19.04.24 NEWS ... The 2024 World Rally Championship (WRC) season continues this weekend with Rally Croatia. Estonia's Ott Tänak (Hyundai) and his Belgian teammate Thierry Neuville shared third place after the shakedown. Sebastien Ogier (Toyota), who was racing for the first time this season, was the fastest.
19.04.24 NEWS ... Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise deems it objectionable when ballots are filled out according to a predetermined pattern or with different colored pencils, as it violates the principle of secret voting.
19.04.24 NEWS ... Support for coalition party the Social Democrats (SDE) and opposition party Isamaa have both fallen recently, according to one survey.
19.04.24 NEWS ... Even though oil shale mining in Estonia's easternmost Ida-Viru County will not be wrapped up next year, the government should not leave the local population with the impression the sector will be around for a long time still, candidate for the post of minister of regional affairs Piret Hartman (SDE) told "Esimene stuudio."
19.04.24 NEWS ... While Israel had not confirmed a strike on Iran Friday morning, available information suggests its counterattack was quite restrained, security expert Rainer Saks told the "Terevisioon" morning show.
19.04.24 NEWS ... Eesti 200 has announced its two Tallinn district elder (Vanavallem) candidates.
19.04.24 NEWS ... The security environment may have changed greatly, but many Estonian companies still don't seem to have grasped this and are waiting for any opportunity to do business with Russia, a high-ranking reservist officer has said.
19.04.24 NEWS ... The newly-installed Tallinn City Government is investigating the circumstances of how a former councilor and current municipal mayor was hired by a city foundation, suspecting it may have been a case of providing a sinecure.
18.04.24 NEWS ... The opposition in the Riigikogu is not satisfied that the coalition MPs ended the possibility of taking breaks on Wednesday, and therefore the night sitting was cancelled. The coalition is of the opinion that whether and how long to take breaks will be decided anew for each bill.
18.04.24 NEWS ... Discussions about developing nuclear energy in Estonia started in the Riigikogu on Thursday where members are looking at how, and if they should, proceed. A decision is expected by the middle of June.
18.04.24 NEWS ... In an interview with ERR on Thursday, Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) chair Martin Helme confirmed that if he earns a mandate in the European Parliament elections taking place this June, then he will serve as MEP. He would not resign as party chair, however, maintaining that an MEP has both more time and more money for political work than an MP.
18.04.24 NEWS ... The control action initiated by former Justice Minister Kalle Laanet into the Prosecutor's Office led by Prosecutor General Andres Parmas did not find any violations, and the ministry will not initiate any disciplinary proceedings. The document summary only presents a few mildly worded recommendations for improving the work of the Prosecutor's Office.
18.04.24 NEWS ... On Thursday, the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) submitted its list of candidates for the European Parliament elections in June.
18.04.24 NEWS ... In Tallinn, the new coalition composed of the Social Democrats, the Reform Party, Eesti 200 and Isamaa is now preparing a supplementary budget. To finance their new plans, Tallinn's financial position easily allows borrowing €60 million.
18.04.24 NEWS ... The April results of the regular Turu-uuringute AS party ratings poll saw the ruling Reform Party overtake national conservative EKRE for second place.
18.04.24 NEWS ... A motion of no confidence in Mayor of Tallinn Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE) was submitted by city council opposition parties Center and EKRE on Thursday over alleged rule-breaking at Sunday's (April 14) election.
18.04.24 NEWS ... If Russia launches an attack on Estonia in the future, Estonia would certainly win, said Gen. Martin Herem, head of the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF). But the victory may still be ugly, he added.
18.04.24 NEWS ... Center representatives handed over the party's candidate list for the upcoming European Parliament election this week.
18.04.24 NEWS ... The state is looking at options on acquiring a new, fifth ferry to ply the routes to Estonia's largest islands and to replace an aging vessel soon to be decommissioned.
18.04.24 NEWS ... An ERR film crew visited the area near Robotyne, in the Zaporizhzhiaoblast, to hear from Ukrainian soldiers about the severe ammunition shortage they continue to suffer with in the face of the continued Russian onslaught.
18.04.24 NEWS ... The Ministry of Education and Research has published the timetable of the 2024/2025 academic year's basic and high school final exams, which reveals that the former will be moved up compared to previous years.
18.04.24 NEWS ... A Reform Party MP is soon to embark on a 1,700km bike ride from Tallinn to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, with the aim of raising funds to aid that country in defending itself against Russian aggression, daily Postimees reports.
18.04.24 NEWS ... New Delhi-born director Varun Trikha's documentary movie "Raise Me a Memory" was released in Estonian movie theaters this Wednesday. The filmmaker spent years traveling around Setomaa, south Estonia with his camera to capture the stories of local people and their relationships with the past and present.
18.04.24 NEWS ... Considerably clearer guidance is needed in Estonia for disabled adults, who are left on their own when seeking support. The Ministry of Social Affairs should also significantly reduce the fragmentation of the country's social welfare system and eliminate the need for people to run around between different agencies, the National Audit Office found in a report published Thursday.
18.04.24 NEWS ... The City of Pärnu has submitted two options to the Ministry of Education and Research on transitioning one single school to Estonian-language education, "Aktuaalne kaamera" (AK) reported Wednesday.
18.04.24 NEWS ... Spring has arrived (sort of) and filled both Estonian cities and forests with birdsong. ERR News put together a short quiz on the harbingers of spring.