Yana Toom said: "I do not approve of what Mailis [Reps] did, but I will not judge either because firstly, I do not like being part of a choir. And secondly, for me to judge her, I should be a moral lighthouse, which I am not."

The European Parliament member said accusing daily Õhtuleht for surveillance is incomprehensible because there is no concrete definition in legislation for it.

On Tuesday, the daily wrote that it spot checked Minister of Education and Research Mailis Reps' personal driver's routine on three afternoons over the course of a month, adding that each time the car had been transporting the minister's children, but not her, adding video evidence to its article.

Toom said: "We should understand that it is a part of investigative journalism, it is impossible to do the job without it. But if we want to restrict journalism to just spreading our press releases and interviews, we are heading toward being Hungary."

She added that the entire story shows clear problems that should be reviewed and solved. "There are quite a few things that should be changed to avoid such happenings in the future," Toom noted.

"If we want to allow a mother of many children to be minister in the Republic of Estonia, there must be an accompanying package to allow them to commit to their work 24/7. Because it is clear that a single mother of many children cannot manage the household by themselves. If we want the person to act as dutiful for a minister. But there has to be a societal agreement and it should be considered right now," Toom said.

Narva city council removed Narva mayor Aleksei Jevgrafov from office last Wednesday after a vote of no confidence. City council chairwoman Irina Janovitš left her post without waiting for the no confidence results to come in.

The main reason for the vote of no confidence was Jevgrafov's work on the proposals submitted by the city for the EU's fair transition plan and an inability to establish "normal relations between the city of Narva and the state".

Discussions have begun on developing a new coalition in the city and Social Democratic Party member Katri Raik has been vocal about being ready to leave her position in the Riigikogu to start working as the mayor of Narva, calling it her "dream job."

Toom said on Thursday that she has nothing to do with the recent power shift in Narva. She added that it is important that Narva is led by someone local. Whether or not Raik is taken in as mayor by the locals is yet to be determined.

Toom said Katri Raik would take a great risk leaving her position in Riigikogu to take over as mayor, as it is not ruled out that Aleksei Jevgrafov is re-elected due to pressure applied by supporting locals.

She does not think highly of Narva's and Ida-Viru County's future because many people leave the region.

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