Urmas Reinsalu, chairman of the opposition party Isamaa, raised a question on social media on Thursday morning regarding the current status of Estonia's minister of defense.

He pointed out that while President Alar Karis appointed a 14-member government on July 22, the State Secretary's announcement on July 23 stated that the government consists of 13 members. Despite the Ministry of Defense's website indicating that "Hanno Pevkur has been the minister of defense of the Republic of Estonia since July 23, 2024," Pevkur has not yet taken the oath of office (of the new government – ed.) before the Riigikogu. This delay is due to Pevkur's scheduled visit to Washington, D.C., where he met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

Reinsalu highlighted that legally, Pevkur could not have been serving as minister of defense at that time because the previous government had resigned and he had not yet taken the oath of office in the Riigikogu as a new minister.

Reinsalu questioned Pevkur's status during his visit to the United States, noting that he was referred to in press releases as the minister of defense, despite not having official authorization. He emphasized that this is not merely a formality but a matter requiring legal clarity. Reinsalu further inquired about the planned meeting between the visiting U.K. minister of defense and an Estonian representative, questioning whether it would be with Pevkur, who has not yet been formally inaugurated, or with Jürgen Ligi, the acting minister of defense.

Prime Minister Kristen Michal's (Reform) directive on ministerial replacements, signed on Tuesday, states that until the oath of office is taken before the Riigikogu, the duties of the defense minister are to be performed by another minister as per the order of succession outlined in the directive. According to point 3 of the directive, the first deputy for the minister of defense is the minister of finance, followed by the minister of foreign affairs and the minister of culture. Thus, until Pevkur takes the oath of office, Minister of Finance Jürgen Ligi should fulfill the role of minister of defense.

Pevkur is scheduled to take the oath before the Riigikogu on Monday, July 29, during a special session convened by Riigikogu President Lauri Hussar.

On Tuesday, in an interview with ERR in the U.S., Pevkur explained he was at a bilateral meeting to discuss Estonia's defense cooperation. "The last time there was a bilateral meeting was about a year-and-a-half ago. And related to this, I wasn't able to be present for the appointment of the new government. Meetings like this simply do not get postponed."

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