Justice and digital minister asks for €150 million austerity exception

Justice and Digital Affairs Minister Liisa-Ly Pakosta (Eesti 200) requested an exemption from state budget cuts for three agencies under her jurisdiction, amounting to nearly €150 million. She argued that these agencies play a crucial role in ensuring the country's internal security.
Pakosta wrote a letter to Finance Minister Jürgen Ligi (Reform Party), emphasizing that three agencies in the justice and digital sectors play a significant role in ensuring national security and should therefore be exempted from state budget cuts.
In her letter, Pakosta noted that the contribution of the Prison Service to internal security has not been considered as part of the non-cuttable security sector.
"The Prison Service, in addition to its work within the prison system, plays a clear role in managing demonstrations, removing monuments, registering war refugees and daily cooperation with investigative agencies under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Finance. Our personnel training, acquisition of special equipment and supplies are conducted jointly," Pakosta wrote.
Pakosta highlighted that in previous years, while drafting state budget strategies and development plans, both the Estonian Forensic Science Institute (EKEI) and the Prison Service's contributions were always considered equivalent to other sectors that ensure internal security. She is advocating for the continuation of this practice.
She also added that, given the increasing number of cybersecurity incidents, it is justified to make an exemption from the budget cuts for the entire cybersecurity sector under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.
The Ministry of Justice's internal security budget includes approximately €82 million for the Prison Service, around €11 million for the Estonian Forensic Science Institute and nearly €61 million for the Information System Authority.
In total, the justice and digital minister is seeking an exemption from cuts amounting to €154,135,232.
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Editor: Valner Väino, Marcus Turovski