Center Party Chairman Mihhail Kõlvart told ERR while the party supports investing in defense, it should not be financed through the temporary defense tax.

"If people were promised that the defense tax would be temporary and the current government is unable to cut public sector expenses, then the simple question is: where will the money come from? If this money is to come from people's pockets, we need to ask whether there are still resources available and how this will affect defense morale and people's well-being," he said.

"Talking about 5 percent today is premature. The money is simply not there. We do not know the economic impact, and if the economy declines, people's well-being will decrease, and so will defense morale and security capability," Kõlvart added.

Center believes the increase should be funded by borrowing, investing in economic growth, and introducing a banking tax.

"Money does not just come from an Excel spreadsheet or a budget. The Center Party has been talking about a banking tax for two and a half years. If it had been implemented two years ago, we would already have an additional billion euros — about €500 million per year," Kõlvart said.

"In the long term, we must, of course, focus primarily on economic growth, but unfortunately, the current government is not addressing this," the chairman added.

EKRE Riigikogu member Rain Epler confirmed the party supports investing in security.

"EKRE has always emphasized that our own defense capability is critically important. We have been talking about this even before the most recent active phase of the Russia-Ukraine war began," he said.

Epler sees the influence of Donald Trump's presidency in the prime minister's plan.

"It seems to me that a few days before our prime minister said this, the Lithuanian prime minister said something similar. Across Europe, you can sense that Trump's election as U.S. president has made Europeans take seriously what Trump has been saying for years, even before he was first elected — that Europeans need to take their own defense seriously," the MP said.

The party also believes that economic growth should be a priority.

"It always matters what the baseline is for that 5 percent. If we finally got to the point where all kinds of utopian ideas, such as those in the energy sector, were thrown out and we started focusing on growing our economy, the possibilities for investing in national defense would increase significantly," Epler said.

EKRE also suggests reviewing other expenditures. "Before clinging too tightly to the five percent figure, we need to consider which areas a small country like ours should prioritize for defense spending. Secondly, we should also discuss whether there are already expenses today — like helicopters or ships — that are currently categorized under other areas but could justifiably be included in the 5 percent," the MP explained.

Opposition calls for scrapping the flat tax phase-out

Both paries believe if defense spending increases, coalition party Reform's plan to abolish the flat tax exemption next year, known as the "tax hump," should be abandoned.

"Scrapping the tax hump will cost the budget about €600 million, and this is planned for next year. This idea should absolutely be abandoned. Why should Estonian people have to pay for the Reform Party's slogans and election promises? This money also comes from people's pockets and is recouped for the state budget through other taxes — be it VAT, income tax, or vehicle tax — just to abolish the tax wedge. It's unfair and ultimately pointless," Kõlvart said.

"The Reform Party could calmly drop this idea, freeing up time and energy to address more important issues," Epler added.

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