In an appearance on ETV foreign affairs show "Välisilm," Taro expressed hope that the most important core work on the construction of barriers along the Estonian-Russian border will be completed during his term, noting that this is planned to be included in coalition talks.

Even so, he acknowledged that Estonia's eastern border can never be truly finished.

"New challenges keep coming up all the time, and additional technical challenges are coming up as well," the minister explained.

"When border construction was being planned years ago, no one thought about things like drone detection and drone countermeasures," he continued. "Right now, it's a pretty crucial cost item, and the extent of the work currently underway."

Taro pointed out that much less money has been needed for internal security than for national defense, but nonetheless, it still has yet to be found.

"When we talk about national defense, we're talking about billions — the need to find €1.5 billion more — but everything related to internal security involves orders of magnitude smaller amounts," he said. "But these have not been identified and implemented as quickly as needed. But it seems to me that the problem's urgency will become increasingly apparent, and this stalling will come to an end."

Asked whether, in light of the potential military threat, it should be easier to obtain a weapons permit in Estonia, Taro noted that potential changes to the Weapons Act are already being seriously analyzed.

"Interest groups have started drawing significant attention to this issue," he added.

"If we want to avoid a situation like what happened in Ukraine, during the earliest days of defending Kyiv, where automatic weapons had to be handed out to untrained people, then perhaps it would be wise to think ahead and figure out how to provide training opportunities for everyone who is willing and interested," the Estonian minister stressed.

"Of course, there's always the issue of safety, and background checks," he continued. "But for now, I believe we are seriously analyzing this issue, in terms of amending the Weapons Act. How far we can go with it, I can't say at this point, but it's definitely a topic of discussion."

Taro noted that he has also received proposals from experts regarding amendments to the law, and that coalition partners are reviewing them. "Personally, I see a readiness at the coalition level to discuss this issue," he said.

More shooting areas needed

Simplifying the process for obtaining a weapons permit is one thing, but he added that in that case, more training sites will be needed as well. However, they wouldn't necessarily have to be full shooting ranges.

"We should think outside the box," the interior minister said. "A shooting range is a large and expensive infrastructure object, but it's possible to set up a shooting area for personal use. It wouldn't be public, but one could practice there."

He acknowledged that certain requirements would need to be in place as well.

"At the moment, attention is being drawn to the fact that these requirements are too complicated, and that it should be easier to establish shooting sites," Taro said.

"I recall from my experience in the Estonian Defense League (EDL) that it was pretty hard to get range times for unit training," he noted. "Even after additional developments were made in Southeastern Estonia and some ranges were opened, you still managed to get to the shooting range only occasionally. That definitely isn't enough to develop good shooting skills."

Right to vote could motivate naturalization

Last Wednesday, the Riigikogu voted to amend the Constitution of Estonia to strip third-country nationals of their right to vote in local elections, and strip stateless individuals of the same right starting from the local elections after next.

Taro did not consider the disenfranchisement of Russian and Belarusian citizens in Estonia to be a security risk. According to him, the internal security risk has always been more associated with those Estonian residents whom Russia can use as a pretext to intervene in the internal affairs of other countries as well as carry out hybrid attacks.

"This [disenfranchisement] could, in fact, contribute to encouraging people who want to connect themselves to the local community, to this country, to decide who should be elected leaders in local elections," he said. "This could motivate people to seek citizenship and submit their applications, particularly for stateless individuals, but why not also Russian citizens."

The interior minister emphasized that the procedure isn't complicated.

"Every week, citizenship by naturalization is granted by government decision to dozens of people," Taro highlighted. "Thus, the requirements are attainable. These additional incentives are needed."

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