During a question and answer session at the Riigikogu, EKRE Chair Martin Helme asked Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform), who gave the go-ahead to intervene in the voyage of a tanker belonging to the Russian shadow fleet last week.

Helme pointed out that the ship entered the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of several allied countries before entering Estonian waters, but Estonia was the first to decide to interfere in the ship's journey.

"None of these countries, which have truly combat-capable navies and a truly combat-capable air forces, interfered with the passage of this ship. But Estonia decided to intervene and, as has been pointed out, failed. I just want to know – let's not get into other things here – who is responsible? Who gave the order? Who coordinated? Who is responsible?" Helme asked the prime minister.

Michal explained that at the beginning of April, the Riigikogu passed a bill amending the Estonian Defense Forces Organization Act and the Exclusive Economic Zone Act, which specified the tasks of the Defense Forces (EDF) as well as the use of direct coercion and military force.

"The Estonian Defense Forces and the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) have a mandate, just like the Navy, to take steps to protect Estonia's maritime space, including its critical infrastructure," Michal said, adding that Estonia has inspected nearly 450 ships to date and that the inspections will continue.

"In addition, this shadow fleet is an environmental threat, just as it is a real threat to infrastructure. So the Defense Forces and the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) have every right to step in and carry out their mandate to protect our infrastructure. And that is exactly what they did," said Michal.

Martin Helme continued with the same line of questioning.

"The order is issued by the Chief of the Defense Forces' Staff [Maj. Gen. Vahur Karus] on behalf of the Commander of the Defense Forces [Maj. Gen. Andrus Merilo] and the actions were in line with those of other relevant state authorities. It has a mandate from the legislature as well as a mandate from the government, so, to make it clear, we support the Defense Forces and the Navy Michal replied. "In the case of this particular vessel, it went exactly as the navy planned it. It was inspected and escorted out of our waters."

Riigikogu MP Varro Vooglaid (EKRE) also asked for clarification as to who gave the order to carry out the operation and whether the operation was coordinated with and approved by the government, i.e. by the prime minister or the minister of defense.

Michal repeated that the order was given by the Chief of the General Staff of the Defense Forces on behalf of the Commander of the Defense Forces,

"Do you really think that things are so badly organized in Estonia that if you can't get hold of the Minister of the Interior or the Minister of Defense, the Navy leaves the cables unattended because they couldn't get hold of the minister? Certainly not. In Estonia, things are organized as such that not every operation has to coordinated with politicians," Michal explained.

"If there is a threat to the infrastructure somewhere, these ships need to be sent, escorted – do you really imagine that every time the defense minister will be asked, 'Dear Defense Minister, are you available?' We are now going to escort this ship away from this infrastructure object." That would be nonsense. I don't understand why you're trying to create that impression," Michal said.

The prime minister added that the PPA was ready to board the vessel and if it had entered Estonian waters, they would have done so. "Boarding a ship by force for the purpose of document checking is not proportionate. We were informed of that even before the ship arrived here. The tanker also had both anchors. The anchors had not been released, so on the basis of that, the same assessment was made regarding what exactly would be done with this ship," Michal said.

Rene Kokk (EKRE) pointed out that the former Estonian Navy Commander [Cmdr. Jüri Saska] had said in an interview that such decisions were taken at the highest political level. In Kokk's view, it thus followed from the prime minister's earlier answer that at the point when it came to deciding whether or not to go to inspect the shadow fleet vessel, the ministers were not available. Kokk also asked whether it was true that the ship was aware that an inspection was imminent.

"Can the Russians anticipate or can the shadow fleet anticipate when we will inspect these ships, we will send these ships, and ask for documents? Well, listen, if this has already been done 450 times, how can it be a surprise? The Estonian state is probably the best inspector of the shadow fleet in this country and in this sea," Michal replied.

Michal stressed that it could not be inferred from his previous answer that if the defense minister or the interior minister were unable to be reached, the infrastructure would be left unprotected. "The idea is very simple: the chain of command on how things work is in place. The way things are done was set out in law and in a number of decisions a long time ago. This means that politicians don't have to decide that one of the 450 ships out there needs to have its documents checked," he said.

Vladimir Arhipov (Center) also asked Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur (Reform) what the legal basis was for detaining the ship.

"In this specific case, the law also derives from international law, i.e. from the already mentioned UN Convention on the Law of the Sea UNCLOS," Pevkur replied.

"There is Article 110 which refers to the right to inspect if there is a suspicion that there is no flag state, i.e. there is no state which has registered the ship. In the case of this ship, there was no flag state. Consequently, the Navy had a legitimate duty and even an obligation to verify these circumstances. And in the same way, the Navy had the additional task of ensuring the security of Estonia's critical infrastructure."

Pevkur stressed that the Estonian Navy was doing the job it usually does. "It was Russia that changed its pattern, clearly tying its military presence to the shadow fleet. This has never been done before. We did our job and we will certainly continue to do so in the future, whenever there is a threat to Estonia's critical infrastructure or when maritime security and safety at sea are at stake," he said.

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