18.04.21 OPINION ... Why should the Center Party worry about EKRE? Yes, they have temporarily become the second most popular party, with their vertigo now obvious. But their statements will culminate in a painful hangover. The Center Party will not allow them to spin lies of a police state, coercive treatment and the dangers of the European Union, Jaanus Karilaid writes.

18.04.21 OPINION ... The Conservative People's Party (EKRE) has an uncanny ability to gauge and capitalize on moods in society. Other parties, especially the Social Democrats and Isamaa, have a lot to learn from this.

16.04.21 OPINION ... Influence activity pursued by the People's Republic of China is a threat to academic and press freedoms. A public letter to the Riigikogu, government, boards of Estonian universities, independent research institutions, journalistic publications and all scientists, teachers, journalists, culture workers and politicians in Estonia.

14.04.21 OPINION ... Estonian research and development in the field of defense has for the first time secured major funding from the European Union. Defense development projects have previously fallen to member states and contractors, Taavi Veskimägi writes.

13.04.21 OPINION ... Every plan that is still in the debate phase can be criticized and scoured for discrepancies, while it seems the Government Office has generally done a good job on the so-called white book, Raimond Kaljulaid writes.

13.04.21 OPINION ... Minister of Foreign Affairs Eva-Maria Liimets showed initiative when she requested a phone call with her Russian colleague Sergey Lavrov. The call was necessary – Russia does not want to ratify the border agreement it signed with Estonia seven years ago, Toomas Sildam writes.

11.04.21 OPINION ... Will the planned amendment to the Communicable Diseases Prevention and Control Act (NETS) lay the foundation for a totalitarian state? No, it will not. However, it also fails to help us move closer to a clearer, more surefooted legal order, jurist Paloma Krõõt Tupay writes.

08.04.21 OPINION ... Even though safety in public places still needs to be promoted through better street lighting, it is more urgent to learn to listen to what is happening behind closed doors as victims of violence suffer from mental health issues in addition to direct health damage.

08.04.21 OPINION ... We are about to enter a coronavirus recovery boom. The economy opening up is a matter of a few months. At the same time, we should not forget that not everyone has been hit equally in the crisis and for those who drew the shortest stick, recovery might even work to deepen inequality, Huko Aaspõllu finds in Vikerraadio's daily comment.

06.04.21 OPINION ... Thousands of email inboxes all over the land came under an avalanche of press releases, memos and resolutions starting on the morning of April 1 with which the public sector and private companies saw fit to celebrate the international day of humor. More than a few journalists have been hospitalized following exhaustion from reading so many funny emails.

06.04.21 OPINION ... Pension hikes need to continue also in the coming years. What is more, additional sums should not be swallowed by income tax – the average pension needs to be and remain exempt from income tax. The state should not hike pensions with one hand while taking it back in the form of income tax with the other, Signe Riisalo writes.

01.04.21 OPINION ... Industry is moving toward automation and digitalization in the modern world and Estonia is in desperate need of industrial and product design engineers who could bring new ideas and introduce new technologies, Leo Rummel writes.

01.04.21 OPINION ... Extensive mass testing is needed to stop the spread of the coronavirus in Tallinn's largest borough. The major undertaking is feasible despite its complexity, while experience of other countries suggests it has the potential to cut infection rates in half, Vladimir Svet writes.

01.04.21 OPINION ... What to do so that entrepreneurs and citizens would not accuse politicians of persecution and standing in the way of progress? The answer is that we need to execute the state reform post haste, Jaanus Karilaid writes.

31.03.21 OPINION ... Center Party politicians Mihhail Kõlvart and Yana Toom could inoculate themselves with all the available vaccines without it having any effect on people like Olga Vassiljevna from Lasnamäe. She is afraid of vaccines because she has too much information and no way of reliably analyzing which parts of it are true and which are false, journalist Anton Aleksejev says in Vikerraadio's daily comment.

31.03.21 OPINION ... We have vaccinated more of those who complain the loudest and are easier to have come in. This has left the weakest part of society without the protection it needs. In a situation where many countries have achieved near universal coverage, Estonia has managed to give at least one vaccine dose to just 40 percent of people over the age of 80, Jevgeni Ossinovski writes.

30.03.21 OPINION ... The state paying for the isolation of diagnosed and potentially infectious people would be the most effective way to contain the spread of the virus next to vaccination, Lauri Läänemets writes.

30.03.21 OPINION ... Even if we cannot directly block Moscow from doing these things, we shouldn't allow official Russia to simply torment Navalny with impunity either, Jüri Estam writes, thinking back to the fate of Estonian dissident Jüri Kukk and other victims of communist abuses.

28.03.21 OPINION ... Every nation must fight for its historical truth and the struggle is becoming more serious every day, Raul Rebane finds in Vikerraadio's daily comment.

28.03.21 OPINION ... I have always recoiled from senseless positivism, Andres Maimik writes in an essay first published in Sirp magazine.

26.03.21 OPINION ... Based on archival sources and memoirs, Aigi Rahi-Tamm, a historian, and associate professor of archival studies at the University of Tartu, describes the difficulties suffered on the way by the Estonian citizens who were forcibly deported to Siberia in March 1949. The March deportations were carried out based on the USSR Council of Ministers 1949 Decree No 390-138ss, pursuant to which 22,500 persons had to be deported from Estonia and a total of 87,000 from the three Baltic States together. They were labelled "kulaks," "bandits," "nationalists" etc. and included the elderly and children. The article is published in cooperation with the CommunistCrimes portal.

26.03.21 OPINION ... The whole world is making efforts to keep schools virus-free during the coronavirus period. We have also launched relevant discussions and activity planning. While this should have been done last summer, it is better late than never, Liina Kersna writes.

26.03.21 OPINION ... Cancel culture is nothing short of castrating history, while it is about more than that. It is also a threat to free society because its goal is not to find the best solution or the truth but rather to reinforce a particular ideology by limiting information and aggressively condemning attitudes that are out of favor. Efforts to chancel history have now arrived in Estonia, Jaak Valge writes.

23.03.21 OPINION ... I believe we should allow the movement of people who are fully immunized or have recovered from the virus. False solidarity that would see everyone locked up until every single man, woman and child is vaccinated might sound beautiful as a slogan but is useless in real life, Indrek Kiisler finds in Vikerraadio daily comment.

23.03.21 OPINION ... When developing state e-services, one should not narrowly concentrate on users of specific services and look at e-service interest groups on a much broader scale. We need a bigger picture of state information system target groups and their need to exchange data, Kuldar Taveter writes.

23.03.21 OPINION ... Politicians' use of social media and in particular Facebook to make important announcements has been blamed for causing public confusion, ERR's online news in Estonian reports.

21.03.21 OPINION ... The Reform Party made constant efforts to demonstrate that the approach of Jüri Ratas' government to solving the crisis was misguided. Why then is [Prime Minister] Kaja Kallas resorting to almost identical measures and restrictions today? Turning the crisis into an object of political point-scoring has failed for all parties, Tõnis Saarts says in Vikerraadio daily comment.

20.03.21 OPINION ... Maintaining focus, doubling down on the concept of deterrence and promoting solidarity are all key if both NATO and the EU are to succeed in defending themselves against Estonia's eastern neighbor in any sense of the phrase, defense minister Kalle Laanet (Reform) writes. Meanwhile in concrete terms, both air and maritime defense are as important as ever.

18.03.21 OPINION ... One's center substituted by a jacket, values by vague and often misfiring political instinct, goals by talking points and opinions by slogans. Eero Epner analyzes the phenomenon of former PM, incoming Riigikogu speaker Jüri Ratas.

17.03.21 OPINION ... The coronavirus crisis that has now lasted for over a year has hurt the income of many families. It is time to table the Reform Party's 2019 Riigikogu elections promise of abolishing kindergarten place fees, Züleyxa Izmailova writes.

17.03.21 OPINION ... We have plotted a clear course in the European Union for strengthening Europe's digital sovereignty and laying down our own standards instead of copying others. The plan is to invest in ultra-high-speed internet links and develop super processing of big data to create innovative solutions for medicine, transport and the environment, Siim Kallas says in a speech delivered in the Riigikogu.

16.03.21 OPINION ... It is high time to plan public transport based on people's needs and give new meaning to its role and nature. Now, when a recent National Audit Office report proposes weighing additional solutions next to regular bus lines in sparsely populated areas, is the time to think about transport on demand.

14.03.21 OPINION ... One cannot hang out in supermarkets, children are not allowed to go to school or sports fans return to gym. The good old 2+2 is back and social drinking in an upscale restaurant has been replaced with the nostalgic combo of kitchen vodka and a sleeveless shirt, Kaupo Meiel writes.

12.03.21 OPINION ... The gender wage gap cannot be abolished overnight and it takes time to create a sustainable pay framework, Ülle Matt writes.

12.03.21 OPINION ... Estonian IT solutions are like pre-industrial revolution manufacturing where everything was made by hand which took a lot of time and effort. The coronavirus crisis has cast light on the lack of convenient and functional IT solutions in healthcare, and nothing has changed over the past year, ERR journalist Merilin Pärli writes.

10.03.21 OPINION ... One of the more important tasks of leaders is to keep in check the human irrationality of themselves and their organization when making decisions. Especially in crisis situations such as the one we have today. This is where the government has made the biggest mistakes under Kaja Kallas' stewardship, Rannar Vassiljev writes.

10.03.21 OPINION ... For me, Women's Day is not just a day for women but one for pondering the interaction of men and women in general. Standing up for women's rights is not a goal in itself as balanced societies are simply more efficient, Mari-Liis Jakobson finds in Vikerraadio's daily comment.

08.03.21 OPINION ... There will be a great battle for Narva this time around, journalist Toomas Sildam writes in his weekly comment, looking ahead to looming local government council elections.

07.03.21 OPINION ... It is possible for work to progress slowly in a situation where it is impossible to plan. Family doctors have now spent two months trying to administer vaccines that are almost nonexistent. While there are some in certain places and too many in others, with not enough here and there, Karmen Joller writes.

07.03.21 OPINION ... Raul Rebane makes five proposals for handling coronavirus problems in Vikerraadio's daily comment. If you see a person in a public space or on public transport without a mask, point it out and do not be afraid, Rebane recommends.

03.03.21 OPINION ... Russian-speaking people are not more receptive to propaganda than Estonians. A Russian-speaking resident also needs thorough, diverse, balanced and knowledge-based as opposed to propagandist information, Ragne Kõuts-Klemm writes.

03.03.21 OPINION ... While the Reform Party's intention of limiting freedom of speech might be aimed at reducing social conflict, it entails too many dangers. Every public and private conversation will be given a much more rigid frame, Cornelia Kangur and Karl Sander Kase write.

03.03.21 OPINION ... Those on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis should not have to work with tools and methods from the previous century and should be able to concentrate on helping people in the crisis, family doctor Diana Ingerainen writes.

01.03.21 OPINION ... European Union rules and agreements do not ensure sufficient and sensible cooperation of member states in critical moments and there is a considerable risk that vital crises will boil down to the principle of "every man for himself," Jaak Aaviksoo writes.

28.02.21 OPINION ... Andres Tarand was among the first prime ministers of re-independent Estonia and his courage to do the right thing at the right time helped lay the foundation of the country's success story. A person is not raised to be an exemplary prime minister and has their own quirks from way back when, Tarand cheerfully says in an interview to Diplomaatia and ERR.

28.02.21 OPINION ... My wish is for Estonia to remain as open as possible during the coronavirus period. We managed to take care for a long time, while we have let ourselves go now that overcoming the virus is within our reach, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas writes on the eve of entry into force of new coronavirus measures.

26.02.21 NEWS ... The heads of the foreign affairs committees at the British and Lithuanian parliaments, Tom Tugendhat and Žygimantas Pavilionis, have written about the strong links between the UK, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and how they will not be damaged by Brexit.

22.02.21 OPINION ... The coronavirus epidemiological situation is grave, the virus is still highly potent and it is propagating widely, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform) told the Riigikogu Monday, ahead of the national holiday marking independence day on February 24, and on the same day a new round of restrictions came into force. While stress and fatigue with restrictions arae on the up, over time, there is more reason to be hopeful than before, she added, in the speech which follows in its entirety.

21.02.21 OPINION ... The superiority of the intellectual aristocracy and experts and the plurality of opinion in the digital age do not mix. This fundamental controversy has people confused, Tõnis Saarts finds in Vikerraadio's daily comment.

21.02.21 OPINION ... Vaccination is a personal decision. We cannot force anyone to be inoculated using a particular vaccine. That said, immunization of teachers is important from the point of view of schools, students and parents and helps ensure continued studies until the end of the school year," Tallinn Deputy Mayor Vadim Belobrovtsev writes.