Opinion
11.07.26 OPINION ... Back to the roots. Real life. The old new. Call it whatever you want. It does not matter. But something is happening. Quietly in the background, yet increasingly noticeable. What is underway is the normalization of normalcy, Mirjam Mõttus writes.
11.07.26 OPINION ... Reflecting on events 35 years after Estonia's re-independence, Kertu Saks argues that Estonia's greatest source of resilience was the quiet resolve to make calm, decisive choices together in the face of uncertainty.
10.07.26 OPINION ... While a child has the right to both parents and both parents have the right and responsibility to participate in raising their child, problems appear when a sound principle becomes an end in itself, Viktor Turkin writes.
10.07.26 OPINION ... The NATO summit in Ankara may go down in history for the decision that Europe will ultimately take over the alliance's future leadership role from the United States, Peeter Kaldre writes.
10.07.26 OPINION ... The goal of the tax debate should not be to raise taxes until Estonia reaches the European average tax burden, but to ensure a tax system that is as competitive as possible in financing public services, Raul Aron writes. This brings more money into the country and increases tax revenue.
09.07.26 OPINION ... Let's stop experimenting with half-finished solutions and instead develop a long-term, cross-party plan to reorganize Tallinn's hospital network, writes Irja Lutsar.
09.07.26 OPINION ... After Max Kaur's removal as mayor, Kohtla-Järve's new governing alliance brings together the Koos party, politicians from Estonia's major parties and figures linked to the late local oligarch Nikolai Ossipenko, Erik Gamzejev finds.
08.07.26 OPINION ... Estonia's classical music sector needs more transparent hiring practices, stronger safeguards against conflicts of interest and workplace misconduct and greater openness to new ideas if it is to remain competitive internationally, writes Ingrit Malleus.
07.07.26 OPINION ... Efforts to influence drivers' behavior should not rely on covert surveillance or the fear of fines. Rather than penalizing drivers for minor mistakes, authorities should focus more on those who drive with willful disregard for safety and repeat offenders, Imre Kaas writes.
07.07.26 OPINION ... Following political debate in Russia is a hobby of rather questionable value, because at times you have to check that you yourself aren't starting to lose your mind, writes Argo Ideon.
06.07.26 OPINION ... Covering or removing a Soviet-era decoration is not destruction. Placing it in a museum is not destruction either, writes Maarja Vaino.
06.07.26 OPINION ... Estonia should establish a legal framework allowing AI agents, or kratts, to act on behalf of individuals and businesses while ensuring clear accountability, security and data protection, writes Liisa Pakosta.
03.07.26 OPINION ... Estonia's technical education is improving and young people's interest is rising quickly, but this must be matched by employers' effort — companies must take responsibility for ensuring that motivated, trained young people find their place in industry. Otherwise Estonia will remain stuck at Europe's middle‑income level, writes Andri Haran.
03.07.26 OPINION ... In his background‑talk series, Harri Tiido this time examines the ways people look toward the future.
01.07.26 OPINION ... Over the past two weeks, we have seen that it is not the politicians of parliamentary parties — whose job it is — who are worried about a looming collapse in state finances, but rather civil servants from Eesti Pank and the Ministry of Finance, who are debating the sustainability of Estonia's public finances in the media. Something is very wrong with this picture, says Andrus Kaarelson.
30.06.26 OPINION ... Nest drones could provide the next major leap forward for the Police and Border Guard Board and the Rescue Board by enabling faster and smarter emergency response, writes Veiko Randlaine.
30.06.26 OPINION ... Georgia is a good example of how tourists and tourism live in one world while the daily life of locals exists in another, writes Aimar Ventsel.
29.06.26 OPINION ... National Opera Estonia council chair Ivari Ilja says the problems facing the opera house have developed over an extended period, and their main cause is the theater's consistently lagging funding.
29.06.26 OPINION ... The problem with AI agents was never their identity. It is authorization and attribution — what the thing may do and who answers when it does it, writes Peeter P. Mõtsküla.
27.06.26 OPINION ... Estonia's culture funding debate misses a fundamental issue. If the current system leaves orchestras, museums, magazines and artists perpetually underfunded, perhaps the problem is not simply a lack of resources, but the way those resources are allocated, writes Scott Diel, originally in Edasi.
26.06.26 OPINION ... Estonia does not need a president who can be everything at once, but an institution that helps keep our constitutional order in balance when the world around us is not, Mari-Liis Jakobson writes.
26.06.26 OPINION ... The era of the U.S.-established Pax Americana, which lasted 80 years, is over. If Europe, now lagging behind the U.S. and China in technology, wants to remain competitive, it needs a whole series of economic reforms, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said.
25.06.26 OPINION ... Seventy days remain until the presidential election in the Riigikogu after the Midsummer holidays, and by law there are 61 days left until deadline to submit candidates. This is an extremely short period and it is hard to see anything good in it, writes Argo Ideon.
25.06.26 OPINION ... Commander of the Estonian Defense League Ilmar Tamm said in his Victory Day speech that young people must be shown they have an important role to play in shaping Estonia's future, including in AI-based defense systems.
24.06.26 OPINION ... President Alar Karis said in his Victory Day parade speech in Rapla that Estonia's national defense has become dramatically stronger over the past five years.
22.06.26 OPINION ... The Reform Party's values are shifting. From a once liberal and at least rhetorically progressive party, it is becoming one that increasingly imitates rightwing populism, MP Züleyxa Izmailova writes.
20.06.26 OPINION ... Nine months before the next parliamentary elections, it appears that Estonian voters are more willing to accept reduced social security and growing inequality than higher taxes or a substantial overhaul of the current tax system, Tõnis Saarts says.
19.06.26 OPINION ... If we want Estonia to remain a country with an engineering, technology and knowledge‑based economy, we must help young people see STEM subjects not as a gate that closes but as a door that opens opportunities, Tiit Land writes.
19.06.26 OPINION ... This time, the background discussion focus on climate change. Scientists say that we are closer than expected to a so‑called point of no return, after which global warming becomes uncontrollable, notes Harri Tiido.
18.06.26 OPINION ... Estonia wants to attract more international online casinos. Tax revenue is welcome, but if the market grows much faster than oversight, the risk is that society and players will end up paying the bill, writes Kilvar Kessler.
18.06.26 OPINION ... The President of Estonia could launch a sculpture initiative that would result in an unprecedented exhibition. This would broaden people's understanding and taste in art and enrich public spaces with new attractions, writes Rein Sikk.
16.06.26 OPINION ... In the background series, this time the focus is on Nicholas Wade's views on politics and evolution. The rules of evolution are aimed at ensuring the survival of human groups and do not care about happiness or freedom, Tiido notes.
16.06.26 OPINION ... Western leaders are asking the wrong question about Russia. It is not how to negotiate with the Kremlin or deter a future attack, but how to ensure Moscow is defeated in its war against Ukraine so that aggression no longer appears to be a viable strategy, writes Marko Mihkelson, originally in Edasi.
15.06.26 OPINION ... Roadmaps and coalition agreements are not legally binding and if they become a back door for circumventing the policymaking process in a state governed by the rule of law, the result is undemocratic and amounts to poor governance, Külli Taro finds.
15.06.26 OPINION ... The perception of young people as passive is often linked less to an actual lack of participation than to the way they are portrayed in public debate, Evelina Allas writes.
14.06.26 OPINION ... History teaches us that crimes left unpunished give rise to new crimes, Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) said on the 85th anniversary of the June deportation of Estonians to Siberia by the USSR.
13.06.26 OPINION ... Estonia's opposition parties are likely headed for an easy win in the next elections, but the price of that easy victory may be that governing later becomes difficult, notes Martin Mölder.
12.06.26 OPINION ... The purchasing power of pensions has increased significantly over time and will continue to grow, but the main challenge will be whether pensions can keep up with the living standards of working-age people and how many risks we leave to be borne by a single pillar, write Uku Varblane and Magnus Piirits.
12.06.26 NEWS ... Studying controversial topics can help schoolchildren separate facts from propaganda, two education experts said.
12.06.26 OPINION ... If we want to reduce Russia's ability to continue its aggression against Ukraine, we must close all loopholes that allow its war industry to access the materials it needs, writes Margus Tsahkna.
12.06.26 OPINION ... The initiative by Europe's major powers — the so-called E3 of the United Kingdom, France and Germany — to open a political dialogue with Russia should make us very cautious, despite the fact that it is also supported by Finland and Ukraine, Raimond Kaljulaid writes.
12.06.26 OPINION ... In this background piece, history and the present are examined with the help of Odd Arne Westad. One alarming similarity to a hundred years ago is the accumulation of mutual accusations among great powers — particularly in relations between the United States and China, Harri Tiido notes.
12.06.26 OPINION ... The many opinions expressed about Alma Ostra-Oinas' equestrian monument provide an opportunity for a broader discussion about what we remember from our history and how we talk about it, writes Piret Karro-Arrak.
11.06.26 OPINION ... The fate of several Russian influencers shows that, in Russia, even loyalty to the country's imperialist ideology and sharing the Kremlin's contempt for the West and Ukraine does not protect bloggers from repression, writes Argo Ideon.
11.06.26 OPINION ... If the government authorizes an agency or the Defense Forces to make decisions affecting press freedom, who actually makes those decisions, asks Hans Väre.
10.06.26 OPINION ... The current regime in Moscow aims to restore an empire — more precisely, the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union — but Russia appears to be acting almost deliberately foolishly, damaging relations with countries where it seeks to maintain its influence, writes Peeter Kaldre.
10.06.26 OPINION ... People expect the Riigikogu to make decisions. If the Reform Party opposes freeing hens from cages, it would be fair to demonstrate that opposition in a parliamentary vote, writes Juhan Kivirähk.
10.06.26 OPINION ... This time, the background discussion series looks at Stephen Heintz's views on the future. Heintz selected 12 concepts rooted in past thinking and proposed alternatives to them — a new approach, writes Harri Tiido.
09.06.26 OPINION ... While economic policy does not directly treat mental health problems, it can create conditions in which people have jobs, homes, prospects for the future and a sense that they have a place in society, Merle Raun writes.
09.06.26 OPINION ... History, along with language and customs, is what makes a people a people. It is the reason one cannot simply become a member of another nation overnight: what is lacking is historical perspective, a collectively experienced history, writes Maarja Vaino.