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Estonian Minister of the Interior, Mart Helme. Photo by Andras Kralla, Scanpix.
Estonian Interior Minister Mart Helme announced his resignation on Monday. The minister made the decision after his remarks about allegedly rigged US presidential elections, which caused great outrage in the ruling coalition.
“Last night, seeing the slander and lies in the Estonian media, I decided to resign,” Helme said.
“The reason is very simple: no one can shut me up,” Helme said. “I say what I think is right, what is in my heart.”
“In order not to jeopardize our referendum, I have decided to resign,” he said, referring to the referendum on the definition of marriage scheduled for next spring, on which the leaders of Estonia’s ruling coalition signed a joint statement last month.
“I have done nothing to endanger the security of Estonia,” Helme said after warning Estonian Defense Minister Yuri Luik that the United States was helping Estonia ensure the country’s security.
Helme added that she would continue to work in parliament.
On Sunday, Helme and his son, Finance Minister Martin Helme, vice chairman and chairman of the far-right Eurosceptic Estonian Conservative People’s Party (EKRE), said on the radio that the US elections were rigged and that the winner, Joe Biden, he was corrupt.
“I don’t think there is any doubt that this election was rigged,” Martin Helme said.
“If it is successful, if Trump is removed, the Constitution of the United States will no longer be valid,” he said.
Mart Helme claimed that the “deep state” helped Biden win and called the president-elect “corrupt nonsense,” but did not provide any facts to support his claims.
VŽ explains that proponents of the deep state conspiracy theory believe that American politics is governed by a deep state with the goal of overthrowing Trump, allegedly threatening and slandering famous Trump critics, businesses and politicians.
Defense Secretary Luik said the comments “undermine Estonia’s security and could worsen relations between the United States and Estonia.”
“Given the geopolitical situation in Estonia, our relationship with the United States is vital,” the minister was quoted as saying by public broadcaster ERR.
According to Luik, the EKRE president and vice-president’s comments “definitely” violated the ruling coalition’s agreement.
K. Kajulaid: This is an attack on Estonian democracy and security
Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid said she would convene the Defense Council in the coming days to discuss the speech by the Interior and Finance ministers.
“The verbal attack on the newly elected US president by the Estonian Minister of Finance and the Interior Minister today is an attack on Estonian democracy and security,” the president said in a statement on Sunday.
Kaljulaid warned that these statements could ruin relations with allies on whom Estonia’s security depends.
Both Estonian President and Prime Minister Yuri Rat congratulated Biden on his electoral victory.
Since 2019, a coalition government of the Center Party, EKRE and the conservative Isamaa (Homeland) party has operated in Estonia.
The United States is providing security assistance to Estonia, as well as a NATO Center of Excellence for Cyber Defense and a NATO Front led by Britain.
Mart Helme’s homophobic comments, published in October, displeased many politicians and public figures, as well as sparking a crisis within the ruling coalition itself. Prime Minister J. Ratas criticized the statements of the head of the Interior Ministry, and opposition leaders demanded the minister’s resignation. A little later, the prime minister said that the government crisis was over.
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