[ad_1]
“Last night, seeing the slander and lies of 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 president 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 US Constitution will no longer be valid,” he said.
Mart Helme, for his part, argued that the “deep state” deep state) helped Biden win and called the president-elect a “corrupt scoundrel,” but did not provide any facts to support his claims.
Defense Minister J. Luik stated that these comments “damage the security of Estonia and may worsen relations between the United States and Estonia.”
“Given Estonia’s geopolitical situation, our relationship with the United States is vital,” the minister was quoted as saying by public broadcaster ERR.
According to J.Luikas, the comments of the EKRE president and vice-president “definitely” violated the ruling coalition agreement.
Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid said she would convene the Defense Council in the coming days to discuss the speech of the Interior and Finance ministers.
“The verbal attack against the newly elected US president by the Estonian Finance Minister and the Estonian 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 election 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, 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 resignation of the minister. A little later, the prime minister said that the government crisis was over.
[ad_2]
