The Riigikogu passed the new law on Wednesday. 60 members voted in favor. 4 members were against. 19 members did not vote.
The law changes military service. It allows more people to participate in defense work. For example, reservists and civilians can now do more.
The new law also creates voluntary service. This means reservists can temporarily work in the defense forces.
Conscripts can now participate in international naval operations. For this, they must complete training.
President Karis was dissatisfied with the previous law. He believed it was unfair. There was an issue with language proficiency requirements in the law.
The president said everyone must contribute to national defense. If some are exempt, it must be fair.
The Riigikogu took the president's remarks into account. They removed the language proficiency requirement from this law. They will create a separate law only for language proficiency.
The National Defense Committee believes conscripts should know Estonian at an intermediate level. But this should be in a separate law.