President Alar Karis did not promulgate the law requiring conscripts to have Estonian language skills at the B1 level.
In the President's opinion, this would violate the principle of equal treatment. The President discussed the language requirement with the National Defense Committee. The committee chairman Kalev Stoicescu said that they all understand the need for the language requirement.
Stoicescu emphasized that the implementation of the law is a matter for the executive branch. He added that they do not yet know what the final version of the law will look like.
On Tuesday, the National Defense Committee and the Constitutional Committee will discuss whether to adopt the law as is or to amend it. Stoicescu mentioned that one option is to separate the language requirement from the rest of the law and process it separately.
According to Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise, the plan is not in line with the constitution. She explained that the law treats those who do not speak Estonian sufficiently more favorably.
Stoicescu pointed out that there are already several obstacles in military service. He asks why the language requirement differs from other provisions that are in line with the constitution.
National Defense Committee member Peeter Tali said that the language requirement is a military necessity. He emphasized that Estonian cannot be taught from a basic level during conscript service.
Tali suggested that language courses or alternative service could help conscripts with insufficient language skills. He noted that this could be unfair in terms of time.
The Riigikogu adopted a draft in November that requires conscripts to have Estonian language skills at least at the B1 level. The Estonian Defense Resources Agency explained that the requirement is necessary because training is conducted in Estonian.