Inquiry Regarding Population Decline (No. 758)
Session: 15th Riigikogu, 5th session, plenary session
Date: 2025-06-09 21:12
Participating Politicians:
Total Speeches: 48
Membership: 15
Agenda Duration: 1h 2m
AI Summaries: 48/48 Speeches (100.0%)
Analysis: Structured Analysis
Politicians Speaking Time
Politicians
Analysis
Summary
Under agenda item three, the interpellation submitted by Lauri Laats and other members of the Riigikogu to the Prime Minister on April 23, 2025, regarding population decline (interpellation no. 758) was discussed. The scope of the demographic crisis, its impact on the economy and the future of Estonia, and recommended cooperation between different sectors to deal with population problems in the future were raised. In addition, the interplay between encouraging birth rates and the impacts of imported/population influences in the context of population changes was examined, and reference was made to several specific measures.
Decisions Made 1
The agenda item’s proceedings were concluded without any decisions being made. Responses to the inquiry were targeted, and further discussion will continue as needed, but no specific decisions regarding legal or financial authority were made during this session.
Most Active Speaker
The most active speaker was Lauri Laats (id 5VNfkRwGZMI), a member of the Centre Party. His remarks and questions focused on demographics and population decline, and he was prepared to offer specific observations and proposals. He can be positioned as "other" (centre-left/centrism, but with no references to the direct right/Western right), but his presentation remains a distinctive focus on demographic issues within the context of coalitions and factions.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
This address concerns the interpellation (No. 758) submitted to the Prime Minister by Riigikogu members Lauri Laats and colleagues on April 23, 2025, regarding the decline in population.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats said that the abolition of the tax hump is wrong, arguing that it should have been allowed to progress over time, shifting the hump in line with wage growth, rather than being eliminated. He also emphasized the demographic crisis as the country's main concern—specifically citing the falling population, the declining birth rate, and the cuts to family benefits—issues to which the government has not adequately responded and which require concrete solutions from the prime minister.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Speaker Toomas Kivimägi thanks you, confirms the Prime Minister's complete readiness for the debate, and says that now is your opportunity.
Peaminister Kristen Michal
AI Summary
Prime Minister Kristen Michal stated that the government is tackling the problem of population decline through six key areas: family policy and support, reconciling work and family life, housing policy, health policy, education, and shaping attitudes and values. Solution proposals are being developed, including the quickest measure: a 100-euro reduction in the annual motor vehicle tax for every minor child. At the same time, he emphasized a conservative immigration policy and the analysis of the long-term impact of demographic changes.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Toomas Kivimägi offered his thanks and announced that Lauri Laats would begin the round of questions.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats pointed out that the first phase of the family policy for 2025–2027 promises a free kindergarten spot starting from the age of one and a half, but no concrete steps have been taken, and he is asking how its implementation is moving forward.
Peaminister Kristen Michal
AI Summary
Prime Minister Kristen Michal stated that there should be no tuition fee for early childhood education. He also expressed a desire to cut city government spending and redirect the saved funds to kindergartens, stressing that higher education is already free, and voiced his hope that Tallinn will be able to achieve this goal.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Speaker Toomas Kivimägi calls upon Jaak Valge.
Jaak Valge
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Jaak Valge notes that the examples of Magnetic MRO and Viljandi, as well as the allegedly high family benefits, are inappropriate, and that the MPs have proven this. Furthermore, specialists can be brought in without limit if they are paid 1.5 times the average salary, but when indirect subsidies are taken into account, Estonia falls below the European average, and he understands that he will not manage to answer all the questions.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The Deputy Chairman thanks the colleague and announces that his statement is still forthcoming.
Jaak Valge
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
He asks who is preparing those answers for them and calls for someone to give him a dressing-down.
Peaminister Kristen Michal
AI Summary
Prime Minister Kristen Michal said that Estonia invests heavily in education, and although the war in Ukraine creates uncertainty, increasing defense spending helps give people a sense of security, which he called good news.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Toomas Kivimägi turns to Vadim Belobrovtsev and asks him to speak.
Vadim Belobrovtsev
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Belobrovtsev asserts that while the war in Ukraine is generating fear among the populace, the uncertainty is further exacerbated by the promise made by some ministers that war will come to Estonia.
Peaminister Kristen Michal
AI Summary
Prime Minister Kristen Michal said that silence is not a solution regarding Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, and Estonia is contributing to the country’s defense so that the war can end as quickly as possible and a just, lasting peace can be established, because we must be prepared, not afraid.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Speaker Toomas Kivimägi called upon Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart to speak.
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
He discussed the possibility of free preschool, emphasized that Estonia isn't just Tallinn, and asked how to proceed with this issue nationally and whether the state could also assist smaller municipalities.
Peaminister Kristen Michal
AI Summary
Prime Minister Kristen Michal suggests that Tallinn should make early childhood education free of charge, redirecting funds from inefficient spending currently allocated to kindergartens. He also encourages other local governments to follow suit, citing the example of the Kanepi municipality, while simultaneously questioning why basic and higher education are free in Estonia, but preschool education is not.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Speaker Toomas Kivimägi calls upon Peeter Ernits to speak.
Peeter Ernits
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Peeter Ernits notes, based on a recent seminar, that Estonian women do not want to give birth because they suffer from existential angst and fear, and at least 10% of them have a growing concern, plus they cannot find a suitable man in Estonia to have a child with.
Peaminister Kristen Michal
AI Summary
Prime Minister Kristen Michal stressed that Estonian men should get an education and keep themselves in shape in order to meet the high demands of Estonian women, because the women are truly beautiful and intelligent.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Speaker Toomas Kivimägi thanks [them] for the answer, opens the debate, and invites Jaak Valge to take the floor.
Jaak Valge
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Jaak Valge stresses that Estonia's primary national issue is the low birth rate, and this cannot be solved by mass immigration. Instead, different policies and state support must be implemented, and a working group of 5–7 demographers and economists should be formed. This group would compile a rational policy package and provide momentum for increasing the birth rate, while simultaneously halting mass immigration.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Speaker Toomas Kivimägi encouraged Mr. Valge and offered him three additional minutes.
Jaak Valge
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Jaak Valge warns that the non-return of Ukrainian refugees will deepen demographic problems, and calls for changing the current understanding of job creation—favoring productivity growth and higher value-added jobs. This, he argues, would help solve the population crisis and allow us to depend only on ourselves, rather than external influence.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Speaker Toomas Kivimägi thanks [the previous speaker/assembly] and next gives the floor to colleague Lauri Laats, who is representing the interpellators.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats emphasizes that the decline in the birth rate and population endangers national defense and requires raising the fertility rate to at least 2.1. To achieve this, a stable economic and social environment that values families must be created, drawing inspiration from the practices of France and the Nordic countries (free kindergarten, paternity leave, regional subsidies, stable family benefits, and home loan support).
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Toomas Kivimägi requests three more minutes.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats emphasizes that in order to raise children, we must provide economic security and a nationwide state program (such as free kindergarten), alongside stable, unified tax policies and a shift in societal values, because only then can the birth rate increase.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Toomas Kivimägi thanked.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats emphasized that these were very necessary, and thanked the audience.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The address begins with thanks, and Vadim Belobrovtsev is invited to speak.
Vadim Belobrovtsev
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Vadim Belobrovtsev argues that increasing the birth rate requires three interconnected factors—economic security, a sense of safety, and trust in state support—but the government's harsh rhetoric and the reduction of family benefits create fear and diminish families' desire to have children.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Toomas Kivimägi asks for two more minutes.
Vadim Belobrovtsev
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
The speaker stressed that actions count more than words, and offered the example that waiving kindergarten fees—starting with the third child, then the second, and eventually including families with special needs or those in economic hardship—could pave the way for free kindergarten both in Tallinn and across the country. However, the national demographic commission has been limited in scope and ineffective, so it is hoped that the government will finally start addressing this issue, as the demographic situation is on the brink of crisis.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The Vice-Chair thanks you and invites Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart to take the floor.
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart stresses that the lack of housing affordability for young people, coupled with economic and psychological insecurity, leads to the postponement of having children, which in turn exacerbates Estonia's demographic crisis.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Speaker Toomas Kivimägi requests three additional minutes.
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart stated that single parents—primarily women—are one of the largest groups at risk of poverty and require better support. She criticized the outdated child support and tax policies, raised the necessity of expanding free kindergarten spots nationwide across Estonia, and emphasized that the state must offer assistance to local municipalities for the sake of achieving population policy goals.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The Deputy Speaker thanks [the previous speaker] and invites Peeter Ernits to take the floor.
Peeter Ernits
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Peeter Ernits stresses that Estonia's demographic crisis cannot possibly be solved without restoring political trust, and without that trust, discussing the preservation of the Estonian language and identity is pointless.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The main focus of the speech was expressing gratitude.
Peeter Ernits
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Peeter Ernits believes that the existing picture must be completely shattered, we must start over from scratch, find trustworthy people, and try a different approach, because we cannot continue this way.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Toomas Kivimägi said that they had half a minute, but he thought they were already finished.
Peeter Ernits
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
He finishes up and says that he has nothing more to say, adding that the evening has arrived and the football match is starting soon.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
He/She is asking if they could have one more minute for the call, if that's okay.
Peeter Ernits
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Peeter Ernits calls for optimism and cooperation, emphasizing that the coalition and the opposition must not glare at each other, and that this is a common concern for all of us. He sees the only solution to the current situation as completely shattering the existing framework and starting anew. Finally, he thanks the listeners and notes that football starts soon.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Toomas Kivimägi asked who would win, and announced that the proceedings on the third item on the agenda had been concluded.