Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas found it impossible to discuss the issue of the country’s accession to Russia, reports TASS .
“In my opinion, all Estonian political forces should unequivocally condemn such a proposal,” the politician said on Facebook. “I am sure that the president of the republic will do the same.” Ratas referred to the first paragraph of the Estonian Constitution, which states that Estonia is an independent and sovereign democratic republic, and its people are the bearers of the highest state power.
Deputies of the opposition Reform Party proposed to put the issue of Estonia’s joining Russia to a referendum. In this way, they tried to prevent the holding of a referendum, which could lead to the inclusion of a provision in the country’s Constitution prohibiting same-sex marriage and delimiting the rights of LGBT people. “I made this proposal to draw attention to the absurdity of this referendum on marriage,” explained one of the initiators of the initiative, MP Urmas Kruuse. According to him, he later abandoned this idea.
In December, the Estonian parliament adopted in the first reading a bill on holding a referendum, in which the citizens of the country will have to answer the question whether marriage is a union exclusively of a man and a woman. Members of the ruling coalition believe that this is necessary to protect traditional values. To delay the adoption of the bill in the second reading, representatives of the opposition have proposed more than nine thousand amendments.