Estonian Interior Minister, who lobbied for the law banning the Estonian Orthodox Church, loses his post

The head of the Estonian Social Democratic Party, Lauri Läänemets, who actively lobbied for the law banning the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, has lost his post as head of the Ministry of the Interior due to the collapse of the government coalition. Minister of the Interior Lauri Laenemets will be replaced by Foreign Minister Margus Tahkna. This was reported by Postimees.ee.

It is reported that on Monday, March 10, the coalition council met to discuss the government crisis in Estonia. The Social Democratic Party, Esti 200 and the Reform Party had to decide whether they would continue to work together. At 13:15, the head of the Social Democrats, Lauri Laenemets, walked out of the Stenbok building and told reporters: “It’s done!”; this meant that the Social Democrats were kicked out of the coalition.

Shortly afterward, Prime Minister Kristen Michal announced at a press conference that government reform was underway: “For a long time, there was a situation in which two parties were on the right and one was on the left. At a time when decisions need to be made, you cannot go back and forth endlessly and revise them. You have to make a decision and move on.”

Thus, Lauri Laenemets lost his position as the head of the Estonian Ministry of the Interior. He will be replaced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic, Margus Tahkna.

Earlier, Lauri Läänemets actively lobbied for amendments to the Law on Churches and Parishes to restrict the activities of the Estonian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). Läänemets believes that Orthodoxy in Estonia should not be under the authority of the Moscow Patriarch, but, according to him, no one will be closed after the law is passed.