Michal offers defence minister post to former military chief Herem

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal has informally offered the post of defence minister to former Defence Forces commander Martin Herem, Herem confirmed to ERR.

Herem said the position came up in a conversation with Michal outside the recording of the prime minister’s podcast. He described the offer as an invitation to consider the role rather than a direct request to take it, adding that Michal likely had other candidates as well.

“Was I offered the job? Essentially, yes. But essentially it was more about considering it, not ‘come on, become minister,’” Herem said.

Herem said he would be outside Estonia next week and planned to continue with his current activities. He also said he had no ambition to become a minister.

“I do not want to be a minister. I have already developed the Estonian state and will continue doing so,” Herem said. He added that he would need to seriously consider why he should take the post instead of continuing to contribute to the state in his current role.

“Am I ready to be a minister? No. Does Estonia need to be saved? Yes, it does. Do I have to do that at this level? I am not sure,” Herem said.

Herem defends risk-taking over inaction

Discussing the shell deal that has caused a scandal, Herem said that taking risks was necessary in the current situation.

“No one else will do these things for Estonia. Estonia has helped Ukraine a great deal by taking risks,” Herem said, adding that doing nothing could ultimately be worse than taking action and possibly failing.

Herem said he did not believe there had been corruption in the deal, and was not particularly critical of the choice of a company whose background had raised questions. He said officials involved had made decisions worth hundreds of millions of euros and had mostly been successful.

“Ukraine must be helped. The risk is that people die in Ukraine because you do not dare take risks to avoid losing money in a transaction,” Herem said.

Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur announced on Wednesday that he would resign. He had held the post since 2022.

On Tuesday, the Prosecutor’s Office opened criminal proceedings to investigate the administrative area of the Ministry of Defence, concerning circumstances addressed in this year’s and last year’s audits by the National Audit Office. No one has been presented with a suspicion of a crime.

It emerged on Wednesday that Estonia had sought to buy shells for Ukraine and paid a total of 70 million euros in advance to Indian companies that had allegedly never previously sold a shell.

Michal said at a government press conference on Thursday that, despite speculation that Reform Party secretary Kristo Enn Vaga could become the next defence minister, he would remain in his current post and would not take the defence portfolio. He said the Reform Party would discuss its new ministerial candidate next week.