Hussar returns Reinsalu inquiry on ammunition contracts

Estonian Parliament Speaker Lauri Hussar has returned an interpellation addressed to Prime Minister Kristen Michal about the Defence Forces’ ammunition brokerage contracts, recommending that the questions be submitted during the parliament’s information hour, ERR reported.

Isamaa leader Urmas Reinsalu sent the interpellation to Hussar, who represents the Estonia 200 party. Reinsalu said he had submitted it to Michal on Monday.

Reinsalu asked whether the government had discussed the ammunition brokerage contracts, what oversight Michal considered necessary as prime minister when problems emerged, and whether the defence minister had informed him about the contracts.

He also asked whether Michal believed that any laws had been violated or that actions conflicting with administrative rules had taken place in arranging the contracts.

In his response to Reinsalu, Hussar said he was returning the interpellation and suggested submitting the questions as a written question to the minister or as a question during the parliament’s information hour.

Hussar said an interpellation assumes that a member of parliament believes there is a problem related to compliance with legislation that should be discussed publicly in a parliamentary sitting, for example because something was not done or was not done properly.

If the purpose is to obtain information about a specific issue within the addressee’s authority, such as the state of affairs, figures, background information or a description of the actual situation, a written question should be submitted, Hussar said. If the aim is to open a broader discussion without the restrictions applying to interpellations, a question during the information hour is the appropriate format, he added.

Reinsalu said he had been able to put questions to Michal on Wednesday. He said he had asked when Michal, as prime minister, learned about the problems with the ammunition brokerage contracts.

According to Reinsalu, Michal confirmed that he learned about them at the same time as the Estonian public. Reinsalu said this had seriously surprised him, particularly because, according to information submitted to him, the Internal Security Service had already been contacted in 2024.

Reinsalu added that Michal had also been unable to explain what had actually happened based on the information available to him and why payments to Datasel had continued.