Karis leaves presidency popular, but foreign policy drew scrutiny

Alar Karis was popular with the public, but journalists saw foreign policy as a possible weak point of his presidency, ERR reported as he completed his final week as head of state at Kadriorg. Karis also took a somewhat more active role as a constitutional watchdog than his predecessors, refusing to promulgate 11 laws.

“Sometimes the political desire is so strong that the Constitution is forgotten,” Karis said, adding that he did not regard the number of laws he had sent back as something to boast about. He said it was a cause for concern and argued that the Riigikogu, Estonia’s parliament, should do its work better and examine legislation more thoroughly.

Postimees deputy editor-in-chief Indrek Kiisler said Karis had not come from politics and was therefore not a political “player”. Instead, Kiisler said, the president tried to guide parliament by doing what the office required. Karis also sought to balance the legislature amid confusion, including over laws such as the motor vehicle tax, Kiisler said.

Karis initially refused to promulgate the motor vehicle tax law in 2024, saying it violated the principle of equal treatment. Parliament amended the law, and he signed it six weeks later.

Delfi opinion editor Erik Moora said the debate had wrongly suggested that a tax could have only one purpose. Taxes generally raise revenue, he said, but can also influence consumer behaviour and serve other aims. Moora said he considered it somewhat populist to join criticism portraying the motor vehicle tax as misguided.

The most politically contentious decision was Karis’s veto of a law concerning the church. He asked the Supreme Court to declare it unconstitutional, arguing that it would not bring about a substantive change. Karis said the law and the church’s charter could be amended without severing their connection, and that he had repeatedly urged lawmakers to consider how the law would be implemented.

Podcast editor Tõnis Leht said Karis had not managed to change the approach to the Russian church, but described the president’s criticism as sound and substantive. Leht added that the Supreme Court had taken significant account of arguments made by Karis and his legal adviser. Karis said the matter had now reached a human rights court.

Russia’s full-scale war was the defining event of Karis’s term. He met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy two days before the invasion, later visited Ukraine several times, and also met Zelenskyy at Kadriorg. Karis described his foreign policy style as soft diplomacy.

Moora said Karis’s presidency coincided with a period when then Prime Minister Kaja Kallas received extensive international attention, putting Estonia’s message prominently in the spotlight. He said Karis was inevitably overshadowed. Moora also called false the claim that Karis was uninterested in foreign policy.