Estonia, a small country next door to Russia, can be praised for its good contribution to Ukraine and its curt statements towards Russia. Still, some strange things are going on in Estonia that I would like to explore a little in this story. The Reform Party leads this small country under Kaja Kallas. She has been praised in foreign media for her position in Russia.
Like many other parties, the Reform Party has had scandals that have resulted in the overthrow of those in power who belong to different parties but not the Reform Party. This is due to the Reform Party’s decades in power in the country, and the entire state apparatus is working in their favor.
One of the most extravagant scandals was the pedophile scandal involving Marko Mihkelson, Member of the Parlament and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Mr Mihkelson had repeatedly photographed the private parts of his underage daughter-in-law, and not inadvertently, and this was proven in court and obtained a court ruling. The father of the girl’s father-in-law demanded that Marko Mihkelson be banned from physical contact with his daughter, i.e., that Mihkelson not touch her with a fingertip, but no other punishment was imposed.
The Reform Party, as well as the national media unit, had been aware of this for several years but kept silent and forced others to keep quiet as well, citing the protection of a minor child in the public interest. Eventually, it trickled out, and a nationwide pedophile scandal emerged. Although Marko Mihkelson resigned as head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parlament, he is still a member of the Parlament and one of the leading politicians of the Reform Party. Anyone who dared to address the issue publicly was condemned, and the media muzzled. Even the social media giant Facebook was implicated in the nationwide clampdown.
Any Estonian who dared to express their outrage on Facebook was blocked or had their accounts restricted. In the US, the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was imprisoned, which later led to his suicide. Still, in Eastern Europe, such powerful men are given national protection, and anyone who dares to question their legitimacy is muzzled. The opposition party asked Kaja Kallas in the Parlament. Still, she just waved her hand and said that everything was correct and that she believed in the Estonian judicial and legal system.
Marko Mihkelson’s career and most significant achievements, showing his fundamental importance and influence in the Republic of Estonia:
1993-1994 Editor of the newspaper “Välisuudise”.
1994-2000 Moscow correspondent and editor-in-chief of “News from Moscow”.
2000-2003 Director of the Centre for Baltic Russian Studies
2003-2007 Head of the Estonian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
2011-2019 Head of the Estonian Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and Member of the Delegation
Marko Mihkelson has been a member of the Council of the Baltic Center for Russian Studies, a member of the Council of the Baltic Centre for Russian Studies, a member of the Council of the Estonian Institute for Foreign Policy, a member of the Hippos Equestrian Sports Club, and a member of the North European Intellectual Property Marketing and Development Centre.
Marko Mihkelson is a member of the Council of the International Centre for Defense Studies, the Tallinn Rotary Club, and the Estonian Reserve Officers’ Association (Junior Lieutenant).
Marko Mihkelson was a member of the Valga City Council from 2002 to 2003, the X, XI, XII, and XIII Parliaments, and the XIV Parliament. He was the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament and a member of the Isamaa and Res Publica Union (until 2006, Res Publica) from 2001 until 2017. He has been a member of the Reform Party since 2018.
Mihkelson ran as a candidate for the 10th Parliament in the 11th district (Võru, Valga, and Põlva counties) on the United Republic of Estonia—Res Publica list. He received 1313 votes and was elected to the parliament with a compensatory mandate. He served as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the parliament, serving as its chairman from 2003 to 2005 and vice-chairman from 2005 to 2007.
Mihkelson ran for the 11th Parliament in the 4th district (Harju and Rapla counties) on the Isamaa and Res Publica Union list. He received 2697 votes and was elected to the parliament with a district mandate. In the parliament, he was chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee and a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
In the 12th Parlament elections in 2011, Mihkelson was a candidate on the Isamaa and Res Publica Union list in District 4 (Harju and Rapla counties) and received 3,943 votes. He was 10th on the national list. He was chairman of the foreign affairs committee.
In the 2015 elections to the 13th Parlament, Mihkelson was a candidate on the Isamaa and Res Publica Union list in District 4 (Harju and Rapla counties) and received 2,842 votes. In the Parlament, he was the Chairman of the National Defense Committee from 2015 to 2016 and the Foreign Affairs Committee from 2016 to 2019. In the 2019 elections to the 14th Parlament, he was the candidate of the Estonian Reform Party in the 4th district of the 14th Parlament and was elected with 3,655 votes.
Marko Mihkelson was the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the current Parlament.
In 2004, Mr Mihkelson ran for the European Parliament on the Union for the Republic of Estonia—Res Publica list and received 1361 votes.
In Estonia’s 2014 European Parliament elections, he stood as a candidate on the Isamaa and Res Publica Union party list and obtained 7497 votes.
In 2002, Mihkelson ran as a candidate in the city of Valga’s local elections on the United Republic of Estonia—Res Publica list and was elected to the city council with 216 votes.
In 2005, he stood as a candidate in Viimsi municipality and was elected with 84 votes.
In 2009, he received 318 votes from the same municipality. However, he was not elected to the Viimsi Municipality Council.
In the 2013 local elections in Viimsi municipality, he was a candidate on the Fatherland and Res Publica Union party list, received 206 votes, and was elected to the council.
Marko Mihkelson did not take part in the 2017 local elections.
In the 2021 local elections, Mihkelson stood as a candidate in Viimsi municipality on the list of the Reform Party and received 152 votes. He was registered as an alternate member of Viimsi Municipal Council.
Testimonials
2003 Commander of the Order of Prince Dom Henrique of the Portuguese Republic.
2004 Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
2004 Grand Cross of Commander of the Order of Grand Duke Gediminas of the Republic of Lithuania
2004 Gold Medal of the Estonian Ministry of Defense
2005 Knight Cross of the French National Order of Merit
2006 Order of the White Star IV Class
2009 Officer of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
2011 Order of the Order of the North Star, Second Class, of the Kingdom of Sweden
2012 Commander of the Order of the Three Stars of the Republic of Latvia, III Class
2014 Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland, First Class
2018 Officer of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary
Today, the pedophile scandal has been buried, and it is as if nothing had happened. Marko Mihkelson will stand again in the Estonian Parliament elections on 5 March 2023 as a candidate of the Reform Party.
