The leader of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party (EKRE), who recently joined a new coalition government in the Baltic country following a populist breakthrough in national elections, has vowed to oppose further centralisation in the European Union.
“I don’t see a reason for ‘ever closer union’ and I don’t support deeper integration in the EU in general,” said Martin Helme, who campaigned against Estonia’s accession to the bloc in the early 2000s.
“We should first do what we have agreed and not focus on finding new ways of integration or deepening integration,” added the 43-year-old, who serves as Minister of Finance in the new government, alongside EKRE chairman and founder Mart Helme — his father — as Minister of the Interior.
Trump’s tougher round-two birthright citizenship strategy hinges on key legal distinction, experts say
Appeals court delivers unsettling ruling — and says Supreme Court left it no choice
‘Tony’ is an annoying, unimpressive biopic of Anthony Bourdain
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott moves to cut state funding for AI-powered Flock cameras amid privacy concerns
WATCH: Wanted man escapes cops twice by running onto freeway, then walks into their Panda Express lunch
Nashville airport could be renamed in honor of Dolly Parton
NYC Judge Frees Man Accused of Shooting Service Dog of Woman with Down Syndrome While Attempting to Kill Man
Big Bend border wall construction pause extended to September
DOJ Arrests Honduran Man Accused of Taking Advantage of California’s Weak Election Laws
Bryan Kohberger seeks judge’s removal in escalating bid to undo guilty plea
At March on Washington, an urgent plea for black voters to turn out in the midterm elections
LGBTQ group reveals which Dem nominee is sponsoring Halloween event featuring drag shows
3-Time Pro-Bowl Running Back Josh Jacobs Is Facing Criminal Charges
Right-Wing Provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos Detained by ICE in Louisiana: Report
Appeals court denies Peter Navarro bid to rehear contempt challenge: ‘Always headed to Supreme Court’
Estonia: Anti-Mass Migration National Populists Join New Coalition Govt https://t.co/vlmYbJgP08
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 29, 2019
EKRE’s elevation to the Estonian government is another brick out of the wall for the so-called European project, aimed at gradually integrating the member-states of the European Union along federal lines, similar to the United States of America.
Left-neoliberal commentators experienced particular consternation when the Helmes threw up Trump-style “OK” hand signs when they were sworn into office — as much of the mainstream media have been successfully trolled into believing that it is a covert signal for “white power” by users of the 4chan image board.
Trump’s tougher round-two birthright citizenship strategy hinges on key legal distinction, experts say
Appeals court delivers unsettling ruling — and says Supreme Court left it no choice
‘Tony’ is an annoying, unimpressive biopic of Anthony Bourdain
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott moves to cut state funding for AI-powered Flock cameras amid privacy concerns
WATCH: Wanted man escapes cops twice by running onto freeway, then walks into their Panda Express lunch
Nashville airport could be renamed in honor of Dolly Parton
NYC Judge Frees Man Accused of Shooting Service Dog of Woman with Down Syndrome While Attempting to Kill Man
Big Bend border wall construction pause extended to September
DOJ Arrests Honduran Man Accused of Taking Advantage of California’s Weak Election Laws
Bryan Kohberger seeks judge’s removal in escalating bid to undo guilty plea
At March on Washington, an urgent plea for black voters to turn out in the midterm elections
LGBTQ group reveals which Dem nominee is sponsoring Halloween event featuring drag shows
3-Time Pro-Bowl Running Back Josh Jacobs Is Facing Criminal Charges
Right-Wing Provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos Detained by ICE in Louisiana: Report
Appeals court denies Peter Navarro bid to rehear contempt challenge: ‘Always headed to Supreme Court’
Martin Helme told Britain’s Financial Times he would continue to use the gesture as a sign of defiance to “left-wing radicals who want to hijack language.”
He also defended a previous statement that “What is racist in Europe nowadays is the replacement of indigenous people. That is pure racism,” as well as negative comments on African immigration which he said had been “taken out of context.”
“I am not a racist. People who refuse to participate in collective national suicide through immigration are labelled racist,” Helme insisted.
“We don’t want to be replaced in Estonia with foreigners,” he elaborated in another interview.
“[It] does not make any difference whether they are from Ukraine or from Nigeria… They are not Estonians.”
POLITICO: EU Free Movement Drains Little Latvia of One-Fifth of Its Population #MassEmigration https://t.co/g21rW1FXFr
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 7, 2018
Trump’s tougher round-two birthright citizenship strategy hinges on key legal distinction, experts say
Appeals court delivers unsettling ruling — and says Supreme Court left it no choice
‘Tony’ is an annoying, unimpressive biopic of Anthony Bourdain
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott moves to cut state funding for AI-powered Flock cameras amid privacy concerns
WATCH: Wanted man escapes cops twice by running onto freeway, then walks into their Panda Express lunch
Nashville airport could be renamed in honor of Dolly Parton
NYC Judge Frees Man Accused of Shooting Service Dog of Woman with Down Syndrome While Attempting to Kill Man
Big Bend border wall construction pause extended to September
DOJ Arrests Honduran Man Accused of Taking Advantage of California’s Weak Election Laws
Bryan Kohberger seeks judge’s removal in escalating bid to undo guilty plea
At March on Washington, an urgent plea for black voters to turn out in the midterm elections
LGBTQ group reveals which Dem nominee is sponsoring Halloween event featuring drag shows
3-Time Pro-Bowl Running Back Josh Jacobs Is Facing Criminal Charges
Right-Wing Provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos Detained by ICE in Louisiana: Report
Appeals court denies Peter Navarro bid to rehear contempt challenge: ‘Always headed to Supreme Court’
The EKRE leader’s past comments, while blunt to the point of insensitivity by the standards of Western Europe, might be better understood in the wider context of the Baltic states’ dire demographic situation.
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania all have very small populations hovering around 1-3 million — including sizeable Russian minorities transplanted to their countries by Communist regimes while they were subsumed in the Soviet Union, to better erode their sense of national identity.
Since they joined the European Union and acceded to its Free Movement pact, all have experienced mass emigration crises — with Lithuania being literally decimated by the outflow of some 12 per cent of the population over just ten years, for example — threatening their very existence as viable nation-states over the long term.
Story cited here.
