Estonian Prime Minister Instructed To Deal With Belarusian Oil Transit

• 1.02.2022, 9:03

A scandal is brewing in the country.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has instructed the relevant ministries to find out whether there was a malicious violation of sanctions against Belarus during the transit of oil products from that country through Estonia, reports delfi.ee.

"A serious reproach has been expressed to the state on the subject of enforcing sanctions against Belarus. The situation looks very bad, and I take it very seriously.

A principled foreign policy should be expressed in its implementation at home. If we have agreed on sanctions, we must apply them, and if there are gaps, they should be eliminated. Otherwise we diminish our own credibility and voice in the international arena.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, and the Tax and Customs Department must look into the suspicions in detail. Competent authorities should assess whether there is a deliberate evasion of sanctions or an abuse of legal loopholes.

I called Foreign Minister Eve-Maria Liimets this morning and asked her to bring the subject to a government meeting. The aim is to get to the bottom of the situation as quickly as possible and to find out if sanctions have been violated," the Head of Government has commented on today's article in the Eesti Päevaleht newspaper.

The newspaper reported today that Belarus, which has fallen under EU sanctions, is using Estonia to export record volumes of its oil products.