Baltic States – CIS, Estonia, Russia

The only decision by an Estonian government was made in 2004 in response to a parliamentary resolution which clearly stated that, based on international law, the occupation of Estonia had caused damage and that the Estonian government must address this issue, Reinsalu said during the parliamentary question time.

No subsequent government had changed this decision, the minister pointed out.

Reinsalu said he would continue dealing with this matter and that as lately as last fall, during the current government's tenure, he had formed an expert committee tasked with clarifying the questions connected with the damages caused by the totalitarian regimes that occupied Estonia.

"The task of the committee is to examine the methods used so far in both Estonia and other countries to assess the population losses as well as economic and environmental damage resulting from the activity of occupying totalitarian regimes and work out recommendations for further steps needed for evaluating the losses," the justice minister said.

According to Reinsalu, Estonia plans to work in close cooperation with Latvia and Lithuania who have advanced farther in the process so that the three countries would have the same methodological basis when claiming compensation for occupation damages.

The justice minister's statement was in response to an interpellation from Estonian Conservative People's Party (EKRE) MPs.