President of Estonia on church situation: I don't like labeling

President of Estonia Alar Karis. Photo: delfi

According to President Alar Karis, in Estonia, labels are being attached to everything too easily. As he said in an interview with Eesti Ekspress, this is a way to silence society.

"I don't know what's in the minds of the nuns of the Pühtitsa Convent, what they think. But I don't like labeling. In a sense, it's a way to silence society," said Karis, commenting on the statement by the new Minister of Internal Affairs Igor Taro, that the nuns of the Pühtitsa Convent, who brought their complaint to Toompea, were motivated by a desire to oppose the Estonian state and portray themselves as oppressed. Taro also threatened the nuns with revocation of their residence permits.

In his interview, the president noted that because of such labels, people stop participating in public life. "If I say something, reject a law, and I'm labeled as a Kremlin agent, well, I'll survive. But many people withdraw into themselves. And simply don't want to participate in public life anymore. Just because of these labels," he emphasized.

As reported by the UOJ, President Karis twice vetoed a law aimed against the Estonian Christian Orthodox Church.

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