Minister: Focusing on media security not necessary at present

Photo: Arvo Meeks / Lõuna-Eesti Postimees

It has not been necessary in Estonia to put a special focus on questions of media security, Interior Minister Hanno Pevkur said on Thursday.

«We have so far not deemed it necessary to bring security of media outlets, including public broadcasting, into special focus,» Pevkur told reporters at the government's press conference. «I believe that the public broadcasting company will itself address this issue if necessary, but I have not seen the threat of such an outbreak of extremism in Estonia mentioned in any of the last nine months' reviews.»

The minister said that threat assessments point to threats coming from elsewhere. "I see first of all threat coming from the other side of our eastern border, I perceive threat in that we have to keep our border security and Russian influence activity under control," he said.

It is necessary to be prepared for different dangers, Pevkur acknowledged. After an attack at the Ministry of Defence the Interior Ministry conducted a thorough review of security measures of state institutions, he said and added that media outlets too should take a look at how easy they are to access.

The police is definitely ready to cooperate with the public broadcaster as well as private media and make recommendations on how to increase security, he said.

Armed gunmen on Wednesday opened fire in the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing at least 12 people including two police officers. The attack was the bloodiest in France for at least two decades.