Foreign minister Ligi leaves education portfolio to Lauri

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Photo: JAANUS LENSMENT/POSTIMEES

President Toomas Hendrik Ilves appointed recent Minister of Education and Research Jürgen Ligi as Estonia's new foreign minister and former finance minister Maris Lauri as his replacement in the Ministry of Education and Research yesterday evening. The board of the Reform Party had approved the candidates the same morning, following a proposal from Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas.

Rõivas said after the morning board meeting that he hopes the new ministers will be appointed the very same day.

Rõivas explained that he discussed the changes with the president last Friday. „We agreed that Estonia cannot go an hour, not to mention days, without having a foreign minister. Which is why we can release from office the previous foreign minister and appoint her replacement at the same time,“ he said. Ilves released presidential candidate Marina Kaljurand from office yesterday.

Multiple options

Rõivas said that he had a lot of options when deciding who would be the next foreign minister as there are many suitable people in the Reform Party faction and in various other agencies. „That is why it makes perfect sense I considered them all to conclude that the current choice is the best under the circumstances,“ the PM said.

Rõivas said that no one doubts Estonia needs a very strong foreign minister today. „The foreign policy situation is restless to say the least: in addition to security matters, a lot of attention needs to be paid to the debate for the future of Europe, maintaining and developing allied relations. I'm entirely convinced that Jürgen Ligi is a very strong minister, and that he will continue to be strong as foreign minister,“ Rõivas said, and added that Ligi has had contact with security topics both as defense and finance minister and as a member of the Riigikogu National Defense Committee.

The PM said that Maris Lauri was appointed because of her strong ties to education. „In addition to her very good articles on education policy, she has participated in the field of education, not only as an MP, but before that as a lecturer and in many other positions. So her contact area with education is extensive.“

Ligi told journalists yesterday morning that he leaves the education portfolio with a heavy heart. „I'm in the middle of a lot of reforms on both the education and research fronts. True, principled decisions have been made, in which connection I can rest easy knowing that it will be Maris Lauri, whom I had considered as my replacement before, who will take the reins.

International cooperation changing

Ligi said on foreign policy, via the Reform Party's press representative, that the world is changing, and that international cooperation will inevitably change with it. „Next to daily diplomacy, we will have to deal with sharper topics and changes forced upon international cooperation. The fate of countries and nations depends most directly on how they can address the migration crisis, the economy, or EU and NATO topics together,“ Ligi said.

Lauri told journalists that she acknowledges the scope of the challenge before her as the field of education and research has complex problems and people have different ideas of how they should be solved. „At the same time, believing that education serves as the foundation for individual and national success, it is possible to find the best solutions between different interests and put them to work together so that all children, adults, and the elderly would have access to education; so that science could develop to help solve these problems,“ she said.

The party communicated that for Lauri education is always the most important thing as it forms the basis for individual and social success. „I definitely plan to continue to fix up the education landscape and see reforms carried through. It is also my goal to raise the salaries of teachers; resources need to be found for that,“ she noted.

Lauri believes education and research must be national priorities: „We have good scientists; it is important to make sure they are involved in new applications and products, find practical use in enterprise. I also find it important that the education sector would have access to both public and private sector money; private resources need to be involved especially in research and development.“

Lauri's alternate member in the Riigikogu is Rait Maruste. He told BNS that he needs time to think before he can decide whether to return to the Riigikogu.

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