Today, the Ministry of Defence submitted for approval the new full text of the National Defence League Act, which regulates the activities of the National Defence League and clarifies the rights and guarantees of the members of the National Defence League.

According to Minister of Defence Mart Laar, the new Act does not change the current nature of the National Defence League. “The National Defence League will remain a voluntary and armed national defence organisation, which forms a security carpet covering the whole of Estonia,” said the Minister of Defence.

However, Laar finds that compared to the previous National Defence League Act dating from 1999, society, the Estonian regulatory environment, as well as the National Defence League itself have changed. “Thus, the members of the National Defence League will now have a new and fresh act which clearly states their duties, rights as well as social guarantees”, said Minister of Defence Laar.

The new National Defence League Act clearly states the duties of the National Defence League: military defence of the country, enhancing the will of defence, increasing the safety of the population, carrying out military training, guarding of national defence objects and participation in rescue work and cyber defence.

In addition, the new Act prescribes social guarantees for the members of the National Defence League in cases when members are injured while performing their duties; the guarantees are equal to those of regular members of the Defence Forces. So far, one had to look into both the Defence Forces Service Act and the National Defence League Act to find social guarantees for the members of the National Defence League.

The New National Defence League Act also aims to provide all active members of the National Defence League with the possibility to get five paid and five unpaid days off work each year to take part in the trainings of the National Defence League. So far, only members of the National Defence League holding state offices were offered such a possibility, which, however, was unfair towards members of the National Defence Forces working in the private sector.

In addition, the new act regulates the chain of command of the National Defence League and states more clearly that the special organisations of the National Defence League – the women’s corps Naiskodukaitse, the boys’ corps Noored Kotkad, and girls’ corps Kodutütred – are parts of the National Defence League.

The new National Defence League Act was prepared by a broad-based working group comprising the representatives of the Ministry of Defence, the National Defence League and the Estonian Defence Forces. In addition, over the past six months, briefings about the draft act took place in all regional units of the National Defence League, during which feedback was collected to improve the act.

The draft of the new National Defence League Act and the corresponding explanatory statement can be accessed in the draft legislation information system »

Additional information:
Peeter Kuimet
Press Officer, Ministry of Defence
Phone 717 0116 / 56 56 41 88
peeter.kuimet@kmin.ee