Mart Helme (, born 31 October 1949) is an Estonian
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
,
diplomat
A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...
and
musician
A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...
who served as the
Minister of the Interior
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
from 2019 to 2020. He was the long time chairman of the national conservative
Conservative People's Party of Estonia
The Conservative People's Party of Estonia ( et, Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond, EKRE) is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Estonia. It is currently led by Martin Helme. It was founded in March 2012, with the m ...
(EKRE) from 13 April 2013 to 4 July 2020 when he was succeeded by his son
Martin Helme
Martin Helme (born 24 April 1976) is an Estonian politician, leader of the Conservative People's Party of Estonia, Conservative People's Party (EKRE), and a Far-right politics, far-right nationalist. From 2019 to 2021 he was the Minister of Fina ...
.
Helme also served as Estonia's ambassador to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
from 1995 to 1999. Some media outlets have described him as a
right-wing populist
Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti-elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establi ...
.
Early life
Mart Helme was born on 31 October 1949 in
Pärnu
Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet o ...
.
After graduating from high school in Pärnu in 1968, he studied history at the
University of Tartu
The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...
and graduated in 1973.
He was the editor of the Estonian translation of "The Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx published in 1974.
In his youth, Helme played in several bands, including Hübriid (which also featured future
2 Quick Start
2 Quick Start is an Estonian band, created in 1992. In the 1990s, the band was one of the most notable dance music groups in Estonia.
In 2001, the band took an award in the "best band of the year" category at the Estonian Music Awards. At the 201 ...
singer-songwriter Pearu Paulus).
Political career
Helme joined the Estonian diplomatic service in 1994. In 1995, he was appointed as the Estonian ambassador to Russia by President
Lennart Meri
Lennart Georg Meri (; 29 March 1929 – 14 March 2006) was an Estonian politician, writer, and film director. He served as the second president of Estonia from 1992 to 2001. Meri was among the leaders of the movement to restore Estonian independ ...
. His tenure lasted until 1999. While in Moscow, he took part in the border negotiations with Russia.
From 2003 to 2005, Helme was a member of the agrarian-centrist
People's Union of Estonia
The People's Union of Estonia ( et, Eestimaa Rahvaliit) was a political party in Estonia. Its last leader was Margo Miljand.
In the 2003 parliamentary election, the party collected 64,463 votes, which made 13.0% share of all votes and 13 mand ...
. In 2012, when the party merged with the
Estonian Patriotic Movement
The Estonian Patriotic Movement (''Eesti Rahvuslik Liikumine'', ERL) was a political pressure group in Estonia. The group was set up in the middle of 2006 to promote the removal of the monument to the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn from the heart of ...
, Helme became a member of the new
Conservative People's Party of Estonia
The Conservative People's Party of Estonia ( et, Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond, EKRE) is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Estonia. It is currently led by Martin Helme. It was founded in March 2012, with the m ...
. A year later, he was elected its leader.
He has said that "Estonian politicians should honestly admit that our choice is between staying with those who are creating a
United States of Europe
The United States of Europe (USE), the European State, the European Federation and Federal Europe, is the hypothetical scenario of the European integration leading to formation of a sovereign superstate (similar to the United States of Ameri ...
and joining those who desire a Europe of nation states. The Conservative People's Party doesn't see a place for Estonia in a United States of Europe."
In 2015
parliamentary election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
, Helme was elected to parliament with 6,714 individual votes and in the
2019 parliamentary election he increased his support to 9,170 individual votes.
In March 2019 Mart Helme said to the press that he wishes that one day his party would be the sole ruling party of Estonia.
After EKRE's receiving of 17.8% of the votes in the 2019 parliamentary election and the subsequent inclusion in the governing coalition, Helme was appointed to
Jüri Ratas' second cabinet
Jüri Ratas' second cabinet was the 50th cabinet of Estonia, in office from 29 April 2019 to 14 January 2021. It was a centre-right coalition cabinet of the Centre Party, right-wing populist Conservative People's Party (EKRE) and conservative ...
as Estonia's interior minister. On 2 May 2019, Helme was also named First Deputy Prime Minister.
On 9 November 2020 a no-confidence vote, filed by the opposition against Helme, was scheduled to take place in the Estonian parliament, due to Helme's comments in a radio show where he claimed that the 2020 US elections were forged and his comments about the president-elect
Joe Biden. On the morning before the no-confidence vote was supposed to take place, Helme resigned, claiming he had not done anything inappropriate.
On 13 April 2022, in widely condemned remarks made during a sitting only hours after
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...
delivered a speech to the
Riigikogu
The Riigikogu (; from Estonian ''riigi-'', of the state, and ''kogu'', assembly) is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the Prime Minister and Chief Jus ...
, Mart Helme claimed that
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
and other infectious diseases are going to return to Estonia, brought in by war refugees from
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, many of whom may get involved in prostitution in Estonia. Condemnation was swift from politicians of several parties and also the former
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
,
Toomas Hendrik Ilves
Toomas Hendrik Ilves (; born 26 December 1953) is an Estonian politician who served as the fourth president of Estonia from 2006 until 2016.
Ilves worked as a diplomat and journalist, and he was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the ...
who
Tweeted
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that this is "how a right-wing extremist fishes for Russian votes." Contrary to Helme's claim that HIV is "going to return" to the country, increasingly stable but relatively high numbers of new cases of HIV are diagnosed in Estonia each year. According to the results of an epidemiological survey published last year, Estonia ranked third in the EU for number of new HIV cases in 2019, behind just Malta and Latvia."
Media controversy
Mart Helme has made headlines in the media with some of his opinions.
In December 2019, Helme said in a radio interview that a "sales assistant girl" had become Finland's prime minister and was now seeking "to liquidate Finland" – a reference to the election of
Sanna Marin
Sanna Mirella Marin (; born 16 November 1985) is a Finnish politician who has been serving as the Prime Minister of Finland since 2019. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP), she has been a Parliament of Finland, Member of Pa ...
, who once worked as a cashier, as prime minister of
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
and the world's youngest serving head of government. This prompted an apology from
Kersti Kaljulaid
Kersti Kaljulaid (; born 30 December 1969) is an Estonian politician who served as the fifth president of Estonia between 2016 and 2021. She was also the first and only female head of state of Estonia since the country declared independence in ...
, Estonia's president to Finnish president
Sauli Niinistö
Sauli Väinämö Niinistö (; born 24 August 1948) is a Finnish politician who has served as president of Finland since March 2012, the 12th person to hold that office.
A lawyer by education, Niinistö was Chairman of the National Coalition Part ...
, who also asked that the apology be conveyed to Marin and the government.
On 27 February 2020, Helme stated at a government press conference that the
common cold
The common cold or the cold is a viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract that primarily affects the respiratory mucosa of the nose, throat, sinuses, and larynx. Signs and symptoms may appear fewer than two days after exposu ...
had been renamed as the
coronavirus
Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...
and that in his youth nothing like that existed. He recommended wearing warm socks and mustard patches as well as spreading goose fat on one's chest as treatments for the virus. Helme also said that the virus would pass within a few days to a week just like the common cold.
In an October 2020 interview with
Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...
, while being in the role of the Interior Minister, Helme stated that the homosexual people in Estonia should rather go "run around in Sweden" and that he "doesn't view them friendly". This drew strong criticism in the media, the political spectrum and the
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
, who stated that someone with such opinions is unfit to serve as a government minister. The leaders of the other parties who formed a coalition with Helme stated that "his views should be ignored" and that "this is not what the coalition agreed on". The opposition in parliament demanded a resignation. The prime minister
Jüri Ratas
Jüri Ratas (; born 2 July 1978) is an Estonian politician who was the 18th prime minister of Estonia from 2016 to 2021. He has been Leader of the Centre Party since 2016, and was the mayor of Tallinn from 2005 to 2007.
Jüri Ratas' first cab ...
and his party later decided to keep Mart Helme in office.
Personal life
Helme's current wife,
Helle-Moonika Helme, is an MP in the Riigikogu for EKRE. Mart Helme has a son,
Martin Helme
Martin Helme (born 24 April 1976) is an Estonian politician, leader of the Conservative People's Party of Estonia, Conservative People's Party (EKRE), and a Far-right politics, far-right nationalist. From 2019 to 2021 he was the Minister of Fina ...
, now leader of EKRE, from a previous marriage. He owns the
Suure-Lähtru manor. He has worked as a journalist, publisher and diplomat.
He has also been a farmer and a singer.
References
External links
Suure-Lähtru manor
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helme, Mart
1949 births
Living people
People from Pärnu
Conservative People's Party of Estonia politicians
Critics of multiculturalism
Members of the Riigikogu, 2015–2019
Members of the Riigikogu, 2019–2023
Ambassadors of Estonia to Russia
Leaders of political parties in Estonia
University of Tartu alumni
Ministers of the Interior of Estonia
20th-century Estonian male singers