Estonia minister resigns after calling Joe and Hunter Biden ‘corrupt characters’
‘You cannot muzzle me,' Mr Helme told the Estonian media
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Your support makes all the difference.Estonia’s far-right minister has resigned over comments made about president-elect Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.
The interior minister, Mart Helme, called the father and son “corrupt characters” – though failed to provide any further evidence or details.
Stepping back from his position on Monday, just a day after the comments were made, Mr Helme said: “Last night I decided to resign (when) looking at the slander and lies produced by the Estonian media.”
Mr Helme, a member of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party (EKRE), added: “I am tired. I did nothing yesterday that would endanger Estonia's security. I have not said anything that has not already been told by the American media, the American free media.”
Speaking in the press conference Monday morning, he continued: “You cannot muzzle me, nobody can muzzle me. The prime minister cannot muzzle me, the president or journalists cannot muzzle me.”
“I say what I consider to be right, what concerns me.”
Mr Helme also emphasised that Joe Biden was not yet president and that official election results are needed.
On Saturday, Estonian prime minister Juri Ratas warned Helme and his son Martin, minister of finance, to stop issuing unfounded statements that could damage Estonia and US relations, calling the comments “absurd.”
Both Helme and his son appeared together on an Estonian radio show on Sunday, where the minister said he believed there “is no question that these (US) elections were falsified".
“If this (US election result) goes through, then the constitution will no longer apply in America,” he continued.
Meanwhile, prime minister Ratas congratulated Mr Biden on his win and disagreed with Donald Trump by adding he believed the US elections were “fair, free and transparent".
Estonia, a small former Soviet republic of 1.3 million and a European Union and NATO member, is a staunch ally of Washington, meaning Helme’s comments are seen as highly embarrassing to the nation.
Estonian president Kersti Kaljulaid said the the comments were a "verbal assault... an attack against Estonian democracy and security", adding she was "sad and embarrassed".
Meanwhile, on Monday, Martin Helme reportedly told the Baltic News Service that his father's comments about the election were what “the whole of the US media is saying.”
“The press (in Estonia) is not telling the Estonian people what the entire American media is saying, but I did – election fraud,” he added.
Helme founded the populist EKRE, which rose to prominence in the March 2019 election, becoming the country’s third-largest party.
In July, Helme’s son took over the party’s chairmanship and both men have come into criticism and controversy for numerous provocative public statements.
Mart Helme will remain a member of parliament but will no longer be in government.
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