Reform Party MP Toomas Kivimägi and chair of parliament’s constitutional committee , told ETV news show “Aktuaalne kaamera” Monday that the bill: “Grants Ukrainians who worked here on a short-term basis to a maximum of one year to extend that to three years.
He said: “There are the fears that somehow more people will arrive from third countries as a result of this bill, which is not true.
The bill was initiated in September 2020 by the previous Center/EKRE/Isamaa administration, but ground to a halt last November. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine starting in late February and the ensuing flight of refugees, including over 29,000 into Estonia to date and who are planning to stay here, led to the late amendments to the bill to take into account the need to permit war refugees to enter the labor market more easily.