Martin Helme (born 24 April 1976) is an Estonian politician and current leader of the Conservative People's Party (EKRE). From 2019 to 2021 he was the country's

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

Political views

Helme's views have been described as eurosceptic and populist. As one of the key figures in EKRE, Martin Helme advocates for

national conservatism National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity, communitarianism and the public role of religion. It shares aspects of traditionalist conservatism and social conserv ...

. He has been an opponent of Estonia's membership of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and the use of the

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

as the country's currency. He has claimed that immigration is endangering the sovereignty of European states, including Estonia. Helme has been a vocal critic of the EU's Migration Pact. Helme, then a board member of EKRE, caused controversy in 2013 for his views on immigration. During a TV interview about riots in socially segregated suburbs in Sweden, he said that "Estonia shouldn't allow things to go as far as in England, France and Sweden. Our immigration policy should have one simple rule: if (they're) black, show the door. As simple as that. We shouldn't allow this problem to emerge in the first place". The Estonian translation of "if it's black, show the door" rhymed as "Kui on must, näita ust" (); it gained widespread notoriety and became one of the main slogans connected to EKRE. In March 2019, Helme defended himself by saying that he had made the comments in 2013 before he was a politician, but nonetheless refused to condemn or retract them, stating that he would always stand against mass immigration. In the area of civil rights, Helme has campaigned against the passing of the Cohabitation Act in Estonia, which entitled same-sex couples to register as civil partners. He later campaigned to repeal the act. In November 2020, while in the role of the Minister of Finance, Martin Helme claimed in a radio show he has no doubt that the 2020 US elections were falsified and that "If Trump is taken down, the US Constitution will no longer be in effect." The comments resulted in a political crisis that ended with the resignation of

Jüri Ratas Jüri Ratas (; born 2 July 1978) is an Estonian politician who served as the prime minister of Estonia from 2016 to 2021 and as the leader of the Centre Party from 2016 to 2023, and the mayor of Tallinn from 2005 to 2007. Ratas was a member o ...

's entire second cabinet, including Helme himself. Martin Helme - CPAC Hungary 2023

References

External links

Riigikogu profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helme, Martin 1976 births Anti-immigration politics in Europe Conservative People's Party of Estonia politicians Critics of multiculturalism Finance ministers of Estonia Government ministers of Estonia Leaders of political parties in Estonia Living people Members of the Riigikogu, 2015–2019 Members of the Riigikogu, 2019–2023 Members of the Riigikogu, 2023–2027 Politicians from Tallinn University of Tartu alumni