Chancellor of Estonian Foreign Ministry dismissed for mean behaviour

At its session on Tuesday, the Estonian Cabinet of Ministers adopted a decision to remove from his post chancellor Indrek Tarand, the second in rank official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As the office of the Estonian government reported, Indrek Tarand was dismissed for disciplinary violations and mean behaviour. The decision has been taken on the basis of the Law on Public Service.

Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Kristiina Ojuland, who the day before made a proposal to dismiss the chancellor, said, in explaining his proposal, that Tarand had offended the minister and also behaved in the way incompatible with his post in the Estonian government.

The Foreign Minister pointed out that on July 12, this year, Indrek Tarand was detained in Tallinn by the traffic police for driving a car in a state of intoxication. The expertise has shown that the level of alcohol in his blood amounted to 1.07 per mille which corresponds to a medium degree of drunkenness.

The Estonian mass media say that it was not for the first time that Tarand made a row in a state of intoxication. For example, such an incident took place in December 1996 during the visit to Tallinn by members of the Russian State Duma. At that time the scandal was hushed up by the foreign affairs commission of the Estonian parliament.