TALLINN - Centrist MP Ain Seppik has formally complained to security police about documents that were leaked from state institutions, particularly from the Foreign Ministry.
Seppik, a member of the parliamentary committee supervising security service activities, said the stolen documents were being used against rivals in the country's pre-election campaign.
"I am particularly concerned about the situation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where, as we know, there have been serious problems with keeping confidential and secret information before," Seppik told the Baltic News Service.
The MP expressed concern over the fact that leaked documents could become known to foreign intelligence services, posing a risk to Estonia's security.
The latest example, Seppik noted, was a report by the Estonian Embassy in Moscow that extensively quoted Education Minister Mailis Reps during her trip to the Mari El Republic of Russia.
As an example, Seppik mentioned the Eesti Ekspress weekly, which quoted Reps as saying that "the situation of the Russian intelligentsia in Estonia is difficult, it is impossible for them to get academic education in Russian, and they have to leave."
Reps has since been attacked for her statements, which were largely perceived as supportive of Moscow's policy vis-Ã -vis the Mari, a Finno-Ugric people, amid major allegations of human rights abuses in the area.
The opposition has called on the prime minister to sack her. If he fails to do so, they said they would call for a non-confidence vote on her in Parliament.
Media and NGOs have complained that the Mari, like other Finno-Ugric peoples living in Russia, are suffering extensively from a Russification campaign carried out by local authorities.
The European Parliament in May adopted a resolution calling on Russia to address the Mari's minority rights.
Rights defenders have also accused those in power of doing nothing to stop attacks on Mari activists, nor punish those guilty of the violence.
