Western Estonian island municipalities push for special regional status
Following the EU's new islands strategy, municipalities on Saaremaa, Hiiumaa and other Western Estonian islands have jointly asked the government to create a dedicated regional program for them in the next EU budget period.
The European Commission adopted its first EU strategy on islands in summer 2026, calling on 16 member states with inhabited island territories — covering more than four thousand islands and roughly 17 million people — to take a tailored approach to their development. The document does not set aside direct funding or a dedicated fund for islands, but outlines directions member states could follow to better support island regions through national plans.
According to Elise Paemurd, deputy head of the European Commission's representation in Estonia, the strategy would allow Estonia to justify investment needs on Saaremaa or Hiiumaa specifically on the grounds of their island location, encouraging member states to include island-specific measures in national plans. However, she noted this would not automatically create a fund or extra subsidy for islands.
The strategy's adoption coincides with the Estonian government's preparations for the new EU budget period. In response, the municipalities of Saaremaa, Hiiumaa, Muhu, Ruhnu, Vormsi and Lääne-Nigula, along with the town of Haapsalu, sent a joint appeal to the government arguing that, based on the EU document, these regions should be treated under a separate regional program because their island location limits their competitiveness.
Laura Heinsaar, assistant to Saaremaa's parish elder, said Western Estonia lags behind other regions and needs special treatment, stressing that the municipalities are not asking for anything new — only for what the state has already offered other lagging regions.
Helin Anton, head of the regional policy sector at the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture, said the European islands strategy does not directly obligate Estonia to allocate EU fund money to the islands, but it supports the possibility of granting them special conditions. She noted the government has decided that more EU funding should go outside Harju County, though a more precise distribution has not yet been determined.
Heinsaar estimated that several tens of millions of euros would be needed to close the gap with other Estonian regions, and said the state should commit exactly that scale of funding.
