Estonian nationalist party sees media bias in violence case

HELSINKI – Estonia's interior minister is blaming the Baltic country's media of having double standards when reporting on a former government official from his party who resigned after being investigated for domestic violence.

Mart Helme, head of the Estonian Conservative People's Party, or EKRE, says the media should apply a "single standard" in reporting.

He was referring to earlier cases where politicians or prominent Estonians — including a theater director — were involved in cases of domestic violence, saying the media took a different approach when his political party was involved.

Foreign Trade Minister Marti Kuusik stepped down Tuesday, a day after police opened a probe following media reports about domestic violence allegations.

Helme spoke Thursday for the first time since Estonia's center-right governing coalition was formally sworn in on Monday.