LONDON — Two ministers in Estonia’s new coalition government made a hand gesture interpreted as a symbol for “white power” during a swearing-in ceremony.

Former Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves tweeted a picture of Mart Helme and his son Martin on Monday, after they were sworn in as the country’s interior minister and finance minister respectively.

Mart and Martin Helme are from the far-right nationalist Estonian Conservative People's party (EKRE). The party, led by Mart Helme, claims to defend the interests of ethnic Estonians. It has adopted a fierce anti-LGBT and anti-migrant rhetoric and platform.



In last month’s Estonian election, EKRE won nearly 18% of the vote, making it the third largest political party in the Baltic country, which is a member of the European Union.

The father and son have a history of making racist comments. In 2013, Martin Helme, 43, told a talk show, "I want Estonia to be a white country.”

Earlier this year, Mart Helme, 69, wrote in an opinion piece that “indigenous people are [being] replaced by Slavs and negroes.” Helme is Estonia’s former ambassador to Russia.

A photo gallery on the website of the Estonian public broadcaster ERR shows Martin Helme appearing to make the white power sign twice, in the corridors of parliament, and again in the chamber during the ceremony.

The broadcaster said that sign was “either a far-right signal or a ’dog whistle’ gesture aimed at the party's opponents.”

Footage of the swearing-in ceremony was also posted online by Estonia’s parliament, the Riigikogu.

A diplomatic source suggested the use of the sign was most probably not accidental given the ministers’ politics.

The hand gesture, which began as a sarcastic meme, is associated with white supremacists around the world. It was also used by the terrorist in the Christchurch attack, who killed 50 people in March in New Zealand, when he appeared in court last month

Sweden’s former prime minister, Carl Bildt, called the gesture “genuinely worrying.”