Altogether 67 members of the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, support the possible presidential candidacy of the country’s Chancellor of Justice, Ülle Madise, according to Kristina Kallas, chairwoman of the liberal coalition party, Estonia 200, ERR reports. She said that support from the opposition Fatherland or Estonian Centre Party was still missing, however. Kallas urged the…
The former commander of the Estonian Defence League, retired major general Riho Ühtegi, has withdrawn from the race to become the country’s next president, ERR reports. He told Postimees that the reason for the decision was a serious health condition. Ühtegi’s candidacy was proposed by a group of prominent public figures in early July 2026….
Estonia’s Chancellor of Justice, Ülle Madise, has expressed her willingness to run for president, provided there is “broad-based support” for her candidacy, Õnne Pillak, leader of the ruling Estonian Reform Party’s parliamentary group, announced, ERR reports. Pillak reaffirmed Reform’s support for Madise’s candidacy and urged other party leaders to state their preference before the upcoming…
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal stressed the importance of preserving the EU’s Schengen Area, insisting that creating new internal borders within the free movement area was “in no way in the interests of Estonia or Estonians,” ERR reported. He was responding to reactions to the recent sudden influx of irregular migrants from Morocco to Spain’s North…
Estonia’s newly appointed ambassador to the US, Hannes Hanso, has announced that he would be ready to run for president, ERR reports. Previously, Hanso has served as Estonia’s ambassador to China, defence minister, mayor of Kuressaare, MP, and MEP. He was a member of the Social Democratic Party (SDE) from 2009 to 2019. Speaking in…
The city council of Estonia’s mostly Russian-speaking northeastern border town of Narva has elected the Estonian Centre Party’s Jaan Toots as the city’s new mayor, ERR reports. Toots replaced Katri Raik, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote after one city councillor defected from Raik’s Respect alliance to the Centre Party’s coalition partner, Plan B,…
Estonia’s Chancellor of Justice, Ülle Madise, is currently the strongest candidate to become the country’s next president, according to experts, ERR reports. Another possible candidate often mentioned is longtime diplomat Jonatan Vseviov, current secretary general of the Estonian Foreign Ministry. Political scientist Tõnis Leht of the Liberal Citizen Foundation (SALK) suggested that both Madise and…
Estonia’s opposition Social Democratic Party (SDE) has proposed the country’s Chancellor of Justice, Ülle Madise, as a candidate for president, ERR reports. SDE’s deputy chairman, Tanel Kiik, argued that Madise had the potential to secure a two-thirds majority needed to be elected in the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu. He said that SDE had discussed Madise’s…
Every major party in Estonia has added to the state’s debt burden, according to Kaspar Oja, senior economist at the Bank of Estonia, ERR reported. While the biggest budget deficits emerged during the coronavirus pandemic, Estonia has had structural deficits every year since 2017, Oja noted. His analysis found that when in government, the Conservative…
