Estonia’s Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, suggested that local businessman Parvel Pruunsild, majority owner of Bigbank, made major donations to opposition parties in order to break up the first coalition government that Kallas headed, ERR reports. In response, Pruunsild’s lawyer sent a letter to Kallas, demanding that she retract her statement and issue an apology. Kallas…
Estonia’s parliament, the Riigikogu, will start processing hundreds of amendments submitted by opposition parties to block legislation if they are not withdrawn, deputy speaker Toomas Kivimägi (Reform) stated, ERR reports. Kivimägi said that he had asked the opposition’s Conservative People’s Party of Estonia (EKRE), Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond), and Fatherland (Isamaa) to withdraw their submissions…
Estonian MEP Yana Toom of the Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond) visited Russia to meet with pro-Russia activist Zoja Paljamar, who was barred from entering Estonia for security reasons, ERR reports. Toom said that she was visiting her sister in Russia. “Perhaps someone also has a relative in North Korea, too,” she explained. Toom announced on…
The chairman of the Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond), Jüri Ratas, announced that he would not seek reelection, ERR reports. Ratas has been chairman of the opposition party since 2016. The party’s deputy chairman, Tallinn mayor Mihhail Kõlvart, said that he was ready to run for the post of chairman. Meanwhile, several senior members of the…
The Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond) has a rift in its leadership, party chairman Jüri Ratas stated, BNS reports. Earlier, the party’s governing board voted to return a donation of EUR 300,000 from local businessman Parvel Pruunsild. Ratas had insisted that the donation would have helped the party finance its operations. However, the party’s deputy chairman,…
A motion of no confidence in the current tripartite ruling coalition in Estonia’s Paide municipal council won the majority of votes, DELFI reports. Altogether 13 out of 23 councillors voted for the motion presented by Priit Värk, chairman of the New Paide electoral alliance. The coalition of Paide People’s City, Estonian Reform Party, and Estonian…
The Estonian Reform Party has seen an increase in voter support, while support for its coalition partner, Estonia 200, continues to fall, according to the latest weekly Norstat poll published on 5 July 2023, ERR reports. The survey indicates that support for Reform currently stands at 27.4% of voters, followed by the Conservative People’s Party…
Estonian former MP Mihhail Stalnuhhin, who failed to renew his seat in the parliamentary elections in March 2023, says he is leaving politics, ERR reports. He won the most votes (4,578) in the Ida-Virumaa county, but fell short of a personal mandate. Stalnuhhin said that it was his last election. He was expelled from the…
The EU Affairs Committee of the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, has approved Estonia’s position on the introduction of digital travel documents in the EU, ERR reports. The committee supports the introduction of digital passports and ID cards. Committee deputy chair Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski of the Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond) said that digital travel documents would accelerate…