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…
The council of elders of the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, will meet in early August 2026 to discuss the election of the country’s next president, ERR reports. Parliamentary speaker Lauri Hussar said that the council would meet within the next two weeks. He hoped that all parliamentary parties would come to the meeting with a…
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…
Estonian political analysts said that the country’s parliament, the Riigikogu, was unlikely to agree on the election of a new president, ERR reported. The election was therefore likely to move to the electoral college, the analysts said. Both Tarmo Jüristo, head of the Liberal Citizen Foundation (SALK), and Tõnis Saarts, associate professor of comparative politics…
Estonian President Alar Karis announced that he would not run for a second term in office, ERR reported. He said that he had made the decision a long time ago and cited personal reasons. One reason was that he had promised his family that he would only serve one term, Karis explained. The chairman of…
Estonia’s most popular choice for prime minister is Urmas Reinsalu, chairman of the national-conservative opposition party, Fatherland, according to a new Norstat poll for the Institute for Societal Research (YI), ERR reports. In the survey, 27% of respondents preferred Reinsalu for prime minister in June 2026, followed by Mihhail Kõlvart, chairman of the opposition Estonian…
Latvia’s new prime minister, Andris Kulbergs, suggested “scaling down” the Rail Baltica railway project, ERR reported. Speaking at a joint press conference with Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal in Tallinn, Kulbergs said that he was looking at a potential solution to the project’s funding gap that would be “out of the box.” He said that…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend a summit meeting of the prime ministers of the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) countries in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, on 9 June 2026, ERR reports. Zelensky will meet with Estonian President Alar Karis and Prime Minister Kristen Michal, while Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, will meet with his Estonian counterpart,…
