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…
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…
Two thirds of Estonian voters disapprove of the government’s performance, according to a new Norstat poll in May 2026, ERR reports. In the survey, 67% of respondents said that the government was performing poorly, while 27% found that the government was doing its job well. The government’s approval rating was unchanged from April 2026. Support…
The leader of Estonia’s national-conservative opposition party, Fatherland (Isamaa), Urmas Reinsalu, is the country’s most popular candidate for prime minister, according to a Norstat poll done in May 2026 for the Institute for Societal Research (YI), ERR reports. The survey showed that 27% of respondents would prefer to see Reinsalu as prime minister, followed by…
Estonia’s incumbent president, Alar Karis, does not have sufficient support in the parliament, the Riigikogu, to be elected for a second term, according to Kristina Kallas, chairwoman of the liberal coalition party, Estonia 200 (E200), ERR reports. Kallas said that a majority of E200 MPs did not support Karis, and she called for considering other…
The Estonian government may triple the country’s immigration quota, Minister of Economy and Industry Erkki Keldo announced, ERR reports. The current quota amounts to 1,303 people or 0.1% of Estonia’s permanent population per year. Keldo suggested that the quota could be raised to 2,600 people normally and to 3,900 people when annual GDP growth exceeds…
The Estonian government has agreed on switching to need-based social benefits in 2028, Education Minister Kristina Kallas announced, BNS reports. She argued that the state and taxpayers could no longer afford distributing equal support to everyone, and that doing so was not even necessary. Better data would allow the state to provide better personalised services, Kallas…
The Estonian government has agreed to allocate EUR 1.1bn for the purchase of ammunition until 2028, Education Minister Kristina Kallas announced, ERR reports. Earlier, the three-party coalition had agreed to spend altogether EUR 1.6bn on procuring ammunition. Kallas said that the remaining amount would be up to the next government. Earlier, Brigadier General Andrus Merilo,…