ERR News lists the key takeaways from the 2023 Riigikogu elections.
Estonia held national elections on Sunday. The Reform Party of staunchly pro-Ukraine Prime Minister Kaja Kallas picked up seats while the anti-Ukraine far right EKRE lost seats.
There are 101 seats in Estonia’s parliament known as the Riigikogu. Reform won 37 seats and Prime Minister Kallas could theoretically continue with her current coalition partners. Though she has said she would be willing to discuss forming a government with any parties – except the extremist EKRE.
Reform, Eesti 200, and the Social Democrats (SDE) all had successful elections.
Reform and Eesti 200 increased their mandates, while SDE dropped from 10 to nine seats but still came in ahead of Isamaa.
EKRE, Center and Isamaa all saw their number of mandates fall.
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The Center Party's number of mandates fell from 26 in 2019 to 16.
Center had the second-highest number of seats in the parliament after the last Riigikogu election four years ago. It is now third.
EKRE won the second-highest number of mandates this year but lost two, dropping from 19 to 17.
The party had expected to take over 20 seats.
^^^ emphasis added
Estonia is one of the smallest members of NATO and the EU. Yet Kaja Kallas has had a disproportionately high profile because of her unswerving support for Ukraine. As a result, she has experienced a boost in popularity.
Incumbent Prime Minister Kaja Kallas won 31,821 votes which is a new record for an Estonian politician.
Kallas stood for election in the biggest election district, Harju and Rapla counties, which is a Reform stronghold and home to many Tallinn commuters.
POLITICO adds:
Kallas’ fate is in sharp focus because of her role as one of Europe’s staunchest supporters of Ukraine. She now faces a second challenge after Sunday’s results: stitching together a stable majority coalition to run the Baltic state of 1.3 million, or face being pushed out of power by a coalition potentially built around EKRE and the Center Party.
She could try to reform her current three-party majority coalition (Reform, Social Democrats and Fatherland), which Sunday night’s results suggested would have 54 seats, or try to reach common ground with Center or Estonia 200.
Estonia 200 = Eesti 200 Fatherland = Isamaa
Amid the war in Ukraine, Kallas has relentlessly pushed for a ramp-up in military suppliers to the war-torn state and a reinforcement of NATO troop numbers along Europe’s eastern edge.
Her long-standing criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, which predated Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, is now widely seen as prescient, which has given her recent calls to stand firm in the face of Putin’s threats extra credibility.
“If we want peace and not to become Russia’s next target, we must support Ukraine,” she said in a speech before the election.
This is part of a recent trend showing a decrease in support for far right pro-Russia parties.
If you wish to understand Russia, talk to people in Eastern Europe who have had to endure Russian imperialism for the past 300 years. Kaja Kallas’s big toe knows more about Russia than Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk, and Roger Waters combined.
