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Estonia elects a new parliament in regionally and geopolitically tense times. The EU and NATO state in north-eastern Europe shares a border with Russia and, since the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, has been advocating a tough stance against its big neighbour at the European level. Since regaining independence in 1991, which was pre-ceded by around 50 years of German and Soviet foreign rule, Estonia, together with Latvia and Lithuania, has been an integral part of the Western order of values and a member of the European Union and NATO since 2004. In domestic politics, the first female prime minister in the country's history, Kaja Kallas, has been in power since 2021. After the previous government broke up due to a corruption scandal in the Centre Party, which led it, Kallas, as leader of the largest opposition party (Reform Party/Liberals), was entrusted with forming a government. A few weeks later she formed a government with the Centre Party and became the new prime minister. In June 2022, this government broke apart, as the Centre Party had voted with the opposition on an education law and had thus broken the coalition agree-ment. Within the current legislative period, she subsequently formed an alliance with the conservative Isamaa party (a member of the EPP at the European level) and the Social Democrats (SDE) and has since led a three-party coalition. Current polls see her party as the clear strongest force, but the two coalition partners weaker than in the last election in 2019. The right-wing populist EKRE party, on the other hand, could expect gains and become the second-strongest force for the first time. Whether the current government will be able to continue its work after the Parliamentary Elections or whether a new coalition will have to be formed will become clear on 5 March 2023.
Who are the winners, who are the losers of the Estonian Parliamentary Election 2023? What issues dominated the election campaign? What role did the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine play in the election campaign? Can we expect a change of course in domestic and European policy, or is the country opting for continuity with this vote?
The event „The Morning After – Estonia has voted” will take place on Monday, 06 March 2023 from 09:30-10:15 CET via Zoom. We look forward to discussing the election result with our colleague Oliver Morwisnky, Director of the KAS Offices for the Baltic States. After the conversation between Mr Morwinsky and Dr. Hardy Ostry, Director of the European Offices of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, the audience will have the opportunity to contribute their ques-tions to the discussion. The event will be held in German with simultaneous interpretation into English.
For registration, please use this Link.
We look forward to your participation!
Here you will find the program for download: The Morning after - Estonia has voted
