To remain in power, Kallas’ Reform Party will have to once again forge a coalition with one or more other parties in Tallinn’s 101-seat parliament. According to figures from the electoral commission, the centre-left center party received 14.7 percent of the votes, while the liberal party Eesti 200 received 13.5 percent. It was followed by the Social Democratic Party with 9.4 percent and the right-wing conservative Isamaa with 8.3 percent of the vote.
If the preliminary results are confirmed, Prime Minister Kallas’ Reform Party would exceed its result of four years ago (28.9 percent) and would thus receive 38 parliamentary seats – four more than in the last election in 2019. The Reform Party is currently governing in a government formed in July 2022 with Social Democrats and Isamaa.
The election was marked by the dispute over military aid to Ukraine in the war against the Russian invading troops. Kallas is a staunch supporter of the arms shipments, while the far-right Ekre party has spoken out against continuing them. Estonia’s military aid to Ukraine is currently equivalent to more than one percent of gross domestic product. That’s more than any other country in terms of the size of its economy.
Estonia and the other two Baltic states Lithuania and Latvia became both members of the European Union and NATO in 2004. Since the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the Baltic states have been among Kiev’s staunchest supporters.
Kallas was pleased with the result on Monday night. “It’s much better than we expected,” she told reporters. Referring to her Ukraine policy, she said: “I don’t think anything will change with such a strong mandate.” All other parties “with the exception of Ekre and maybe the center” would have chosen the same line with regard to Ukraine. “I therefore think that we can find common ground here,” added Kallas, with a view to the upcoming coalition negotiations.
