Estonia is a rather unique country located in the intersection of the Scandinavian, Baltic, and Central East European regions. As detailed in the debut episode of our podcast series' third season, such geopolitical attributes determine the country's political landscape and party system as well. On 5 March, Estonians went to the polls to elect the 101 members of the Riigikogu, the country’s parliament. Prime Minister Kaja Kallas’ center-right liberalist Estonian Reform Party remained the biggest player securing 37 seats in the national legislative body. Our guest expert, Dr. Heiko Pääbo (Director of the Centre for Baltic Studies at the University of Tartu) pointed out that no matter how fragmented is the Estonian party system, there is a consensus among most political players about the country’s pro-EU, pro-NATO and Pro-Ukraine stand. The analyst underlined that Ms. Kallas’ personal charisma and close ties to EU bodies played a major role in her party’s considerable victory. Dr. Pääbo sheds light on the disputes between political parties with seemingly similar ideologies, elaborates on the social, economic, and national security issues that dominated the election campaign, provides us an explanation for the considerable loss of the Center Party, and explains the position of the Russian-speaking minority in Estonian politics.
With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.
