With 100% of the vote counted, Kallas’ Liberal Party won 31.2%, an increase of 2.3 points from the previous election in 2019. The populist party EKRE came second with 16.1%. Although the leader of this party, Martin Helme, tried to take advantage of the rising cost of living in the aftermath of the Russian war in Ukraine (inflation reached 18.6% in January) and military support for Kiev, the EKRE fell in in fact, albeit slightly (1.7 points).
Turnout was 63.7%, in line with previous elections, with more than half of the votes cast over the internet. The entry into parliament of another liberal formation, Estonia 200, which came fourth with 13.3%, two points behind another party of the same family, the Center Party.
Kallas, 45, should be able to lead a coalition that will deepen the Baltic nation’s pro-European vision and unwavering support for Kiev. Commenting on the results, Kallas said the election put his party in a strong position to form a coalition government. And one of his priorities is a constant call to put pressure on Russia.
“We have to invest in our safety. Our aggressive neighbor has not disappeared and will not disappear, so we have to work on it,” he told reporters at a hotel in Tallinn where party supporters had gathered.
The Reform Party won the 2019 election, but at the time three smaller parties came together to form a government, which collapsed in 2021, allowing Kallas to form a coalition and take the lead.
Since then, Kallas has shown himself to be a staunch supporter of Ukraine and a highly critical voice in Moscow. Kallas has memories of the Soviet Union – and not good ones. Her mother was deported to Siberia along with her grandmother and great-grandmother. In 1988, while visiting East Germany, his father told him to breathe the “air of freedom” coming from West Berlin.
Since the beginning of the invasion, Kallas has conducted a coherent and uncompromising discourse against the Putin regime. He has openly criticized French President Emmanuel Macron for making long phone calls – to no avail, and even recently said the war will end when Russia understands it has lost.
Because of her determined and uncompromising communication, she has been called an “iron lady”, like former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Source: DN
