The chairman of the Free Party Heiki Lill told ERR the general meetings of both parties will take place in Tartu in parallel in August. 

Rainer Kuuba, a spokesman for the Richness of Life Party, said the merger of the two parties is in accordance with the Non-profit Associations Act.

"The process of choosing a new name for the party is underway," Kuuba said.

Both Lille and Kuuba agree the door is open for the Estonian Green Party to join them. At first, the accession talks were between the three parties but the Greens have not participated in the last round of negotiations.

Kuuba said it is important to create a new party on an equal footing. He added the Greens could join them before the next parliamentary elections and that in the local government elections a new party could form an electoral alliance with the Greens.

At the same time, Kuuba said, according to the law, the merging parties must not have debts. However, as previously reported, the Greens currently have debts which need to be paid off.

ERR News reported on Wednesday the Estonian Green Party is conducting a members survey to try and shape the party's future and discuss whether the party should continue on its own or join with another.

In the last party support survey commissioned by ERR, the Green Party had been between 2 and 4 percent, both the Richness of Life's and the Free Party's support was at 1 percent.

To be represented in the Riigikogu a party needs to win 5 percent of the votes.

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