People's Conservative Party: Popular Leader Plays to Disaffected Right-Wingers
People's Conservative Party (EKRE)
Position:
The ultimate power is vested in the people; legal continuity based on the republic proclaimed in 1918 and the current Constitution take precedence. The EU must be a community of nation-states, not a federation. Strongly opposed to a "United States of Europe," with would-be Estonian architects of such a structure likened to traitors. Categorically agaist visa freedom with Russia and against shifting control over immigration policy to Brussels. Favors smaller European government, wants Estonia to quit EFSF and other euro bailout mechanisms. Opposes land sales to foreigners.
Current MEP: None. Some members have pledged support for incumbent IRL MEP Tunne Kelam as a so-called palatable option; the EKRE's ranks have been swelled by people unhappy about what they see as an erosion of IRL's national conservative values, as exemplified in the support for ceding several thousand kilometers of territory to Russia. But EKRE leader Martin Helme commands a following. Running as an independent, he won 10,000 votes five years ago, more than the party as a whole picked up at the local elections last year. Helme could cash in on the anti-border treaty sentiment, but is still unlikely to attract the 40,000 needed for a seat.