"The voters have given us a clear mandate to join the coalition," Kallas told ERR on Monday and said he will start negotiating a coalition with Reform Party member and previous Tartu mayor Urmas Klaas.

"I do not see a combination, where it would be possible to create a coalition in Tartu without Reform," the Eesti 200 chair said. Kallas added that putting together a coalition against Reform would be a difficult challenge, as the connection would be "too colorful".

Reform won 19 seats in the 49-seat Tartu city council. Both EKRE and Eesti 200 will receive eight seats on the council, the Social Democrats (SDE) will get five seats, as will Isamaa. Center Party sends four people to the city council.

This means Reform cannot go forward with the previous partnership with SDE.

Kallas told ERR that Eesti 200 do not have any red lines in Tartu. "We will sit behind a table and shake hands with absolutely everyone," the party chairwoman said.

SüKu and the city center park the main topics of discussion

Kallas admitted that the development of the SüKu culture center could be an obstacle for the potential partnership between Eesti 200 and Reform. The party chair the culture center could instead be constructed somewhere other than the city center park.

"The question is not only SüKu, but also building something in Tartu city center park. We have a mandate from the voters to stand for the park and to look for different combinations," she said.

"We are not talking about the building, no one is against constructing it. We are speaking of green zones in the city center. We consider them important and it should not be developed. It is also important for the people," Kallas said.

She emphasized that the culture center will be developed, but alternative locations need to be found.

Kallas said the ball is now in Reform's court and Eesti 200 awaits more ambition from Reform in Tartu's future. Their current coalition with the Social Democrats, which was an unequal partner, allowed Reform to get too comfortable, the Eesti 200 chairwoman said.

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