Stoicescu's departure came immediately before a board vote on the party budget, Postimees reports, and anecdotal reports say that not only he, but also two other Eesti 200 MPs, Hendrik Johannes Terras and Züleyxa Izmailova, did not wish to sign off on it.

Eesti 200 deputy head Kristina Kallas conceded to Postimees that there are "three or four people" within the party's leadership who are distrustful of one another, and that this is the source of the tensions; the two camps are reportedly Marek Reinaas and Kadri Napritson-Acuna (the latter is not an MP but an adviser – ed.) on the one side and Terras and Izmailova on the other.

Reinaas and Napritson-Acuna have declined to comment on the party's internal affairs, while Terras and Izmailova, in the "critics" camp, have not kept it a secret that there are many aspects of Eesti 200's operation which they do not like, which can be summed up as a lack of confidence and trust in the party's leadership.

A security expert, Kalev Stoicescu is chair of the Riigikogu's National Defense Committee.

Eesti 200 was founded in 2018 and won its first Riigikogu seats, 14 of them, in the Riigikogu election almost a year ago. It then entered office with Reform and the Social Democrats, in April.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!