Stoicescu did not publicly announce why he had stepped down from the Eesti 200 management board, though daily Postimees at the time reported that it was mainly the result of concerns surrounding the party's finances, its new budget, and overall management.

The party's co-founder, former leader and current education minister, Kristina Kallas, concedes that there are tensions at Eesti 200 board level.

Kallas told ETV news show "Aktuaalne kaamera" (AK): "Yes, there are conflicts between some members of the board, where mistrust prevails. But I actually see it as normal organizational life, where there are disagreements, tensions arising from disagreements, which need to be resolved."

MP Hendrik Johannes Terras agrees, telling AK that "I would say the atmosphere is not the best. But we are more or less getting by, although the board's performance is not what I think it should be," said Terras.

Terras added that now is as good a time as any to consider the situation within the party. "It is important for everyone that we once again think about how we got here and how we can move nicely move forward from here, together," he said. "At present, I am not going to offer solutions in a hurry, but I am sure that we will find a solution," he said.

Kristina Kallas meanwhile said that the media has in its coverage of the party honed in on conflicts between two or three individual personalities, even as the party forges ahead with implementing its platform.

"Sometimes when I read the media, there arises some dissonance between how our team actually functions, how we ourselves work, how our organization works, and the image of us that appears in the public eye," she said.

Of these personalities, Terras, without naming names, noted "disagreements with some members of the board" on budgetary issues and that some people would likely not "act as agreed" on this.

Kalev Stoicescu, who left the nine-member Eesti 200 board (including baord chair) last week but remains and Eesti 200 MP, is being replaced at board level by Tarmo Tamm.

According to Terras, the atmosphere within the board is not good.

The view from outside included claims that the party has abandoned tis internal affairs too far. Anneli Ott, secretary general of the Center Party and a former culture minister, said the party had expended great amounts of energy on power changes in the capital, to the detriment of the party's internal functioning.

Ott's equivalent at Reform, Timo Suslov, said that any internal strife within Eesti 200 had not however impacted negatively on the coalition the Reform Party and Eesti 200 are in, together with the Social Democrats.

"Each political party has its own problems, and it has to be solved internally," Suslov commented.

Hendrik Terras and another prominent Eesti 200 MP, Züleyxa Izmailova, also did not support the new budget; Kalev Stoicescu reportedly left the Eesti 200 board shortly before the budget was adopted, last week.

Toomas Uibo, one of the Eesti 200 board members, also told ERR Thursday that it was "unfortunate" that the dispute which arose in the political party had been resolved through the media.

Uibo did not want to comment on Stoicescu's departure itself. "I think it's right and proper if Kalev Stoicescu comments on it himself," he said.

Uibo did however comment on another recent Eesti 200 departure, that of Mihkel Veski, as board chair. On this, "as far as I know, Mihkel Veski left following a bilateral agreement with party chair Margus Tsahkna. There were several reasons, including personal ones," Uibo said.

It is characteristic of any young organization (Eesti 200 was founded in 2018 and won its first seats at the Riigikogu nearly a year ago – ed.) to have squabbles of this nature, he added.

"I don't see such an insurmountable obstacle here. But unfortunately, they are trying to do it through the media, which in my opinion is not the right way to solve problems," Uibo went on.

As to Tarmo Tamm's stepping up to the Eesti 200 board, this simply followed party regulations, Uibo said. Tamm was next in line in terms of votes to the party board.

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