In the latter case, the decisions' positive impacts will start to manifest from next year, Taro continued, in an interview given to ERR which follows in its entirety.

You recently started in the job as Eesti 200 secretary general. What are some of the main challenges that await you with this post?

The initial task is to unify the team. We have a busy team in the capital, plus many enthusiastic people in the regions, all of whom are waiting for the opportunity to contribute to the fulfillment of Eesti 200's goals; namely, to bring more change to politics.

Politics is after all conducted in places other than just Tallinn. And a change in politics is expected at the municipal level in Tallinn itself, as well as in Põlva, Narva, and other regions. We are working with our organization to achieve even stronger results at the next local government elections than we did in the last ones (in October 2021 – ed.).

What is your assessment of Mihkel Veski's work. He has resigned as CEO (as the Eesti 200 secretary general position is sometimes known – ed.).

I would not venture to make any judgments. So far as I know, there was an amicable parting of the ways, after a probationary period. These things happen.

You have said that party leader Margus Tsahkna will be lead candidate at the European Parliament elections. Who else is running alongside him, on Eesti 200's list?

I said that the board has not confirmed the ordered list, yet it is quite logical to see either the leader of the political party or the foreign minister as the number one electoral candidate. In Eesti 200's case, these two roles coincide, so that would probably make it the logical choice. Kristina Kallas, Liisa Pakosta and Kalev Stoicescu are also definitely strong candidates for Eesti 200, but the list will of course be longer than that (up to a maximum of nine – ed.).

When will Eesti 200's European Parliament electoral list be locked down?

All will be clear by mid-April.

How do you assess the internal climate in the party? Have those tensions that appered in the media last week subsided?

[I would describe them as ] Dynamic. We had a big meeting on Thursday, in which we reviewed and analyzed the themes which had reached the media. In my view, all the questions were answered exhaustively. The internal climate is mostly mired in regard to relationships; relationships, in regard to communication. We have cleared the air, though, and can forge ahead.

Some party board members have complained that decisions are not made transparently, and are not often made within the board itself. What is you comment on that?

Trust and interpersonal relationships are subjective things. It is difficult to comment on someone's feelings and emotions.

What is your assessment of the party's current low rating, and what is the reason for this state of affairs?

It gives no cause for happiness. There are two reasons for it. One of these is objective and related to the difficult decisions the party has had to deal with in politics.

We came into office with a long plan and a pledge to bring about change. This meant we could not continue this irresponsible line of saying how everything is in the optimal order, and prolong the Estonian "debt party."

Many people don't like that we have to deal with state revenues, i.e. with taxes, and cuts, which inevitably means a reduction in subsidies.

At the same time, our pledge was also to secure better funding for national defense; there was no way to back out of this, even in the current [economic] situation. So we have to make the painful decisions now, but their positive effects will only start to be apparent to people from next year.

Now the second reason is certainly that, when the party is not in the media picture with its policies, but due to its internal affairs; well, our members and voters certainly do not expect that we are fire-fighting within ourselves, rather than dealing with Estonia's long-term plan.

But how do you boost the party's rating?

We have to deal with our policies and stand up for our values ​​more forcefully. As a political party, Eesti 200 was not created just to monitor the ratings, but to make important, long-range decisions for Estonia. These currently include the transition to Estonian-only education, which is still in the process of being absorbed and cooled down from a transition period, after 33 years [of independence]. Also there's the transition to cleaner energy and to responsible state governance via a zero budget and cost revisions.

The next big thing is going to be the personalized state. This is a big deal not only for Eesti 200, but for the whole of Estonia. It has been said for some time that Estonia's "digital tiger" is now sleeping. With the implementation of our e-services, we have been world leaders and have saved valuable working time for our people, to the equivalent of 3-4 percent of GDP.

This is the indisputable competitive advantage of our economic environment, where the next step must be taken: To make things even faster, easier and more efficient. This also leads to savings for the state budget, which leads to the option for seeking lower taxes.

How do you comment on the fact that a mere €495 was collected in donations to Eesti 200, in January and even less than that, €295, last month. Why are these sums so paltry?

We have not been concentrating on donations this year, since we get a fairly decent level support from the state budget (all registered political parties which poll above 2 percent in a Riigikogu election are eligible for state support, in proportion to their representation. Eesti 200's reported fourth quarter 2023 state support came to €179,477 – ed.).

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