Speaking to ERR, Helme said: "Two mandates are within reach. With a strong campaign and favorable conditions, two mandates are achievable, though definitely not guaranteed.

"To get two seats, you need roughly 20 percent [of the vote], but much depends on how many votes fall below the threshold, or how many votes the party with the fewest seats obtains," Helme said.

Helme was referring to the d'Hondt system of proportional representation used in Estonia's direct elections, whereby a candidate must pass a certain threshold of votes in order to win a seat in their own right. Since this is a relative number dependent upon turnout, what the threshold is precisely is not known until election day.

Helme also declined to say whether he would be running, or if the party's current MEP, Jaak Madison, would be the top candidate on the election list. Helme noted that it was "basic courtesy" for the party to be presented with the list of names first, and then the public.

Parties may run a maximum of nine candidates, and it is a near certainty that EKRE will do so. Seven MEP seats are up for grabs.

The party is holding a board meeting on Saturday, he added, where the candidate list should be finalized.

Helme said he makes the decision on the list himself; there will be no internal elections for candidates, unlike in the other two types of direct election (Riigikogu and local).

Polling day in Estonia is Sunday, June 9, preceded by a week's advance voting period, when e-votes and other types of votes can be cast.

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