Koos wants to set up Aivo Peterson as its European Parliament elections candidate
The Koos party, registered in May of last year, is considering taking part in the European Parliament elections in June and hopes to set up Aivo Peterson, currently held in custody on suspicions of actions against the Estonian state, as one of its candidates.
"We have decided to set up between one and three candidates. Hopefuls have come forward, while no final decision has been made. The board is planning to get there in the near future – by the week's end at the latest, I believe," Koos member Julia Smoli told ERR's Russian news portal rus.err.ee Tuesday.
She said that one of the candidates could be Aivo Peterson who took 3,968 votes or 81 percent of the regional quota running in Ida-Viru County at the 2023 parliamentary elections.
"We asked the National Electoral Committee whether Peterson could run and were told it is possible. Therefore, it is possible he will make the list of candidates. It is what the party and the people want," Smoli said.
She noted that the security candidates need to provide is a considerable sum for the party.
"It is €4,100 this time. It is a lot of money for us. Therefore, we cannot put forward many candidates. Those who want to run must raise the funds themselves. The party has no such resources today," Smoli admitted.
The Koos party wants to take one mandate from the elections. "We believe we have every opportunity," Smoli said.
European Parliament election candidates can be registered between April 10 and April 20. European Parliament elections will take place June 3-9 in Estonia.
Estonia will be sending seven delegates to Strasbourg.
The Koos party (full name: KOOS organization highlights sovereignty) had 785 members as of April 9.
Aivo Peterson was detained by the Internal Security Service (ISS) along with Dmitri Rootsi and Andrei Andronov in March last year.
According to the charges, Peterson, a member of the board of the Koos/Vmeste movement at the time, and his codefendant Dmitri Rootsi between October 2022 and March 10, 2023 knowingly and systematically aided Russia and persons working under orders from Russian agencies in nonviolent action against the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Estonia based on guidance received from the Russian Federation.
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Editor: Mait Ots, Marcus Turovski
