"The new coalition agreement proves that there are essentially no new things. The coalition also had to admit that Tallinn's financial position is even rather good and certainly stable. The crises we had in the last years – we managed to get through them very respectably. And the citizens of Tallinn appreciate that. All the big things that I found in the new coalition agreement were either already initiated by the party or already underway," said Kõlvart on Monday.

He also does not agree with plans to merge the capital's medical facilities, to close newspapers published by the city government, or rename cultural centers.

Kõlvart described the agreement as "porridge and cabbage", meaning empty. 

"You cannot really do anything in a year and a half. Demolish, close down, reorganise – that's it," he added, referencing the next local election in autumn 2025.

The former mayor denied that he felt "betrayed" by the situation, or that he was friends with former coalition partner SDE Tallinn faction chairman Jevgeni Ossinovski.

"We weren't friends before either," Kõlvart answered. "I think we were good coalition partners."

Kõlvart also claimed negotiations had been going on for "quite some time": "Jevgeni is an experienced and successful politician, so one image was created, but in reality, a different game was played."

He said the new coalition has not started in a transparent, democratic, or European manner, referencing the three votes it took to elect Ossinovski as mayor and that ballots were photographed.

Kõlvart also said while the new coalition had promised to reduce the number of political appointees, it actually created an additional mayor position.

Center Party has broad appeal

"I can understand what some politicians would like to say, that we [Center] were in power in Tallinn because only people with Russian passports voted for us – that is not the case. The last elections showed that we got half of the vote in Tallinn. I was the most popular politician in every district and in every group, including every ethnic group," Kõlvart, chairman of the Center Party, said.

He said Center will not forget SDE's behavior. Kõlvart claimed before the vote on Sunday SDE members called Center politicians to try and convince them to vote for the new mayor.

"I know who they were – if anyone starts asking. They said, 'listen, come and support SDE and be on our list for the next election and then we'll form a coalition with the Centre Party'. This was the kind of talk that was told to our people to come forward or betray – let's put it bluntly," said Kõlvart.

"I cannot imagine we are sitting at the coalition table with the same people," he said, adding that maybe by then neither he nor Ossinovski will be the ones making decisions.

No such word as "betrayal" in politics

There is no such word as "betrayal" in politics, former Kõlvart answered when asked if he felt betrayed by SDE. "In politics, every political party, every politician makes a choice according to the situation and according to their interests," Kõlvart said.

"I have to admit that I think we, the Centre Party, behaved in an orderly and respectable manner," he added.

Kõlvart said Center also had the opportunity to change coalition partners a year ago.

"Quite a lot of proposals have come from different parties and there was an opportunity. But then I said to our former partner that maybe we would try to introduce a new political culture, that we would try to keep this coalition until the elections. All the more so because there are no substantive problems – the city is developing, we can realize projects together. I don't think it's nice at all when you're in a coalition [together] and you're negotiating behind your back," the former mayor explained.

"I must admit – I was a bit naive," he added.

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