Center Party to seek agreement on who will go to European Parliament

Mihhail Kõlvart, chairman of the opposition Center Party, told ERR that the party hasn't yet decided whether it will be Jana Toom or Kõlvart himself going to the European Parliament as Center's result was a joint effort.
"One's ambition is always to do better, while I think it is a normal result considering our current situation," Kõlvart said.
The chairman did not wish to reveal who would be representing Center in the new European Parliament. "It would be fair to sit down and discuss the matter with the team. But I can assure you that there is no rivalry between us and that we can reach a resolution. For me, it is primarily a combined effort of the party and we can vote on how to use the mandate," Kõlvart said.
Commenting on the 11,507 votes cast in favor of the Koos party's Aivo Peterson, who is currently detained for the duration of pretrial proceedings, Kõlvart said that rather than something Center lost, ballots cast for Peterson were protest votes.
Asked whether those who supported Peterson could be considered pro-Kremlin, Kõlvart described it as a dangerous approach and view.
"Yesterday, we had news of how dangerous it is that election turnout is growing in Ida-Viru County. That it is a region of Putin supporters. Narva is still an Estonian city and will remain such, it is home to our people. What this shows is that people are not satisfied with their lives. Protest votes do not depend on ideology and rather spring from general dissatisfaction. I believe everyone who has been to Narva understands what I mean," Kõlvart said.
"They should be shown that they are not automatically considered enemies or pro-Kremlin no matter what they do. They are our people, and perhaps their attitude would be different if they felt like it," the Center Party head added.
While Kõlvart said on numerous occasions before the election that he was running to support Center and had no plans to go to Brussels, he said Sunday evening that whether it will be Jana Toom or himself going to Europe is a matter of future agreement.
Jana Toom was not at the Center Party's election night party when ERR visited late on Sunday.
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Editor: Aleksander Krjukov, Marcus Turovski