Kallas suggested that Eesti 200's dismal result (the party got just 9,584 votes for 2.6 percent – ed.) was caused by in-house issues. "The question now is whether we'll learn from it and how to move on," she said.

The former party leader suggested that problems have revolved around members, including people being evicted and the case of Johanna-Maria Lehtme (Lehtme was Eesti 200's most successful Riigikogu elections candidate but quit the parliament following suspicions of misuse of donations at her Slava Ukraini NGO – ed.).

"The party did not manage to make the right decisions, and voters did not understand the choices that were made," Kallas said.

While Kristina Kallas did not rush to place the blame squarely with party head Margus Tsahkna, who got just 1,416 votes, she suggested that the party's current management board needs to take responsibility. "We cannot continue under current management. The sooner we'll have new chair and board elections, the better."

Kallas admitted that some members would like to see her run for chair again and it is something she must seriously consider.

Margus Tsahkna: We will see a new government this summer

Eesti 200 leader Margus Tsahkna said that while the opposition's victory over the coalition at European elections will lead to a change of government this summer, it might not mean the ousting of Reform, SDE and Eesti 200 from power. (Tsahkna is likely pointing to the possibility of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas [Reform] taking a European Commission post – ed.)

Tsahkna admitted that Eesti 200's election result is weak, but added that this is hardly surprising. The party leader noted that Eesti 200 has been criticized for its members being at odds rather than what the party has done or not done in the government.

He also said that his initial plan was to take charge of the party for a year and vaguely suggested he does not plan to run for chairman again.

The board of Eesti 200 will convene to discuss the result at 2 p.m. Monday.

The top three parties at 2024 European Parliament elections were Isamaa (79,170 votes), the Social Democratic Party (SDE) (71,171) and Reform (66,017). They were followed by EKRE (54,712) and Center (45,767).

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