EKRE youth wing Blue Awakening quits party, looks to join ERK

The youth wing of the Conservative People's Party (EKRE), the Blue Awakening, has decided to quit the far-right force and launch accession talks with the soon-to-be-registered Estonian Nationalists and Conservatives (ERK).
The board of NGO Blue Awakening (Sinine Äratus) on Saturday put to vote four scenarios for its future. They were remaining EKRE's youth organization, closing shop, moving forward as an independent youth movement or launching talks with ERK. The latter option was preferred by the lion's share of those in attendance.
The NGO also removed all references to EKRE from its statutes.
Eino Rantanen was elected the organization's new chairman, with the rest of the board made up of Ronald Judin, Tristjan-Erich Karjus, Thomaz Lumijärv and Helen Rebane.
"Our key goals are to ensure the viability and future of Blue Awakening as an organization, and to serve national ideals as best as we can. The general assembly's overwhelming decision reflects our position according to which continuing as EKRE's youth wing no longer has prospects," Rantanen said.
"Strategic and certain ideological differences have had a negative effect on our members' activity and motivation for a while, and today's decision was the culmination of this dissatisfaction. As an organization, we will remain true to the national and conservative ideals which EKRE have, unfortunately, increasingly drifted away from," the new chairman added.
Blue Awakening was EKRE's official youth assembly from 2012 through to 2024.
The Estonian Nationalists and Conservatives (ERK) signed up 500 members this week, which is necessary to register as a political party. On June 29, former EKRE member Henn Põlluaas was elected the nascent party's chairman and Silver Kuusik and Paul Puustusmaa its deputy chairs. A 13-member board was also elected. Many of the incoming party's key members used to belong to EKRE before being kicked out or leaving following in-house tensions.
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Editor: Merili Nael, Marcus Turovski