Jaak Madison has become a fellow Center Party member. Any comment?

Well, it's good. The man got 33,000 votes at the European Parliament elections. He also left the Conservative People's Party (EKRE), which matters to me personally. We spoke at length. I believe we spent two hours looking for common ground yesterday. And we found it. While there are naturally some differences of opinion, we will overcome. And when it comes to rural affairs or social stratification, for example, we have no differences. He can do the work, speaks languages. I Googled him thoroughly and did not come across anything stupid recently. Jaak is a young and active man. Let's hope it will turn out alright.

Do you think Russian will make an appearance on the list of languages Madison speaks?

The Center Party has had members who didn't speak Russian, as well as those who did but forgot how to. It's true, of course, that they're no longer members today. I cannot say about Madison and you would be better served asking the man himself. But he is a very good communicator. And Center has plenty of those who can talk to Russian voters without Madison.

You and Madison currently belong to different groups in the European Parliament. Will that situation change?

The question of whether we should switch groups is up to the party council. It is no secret that I said at a Center Party congress two years ago that I don't really understand why stay in ALDE. But would I be open to joining the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) today? Probably not. I believe we should stay where we are, while I haven't yet heard the other side's argumentation. The debates are still to come. But again, I cannot see myself joining ECR.

Center Party leader Mihhail Kõlvart said he hopes you and Madison will become an effective team. Can effective team members belong to different parliamentary groups?

Yes. It is hardly unprecedented that MEPs belonging to the same party in their home country belong to different groups in Brussels. In some ways, it even allows one to have broader representation. We'll see – the matter remains undecided at this time.

Could Madison joining alter Center's position when it comes to the idea of revoking the voting rights of stateless persons and Russian citizens?

Of course not.

What might be fundamental differences between you and Jaak Madison?

They are mostly on the liberal-conservative scale. I consider myself a liberal. While I am aware that there are few pure liberals among my fellow Center members, therefore, my differences with Madison will be the same as my differences with Anneli Ott. But they will not get in the way of working together.

You and Madison have known one another for a long time. When did you start talking more often?

We haven't. I talk to him when I'm sitting next to him on the plane. But we have not gone out for coffee together. Madison gets coffee with Riho Terras (Isamaa), or not coffee...

How will Center voters take it that Madison is now a member?

That will largely depend on Madison. I see more pros than cons in voter reactions. I know, of course, that our opponents, including former Centrists, who were also after Madison, will raise hell over the fact he decided to join Center. But that is temporary noise.

How likely is it that a member will decide to leave because of Madison? Do party members in Narva understand the move?

I believe people in Narva take a pragmatic view, and Madison is a good fit for quite a lot of Narva people on the liberal-conservative axis. I hope there will be no departures, but considering that people have been changing parties like socks lately, nothing can be ruled out. But we've made preparations to avoid it, met with people to explain matters.

Is Center relying on Madison's strength for the 2025 local elections in Tallinn?

Every politician who joins a party makes it stronger, whether it happens before local elections or not. Madison has a Tallinn City Council mandate, so it all makes sense.

Prior to the previous local elections, you lobbied for an amendment that would allow MEPs to sit on local government councils, while you were later forced to quit the Tallinn City Council because you moved. Will you run in 2025?

I made the same mistake Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski later repeated. What's done is done. But I am thinking about the elections. Thank God I now have a place where I can register as a Tallinn resident and everything is above board – it is my mother's apartment. (Jana Toom's mother is municipal politician Margarita Tšernogorova – ed.)

Do you believe Center capable of returning to power in the capital before the elections?

I would not like to speculate. Such questions are better put to Mihhail Kõlvart and our city council members.

Coming back to Madison, your former fellow Center member, now the Social Democratic Party's Tanel Kiik commented on Madison's move by simply posting, "In memoriam: Estonian Center Party (1991-2024)." What is your opinion of that?

My honest answer you couldn't print, but I will restrain myself. I'm reminded of the events that followed the 2019 parliamentary elections. It was a Tuesday. I was at the airport when I got a call from Kaja Kallas who told me, "You know, Jana, I've changed my mind about a coalition with the Social Democrats and want to form an alliance with you instead." At the same time, Center was in the process of forming a coalition with EKRE because Reform had been reluctant to marry Center.

I phoned Jüri Ratas. He did not pick up. Next, I called his right-hand man Tanel Kiik and told him, "Tanel, the Reformists will form a coalition with us – hurray!" He told me that we would form a coalition with EKRE instead. Kiik was one of the architects of that coalition (Jüri Ratas' government, made up of the Center Party, EKRE and Isamaa, ruled Estonia between April 2019 and January 2021 – ed.) and a government minister.

I was offered a ministerial post at the time, but I refused – I did not want to share a cabinet with EKRE. And now Kiik has the audacity to criticize someone who has already quit EKRE. His motivation for criticizing Center stems from the fact he was not allowed to become its chairman. Which was the right decision.

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