Speaking on Raadio 2's morning show, Jana Toom revealed that a few years ago she had offered Julianna Jurtšenko a position on her team in Brussels, but Jurtšenko declined because she preferred to be an adviser to the Center Party's parliamentary group at the time.

"That was during the coalition with EKRE and the Helmes in Toompea. To now claim that she has a conflict of values with Jaak Madison requires quite a short memory," Toom said.

Toom, who herself is now in the same party as Jaak Madison, does not see this as a major issue.

"Jaak has never been my political ally. But that's not a problem because we are a large party with people of many different views," she noted.

Toom is confident that Jurtšenko will be confirmed as the district elder of Lasnamäe on Tuesday, as her former membership in the Center Party still works in her favor.

"She could even show up wearing a 'Putin Forever' T-shirt, and she'd still be confirmed," Toom remarked.

According to Toom, the Social Democratic Party (SDE) needs Jurtšenko badly, although she finds her sudden shift in allegiance pitiful.

"Kalev Kallo once said that votes just don't stick to some people. Jurtšenko is one of them, so there's no great political capital to be gained from her," she concluded.

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