The change in Estonia's eastern border town, which is majority Russian-speaking, comes at a price however: Cooperation with Mihhail Stalnuhhin, who was ejected from the Center Party in late 2022 over remarks he made about Soviet-era monuments in Estonia.

Stalnuhhin is now an independent.

Raik told ERR Friday: "The coalition agreement states that I am the mayoral candidate. I will not be elected on November 21; these decisions take time," Raik noted.

"We ended negotiations with Jaan Toots and Aleksei Jevgrafov; we will proceed with negotiations with Mihhail Stalnuhhin's faction."

"The faction will be formed at the next council meeting, which takes place next Thursday, where a vote of no confidence will be expressed towards the current council chair," Raik went on.

Stalnuhhin will be council leader, she added.

"We have to negotiate with whoever is more stable and more solid. Whoever is more likely to work together for the city over the next ten months. The more stable option is Mikhail Stalnuhhin and his faction," said Raik. "Negotiations also proceeded in a calmer way, were and are mutually respectful. This is an alliance of equals," she added.

Raik said she could imagine the storm that would break out in the Estonian media over the news that she will be working with Stalnuhhin.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't share Stalnuhhin's views on the war in Ukraine, I don't share Stalnuhhin's views on the government, but it is written in our coalition agreement that Narva will act in accordance with the laws of the Estonian state, will cooperate with the government and see the government as an important partner," Raik said.

"There are no members of the Koos party in the Narva council, but five of the eleven members of the Stalnuhhin faction are members of the Center Party," she continued.

Raik, said that the composition of the ruling coalition must be selected in order that it is able to work together.

"It didn't work out last time, there was a lot of tension and maybe I was too impetuous for Narva. I hope I can be calmer now, even though my views haven't changed," Raik said.

"I think we have more willingness to work together, because everyone in the council has tried to work with everyone else and failed. I will do my best to make the city government work efficiently and quickly, I will work together with both factions and of course with the opposition. I hope that a number of things will become clearer, such as the heating problem, the insulation of houses and the transition to Estonian-language education," said Raik.

Raik is not running as a member of the Social Democratic Party (SDE), but is putting together an electoral alliance.

"In Narva, the electoral alliance of no party could be successful, other than the Center Party, because all the ideas expressed by that party must be taken on board. To be a social democrat is very unpopular – [because of] the Russian Orthodox Church, the border, now also the removal of the right to vote from Russian citizens. So the electoral list is what brings people together. I try to bring out young people and [ethnic] Estonians, because I'm the only person in the council right now who speaks Estonian as a first language at home – and people from different walks of life," Raik explained.

"It is foreseeable that in the next elections, Stalnuhhin and I will be the biggest rivals," Raik added.

Raik said he has an agreement that the composition of Narva Museum's board will change.

"The city's representatives there are people who are themselves involved in the city's history, who share the money, and who are also up to date with developments in contemporary museums. Vadim Orlov and Alexei Mägi will not be members of the council. However, they also have serious remarks to make about the museum, and so I will take them into account," Raik said.

The new ruling coalition agreement for Narva was reached on Friday. The new coalition agreement will be presented and signed early next week. Stalnuhhin and Raik will then hold a joint press conference.

Toots: Raik did nothing for a favorable heat prices

Current Mayor of Narva Jaan Toots, told Vikerradio that the coalition of power did not fall apart, but instead formed the Center Party faction.

"For now, there was a 21-member faction in Narva. It's just that half of them are now the Center Party faction. We would not have broken anything up here. The proposal came from Ms. Raik to form a coalition in which her side would get the chair of the council, and the mayor's part would remain with the Center Party. In good faith, we negotiated for a week until Stalnuhhin, as an old and shrewd politician, proposed to Raik to take the post he liked most," Toots said.

Toots said that becoming mayor is more important to Raik than having a workable coalition. "Because it is known that Stalnuhhin rejected my proposal to change the structure, Ms. Raik also wanted to do it," said Toots.

Toots also said that when Raik was mayor, Narva's raw heating price increased by 84 percent.

"We don't know that she did anything. Now, I have gone through the ministries, met with the director general of the Competition Authority and the director general of Eesti Energia, and what we have achieved is that in December, January and February we will be able to maintain this price with the 11th energy block of the Balti power station (Balti elektrijaam). Everything that is possible, I have done. What worries me is what will happen in the coming years," Toots said.

Toots: No one is good or bad in politics

"Ms. Raik's advantage is that she only does PR. I can't sell myself, but I'm a worker. I really liked Narva, it was very interesting work, nice people. I've also made several suggestions to the PPA so that 300-400 people don't have to wait in a line at the border all the time," said Toots.

Toots also said that he has just bought an apartment in Narva, but cannot yet say whether he will be the Center Party's mayoral candidate in the next elections.

SDE chair and Interior Minsiter Lauri Läänemets said he supported Katri Raik returning as Narva's mayor despite the challenging coalition options, stressing Raik's pro-Estonian stance as vital for security and cooperation, and as the best of a bad situation in terms of options.

Raik was Narva mayor December 2020-August 2021, and again December 2021-September 2023, when she was ousted in a vote of no confidence. Jaan Toots (Center) had been mayor since then.

She is also a former interior minister.

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