The Social Democratic Party's (SDE) emergency board meeting called on coalition partners to seek a compromise and also wants to know whether the Reform Party genuinely wishes to engage in discussions or has another plan in mind.

SDE's Minister of Health Riina Sikkut does not see it as likely that the Social Democrats will be left out of the coalition.

"Maintaining stability in Estonia is crucial for governance, but the coalition agreement certainly needs adjustments — this concerns the changed budgetary rules, a greater European contribution to Ukraine aid and the rapid strengthening of our defense capabilities," Sikkut said.

The Social Democrats' board stated in a Friday evening declaration that they had previously invited their partners to discuss the coalition's goals, making the current accusations hypocritical.

"If one or more parties feel that cooperation is not progressing at the agreed-upon pace or as needed, then I don't think it's hypocritical to say that we have problems," commented Õnne Pillak, leader of the Reform Party's parliamentary group.

Kristina Kallas, chair of Eesti 200 and Minister of Education, noted ideological differences between her party and the Social Democrats, particularly regarding economic competitiveness. According to her, the coalition's fate depends on negotiations.

"Dragging things out during a crisis and engaging in prolonged discussions is, in my opinion, not the right approach. An even worse approach is to focus on new regulations, as has been suggested by some ministries. In the current situation, that should be the last thing on our agenda," Kallas said.

The leaders of the opposition parties, the Center Party and EKRE, argue that removing the Social Democrats from the government would not change its overall direction. Center Party chairman Mihhail Kõlvart believes the Social Democrats should now voluntarily leave the coalition.

"Otherwise, they will continue as they are now, except they will no longer make bold public statements — they'll sit quietly in the coalition and do whatever the Reform Party wants," Kõlvart said.

EKRE chairman Martin Helme ruled out his party joining the coalition. He believes the Reform Party is trying to boost its popularity.

"Whenever their popularity starts to decline, they reshuffle the government before elections and pin the blame on someone else to improve their standing. This tactic has been used so many times that it no longer surprises anyone," Helme said.

The coalition will begin discussing its future on Monday.

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