Speaking at a press conference Wednesday morning, Center Party chair Mihhail Kõlvart said that Peeter Ernits is a veteran politician who will bring added competence to the party.

"Peeter will certainly help strengthen the parliamentary group's work in both nature conservation and rural affairs," he noted.

Ernits said that his worldview and opinions have not changed much in the meantime.

"It's conservative approach, making rural life viable, and bringing light into the room — common sense," he said. "'Light into the room' is a concept I've tried to apply in the current Riigikogu."

Ernits wants to see more competence in the Riigikogu, he added.

"I want to contribute to ensuring that no later than two years from now, a government will come to power that will champion the well-being of the Estonian people, domestic entrepreneurship, energy security and regional policy," he emphasized. "Today's Center Party has the drive and the means to offer an alternative to the overwhelming dominance of the Reform Party and its satellite."

According to Ernits, the Center Party has undergone a positive renewal over the past year and a half, and strengthened its conservative views.

"Political opportunism and empty rhetoric left the party together with Jüri Ratas," he said, referring to the former party chair, who quit Center and joined Isamaa in early 2024. "I feel like in the renewed Center Party, I can truly have a say — especially on the issues of rural affairs and environmental policy, which are very important to me."

The MP admitted that he isn't very familiar with the current members of the Center Party, but based on what he does know, he can confirm the party boasts a wide range of expertise.

"I see that today's Center Party has great potential," he acknowledged.

Ernits also emphasized that the Center Party cannot simply be classified solely as the party for native Russian-speakers.

"If someone tries to tell me that this is a Russian party — tell it to someone else," he said.

The unaffiliated MP added that intelligent, concerned and active colleagues can be found in every parliamentary group in the Riigikogu, and that cooperation with them is possible.

Center, EKRE, ERK

Peeter Ernits was initially a member of the Center Party from 2015 to 2018. He joined the party when it was still under the leadership of former longtime chair Edgar Savisaar and was one of Savisaar's biggest supporters during the party's internal conflict.

When Ernits left the Center Party in 2018, it was being led by Jüri Ratas. He justified his decision to join EKRE at the time by saying he saw the conservatives as having the resolve needed to overcome the stagnation brought about by cartel parties.

In summer 2023, he ran against incumbent Martin Helme for the position of EKRE chair, but lost by a wide margin.

He left EKRE in April 2024, explaining his decision to quit the party by noting that EKRE had squandered its chance to be in the Estonian government with its insults and boasting, together with the actions of Martin and Mart Helme.

That August, he joined a newly formed party, the Estonian Nationalists and Conservatives (ERK), which he quit in December of the same year together with Henn Põlluaas, Ants Frosch and Helen Rebane.

On March 31 of this year, the Supreme Court of Estonia rejected an appeal filed by EKRE MP Kert Kingo's defense attorneys, which meant that Kingo had to resign from the Riigikogu. Ernits, who by that time had quit the party, nonetheless took up her seat as MP.

First taste of politics in 1990s

Peeter Ernits first entered politics in 1992, when he ran in Estonia's first Riigikogu elections following the country's restoration of independence the previous year. At the time, he was serving as director of the Estonian Museum of Natural History.

He ran as a candidate for the Independent Royalists electoral alliance in what was then the Western Tallinn District, but was not elected, receiving just 665 votes.

Before entering politics, Ernits worked for years as a journalist, including serving as editor-in-chief of the magazine Luup and the newspaper Maaleht.

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