Ivanova gave the Estonian portal of Russian state news service Sputnik an interview on Tuesday. Ivanova was present at the Bronze Soldier monument at Tallinn’s military cemetery, along with a small crowd and Red Army veterans celebrating the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany.

Ivanova was interviewed by Sputnik as well as recorded and photographed prominently holding a Sputnik microphone. It is the consensus of the parties in the Riigikogu not to grant Sputnik any interviews, as it is to be regarded a Russian propaganda broadcaster.

The leadership of the Center Party discussed the matter in an extraordinary leadership meeting on Wednesday. According to deputy party chairman, Jaanus Karilaid, Ivanova was made to understand that interviews with Sputnik are not acceptable, and that the party would deal more strictly with any similar incident in the future.

According to Karilaid, Ivanova was told what government responsibility means, and what it means to be a member of the prime minister’s party. The party’s efforts to reinvigorate the Estonian economy were significant, Karilaid said, and only possible as long as it was part of the governing coalition.

A narrow-minded approach to campaign for one’s own interests didn’t serve any party, and especially not the prime minister’s, Karilaid added.