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The southwest Estonian island municipality of Ruhnu which under the present administrative-territorial division is part of Saare County is interested in joining the city of Tallinn, news of the public broadcaster ERR reported.
Ruhnu island municipality interested in joining Tallinn
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The head of the municipality, Aare Sunter, met on Thursday with Tallinn Mayor Edgar Savisaar and Deputy Mayor Taavi Aas. He said after the meeting that unification of Ruhnu with Tallinn was indeed one of the topics discussed.
"This topic actually came up at the latest meeting of the local council of Ruhnu Island. The question arose and when there's a question it pays to ask it," Sunter said.
Asked why the people of Ruhnu want to join the capital city and not some other local government unit, Sunter said, why not.
"Ruhnu gets a lot of summer visitors who have closer connections with Tallinn or the nearby area, and seeing that unification is much talked about in Estonia and some [local governments] are holding talks and discussing it, the question cropped up here too, and that's the way it is," he said.
Aas said that before official unification residents of Ruhnu must have a clear idea of whether joining Tallinn is their firm wish, then formal merger negotiations should be started at which also possible legal obstacles can be clarified.
The city of Tallinn already has one island in its jurisdiction - the island of Aegna situated only 1.5 kilometers off the mainland in the Bay of Tallinn.