Party Assembly, coloured by crisis and surprise-free

Photo: Peeter Langovits / Postimees

As underlined by every speech at Reform Party general assembly, the aim is one – winning the 2015 elections

The Reform Party general assembly did not escape being coloured by events in Ukraine; robbed of a coffee break and a chat with party pals, the outgoing Prime Minister Andrus Ansip was pacing back and forth in the empty hall, worriedly, mobile phone pressed against ear. 

At the other end of Mr Ansip’s line, it was President Toomas Hendrik Ilves. Foreign minister Urmas Paet, present at the same general assembly, was talking with defence minister Urmas Reinsalu (IRL). Is this the best of times to hand in resignation papers? asked Marko Mihkelson (IRL), a National Defence Council member and chairman of Riigikogu’s Foreign Affairs Committee – hinting that Mr Ansip ought to give up plans to step down, for the moment.

Mr Ansip, however, was of the opinion that there was no need to delay, for the very reason of our state being consistent, our governments consistent, and now being the right time to change government. «Especially so in the light of the events in Ukraine, we here in Estonia need to think about how vital it is for a country to have an effective central power, how vital is consistency,» said Mr Ansip.

At yesterday’s general assembly, the most anticipated speech was by the European Commission vice president Siim Kallas, honorary chairman of Reform Party, expecting soon to be offered prime ministerial job by President of Estonia. He also started off by talking about Ukraine; as his train of thoughts brought him back to homeland, Mr Kallas shared how deeply he is disturbed the fact that our wages and pensions are under the EU average. «In my opinion, this most disturbs our national pride. I would like people in Estonia to believe in a better future, to see a better future both for themselves, for their children and their children’s children,» said Mr Kallas.

Mr Kallas described his stand as possible future prime: in order for incomes to grow, jobs are needed. To create jobs, investments are needed. First and foremost, economic growth is pulled by export; even so, the greatest jobs-creators are small and medium-sized enterprises.

Somewhat surprisingly, Mr Kallas announced that he would rather see the Rail Baltica issue – his latest EU-times darling – at a referendum. «This is not an issue that we should solve using force,» declared Mr Kallas.

According to him, we are still a part of Russia when it comes to infrastructure. «This is an explicit security issue and also a basic geopolitical issue. What kind of a world do we want to belong to?»

«European Union supports connecting Estonia with Europe. For that, there exist the Rail Baltica and the gas-connection – Baltic Connector – project, as well as integration of electric power network,» said Mr Kallas.

Martin Kukk, the Reform Party secretary-general, provided a clear direction for the upcoming coalition talks, excluding connecting points with Centre Party. At the general assembly, various circles sat together talking about the week-end utterance by Priit Kutser, acting North-Tallinn elder and an inner circle guy to Centre Party chairman Edgar Savisaar. Namely, it was observed by Mr Kutser that in the case of Crimea, Russia is taking what’s hers.  

Mr Kukk noted that following the April [Bronze Night – edit] events of 2007, it is next to impossible to have cooperation with Mr Savisaar at any level. «At the EU elections, the Savisaar-led Centre Party poses a threat to conclusive integration of Estonia with the European Union. The forebodings regarding Centre Party’s geopolitical orientation during the period Estonia was joining the European Union haven’t gone anywhere. We were for it. Centre Party was against,» said Mr Kukk.

According to him, everybody remembers the calls by the party led by Mr Savisaar to cut national defence spending.