TALLINN, March 5. /TASS/. Relations between Tallinn and Moscow will not change as a result of the parliamentary elections held on March 3, as Estonia is an EU and NATO member, Rein Toomla, a political analyst and instructor at the University of Tartu, told TASS on Tuesday.
"If we speak about relations between Estonia and Russia, all our political forces are confident that Estonia, as an EU and NATO member, should not have an independent Russia policy and all its dealings have to pass through the European Union," he said.
Relations on the border
The political expert said that in theory the possibility of a deterioration in relations between Tallinn and Moscow does exist. It may happen if the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) - which demands, in particular, that the border between the states pass in accordance with the Tartu Peace Treaty, which Russia does not agree with - joins the ruling coalition.
"During the election campaign just one party - EKRE - stated that the border between these states passes in accordance with the Tartu Peace Treaty that was signed 100 years ago," Toomla explained. "The other political forces in Estonia are confident that a new treaty on the border should be ratified."
The line of the Estonian-Russian state border was coordinated in 2005 after almost 11 years of negotiations. Then a boundary treaty was signed, but after it had been submitted to the Estonian parliament for ratification. There, legislators included a reference in the preamble to the Tartu Peace Treaty of 1920, worded in such a way that preserved potential territorial claims against Russia. Under these circumstances, Moscow recalled its signature, and the process remained legally incomplete. The negotiations were renewed in late 2012. Currently, the boundary treaty that was signed in February 2014 by the Estonian and Russian top diplomats was submitted to the both countries’ parliaments for ratification.
However, the chances that the EKRE will join the coalition are rather low. The Estonian Reform Party and the Estonian Center Party, which had previously gathered the largest number of votes at the general election, ruled out the possibility of cooperation with this party.
Russian-speaking MPs
About 10 parliamentary members that qualify as Russian-speaking were elected to the new 101-seat parliament (the Riigikogu), but they may fall in number, Toomla said.
"The thing is some Russian-speaking members of parliament may leave," the political expert says. He also noted that "the ratio has been the same over the past decade. Somewhere around 10% of all MPs are Russian-speaking."