Other events in Baltic States

The board of the Estonian Reform Party decided on Saturday to continue talks on formation of the new Estonian government coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union (IRL) and thus, the Free Party is excluded from the coalition talks, LETA/Postimees Online reports.

Chairman of the Reform Party Taavi Rõivas, who returned from European Union Council meeting early on Friday, after the Free Party had announced that they would propose to break off the coalition talks in their current form, had a meeting on Friday with SDP chairman Sven Mikser and IRL chairman Urmas Reinsalu but not with Free Party chairman Andres Herkel.

Rõivas said on Saturday that leaving the Free Party aside was primarily due to their proposal to suspend the coalition talks in their current form. "After this letter or proposal to break off the negotiations, a feeling has emerged that now changes have to be made and therefore the Reform Party Board makes a proposal to continue with the negotiations to the Social Democratic Party and the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union," Rõivas told reporters.

He added that ideologically, the wish of the Free Party to raise personal income tax, as well as their ideas to restore corporate income tax as well as introduce equity tax, caused problems. "For us in a situation where we have promised to the people of Estonia that the labour taxes would fall, it is not possible to look in the eye to Estonian people honestly and say that now we reached at the government talks such a result at the Free Party's proposal that taxes will increase instead," he said.

Rõivas said the fact that the Free Democratic Party had not formed a clear view on whether they want to go to the coalition or not also played a role.

Rõivas expressed the hope that the SDP and IRL will accept the invitation of the Reform Party and the talks can continue with the participation of three political parties.

The coalition of three parties would get 59 seats in the 101 member Riiikogu that is likely to be convened on March 30.