In its rulings, the Political Parties Financing Surveillance Committee (ERJK) notes that while EU-level regulations allow European political parties to finance campaigns related to European Parliament elections, each country can still impose restrictions through national legislation, which in Estonia prohibits donations from legal entities.

The committee has criticized Jaak Madison — who ran on the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) ticket but later joined the Center Party — for participating in events in April of the election year that it deems election-related. These include public gatherings at the Keila Cultural Center and Solaris Center, as well as advertisements for them aired on Kanal 2.

The European Parliament elections took place on June 9 last year.

When the ERJK first contacted Madison last year, he responded that his campaign expenses were covered either by himself or by EKRE, the party he belonged to at the time. However, by fall, the committee had not received a clear answer on whether Madison or the party had paid for the television ad and the Solaris Center event.

In January of this year, Madison replied that the event was related to his work as a Member of the European Parliament and that the TV advertisement was intended to promote the event. He also stated that it had been coordinated with the Identity and Democracy (ID) group in the European Parliament to ensure it would not be classified as part of an election campaign.

The ERJK concluded that while the gathering addressed security issues and presented the work of an MEP, the context and content of the event qualify it as campaign activity. "At the end of your presentation, you called on attendees to join the party, turn their vehicles into campaign platforms, participate in the elections and win them," the committee noted, citing a video of the event.

As a result, Madison is required to return €14,900 to the ID group and €430 to Tallinnfilm OÜ for rental costs at Kino Artis, which was used for the event.

The committee also criticized Marina Kaljurand for a Women's Day greeting published in newspapers, which was funded by the Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament.

According to the ERJK, the greeting amounts to personal promotion.

Kaljurand responded that the greetings, published three months before the election, were not part of a campaign and that she issued them in her capacity as a member of the European Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality.

However, the ERJK concluded that considering the message, visuals and overall impact of the advertisement, it constituted personal promotion. Given that it appeared during the pre-election period, the committee considers it a form of personal campaigning.

Kaljurand is therefore required to return €13,439 to the Socialists and Democrats group.

Both Madison and Kaljurand pointed out that the advertisements were published before they were officially confirmed as candidates.

The ERJK's directive can be appealed within 30 days. Members have 60 days to repay the funds to their parliamentary groups.

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