This week, Reform agreed to rejoin the capital's coalition and Ossinovski survived a vote of no-confidence.

On Wednesday's "Vikerhommik" radio show, Ossinovski was asked how he could continue working with Reform and Deputy Mayor Pärtel-Peeter Pere, who has strongly criticized the mayor in recent weeks.

"Politics is a professional field of activity, what else can I say? It's not like we're marrying our colleagues from the Reform Party," Ossinovski said. He added, "We work toward shared goals and try to resolve disagreements through negotiation."

Ossinovski believes there will be two scenarios after the local elections in Tallinn: "We can clearly see that after this election, there are two possibilities — either I continue as mayor, or Mr. Kõlvart returns."

He added that the Center Party chairman previously planned to return to power with EKRE's support, but now the Reform Party is also willing to play this role. Center was kicked out of power in the city government last year after almost two decades.

Ossinovski said it would not be good for Tallinn if Center returned to the coalition. The party has been convicted three times in criminal proceedings.

He promised to work toward ensuring that the current coalition partners – Isama, Reform and Eesti 200 – in the capital continue their cooperation after the election.

As mayor, he aims to work together with the various parties to keep the coalition intact. Not only in the city government but also with the City Council factions.

"There have been signals from the Reform Party that their council faction wants to have more say in the governance of Tallinn," he said.

Ossinovski added that although only three months remain until the election, there are still many reforms ahead for Tallinn. As an example, he cited the merger of Tallinn's hospitals, a decision which has already been approved by the council. The whole process still lies ahead.

"The most important issue is the transition to Estonian-language education, where the results from the first school year in fourth grades were concerning. This summer, we need to work with experts to support both fifth-graders and the new fourth-graders this fall," the mayor promised.

Commenting on the latest local election survey results in Tallinn, where support for the Center Party increased somewhat and support for the Reform Party declined, Ossinovski said that "the critical assessment of the Reform Party was to be expected."

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