Speaking to "Esimene stuudio," Ossinovski said his party's strong showing in the capital at the recent local elections is partly thanks to last summer's power crisis, which saw Reform exit office on the issue of kindergarten fees.

So far as day-to-day city governance goes, were no winners from this breakup, however, Ossinovski said, even as there is no scope for cooperation with Center unless it changes its ways.

"When speaking about the impact on the election result, I think it was twofold. First, it's true that the Social Democrats likely gained votes, but this definitely also strengthened the Center Party. We got quite a lot of feedback that this summer's drama actually undermined some Tallinn residents' faith in the idea that it is possible to govern in a stable way without the Center Party. End of the day there's nothing to be happy about, and I think the Reform Party also received a clear signal from the voters, plus we know that the party has acknowledged its mistakes," Ossinovski said.

Ossinovski also said he is not overly concerned about Isamaa, which is set to choose whether to start coalition talks with the Center Party or to resurrect the four-party coalition in Tallinn, with Parempoolsed taking the place of Eesti 200, who are without seats in the capital now.

At the same time, Isamaa need not be seen as the "kingmaker" of the piece; Ossinovski noted that his party, together with Parempoolsed and Reform, could also theoretically form a coalition with Center if they wanted to, though SDE has stated it would not want to. This would also leave Isamaa as the sole opposition party left in Tallinn, since EKRE also came away empty handed in the capital after last weekend's election.

Even Center did not win enough mandates for a return to its days as the sole party in office in Tallinn, a situation which ended after the last local elections in 2021.

"The Center Party won the election as forecast and got a decent number of mandates, but not enough for sole power. EKRE was left out, and of course the basic maths is simple: Any one of these four parties could fall into the Center Party's arms and form up a coalition with them. We said before the election that we would not do that, and our campaign slogan was: 'Forward in leadership or backward with the Center Party.' But the fact that each of these parties could theoretically do it was known before and is still known now. Isamaa's position is not exceptional. The other two —Reform and Parempoolsed — have quite quickly adopted a stance that they wish to continue the four-party alliance and do not want the Center Party's return, and I think Isamaa faces the same dilemma of values. A party that has started almost every sentence with the words 'Estonian-language' or 'pro-Estonian' — it would be very hard for me to imagine them saying that just because they got more seats, they'll now go and join the Center Party," Ossinovski went on.

The incumbent mayor added that he has spoken with members of Isamaa, who told him of their desire to discuss opinions inside the party before responding. However, Ossinovski has said he does not understand for what rational reasons Isamaa could have for forming a coalition with Center, as this has been seen by many in SDE, not to mention Reform and Parempoolsed, as a retrograde step.

"The risks for them are very high in my view. Their slogan "Eesti vajab muutust" ("Estonia Needs Change") is understandable — all their rhetoric is directed toward March 2027, the Riigikogu elections, and Reinsalu wants to become prime minister. In many municipalities where the campaign was basically run against the Reform Party, this worked. But in Tallinn it's very hard, at least for me, to frame that 'change' as bringing back to power the Center Party, which has been convicted of corruption and which Isamaa voters surely see as dubious. I think in Tallinn this values choice is completely different," Ossinovski said.

Ossinovski added that while Isamaa might be able to sell a coalition with the Center Party to their voters over time, it could backfire — which could mean failure in the Riigikogu elections.

"Let us remember how this summer the Reform Party thought they could sell their voters a bipartite coalition [in Tallinn] with the Center Party, but they were very surprised by how repugnant the Center Party actually was to Reform voters. It's the same with Isamaa – even though ahead of the election they didn't explicitly rule out cooperation with the Center Party, every fiber of their campaign signaled that they didn't want a coalition like that. The whole campaign was built on that. I believe that a large part of Isamaa's voters would feel quite betrayed in that situation. Could it blow over, could it be forgotten by the next Riigikogu elections? Perhaps. But the ongoing work of having to justify the whole Center Party style of governance that would return with Kõlvart – that would be a full-time job. Again, some Center Party politician from Lasnamäe would go and state something on Facebook about the war in Ukraine, or something else, and suddenly Isamaa finds itself with all the microphones under its nose," Ossinovski added.

Ossinovski's party, however, was indeed in coalition with Center in Tallinn, after the latter party failed to gain a majority at the 2021 local elections. This arrangement lasted until the vote of no-confidence in Kõlvart as mayor, and the advent of the SDE-Isamaa-Reform-Eesti 200 coalition, which Reform left in summer.

Ossinovski noted SDE exited office with Center immediately after the party was convicted in the Porto Franco real estate criminal case.

"We left the coalition with the Center Party when the guilty verdict in the Porto Franco case came out, which for many left the impression that it concerned [former Center leader] Jüri Ratas and others, while Kõlvart himself has tried to present it that way. In reality, the court ruling concerned the actions of Mihhail Korb and Mihhail Kõlvart – one as secretary-general and the other as mayor of Tallinn — accommodating a donor's wishes, which the party was criminally convicted for. The Center Party still refuses to concede they did anything wrong in that particular case, but beyond that, everything that has surfaced over the last year and a half – the illegal funding for Kalle Klandorf's basketball club, the taekwondo club linked to Kõlvart, and so on – it all forms a complete pattern of behavior within that ecosystem," the mayor said.

Ossinovski said that for now he is not even considering contemplating a coalition with the Center Party as a viable option, as he has seen no change in their attitudes.

"All the reforms we have made to clean up the city system — cutting bureaucracy, merging various departments to ensure professional management — they have systematically opposed all of it. They've promised to stop every project we've started. That does not speak of a party capable of new-quality cooperation, which is logical, of course, since the same people are still in charge," Ossinovski said.

"What the voters told us with their feedback was quite clear: They did not want Center Party-EKRE rule," the mayor continued. EKRE was expected to be a viable coalition partner to Center, had it won seats in Tallinn.

"And the reason the Social Democrats did unexpectedly well is that we were able to frame this election question most convincingly, and that resonated with voters. When we met people on the streets, we saw that it mattered to them, and for this reason I have said that these four parties have a moral responsibility to now form this coalition, having pledged to voters to do so. Will it be an easy-going coalition? Of course not. What coalition ever is? Parties always have their differing views, but agreements can be reached when the will to cooperate is there. My parting thought is that, while there are naturally some ideological questions in city governance, much of it comes down simply to the practical management of daily life. And I think that Tallinn residents don't want highly ideologized debates — they just want the city to keep developing in a normal way," Ossinovski concluded.

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