Isamaa issued the questions, which focus on infrastructure, transport, the place of the Estonian language and other aspects of the capital's future, following a board meeting Thursday.

So far, Isamaa, which won 11 seats in Tallinn at the recent local elections, has received offers from the Center Party to enter coalition talks on the one hand, and from the Social Democrats (SDE), Reform and Parempoolsed on the other.

The latter three parties say they would want to go straight into Tallinn coalition talks with Isamaa without answering the 15 questions. Meanwhile the Center Party has said it will answer the questions, but also issued questions of its own to Isamaa.

Sitting Tallinn Mayor and SDE vice-chai , Jevgeni Ossinovski, said he welcomes Isamaa's positive initiative and considers it a good starting point for continued cooperation. "The questions you raised are entirely legitimate topics for discussion within the framework of coalition negotiations. Naturally, the Social Democrats, the Reform Party, and Parempoolsed, also have several important issues to bring up with colleagues from other parties," Ossinovski said.

"At the same time, I consider it important to stress that the strength of a four-party coalition would lie in a shared set of values on Tallinn's and Estonia's key development issues — the transition to Estonian-language education, corruption-free governance, and effective city management. I believe this value foundation would enable us to reach agreement on various municipal policy details as well," the mayor went on.

Ossinovski called for the formation of the new coalition to proceed without delay, as work on the 2026 Tallinn budget must get underway soon.

"For this reason, I propose that representatives of the four parties meet at the first possible opportunity to map out their common ground and then move forward to the stage of coalition talks. We are ready to begin already today," Ossinovski went on.

Parempoolsed chair Lavly Perling also said her party does not consider it necessary to respond to Isamaa's questionnaire.

"First — the Parempoolsed's positions on governing Tallinn are public and transparent. Anyone can read them on our websit . Another option is to watch the recording of the Tallinn mayoral candidates' debate on ETV," Perling said.

"Second — we do not conduct parallel negotiations. We have agreed to come to the table when the Social Democrats are able to bring the other three parties together for real talks. That is the task taken on by SDE's mayoral candidate Jevgeni Ossinovski," she went on.

"Third — voters expect a quick end to the current uncertainty and the start of substantive work. All political forces involved in the process should take that into account," Perling added.

Maris Lauri, head of the Reform Party's negotiation team in Tallinn, also said her welcomes Isamaa's initiative, but will not be answering the 15 questions.

"To ensure a substantive and equal discussion, we propose organizing a joint discussion with all four parties tomorrow, Saturday, bringing along our own questions and ideas. That would help start negotiations from a broader common ground — so that Tallinn can be governed honestly, in an Estonian-minded, and transparent manner," Lauri said.

Isamaa announced Thursday evening following its board meeting that it had not yet decided which it wishes to commence coalition talks with, and also unveiled its 15 question list.

Neither Eesti 200 nor EKRE won seats in Tallinn at the recent local elections. The latter party was expected to have talks with Center, which with 37 seats is three shy of a majority on the 79-seat Tallinn council, had it won seats.

Local Isamaa leader disappointed by response

Isamaa's Tallinn chapter chair and MP Riina Solman said Friday she is disappointed that potential coalition partners SDE, Reform and Parempoolsed don't want coalition talks in Tallinn to be conducted transparently. She said Isamaa will now have to discuss its next steps.

Solman said the party's aim in posing its questions to the other parties was to raise the standard of coalition talks and do so openly, with a method previously used in Finland.

The goal, she added, was to make each party's positions clear not just to other potential partners but also to the public.

"I'm glad if there's willingness to discuss the substance of these questions," Solman told ERR. "But I'm also sad they don't want to do so transparently. We'll need to discuss what our next steps will be."

Isamaa chair and MP Urmas Reinsalu said the party will review all responses before deciding.

"Once we've received written replies from everyone — whether they include reactions to the questions or not — we'll evaluate them and take the next step from there," he said.

Center Party will answer Isamaa's questions, has questions of its own

Center Party chair Mihhail Kõlvart told ERR Friday that his party would be sending responses to the Isamaa questions.

Kõlvart said his party has been accused of hindering Estonian-language education and lacking pro-Estonian sentiment, but this is because the critics themselves do not have any substantive solutions to the issues.

Kõlvart also said the issue of the questionnaire was a two-way street, in other words Center has questions for Isamaa too, suggesting the two parties exchange their answers simultaneously on Monday, October 27 at 6 p.m., and discuss them together at the first possible joint meeting.

"We are, of course, ready to answer questions, but we also have questions that we sent to Isamaa and we hope to get answers. Our proposal was to do it simultaneously — that both sets of answers would come at the same time," Kõlvart, a former Tallinn mayor, told ERR.

As well as questions on education, Center's questions to Isamaa include whether the party supports maintaining free public transport for Tallinn residents and other transport and infrastructure issues, as well as questions on the Tallinn hospital project, sports facilities, Housing and welfare and transparency in city governance.

Editor's note: This piece was updated to include responses from Isamaa and from the Center Party.

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