For some time now, you've been processing the fact that the local elections were a major setback for the party, both nationwide and in several specific areas. Under the leadership of the new secretary-general, how do you plan to move forward?

It's very important to take in all the feedback from across Estonia — and that feedback is fairly clear. The Reform Party needs to pull itself together, clarify its messaging and stop playing games with taxes. We need to clearly articulate the values we want to uphold and continue to promote. And obviously, we must present a clear vision for building a liberal democracy rooted in Western values, alongside a growing economy and a secure state.

You certainly weren't the only candidate — there were others from the regions also in the running for secretary general. Does that give you any doubts about party unity? People in the regions often see things a bit differently than in Tallinn.

Of course — we are a large organization. But from my perspective, the Reform Party is now very unified. My candidacy was unanimously confirmed by the party board.

Only as a united team can we move Estonia forward. I believe no voter will forgive us if we now start focusing more on internal party matters than on the affairs of the country. People expect us to offer a clear vision for Estonia and to defend Western values as a liberal party.

Perhaps an even more difficult challenge for you is the situation on Toompea. Every party experiences election losses and life goes on. But right now, you're facing a situation where you don't have many options. Continuing on with Eesti 200 — if some of their members were to drop out or even if the entire party were to fall apart — there isn't really a new coalition partner available on Toompea at the moment. Everyone is just letting you stew.

We have a majority with the current coalition and our goal is to continue with this coalition until the next Riigikogu elections, in March 2027. After the election results, there will be a new opportunity to form a government.

You don't want to admit that you're actually in an extremely difficult position when we look at the vote count on Toompea, do you? Of course, you have a large parliamentary group you can rely on, but your majority in the chamber is actually quite slim.

Many journalists and political opponents have tried to spin this idea that people will start dropping away from us. Isamaa, in my view, very clearly tried to send the message that if people don't switch to them before the local elections, they won't be welcomed afterward. And we saw that no one switched before the local elections.

Right now, we're discussing the state budget — a budget that clearly reduces the tax burden for Estonian people with next year's income tax reform and strengthens national defense. I think that's something even some opposition politicians should consider voting for if they care about the well-being of Estonian people and the country itself.

In my view, all of this is just wishful thinking from our competitors. The coalition between the Reform Party and Eesti 200 is, as far as I'm concerned, very united. We're working together and I don't see a single MP who's thinking otherwise.

Returning to internal party matters — you don't see any need for an extraordinary general assembly? Given that the party's popularity has steadily declined under Michal's leadership and, at this rate, the symbolic 10 percent mark is very much on the horizon, do you not see any need for internal restructuring ahead of the next elections?

What I do see as very necessary is that, as a united team, we set our strategy and messaging clearly for the 2027 Riigikogu elections. Every party member's contribution is important in that process, regardless of their position.

That is our shared goal. No one is looking to play musical chairs — the focus is on clarifying our messages and articulating our values. With those clear messages, we can present a compelling vision for the next elections.

So, in your view, the party will definitely head into the elections under Kristen Michal's leadership?

Yes, I believe so. I think Kristen Michal's team is the most professional political team in Estonia.

At the same time, for example, Siim Kallas gave an interview to ERR the week before last where he said the party clearly needs an ideological reset, that its current direction is completely at odds with what the Reform Party has stood for in the past and that it also clearly needs new leadership and a new approach.

In fact, Siim Kallas did not say the party needs a new leader — those are words you're trying to put in his mouth. But the earlier point is true... Siim and I are in contact, as are many members of the party. And Siim fully shares the same understanding I just described: that we need to establish clarity — what kind of Reform Party does Estonia need most right now, what do we stand for, what are we trying to prevent and what is our long-term vision?

On that, Siim and I are in full agreement. He is a member of the Reform Party and together we're working to offer that vision to Estonia.

In recent days, did party leader Kristen Michal cross a line when he criticized Isamaa for entering into coalition talks with the Center Party in Tallinn? Many people believe he did.

It was Isamaa who crossed the line by promising Estonian-minded leadership for the city of Tallinn before the elections. Urmas Reinsalu stated very clearly that if Isamaa had the chance to secure the mayor's seat, he — as the party's mayoral candidate — would take on that role.

And they've crossed the line by backing down on two of their main promises. Instead of forming an Estonian-minded city government, they're now teaming up with the corrupt Center Party — and from day one, they've been shirking responsibility by bringing in a third-party figure to serve as mayor.

Let's just say... people can decide for themselves whether Urmas Reinsalu's words align with his actions or whether there's a shift over time in the direction his words and actions take.

If we look at the Reform Party's behavior over the past six months, there are some clear similarities with Isamaa's political lines. One could even say the Reform Party is doing a "light" version of Isamaa. There's a quiet rollback on green transition policies, you dropped the planned income tax hike — something Isamaa has sharply criticized, pointing out that the tax was supposed to go up on January 1, but you scrapped it before the election. It seems like you're trying to copy Isamaa and win back voters who've shifted from Reform to them.

When it comes to the tax system, the most important thing is that as of January 1, 2026, we'll be putting the system back in order with the launch of the income tax reform. That means the so-called tax hump will be eliminated and we'll restore a fair, straightforward, flat tax system that benefits everyone — especially average earners, who will effectively receive a 13th monthly salary next year.

As for the postponement of ETS 2 — I'd say that has had broad support in the Riigikogu. Delaying its implementation a bit to find the best real-world solution makes sense. And the decision that came out of the EU Environment Council meeting this week is almost identical to the position Estonia's government has been advocating for. That shows that Estonia's work in the European Union, as a small country, has actually been very, very successful.

That was certainly a big win for the Reform Party and Kristen Michal, since ETS 2 will now be implemented in 2028 when you're no longer in government on Toompea, meaning you won't have to explain next year why gasoline prices will rise further in 2027.

Has the esteemed journalist already seen the election results and the makeup of the next coalition?

I'm just looking at the current popularity ratings.

Well, the postponement of ETS 2 isn't just a delay. There's a lot more going on behind the scenes — our minister of the environment, the climate ministry and our representatives in Brussels are all working hard on it. There are many additional aspects to this beyond the timeline.

You spoke in fairly general terms at the beginning about moving forward by trying to restore the Reform Party's traditional positions. But what exactly is going to turn the party's support numbers back upward? Would you say you've hit the bottom now or are you bracing for support to fall even further?

I didn't say we plan to restore the Reform Party's old positions — I said we need to make our positions clear, stop playing games with taxes and be explicit about the values we want to promote. Liberal democracy and individual freedoms — these are what we stand for and what we will continue to defend.

Just this week, we saw the reaction to a deeply regressive move by our southern neighbor, Latvia, where they withdrew from the Istanbul Convention. That is not the kind of value system we want for Estonia — we clearly want a different, Western-oriented set of values. That's also why several Reform Party members have publicly expressed their disapproval of that decision and made it clear that we would never follow suit. For us, the Istanbul Convention is a crucial signal — like a traffic sign — marking the values we stand for.

But Western values aren't really under threat in Estonia — EKRE's parliamentary group is quite small and has no real influence, so that's not exactly a pressing issue. You also said earlier that the party won't "play games" with taxes anymore. So, you were playing games before? Why did you do that?

We "played" with taxes because there was a sharp increase in defense spending — we had to raise tax rates in order to protect the Estonian state. Now we've gone through that entire debate and reached a point where next year, the income tax reform will take effect. It's something the Reform Party has promised in the last two parliamentary elections — to restore a fair, flat tax system — and now it's happening. It will leave people with more money in their pockets.

But of course, every tax debate and tax change has had a very clear cause: Putin's aggression in Ukraine. That's why we've had to invest more in national defense. Next year, we've planned to allocate over 5 percent of GDP to defense spending, which puts us in the top three among NATO countries.

Representatives of the Bank of Estonia — both the governor and the deputy governor — said after the government coalition submitted the draft state budget that it contains no signs of any cuts. While increases in defense spending are undoubtedly necessary, they also pointed out that in the coming years, we need to cut more than a billion euros to begin moving the budget back toward balance.

This government coalition hasn't done that. You've been in power since 2023 and both Prime Minister Michal and Finance Minister Jürgen Ligi have said they won't leave a single cent behind for the next coalition, which will be formed after the March 2027 elections. That doesn't exactly paint a picture of a fiscally responsible party.

In recent years, we've made major cuts — larger than ever before. The budget deficit for next year is projected at 4.5 percent. Let's remember the time of the EKRE–Center–Isamaa government when in 2020, during good times and without rising defense costs, the deficit reached 5.2 percent. That was significantly higher than what we're facing next year, even with a sharp increase in defense spending.

We've also made use of the European Union's defense exemption, which allows more flexibility under the deficit rules. We're operating fully within the rules — unlike the EKRE–Center–Isamaa government, which splurged during good times and behaved as if there were no tomorrow.

You're facing a real challenge. The landscape left to you — primarily by the party leader, not the former secretary general — is extremely difficult going into the next elections, with support levels exceptionally low. We've been used to seeing the Reform Party easily win at least 30 seats in the Riigikogu, but now you'll have to prepare for a significantly smaller number.

We've never done anything "easily" or taken anything for granted. In the five Riigikogu elections we've won, we've always offered a clear vision and concrete plan for how to move Estonia forward. Over the past 20 years, especially since joining the European Union, life in Estonia has improved dramatically. As a small country, we've been a true success story across many areas, from building a digital state to now developing smart national defense and a capable military.

Of course, we're facing major challenges — not just us, but the whole country. And I believe the Reform Party is the only political force capable of offering clear and realistic solutions to those challenges.

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