By deliberately setting himself in opposition to the rest of Estonia, Narva City Council Chairman Mihhail Stalnuhhin is building his political capital, but in doing so he is doing a disservice to the city of Narva and to Ida-Viru County as well, tying it to the constraints of his worldview and creating the mistaken impression that this is how most people here think.

Stalnuhhin's recently widely noted remarks [link in Estonian] praising Russia's ruler Vladimir Putin should not come as a surprise to anyone who has followed this politician's activities for any length of time. He has previously called the Estonian government fascists. The Narva city leader does not appear at public events celebrating the anniversary of the Republic of Estonia. It is as if that day were not important to him.

Unlike Russia, whose leader Stalnuhhin sympathizes with, Estonia has freedom of speech. Stalnuhhin has for many years been able to share his — to put it mildly — not particularly Estonia-friendly views without hindrance and in doing so maintain political capital among fans of his worldview.

In a democratic country, every politician is free to choose what kind of behavior and messages they use to attract attention and support — provided they understand precisely where the boundary of legality lies.

But having now for more than a year also been the chairman of the council of Estonia's third-largest city, he inevitably creates an impression not only of himself but of the entire city. And since Narva is the largest city in Ida-Viru County, also of the county.

It is understandable that many people elsewhere in Estonia who have not looked closely at which other towns and municipalities there are in Ida-Viru County besides Narva and who governs them form their attitudes based precisely on Stalnuhhin. And they assume that if a person with such views has become a city leader, then a large share of Narva's residents must share his thinking.

This inevitably also makes it quite difficult for Estonian politicians to explain to their voters why more public money should be invested in Ida-Viru County. A city leader like this does not increase the interest of Estonia-minded entrepreneurs in investing in Narva either. In this way, Stalnuhhin's messages do a disservice to both Narva and the whole of Ida-Viru County.

Rather, it deepens the desire to further reduce the city's governing powers. For example, there is a plan in the air to nationalize basic schools, after which the city government's playing field would become quite narrow. All that would remain would be to manage municipal utilities and continue the tragicomic reality series "Narva City Council Session."

Notably, many Narva residents have begun to understand that Stalnuhhin's behavior does not bring much good to Narva. For example, in a vote held during the Russian-language television program "Rahvale tähtis" ("Нарвская студия. Народу важно"), broadcast on ETV+ at the end of February, nearly 75 percent of viewers found that Stalnuhhin's remarks damage Narva's reputation.

Stalnuhhin's coalition partner Katri Raik is also in a peculiar position, beginning to resemble former Prime Minister Jüri Ratas, who in the coalition of EKRE, Isamaa and the Center Party constantly had to deal with apologizing for another coalition partner. How long will Raik have the nerves for this? How long can a coalition that is in conflict over such fundamental values last?

To succeed in elections, a politician does not need to please everyone. It is enough to activate a sufficiently large number of people who share their views. Stalnuhhin is doing exactly that quite purposefully and is not discouraged by what the rest think.

If he wants, he could make history in the Riigikogu elections a year from now by becoming the first independent candidate to win a seat in parliament since Estonia regained independence. Three years ago, that plan was narrowly thwarted by Aivo Peterson, who is currently behind bars and who took votes away from Stalnuhhin. In the end neither of them made it into parliament; Ida-Viru County's mandates were redistributed elsewhere and the county's voice in parliament became even weaker than before.

If Stalnuhhin were now to be elected to the Riigikogu with a personal mandate, Narva and Ida-Viru County would gain very little from it. One parliamentary seat would simply go to a deputy who would have a larger platform for spreading his messages but with whom hardly any party would want to cooperate. The possibilities of substantively standing up for the region's interests would be close to zero.

While Stalnuhhin's personal political motive is understandable, it is harder to understand why those members of the Narva City Council who entered the council from his electoral list put up with it. Some perhaps share his worldview, others are bound by a sense of gratitude, but by belonging to the camp of such a political leader they are unlikely to do much useful for the city of Narva.

Stalnuhhin has had thousands of supporters in elections, but it is important to note that they are not tens of thousands. That is why it is wrong to think that most people in Ida-Viru County share his worldview. Rather, the larger share who would like to bring the county closer to the rest of Estonia must constantly prove that an equal sign must not be drawn between Stalnuhhin and Ida-Viru County.

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