The Estonian National Independence Party, or ENIP, ( et, Eesti Rahvusliku Sõltumatuse Partei, ''ERSP''), founded on 20 August 1988 in
Estonian SSR, was the first non-
communist political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
established in the former
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
. Founders of the party were
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
and
anti-communist dissident
A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 20th ...
s.
The initiative to establish the Estonian independentist party came from Vello Väärtnõu, the leader of a local
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
group. On 30 January 1988 he organized a press conference in Moscow for Western media where he announced plans for the formation of the party, with the aim to restore the fully independent
Republic of Estonia as a nation state on the
restitution principle. This made the ENIP the most radical or political movement of its day. Väärtnõu and several fellow Buddhists were expelled from the Soviet Union shortly after the press conference. ENIP was officially founded in August 1988 in the village of
Pilistvere in central Estonia.
[(Simons, Westerlund. "Religion, Politics and Nation-Building in Post-Communist Countries")]
ENIP represented the radical wing of the Estonian independence movement and used "
hardline
In politics, hardline (or hard-line) is an adjective describing a stance on an issue that is inflexible and not subject to compromise. A hardliner is a person holding such views. The stance is usually far from the centrist view. People, policies, ...
"
anti-communist rhetoric, in contrast with the
Popular Front
A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault".
More generally, it is "a coalition ...
that cooperated with pro-reform communists. The party gained a majority during the February 1990 elections of the
Congress of Estonia
The Congress of Estonia ( Estonian: ''Eesti Kongress'') was an innovative grassroots parliament established in Estonia in 1990–1992 as a part of the process of regaining of independence from the Soviet Union. It also challenged the power and au ...
. After Estonia regained independence in 1991, ENIP was part of the centre-right government from 1992–1995, and later merged with Pro Patria to form the
Pro Patria Union
The Pro Patria Union ( et, Isamaaliit, meaning literally Fatherland Union) was a national-conservative political party in Estonia. The party was founded on 2 December 1995 from a merger of the Estonian National Independence Party and the Pro Pat ...
, a national-conservative party.
See also
*
Rahvarinne, another major political movement of the era
*
Latvian National Independence Movement
The Latvian National Independence Movement ( lv, Latvijas Nacionālās Neatkarības Kustība, LNNK) was a political organization in Latvia from 1988 until 1997.
It formed in 1988 as the radical wing of Latvian nationalist movement. Unlike the main ...
, a similar organization in Latvia
References
External links
Buddhist Against Empire
Defunct political parties in Estonia
1988 establishments in Estonia
1995 disestablishments in Estonia
Political parties established in 1988
Singing Revolution
Pro-independence parties in the Soviet Union
Nationalist parties in Estonia
Political parties disestablished in 1995
{{Estonia-party-stub
de:Rahvarinne#Erste Dissidentenbewegungen