The Estonian Independence Party (, EIP) was a

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. The small party, founded in 1999, never had any significant success in the elections, and it was dissolved in 2022. One of the principal aims of the party was the withdrawal of

from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Philosophy

The EIP's political philosophy promoted a doctrine of “Estonia as a neo-autarkic geopolitical space” and an associated geopolitical imperative of neutrality between the East and the West. The party programme states that Estonia is extraordinarily rich in natural resources (much of these remain latent) and is situated in an important geopolitical space. Thus, the party is also against Estonia belonging to the

, which they accuse of having neocolonised Estonia. The party recommended rejecting

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

suggestions. The party regards

Setomaa Setomaa (; , ) is a region south of Lake Peipus and traditionally inhabited by the Setos, Seto people. The Seto dialect is a variety of South Estonian language, South Estonian. The historic range of Setomaa is located in the territories of pres ...

as a part of Estonia and not Russia.

History

The party's predecessor, Estonian Future Party (''Tuleviku Eesti Erakond'') was founded in 1994. In 1999, it was renamed to Estonian Independence Party. In 2001, the party called for closer relations with Russia and said that the country should have a bigger say in defining Estonia's future. EIP took part in the 2003 movement against Estonia joining the European Union. EIP candidates gained 2,705 votes, amounting to 0.55% of the national vote, in the 2003 parliamentary election. In the 2007 elections, the party's vote dropped to 1,274 votes, which was 0.2% of the total. In the 2011 elections, the party's vote increased to 2,571 votes, which was 0.4% of the total. In the 2014 European Parliamentary election, the Estonian Independence Party received 4,158 votes, which was 1.3% of the vote, the party's highest ever. Former

Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica Isamaa () is a Christian democratic and national conservative political party in Estonia. It was founded on 4 June 2006 under the name of "Pro Patria and Res Publica Union", by the merger of two conservative parties, Pro Patria Union and Res ...

and future

Estonia 200 Estonia 200 (, E200) is a liberal political party in Estonia. Since 2024, the party has been a junior partner in the Michal cabinet. History Formation and 2019 elections In 2017, the initiators of the movement began discussing Estonia's ...

MP Juku-Kalle Raid ran on the party's list in the election. In the 2015 parliamentary elections, the party's vote diminished to 1,047 votes, which was 0.2% of the total. The party did not participate in the 2019 parliamentary elections. In 2022, it was reported that EIP was considering dissolving itself and, soon afterwards, in October 2022, most politicians belonging to then party's leadership joined the

Estonian Conservative People's Party The Conservative People's Party of Estonia (, EKRE) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Estonia led by Martin Helme. It was founded in March 2012 with the merger of People's Union of Estonia and Estonian Patriotic Movem ...

instead. The party was officially removed from the business register on 30 October.

Controversies

Scholars categorised the party as a

organisation. This has been rejected by the party leaders, Sven Sildnik and Tauno Rahnu. One of the former leading members, Risto Teinonen, an ethnic Finn associated with

Johan Bäckman Erkki Johan Bäckman (born 18 May 1971) is a Finnish and Russian political activist, propagandist, author, eurosceptic, and convicted stalker working for the Russian government. Bäckman has been a prominent Finnish propagandist in Russia who h ...

, has also been accused of having

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

views.Kapo kahtlustab soomlast Eesti riigi vastases tegevuses

Eesti Päevaleht (Estonia Daily) is a major daily Estonian newspaper, from the same publishers as the weekly '' Eesti Ekspress''. Another newspaper under the same name is published weekly in Stockholm, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is ...

, 2007-6-13.

Electoral results

Parliamentary elections

References

External links

Official website
{{Political parties in Estonia Political parties established in 1999 Political parties disestablished in 2022 Defunct political parties in Estonia Nationalist parties in Estonia Eurosceptic parties in Estonia 1999 establishments in Estonia 2022 disestablishments in Estonia Far-right parties in Europe Right-wing populism in Estonia Right-wing populist parties