The Pro Patria Union (, meaning literally Fatherland Union) was a

national-conservative National conservatism is a nationalism, nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding National identity, national and cultural identity, communitarianism and the public role of religion. It shares aspects of traditionalist c ...

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 party was founded on 2 December 1995 from a merger of the

Estonian National Independence Party The Estonian National Independence Party, or ENIP, (, ''ERSP''), founded on 20 August 1988 in Estonian SSR, was the first non-communist political party established in the former USSR. Founders of the party were nationalist and anti-communist diss ...

and the Pro Patria National Coalition. On 4 April 2006, representatives of the Pro Patria Union and the representatives of

Res Publica ', also spelled ''rēs pūblica'' to indicate vowel length, is a Latin phrase, loosely meaning "public affair". It is the root of the ''republic'', and '' commonwealth'' has traditionally been used as a synonym for it; however, translations var ...

decided to merge the two parties. The merger was approved by the general assemblies of both parties in

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth-largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second-largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of ...

on 4 June 2006. Although originally the name ''For Estonia'' (''Eesti Eest'') was considered for the united party, it was rejected. New party was officially registered on 15 October 2006 under the name

Pro Patria and Res Publica Union 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 ...

. According to party statements, the programme was based on

Christian democracy Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

and

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

. Together with its predecessors the Pro Patria Union was the main force behind the economic and legal reforms in the Republic of Estonia at the beginning of the 1990s. A party of an identical name existed before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

In government and opposition

Mart Laar, a historian, former chairman of the National Alliance "Pro Patria" and

Prime Minister of Estonia The prime minister of Estonia () is the head of government of the Estonia, Republic of Estonia. The prime minister is nominated by the President of Estonia, president after appropriate consultations with the parliamentary factions and confirmed ...

from 1992 to 1994 was elected the new chairman of the party on 24 October 1998. The party was successful on the parliamentary elections of 1999, receiving 18 seats. Its leader Mart Laar became prime minister again. His coalition government was in office till 28 January 2002. The Pro Patria Union was a member of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats (EPP-ED). The party had one seat in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

, held by Tunne Kelam, the chairman of the Pro Patria Union from 7 December 2002 to 16 April 2005. In the 2003 parliamentary elections, they won seven seats in Riigikogu; as such, they joined the opposition. Tõnis Lukas was elected chairman of the party on 16 April 2005. Historian and archivist

Aimar Altosaar Aimar Altosaar (born 1959) is an Estonian sociologist, journalist and politician. He was a member of IX Riigikogu. He was the Secretary General of the Pro Patria Union party from 1995 until 1999 and again from 2004 until 2006. Altosaar was bor ...

was re-elected secretary general in 2005, having served in the same position from 1996 to 1999. The party had an official newspaper called "Tribüün" (The Tribune). It was established in 2001. For the local elections in autumn 2005, the Pro Patria Union signed a cooperation agreement with two minor parties: Union of Farmers (''Põllumeeste Kogu'') on 6 July 2005 and with Estonian Democratic Party (''Eesti Demokraatlik Partei'') on 12 July 2005. The local elections on 16 October 2005 showed a growing support for the party. The presence of the Pro Patria Union grew from no seats to seven in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

City Council and remained the same (nine seats) in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

City Council. In April 2006, former party leader and twice PM Mart Laar was awarded the Friedman Prize for Liberty.

Electoral results

Parliamentary elections

European Parliament elections

References

External links