The Estonian Reform Party () is a liberal political party in Estonia. The party has been led by Kristen Michal since 2024. It is colloquially known as the "Squirrel Party" () or as "the Squirrels" (), referencing its logo. It was founded in 1994 by

Siim Kallas Siim Kallas (; born 2 October 1948) is an Estonian former politician, having served as Prime Minister of Estonia and European Commissioner. From 1972-90 Kallas was a member of the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union). In 1987, Kallas was ...

, then-president of the Bank of Estonia, as a split from Pro Patria National Coalition Party. As the Reform Party has participated in most of the government coalitions in Estonia since the mid-1990s, its influence has been significant, especially regarding Estonia's

free-market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...

and low-taxation policies. The party has been a full member of

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberalism, liberal political parties. The political international was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal and progressive democratic parties aim ...

since 1996, having been an observer member between 1994 and 1996, and a full member of the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; , ADLE) was a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and the European Democratic Party. ALDE had political ...

(ALDE). Reform Party leaders Siim Kallas,

Taavi Rõivas Taavi Rõivas (; born 26 September 1979) is an Estonian politician, former Prime Minister of Estonia from 2014 to 2016 and former leader of the Reform Party. Before his term as the Prime Minister, Rõivas was the Minister of Social Affairs from ...

, Andrus Ansip, Kaja Kallas and Kristen Michal have all served as prime ministers of Estonia. From 11 March 2025, the party has been the senior member in a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

with Estonia 200.

History

The Estonian Reform Party was founded on 18 November 1994,Bugajski (2002), p. 64 joining together the Reform Party – a splinter from the Pro Patria National Coalition (RKEI) – and the Estonian Liberal Democratic Party (ELDP). The new party, which had 710 members at its foundation, was led by

, who had been president of the Bank of Estonia. Kallas was not viewed as being associated with Mart Laar's government and was generally considered a proficient central bank governor, having overseen the successful introduction of the

Estonian kroon The kroon (sign: KR; code: EEK) was the official currency of Estonia for two periods in history: 1928–1940 and 1992–2011. Between 1 January and 14 January 2011, the kroon circulated together with the euro, after which the euro became the sole ...

.Nørgaard (1999), p. 75 The party formed ties with the Free Democratic Party of Germany, the Liberal People's Party of Sweden, the

Swedish People's Party of Finland The Swedish People's Party of Finland (SPP; , SFP; , RKP) is a Finnish political party founded in 1906. Its primary aim is to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finland. The party is currently a participant i ...

, and

Latvian Way Latvian Way () was a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberal List of political parties in Latvia, political party in Latvia. It merged with Latvia's First Party to form the Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way (LPP/LC) in 2007. It described it ...

Siim Kallas

Siim Kallas was leader of the Reform Party from 1994 to 2004. He was

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 2002 to 2003. In the party's first parliamentary election in March 1995, it won 19 seats, catapulting it into second place, behind the Coalition Party. Tiit Vähi tried to negotiate a coalition with the Reform Party, but the talks broke down over economic policy, with the Reform Party opposing

agricultural subsidies An agricultural subsidy (also called an agricultural incentive) is a government incentive paid to agribusinesses, agricultural organizations and farms to supplement their income, manage the supply of agricultural products, and influence the ...

and supporting the maintenance of Estonia's flat-rate income tax. While the Coalition Party formed a new government with the Centre Party at first, a taping scandal involving Centre Party leader

Edgar Savisaar Edgar Savisaar (31 May 1950 – 29 December 2022) was an Estonian politician, one of the founding members of Popular Front of Estonia and the Estonian Centre Party, Centre Party. He served as the Prime Minister of Estonia, acting Prime Minister ...

led to the Reform Party replacing the Centre Party in the coalition in November 1995.Europa Publications (1998), p 336 Kallas was appointed as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

, with five other Reform Party members serving in the cabinet. The Reform Party left the government in November 1996 after the Coalition Party signed a cooperation agreement with the Centre Party without consulting them. At the 1999 election, the Reform Party dropped one seat to 18, finishing third behind the Centre Party and the conservative Pro Patria Union.Bugajski (2002), p. 52 The ER formed a

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

coalition with the Pro Patria Union and the

Moderates Moderate is an ideological category which entails Centrism, centrist views on a liberal-conservative spectrum. It may also designate a rejection of radical politics, radical or extremism, extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religi ...

, with Mart Laar as Prime Minister and Siim Kallas as

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

, and with Toomas Savi returned as Speaker. Although the coalition was focused on EU and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

accession, the Reform Party successfully delivered its manifesto pledge to abolish the

corporate tax A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax or corporate income tax, is a type of direct tax levied on the income or capital of corporations and other similar legal entities. The tax is usually imposed at the national level, but ...

, one of its most notable achievements.Berglund et al (2004), p 67 After the October 1999 municipal elections, the three parties replicated their alliance 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 ...

. The party served in government again from March 1999 to December 2001 in a tripartite government with Pro Patria Union and People's Party Moderates, from January 2002 to March 2003 with the Estonian Centre Party, from March 2003 to March 2005 with

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 ...

and People's Union, from March 2005 to March 2007 with the Centre Party and People's Union, from March 2007 to May 2009 with the

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 ...

and the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

. From May 2009 the Reform Party was in a coalition government with the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union.

Andrus Ansip

Andrus Ansip was Prime Minister of Estonia from April 2005 to March 2014. After the 2007 parliamentary election the party held 31 out of 101 seats in the

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (, from Estonian ''riigi-'', "of the state", and ''kogu'', "assembly") is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the prime minister and chi ...

, receiving 153,040 votes (28% of the total), an increase of +10%, resulting in a net gain of 12 seats.

Taavi Rõivas

Following the resignation of Andrus Ansip, a new cabinet was installed on 24 March 2014, with

of the Reform Party serving as Prime Minister in coalition with the

(SDE). In the 2014 European elections held on 25 May 2014, the Reform Party won 24.3% of the national vote, returning two MEPs. In the 2015 parliamentary election held on 1 March 2015, the Reform Party received 27.7% of the vote and 30 seats in the Riigikogu. It went on to form a coalition with Social Democratic Party and Pro Patria and Res Publica Union. In November 2016, the coalition split because of internal struggle. After coalition talks, a new coalition was formed between Center Party, SDE and IRL, while Reform Party was left in the opposition for the first time since 1999. Rõivas subsequently stepped down as the chairman of the party.

Hanno Pevkur

On 7 January 2017, Hanno Pevkur was elected the new chairman of the Reform Party. Pevkur's leadership was divided from the start and he faced increasing criticism till the end of the year. On 13 December 2017, Pevkur announced that he would not run for the chairmanship from January 2018.

Kaja Kallas

Kaja Kallas was elected party leader on 14 April 2018. Under Kallas' leadership during the 2019 election, the Reform Party achieved its best electoral result to date with 28.8% of the vote and 34 seats, although it initially did not form a government and remained in opposition to the second Ratas government. In January 2021, after the resignation of Jüri Ratas as Prime Minister, Kallas formed a Reform Party-led

with the Estonian Centre Party. However, on 3 June 2022, Kallas dismissed the seven ministers affiliated with the Centre Party, governing as a minority government until a new coalition government with Isamaa and SDE as minority partners was formed on 8 July. In the 2023 parliamentary election, the Reform Party improved on its 2019 electoral performance, with 31.2% of the vote 37 seats. On 7 March 2023, the party initiated coalition negotiations with the new Estonia 200 party and the SDE. A coalition agreement between the three parties was reached by 7 April, allocating seven ministerial seats for the Reform Party, and was officially signed on 10 April. On 17 April, the third Kallas government was sworn into office.

Kristen Michal

In July 2024, Kristen Michal became Estonia’s new prime minister to succeed Kaja Kallas, who resigned as prime minister on July 15 to become the European Union’s new

High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European Un ...

. On 10 March 2025, Kristen Michal announced a "government repair" and expelled the Social Democrats from the coalition. Michal will ask the President to remove the party's ministers from office on 11 March. He stated that the remaining coalition intends to move toward the right and scrap several tax hikes and wage increases.

Ideology and platform

Described as being on the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, or

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

of the

political spectrum A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different Politics, political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more Geometry, geometric Coordinate axis, axes that represent independent political ...

, the Estonian Reform Party has variously been described in its ideological orientation as liberal, classical-liberal,

liberal-conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

, and conservative-liberal. The party has consistently advocated policies of

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...

and

fiscal conservatism In American political theory, fiscal conservatism or economic conservatism is a political and economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility with an ideological basis in capitalism, individualism, limited government, ...

, and has also been described as

neoliberal Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...

. * The party supports Estonian 0%

on re-invested income and wants to eliminate the

dividend tax A dividend tax is a tax imposed by a jurisdiction on dividends paid by a corporation to its shareholders (stockholders). The primary tax liability is that of the shareholder, though a tax obligation may also be imposed on the corporation in the f ...

. * The party wanted to cut

flat income tax A flat tax (short for flat-rate tax) is a tax with a single rate on the taxable amount, after accounting for any deductions or exemptions from the tax base. It is not necessarily a fully proportional tax. Implementations are often progressi ...

rate from 22% (in 2007) to 18% by 2011. Because of the economic crisis, the campaign for cutting income tax rate was put on hold with the tax rate at 21% in 2008 and 2009. * The party used to oppose VAT general rate increases until late spring 2009, when it changed its position in the light of the dire economic crisis and the need to find more money for the budget. VAT was increased from 18% to 20% on 1 July 2009.

Political support

The party is supported predominantly by young, well-educated, urban professionals. The Reform Party's vote base is heavily focused in the cities; although it receives only one-fifth of its support from Tallinn, it receives three times as many votes from other cities, despite them being home to fewer than 40% more voters overall.Berglund et al (2004), p 65 Its voter profile is significantly younger than average,Kulik and Pshizova (2005), p. 153 while its voters are well-educated, with the fewest high school drop-outs of any party. Its membership is the most male-dominated of all the parties, yet it receives the support of more female voters than average. Reform Party voters also tend to have higher incomes, with 43% of Reform Party voters coming from the top 30% of all voters by income.

Organisation

The Reform Party has been a full member of the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE Party) is a European political party composed of 76 national-level parties from across Europe, mainly active in the European Union. The ALDE Party is affiliated with Liberal Interna ...

(formerly the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party, ELDR) since December 1998. 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 ...

, the party's MEPS Andrus Ansip and Urmas Paetsits in the ALDE group in the Assembly. The Reform Party has been a full member of the

since 1996, having been an observer member from 1994 to 1996. The party claims to have 12,000 members. The party's youth wing is the Estonian Reform Party Youth, which includes members aged 15 to 35. The organisation claims to have 4,500 members, and its chairman is Doris Lisett Rudnevs.

Election results

Parliamentary elections

ImageSize = width:450 height:150 PlotArea = width:420 height:125 left:30 bottom:20 AlignBars = justify Colors = id:ER value:rgb(0.000,0.500,0.000) DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:35 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:5 PlotData= bar:Votes color:yellow width:30 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S bar:95 color:yellow from:start till:16.2 text:16.2 align:center bar:99 color:yellow from:start till:14.9 text:14.9 align:center bar:03 color:yellow from:start till:17.7 text:17.7 align:center bar:07 color:yellow from:start till:27.8 text:27.8 align:center bar:11 color:yellow from:start till:28.6 text:28.6 align:center bar:15 color:yellow from:start till:27.7 text:27.7 align:center bar:19 color:yellow from:start till:28.8 text:28.8 align:center bar:23 color:yellow from:start till:31.2 text:31.2 align:center ImageSize = width:450 height:150 PlotArea = width:420 height:125 left:30 bottom:20 AlignBars = justify Colors = id:EK value:rgb(0.000,0.500,0.000) DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:40 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:0 PlotData= bar:Seats color:yellow width:30 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S bar:95 color:yellow from:start till:19 text:19 align:center bar:99 color:yellow from:start till:18 text:18 align:center bar:03 color:yellow from:start till:19 text:19 align:center bar:07 color:yellow from:start till:31 text:31 align:center bar:11 color:yellow from:start till:33 text:33 align:center bar:15 color:yellow from:start till:30 text:30 align:center bar:19 color:yellow from:start till:34 text:34 align:center bar:23 color:yellow from:start till:37 text:37 align:center

European Parliament elections

European representation

In the

, the Estonian Reform Party sits in the Renew Europe group with one MEP. In the

European Committee of the Regions The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the European Union's (EU) assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities (i.e. regions, counties, provinces, municipalities and cities) with a direct voice w ...

, the Estonian Reform Party sits in the Renew Europe CoR group, with two full and one alternate members for the 2020–2025 mandate.

Notes

References

Cited sources

* * * * *

External links

*
Estonian Reform Party faction
description of the party on the

website {{Authority control 1994 establishments in Estonia Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party member parties Classical liberal parties Conservative liberal parties

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 ...

Liberal conservative parties Liberal parties in Estonia Political parties established in 1994 Political parties in Estonia Neoliberal parties Pro-European political parties in Estonia