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Estonia elects new president as leading lawyer Ulle Madise replaces Alar Karis
🇵🇱 Poland /Elections & Politics

Estonia elects new president as leading lawyer Ulle Madise replaces Alar Karis

From Rzeczpospolita · () Polish

Translated from Polish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Ulle Madise won Estonia’s presidential election with 71 votes in the 101-member Riigikogu, exceeding the two-thirds majority required.
  • Madise, the former chancellor of justice, was the only candidate and will become Estonia’s second female president after Kersti Kaljulaid.
  • She will take office for a five-year term on October 12, replacing Alar Karis, who decided not to seek re-election.

Ulle Madise, a respected constitutional lawyer and Estonia’s former chancellor of justice, has been elected the country’s next president. She received 71 votes in the 101-seat Riigikogu, comfortably clearing the 68 votes needed to win in the first round.

Madise, 51, was the only candidate in this year’s election. Four of parliament’s six parties had declared their support before the secret ballot: Prime Minister Kristen Michal’s Reform Party, the liberal Eesti 200, the Social Democrats and the conservative Isamaa. She will be sworn in on October 12 for a five-year term.

Madise will become Estonia’s seventh president and only the second woman to hold the office, following Kersti Kaljulaid, who served from 2016 to 2021. She replaces Alar Karis, who had already announced that he would not seek a second term.

Estonia is on the front line of the security of all Europe and the entire free West.

— Ulle MadiseMadise told lawmakers about Estonia’s security position before the presidential vote.

Speaking to lawmakers before the vote, Madise described Estonia as being on “the front line of the security of all Europe and the entire free West.” She said the country’s independence brought both an opportunity and a duty to make the best possible decisions, listing Estonia’s people, language, culture, nature, entrepreneurship, freedom and responsibility among its defining strengths.

Madise, who comes from Tartu, has held several positions in Estonia’s Justice Ministry and advised the parliament’s Constitutional Committee. From 2009 to 2015, she worked as an adviser to then-President Toomas Hendrik Ilves. As chancellor of justice since 2015, she argued for individual freedom and criticized excessive regulation while maintaining an impartial stance. In a pre-election interview, she said Estonia should protect its own interests while remaining a valuable partner to its allies. She also said she would coordinate foreign and security policy with the foreign minister. Her election follows criticism of some of Karis’s statements, which the Foreign Ministry said conflicted with Estonia’s policy, particularly on Ukraine and Russia.

Estonia’s independence is both an opportunity and a duty to make the best possible decisions.

— Ulle MadiseMadise outlined her view of the responsibilities accompanying national independence.
About this summary

Originally published by Rzeczpospolita in Polish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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