In Tallinn, shrugs and fears ahead of the European election
musings over espresso and ale in Tallinn (a shorter version appears in The New European this week).
Tallinn’s hippest spot is a dilapidated factory that churned out warships and wellies during Estonia’s half-century under the Soviet boot.
Põhjala Tehas is a bustling cultural centre, with industrial spaces converted into art studios, a bookshop, a bike repair shop and a microbrewery run by an escaped Scotsman. There’s an organic restaurant, a roastery and half a dozen cafés – the air positively quivers with caffeine.
There’s plenty of talk about sustainability, collaboration and the DIY ethic. But here, where savvy young Tallinners congregate, there was no talk of the European Parliament election, a week and a half before online and advance voting began on 3 June. The country has seven MEP seats, up by one since 2019 thanks to Brexit.
“I have to force myself to get into this subject, because I don’t keep my eye on these topics every day,” says Juula, landscape architect who runs a community bar and helps with the bees and chickens in the community gardens. “This is an extra task for me to think through.”
She does see benefits of the EU. “The green projects here, like the urban garden, have gotten some EU money, and maybe some cultural programs as well.”
Juula says she’ll vote for one of the Social Democratic candidates, expressing fears about the projected rise of the Eurosceptic, anti-immigration Conservative People’s Party (Ekre).
“For me, this very radical right side is a bit frightening – not all the things they say or stand for, but it’s maybe a little bit too extreme.”
Three women in their early 20s had varying degrees of disinterest.
Kelly, who runs a yoga studio in the old plant, is blunt: “I don’t care about elections, politics and so on. I’m not planning to vote, so I have no opinion about that.”
Steveli, a DJ, booking agent and the community’s creative director, said that she might vote. “But I’m not sure…to be honest, I didn’t even know that the elections are happening,” she adds. There were indeed very few campaign posters around town.
Anett, 20, a hotel receptionist, plans to vote for the first time, though she says that the EU doesn’t affect her personally. Inflation does, though: “Living prices have become so high, but salaries haven’t risen with them. But I don’t think that’s, like, an EU thing. I think it’s more because of the war and everything.”
Ukraine and Russia lurk behind all political discussions here, with recent provocations like GPS jamming and the removal of border markers.
Anett said she’ll vote for “whatever party Jüri Ratas is in, because he’s a good politician”.
Ratas’s affiliation is indeed murky. The former mayor of Tallinn led the Centre Party for many years, including as PM until 2021. This year, he and many other Centre pols switched to the Isamaa party after the Centre shifted toward social conservatism and representing Estonia’s 27% Russian-speaking minority.
Isamaa (“Fatherland”) is tipped to be the biggest winner in this election, gaining a second seat, while the Social Democrats are likely to hold on to their two seats.
There’s more interest a few kilometres away in another reclaimed factory, where the Põhjala Brewery has a 24-tap brewpub. Over hazy IPAs, I talked politics with its co-founder Peeter – who was a young teen when Estonia regained its independence in 1991 – and barman Juks, around 30.
“There’s only one issue right now: Ukraine,” said Peeter. “When half of Europe is in ruins, who gives a fuck where electricity comes from, about windmills? We have bigger problems that we have to solve right now. If we don’t, it will affect us all for a long, long time. But the EU is like, oh, no, we’re busy right now with the green transition.”
When I suggest that many would make the same argument about the climate, he replies: “Yeah, but then the MEPs should stop traveling back and forth between Strasbourg and Brussels. There’s so much waste and hypocrisy.”
Juks shares his worry about Ukraine, which Estonia heavily supports on the state and individual levels.
“If things really start to go badly, I could go there to fight, absolutely. Probably at least a third of Estonian guys my age would,” he says. Juks will vote for the centre-right Eesti 200 party, but is also concerned about the rise of the far right.
“I’m into history, and this reminds me of the late 1930s. Everybody should remember how expensive that became, right? It’s crazy to see this happening. You wouldn’t think that those things would ever return, but here we are.”
So is he worried that Ekre will advance in the election?
“Estonians are like 50/50 – half of them are super-radical and half of them are reasonable,” he replies. “Actually, I’m more worried about those people who don’t have any opinion at all, so they’re not voting at all.” Same here.