Right-wing populism on the march: today Estonia, tomorrow ???

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are three countries on the Baltic Sea that no-one has ever heard of who is not from there or has family there. For most of their recent history they have, against their will, been part of some other country: Poland, Russia/USSR, or sometimes each other.

They were independent between 1918 and 1941, then had to spend a half-century under the heel of the Soviet Union before being let loose on the fall of Communism. Then they were welcomed into the European Union, only to discover that they exchanged dictatorship from Moscow for dictatorship from Brussels.

The example of Brexit seems to have woken up the Estonians, if not the others, to the possibility that if they had a new government -- of the right rather than the usual centrist coalitions -- they might just be able to get out of the EU, to mount an "Estxit", if you will. A referendum on whether to stay or go was one of the campaign promises of Estonia's right-wing Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE), which came close to a major upset in today's parliamentary elections.

First place went to the centre-right Reform Party, led by Kaja Kallas, who is on track to become Estonia's first female prime minister. The Reformers got 28.8% of the vote, upsetting the ruling Centre Party (centre-left, in reality, like Canada's Liberals) who got 23%. The EKRE more than doubled their share of the popular vote, finishing with 17.8%, good for third place.

As in the USA, the lamestream media and pollsters were surprised and embarrassed by the surge of the EKRE, who capitalized on growing anti-immigrant sentiment and concerns that the tiny nation (pop. 1.3 million) could be swallowed up by a federalised EU.

Today's Telegraph quotes a 65-year-old voter from Tartu, Estonia's second-largest city, as saying he voted for EKRE over fears that the country was losing its identity. "The EU has forced quotas on us, to attract thousands of migrants. Members of our parliament just push buttons, rubber stamping all the laws that come out of Brussels. I voted EKRE because they stand for the preservation of our nation, and our Estonian culture and language."

The success of the EKRE mirrors that of right-wing, populist parties throughout the length and breadth of Europe, not to mention the Excited States of America where liberals are whistling past the graveyard more loudly than ever these days. Last week, a torch-lit march through the Estonia capital, Tallinn, drew some 10,000 patriots in a spectacle which the Telegraph says "bore a striking resemblance to the Unite the Right 'Tiki torch' marches held by Trump supporters in Charlottesville in 2017."

The rise in support for EKRE is sweeping away smaller parties that traditionally make up a centrist coalition in many European countries. The Telegraph quotes Dr Allan Sikk [sic] of the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies as saying "uneasy bedfellows" from across the political spectrum may need to work together in order to keep EKRE out of power, just as they kept Marine Le Pen's Front National out of power in France.

Ms Kallas is going to face difficult negotiations to form a ruling coalition, particularly if she tries to do so without the EKRE. The other Estonian parties have ruled out any sort of coalition with the EKRE. Ms Kallas says everything is on the table, including a possible deal to give the EKRE a seat at the cabinet table. Today Estonia. Tomorrow? Stay tuned!

Memo to Mad Max Bernier, leader of the People's Party of Canada: Did you note the English translation of EKRE? Conservative People's Party of Estonia! Don't you think "Conservative People's Party" has a nice ring to it? It couldn't be confused with a left-wing "people's party", eh. Sounds right to me!

Footnote: Attractive blonde right-wing politicians, like Kaja Kallas and the PPC's Lauara-Lynn Tyler Thompson, seem to attract not just attention but votes! If I were a Republican [Aren't you? Ed.] I'd be encouraging Melania Trump to run against... ohhh... Nancy Pelosi or Fauxcahontas or Hellery... hell, any of those hagged-out liberal bitches. Get the male votes and forget about the wimmin!