Estonian Foreign Ministry Chancellor Vseviov and Tartu Councillor Kõiv Join Social Democratic Party

Jonatan Vseviov, chancellor of Estonia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Daniel Kõiv, a member of the Tartu city council, have officially become members of Estonia's Social Democratic Party (SDE). The move comes ahead of the parliamentary election scheduled in Estonia for March 2027.

According to the Commercial Register, both men joined the party on 23 October. A day earlier, on 22 October, Vseviov announced that he would leave his post as foreign ministry chancellor in November and begin a political career with the Social Democrats.

Vseviov to run for the Riigikogu

Vseviov intends to stand for the Riigikogu, Estonia's parliament, in the March 2027 election. According to party chairman Lauri Läänemets, he will become the Social Democrats' candidate for prime minister. From September 1999 to January 2005, Vseviov was a member of the Reform Party, though he did not run in elections.

Kõiv leaves Eesti 200

On 17 October, Kõiv left the party Eesti 200, of which he had been a member since November 2021, and announced that he would run for the Riigikogu on the Social Democrats' list in Tartu. Until then he worked as an adviser to Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas. He will finish that job at his own request on 25 October.

Earlier recruits

On 13 October, the party's ranks had already been joined by former European Commissioner Kadri Simson, former Tallinn deputy mayor Aleksei Jašin, and actress and photographer Liina Raud.