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Pro Patria Union

Isamaaliit
Pro Patria Union Isamaaliit
Leader	Tõnis Lukas
Founded	2 December 1995
Dissolved	15 October 2006
Merged into	Pro Patria and Res Publica Union
Headquarters	Wismari 11; Tallinn 10136
Ideology	National conservatism; Christian democracy
Political position	Centre-right
European affiliation	European People's Party; European Democrat Union
European Parliament group	EPP-ED
International affiliation	Christian Democrat and People's Parties International; International Democrat Union
Colours	Blue
Website
	www.irl.ee
	Politics of Estonia; Political parties; Elections;

The Pro Patria Union (Estonian: Isamaaliit, meaning literally Fatherland Union) was a national-conservative^[3] political party in Estonia. The party was founded on 2 December 1995 from a merger of the Estonian National Independence Party and the Pro Patria National Coalition.

On 4 April 2006, representatives of the Pro Patria Union and the representatives of Res Publica decided to merge the two parties. The merger was approved by the general assemblies of both parties in Pärnu on 4 June 2006. Although originally the name For Estonia (Eesti Eest) was considered for the united party, it was rejected. New party was officially registered on 15 October 2006 under the name Pro Patria and Res Publica Union.^[4]

According to party statements, the programme was based on Christian democracy and nationalism. Together with its predecessors the Pro Patria Union was the main force behind the economic and legal reforms in the Republic of Estonia at the beginning of the 1990s.

A party of an identical name existed before the Second World War.

In government and opposition

Mart Laar, a historian, former chairman of the National Alliance "Pro Patria" and Prime Minister of Estonia from 1992 to 1994 was elected the new chairman of the party on 24 October 1998.

The party was successful on the parliamentary elections of 1999, receiving 18 seats. Its leader Mart Laar became prime minister again. His coalition government was in office till 28 January 2002.

The Pro Patria Union was a member of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats (EPP-ED). The party had one seat in the European Parliament, held by Tunne Kelam, the chairman of the Pro Patria Union from 7 December 2002 to 16 April 2005.

In the 2003 parliamentary elections, they won seven seats in Riigikogu; as such, they joined the opposition. Tõnis Lukas was elected chairman of the party on 16 April 2005. Historian and archivist Aimar Altosaar was re-elected secretary general in 2005, having served in the same position from 1996 to 1999.

The party had an official newspaper called "Tribüün" (The Tribune). It was established in 2001.

For the local elections in autumn 2005, the Pro Patria Union signed a cooperation agreement with two minor parties: Union of Farmers (Põllumeeste Kogu) on 6 July 2005 and with Estonian Democratic Party (Eesti Demokraatlik Partei) on 12 July 2005. The local elections on 16 October 2005 showed a growing support for the party. The presence of the Pro Patria Union grew from no seats to seven in Tallinn City Council and remained the same (nine seats) in Tartu City Council.

In April 2006, former party leader and twice PM Mart Laar was awarded the Friedman Prize for Liberty.^[5]

Electoral results

Parliamentary elections

Election	Votes			Seats		Pos.	Government
Election	#	%	± pp	#	±	Pos.	Government
1999	77,917	16.1	–	18 / 101	–	2nd	Coalition (1999–2002)
2003	36,169	7.3	8.8	7 / 101	11	5th	Opposition

European Parliament elections

Election	Votes			Seats		Pos.
Election	#	%	± pp	#	±	Pos.
2004	24,375	10.5	–	1 / 6	–	4th

References

^ Bennich-Björkman, Li; Johansson, Karl Magnus (December 2012). "Explaining moderation in nationalism: Divergent trajectories of national conservative parties in Estonia and Latvia". Comparative European Politics. 10 (5): 585–607. doi:10.1057/cep.2011.28. S2CID 143813560.
^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2003). "Estonia". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 13 October 2004. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
^ Bugajski, Janusz (2002), Political Parties of Eastern Europe: A Guide to Politics in the Post-Communist Era, The Center for Strategic and International Studies, p. 72
^ http://uudised.err.ee/index.php?0558894 Res Publica ja Isamaaliit ühinevad (in Estonian)
^ "The Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty | Cato Institute".