The Pro Patria Union ( et, Isamaaliit, meaning literally Fatherland Union) was a

national-conservative National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity. National conservatives usually combine nationalism with conservative stances promoting traditional cultural values, ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. The party was founded on 2 December 1995 from a merger of the

Estonian National Independence Party The Estonian National Independence Party, or ENIP, ( et, Eesti Rahvusliku Sõltumatuse Partei, ''ERSP''), founded on 20 August 1988 in Estonian SSR, was the first non-communist political party established in the former USSR. Founders of the party ...

and the

Pro Patria National Coalition Pro Patria National Coalition Party (''Rahvuslik Koonderakond Isamaa'' - RKEI) was an Estonian political party founded in 1992. In 1995 it merged, with the Estonian National Independence Party, into Pro Patria Union. The Pro Patria National Coali ...

. 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 Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet o ...

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 Isamaa is a Christian-democratic and national-conservative political party in Estonia. It was founded on 4 June 2006 under the name of "Pro Patria and Res Publica Union", by the merger of two conservative parties, Pro Patria Union and Res Publica ...

. According to party statements, the programme was based on

Christian democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

and

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

. 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 Mart Laar (born 22 April 1960) is an Estonian politician and historian. He served as the Prime Minister of Estonia from 1992 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2002. Laar is credited with having helped bring about Estonia's Economy_of_Estonia#Restoration_o ...

, a historian, former Chairman of the National Alliance "Pro Patria" and

Prime Minister of Estonia The Prime Minister of Estonia ( Estonian: ''peaminister'') is the head of government of the Republic of Estonia. The prime minister is nominated by the president after appropriate consultations with the parliamentary factions and confirmed by ...

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 The European People's Party Group (EPP Group) is a centre-right political group of the European Parliament consisting of deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometimes it also includes independent MEPs ...

(EPP-ED). The party had one seat in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

, held by

Tunne Kelam Tunne-Väldo Kelam (born 10 July 1936) is an Estonian politician and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Estonia. He is a member of the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union, part of the European People's Party. Early life and educ ...

, the Chairman of the Pro Patria Union from 7 December 2002 to 16 April 2005. In parliamentary elections in 2003 they won 7 seats in Riigikogu and joined the opposition.

Tõnis Lukas Tõnis Lukas (born 5 June 1962) is an Estonian politician, former Minister of Culture from 2019 to 2021 and Minister of Education and Research from 1999 to 2002 and from 2007 to 2011. Life Lukas was born in Tallinn, Estonia. After graduating f ...

was elected chairman of the party on 16 April 2005. Historian and archivist

Aimar Altosaar Aimar Altosaar (born 1959) is an Estonian sociologist, journalist and politician. He was a member of IX Riigikogu. He was the Secretary General of the Pro Patria Union party from 1995 until 1999 and again from 2004 until 2006. Altosaar was born ...

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 The Estonian Democratic Party (, EDE) was a political party in Estonia. History The party had its roots in the Estonian national movement towards the end of the 19th century. It was formally founded by Jaan Tõnisson in the city of Tartu in 1905 ...

(''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 0 to 7 seats in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

City Council and remained the same (9 seats) in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

City Council. In April, 2006, former party leader and twice PM Mart Laar was awarded the

Friedman Friedman, Friedmann, and Freedman are surnames of German origin, and from the 17th century were also adopted by Ashkenazi Jews. It is the 9th most common surname in Israel (8th among Jews) and most common exclusively Ashkenazi name. They may refer ...

Prize for Liberty.

Electoral results

Parliamentary elections

European Parliament elections

References

External links