Where Estonia's parties agree, and where they don't

For every party and every statement, the test holds a position on a scale from one to five. Across the test's 38 statements there are 266 of them. Looked at statement by statement rather than party by party, they draw a different map: where Estonian politics has common ground and where it has none.

The measure is simple. For each statement we take the highest and the lowest position among the seven parties and subtract one from the other. A gap of zero would mean everyone holds exactly the same view. A gap of four means one party "strongly agrees" and another "strongly disagrees".

How the gaps are distributed

On 22 of the 38 statements, there is at least one party at each end of the scale. That is more than half the test. No statement has a gap of zero or one.

The only statement no party opposes

It is "All schooling should switch to Estonian by 2030, including in schools where most pupils speak Russian." Five parties strongly agree, SDE agrees and Keskerakond stays in the middle. No party is against.

The other two statements with the smallest gap are of a different kind: no one holds a firm view on them.

• "Tougher punishments reduce crime more than prevention and rehabilitation do." Reformierakond, Eesti 200 and SDE disagree; Keskerakond, Isamaa and Parempoolsed stay in the middle; EKRE agrees. No party is at either end of the scale.
• "Euthanasia should be allowed for terminally ill people who ask for it." Only Eesti 200 agrees. Four of the seven positions are estimated, because the parties say little about it.

Defence: a broad majority, but not unanimity

None of the four defence statements has a gap of four, but none of them is unanimous either:

• "Estonia should keep defence spending at 5% of GDP or more, even if that means cuts in other areas." Five parties are in favour; EKRE and Keskerakond disagree.
• "Frozen Russian assets should be used to fund Ukraine." The same split: five in favour, EKRE and Keskerakond against.
• "Estonia should keep giving Ukraine military aid worth at least 0.25% of GDP every year." Six parties are in favour; only EKRE is against.
• "Women should also do compulsory military service." The other way round: only Parempoolsed is in favour, and six parties disagree (two of those positions are estimated).

The two migration statements also stop at a gap of three.

22 complete disagreements

At the other end are the statements where one party supports one thing and another the opposite. For example:

• "People who earn more should pay a higher rate of income tax." Keskerakond and SDE strongly agree; Reformierakond, Eesti 200 and Parempoolsed strongly disagree; EKRE and Isamaa disagree.
• "To reduce the budget deficit, public spending should be cut rather than taxes raised." Isamaa and Parempoolsed strongly agree; Reformierakond, EKRE and Eesti 200 agree; Keskerakond disagrees and SDE strongly disagrees.
• "The annual car tax should be abolished." EKRE, Keskerakond and Isamaa strongly agree and Parempoolsed agrees; Eesti 200 stays in the middle; SDE disagrees and Reformierakond strongly disagrees. Here Keskerakond and Parempoolsed, otherwise opposites on the economy, are on the same side.
• "The Constitution should define marriage as a union between a man and a woman." EKRE and Isamaa strongly agree; Keskerakond and Parempoolsed disagree; Reformierakond, Eesti 200 and SDE strongly disagree.
• "It should be easier for people who have lived in Estonia since before 1991 to obtain Estonian citizenship." Keskerakond strongly agrees; Eesti 200 and SDE stay in the middle; Reformierakond and Parempoolsed disagree; EKRE and Isamaa strongly disagree.
• "Estonia should pass a climate law with binding targets for cutting emissions." Eesti 200 and SDE strongly agree and Reformierakond agrees; EKRE, Keskerakond, Isamaa and Parempoolsed strongly disagree.
• "The EU should be able to take foreign policy decisions by majority vote, without needing unanimity." Parempoolsed strongly agrees and Reformierakond agrees; SDE stays in the middle; Keskerakond and Eesti 200 disagree; EKRE and Isamaa strongly disagree. It is one of the few statements on which Reformierakond and Eesti 200 part ways.

Every statement has a gap of four in "Pensions, family and welfare" (4 statements), "Government and democracy" (3) and "Europe and foreign affairs" (2), and five of the six do in "Economy and taxes". At the other end are "Defence and security" and "Migration", where no statement reaches a gap of four, and "Energy and environment", where only the climate law does. The parties disagree most on the economy and welfare, and least on defence and migration.

Who is close to whom

The same data also shows which parties are closest to each other and which are furthest apart. The table shows the three closest and the three most distant of the 21 pairs of parties (by average gap across all 38 statements):

The closest are Reformierakond and Eesti 200, which govern together: the same position on 23 statements, and never more than two points apart. The furthest apart are Reformierakond and EKRE, at least three points apart on 20 statements, and EKRE and SDE, with the largest average gap.

What this means for the test

A statement on which every party agrees does not help to tell them apart: whoever answers it gets the same score with all of them. What separates the parties are the 22 statements with a gap of four. That is why they are in the test, and why it is worth answering them even when it is hard to decide.

It also explains a common feeling at the end of the test: if your result gives several parties similar percentages, you probably agree with them on the few issues they share and stay in the middle on the ones that divide them. Reformierakond and Eesti 200 are so close that they often end up tied in the result. When there is a tie, the test offers up to eight extra statements, the ones that best separate the tied parties.

A note on the data

All 38 statements have seven positions, one per party. Not all of them are equally solid: 20 of the 266 positions are not based on a specific document and are marked as estimated. They count in the gaps like the others. Each party's page shows which of its positions are documented and which are estimated. The 18 extra tie-break statements are not included here.