Editing History of Estonia (section)

===Andrus Ansip government (2005-2014)===

On 4 April 2005, President Rüütel nominated Reform party leader [[Andrus Ansip]] as Prime Minister designate and asked him to form a new government, the eighth in twelve years. Ansip formed a government out of a coalition of his Reform Party with the People's Union and the Centre Party. Approval by the Riigikogu, which by law must decide within 14 days of his nomination, came on 12 April 2005.<ref>{{cite news |title=Andrus Ansip named Estonia's new prime minister |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/enlargement/news/andrus-ansip-named-estonia-s-new-prime-minister/ |work=www.euractiv.com |date=13 April 2005}}</ref> Ansip was backed by 53 out of 101 members of the Estonian parliament. Forty deputies voted against his candidature. The general consensus in the Estonian media seems to be that the new [[Andrus Ansip's cabinet|cabinet]], on the level of competence, is not necessarily an improvement over the old one.{{citation needed|date=January 2011}}

On 18 May 2005, Estonia signed a border treaty with the [[Russian Federation]] in Moscow.<ref>{{cite web |title=Issue article |url=https://www.juridicainternational.eu/article_full.php?uri=2005_X_144_which-continuity-the-tartu-peace-treaty-of-2-february-1920-the-estonianrussian-border-treaties-of-18-may-2005-and-the-legal-debate-about-estonias-status-in-international-law |website=www.juridicainternational.eu}}</ref> The treaty was ratified by the Riigikogu on 20 June 2005. However, in the end of June the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed that it did not intend to become a party to the border treaty and did not consider itself bound by the circumstances concerning the object and the purposes of the treaty because the Riigikogu had attached a preambule to the ratification act that referenced earlier documents that mentioned the Soviet occupation and the uninterrupted legal continuity of the Republic of Estonia during the Soviet period. The issue remains unsolved and is the focus of European-level discussions.

On 4 April 2006, Fatherland Union and Res Publica decided to form a united right-conservative party. The two parties joining was approved on 4 June by both parties in Pärnu. The joined party name is Isamaa ja Res Publica Liit ([[Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=Pro Patria and Res Publica Union (IRL) changes party name |url=https://news.err.ee/829095/pro-patria-and-res-publica-union-irl-changes-party-name |website=ERR |language=en |date=6 May 2018}}</ref>

In September 2006, [[Toomas Hendrik Ilves]] was elected as the new president of Estonia. He defeated in the Electoral Assembly incumbent one-term president [[Arnold Rüütel]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5373874.stm|title=Estonia elects Ilves as president|date=23 September 2006}}</ref>

==== 2007 election ====

The [[2007 Estonian parliamentary election|2007 parliamentary elections]] have shown an improvement in the scores of the Reform Party, gaining 12 seats and reaching 31 MPs; the Centre Party held, while the unified right-conservative [[Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica]] lost 16. Socialdemocrats gained 4 seats, while the Greens entered the Parliaments with 7 seats, at the expense of the agrarian [[People's Union of Estonia|People's Union]] which lost 6. The new configuration of the Estonian Parliament shows a prevalence of centre-left parties. The Centre Party, led by the mayor of Tallinn [[Edgar Savisaar]], has been increasingly excluded from collaboration, since his open collaboration with [[Vladimir Putin|Putin]]'s [[United Russia]] party, real estate scandals in Tallinn,<ref name="savisaarrealestate">[https://archive.today/20120728210611/http://www.delfi.ee/archive/article.php?id=11378593 Savisaar's and Kruuda's mutual gifts]</ref> and the [[Bronze Soldier]] controversy, considered as a deliberate attempt of splitting the Estonian society by provoking the Russian minority.<ref name="splitter">[http://postimees.ee/300407/esileht/arvamus/257922.php Lõhestaja number üks] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006120354/http://www.postimees.ee/300407/esileht/arvamus/257922.php |date=6 October 2007 }} Postimees</ref> The lack of a concrete possibility for government alternance in Estonia has been quoted as a concern.<ref name=presseurop/>