Igor Hopp, a board member of the Koos party, said that the party plans to participate in the elections taking place in October. They are focusing mainly on Ida-Viru County and Tallinn. According to Hopp, they hope to win in Narva and Sillamäe. "These are regions where we have strong support," said Hopp.
Hopp said it is still unclear whether Aivo Peterson will run in the elections. Peterson's court hearings are in April. "We are waiting and then we will decide," said Hopp.
Oleg Ivanov, who fled to Russia and left the Koos party, said that Peterson offered to run together. Ivanov said he is interested in Estonian politics only if they can work together with Peterson.
Peterson himself said he has not yet decided to run. He laughed off Ivanov's idea that they could create a separate electoral alliance. Peterson said his cooperation with Ivanov is over.
The Koos party does not see Ivanov running on their list. Hopp said that Ivanov is not a good team player. "Our and Ivanov's positions align, but he himself does not," said Hopp.
Hopp said that the war in Ukraine was not started by Russia, but by the USA and the European Union. "Estonia is not under threat from Russia," said Hopp. He said that the conflict in Ukraine began when NATO started expanding.
Although Koos's positions conflict with those of other Estonian parties, Hopp said that Koos does not support the Kremlin. "We are not engaged in influence operations or information warfare," said Hopp.