The prime minister, who serves as head of government, is nominated by the president and approved by the parliament. After the March 2023 polls, the Reform Party of Prime Minister Kallas formed a coalition with the SDE and Eesti 200.

The president is elected by the parliament to a five-year term. In August 2021, Alar Karis was elected as a nonpartisan consensus candidate in a second round of voting.

The constitution establishes a 101-seat unicameral parliament called the Riigikogu, whose members are elected for four-year terms using proportional representation in multimember constituencies. Parliamentary elections meet democratic standards.

The Reform Party polled first in the March 2023 elections, winning 37 seats. The Conservative People’s Party of Estonia (EKRE) won 17 seats, and the Center Party won 16 seats, a net loss of 10. Eesti 200 won 14 seats. The SDE won 9 seats, while the conservative Isamaa received 8 seats.

The legal framework for conducting elections is clear and fairly administered. Online voting is common. The March 2023 elections marked the first in which more electronic votes were cast than traditional ballots. In its election report, observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) proposed measures to increase the security, reliability, and transparency of e-elections.

Estonia’s political parties form, organize, and operate freely, and the political landscape remains open and competitive. Eesti 200, which was established in 2018, joined the governing coalition in April 2023.

The country has undergone multiple democratic transfers of power between rival parties following elections over the past three decades.

People’s political choices are generally not subject to undue interference. However, there have been increasing concerns about the influence of online disinformation.

Around 5 percent of the country’s population—mostly ethnic Russians—remain stateless and cannot participate in national elections. In 2010, the number was higher, at 7.5 percent, and the decrease since then has been primarily due to deaths. Resident noncitizens are permitted to vote in local and European Parliament elections but may not run as candidates or join political parties. The authorities have adopted policies to assist those seeking naturalization.

The coalition that took office in 2023 promised to explore the constitutional possibilities of suspending of Russian and Belarusian citizens’ right to vote in local elections.

Political representation of women is gradually increasing. A record total of 30 women were elected to the 101-seat parliament in 2023. There are five women and eight men in Kallas’s third cabinet, which took office in April.

Both the government and the parliament are freely elected and function without interference from external or nonstate actors.

The legal framework and independent law enforcement institutions provide important checks on corruption, and cases against high-profile defendants have been brought to court in recent years, though the results have been mixed.

Although comprehensive whistleblower-protection regulations are not yet in place, a bill offering enhanced safeguards for whistleblowers passed its first reading in November 2023. Previously, in September, the Kallas-led government ended the practice of “roof money.” Such grants, recently worth tens of thousands of euros, were directed for local spending at the behest of individual lawmakers.

Estonia is known for its high degree of government transparency and well-developed e-governance services.

Public access to government information and the asset declarations of officials is provided for both in law and in practice. However, in August 2023, news outlet ERR reported that offices regularly kept documents from the public by marking them “for internal use only” for years.

Estonia generally performs well in ensuring a transparent and effective public procurement system, although according to 2021 figures from the European Commission (EC), 34 percent of Estonian public contracts that year had only a single bidder or no call for bids at all.

The government generally respects freedom of the press. However, judges sometimes use the criminal procedure code to restrict media coverage in various cases of public interest, particularly those concerning corruption. Public and private television and radio stations broadcast freely, and there are a number of independent newspapers. In 2022, Estonia’s government amended its media law, increasing the media regulator’s independence and requiring greater transparency around media ownership structures.

Observers have noted a trend toward ownership concentration, especially at the regional level. Some local media struggled amid the COVID-19 pandemic and amid increasing digitalization in the media market.

Estonian regulatory institutions began blocking access to Russian media outlets after Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

Religious freedom is respected in law and in practice.

Academic freedom is generally respected, though a recently adopted law aimed at establishing Estonian as the language of instruction in all schools may impact individual rights.

By law, public Russian-language high schools must teach 60 percent of their curriculum in the Estonian language, and a law adopted in December 2022 requires that the country’s schools transition gradually to Estonian as the only language of instruction. The timeline set out by the law begins with the 2024–25 school year and ends with the 2032–33 school year. Following the switch, children from Russian-speaking families will be given the opportunity to learn Russian language and culture in separate classes. However, there are concerns that shortages of teachers and material resources might interfere with the transition timeline. In August 2023, a group of UN human rights experts warned that the compulsory shift would eliminate minority-language education and would especially impact Russian speakers.

There are no significant constraints on the freedoms of personal expression and private discussion.

The constitution guarantees freedom of assembly.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations took place in Tartu and Tallinn in November and December 2023. Police fined five participants who participated in the November demonstration in Tallinn for using the phrase, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Those individuals were charged with violating Section 151.1 of the penal code, which prohibits support of an international crime. A police spokesperson later said that the slogan’s use was interpreted as a call against the existence of Israel, and consequently as support for crime against humanity. The police initially prohibited the planned December demonstration in Tartu, though it was ultimately held.

The government upholds freedom of association and does not restrict or control the activities of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

The law recognizes workers’ rights to organize, strike, and bargain collectively, although public servants at the municipal and state levels may not strike. While these rights are largely upheld in practice, union membership is low, and employers in some sectors have resisted bargaining efforts.

The judiciary is independent and generally free from government or other interference.

Legal processes in civil and criminal matters are generally free and fair. Laws prohibiting arbitrary arrest and detention and ensuring the right to a fair trial are largely observed. Court fees were raised significantly in January 2022, but there are many exemptions built into the fee structures.

While Estonians generally enjoy physical security, the country’s steadily declining intentional homicide rate nevertheless remains one of the highest in the European Union (EU). Prison conditions do not fully meet international standards, and some inmates reportedly have inadequate access to health care.

Estonia has a relatively high incarceration rate, with 151 people incarcerated per 100,000 residents as of January 2023 according to Council of Europe data. Also in 2023, the country’s chancellor of justice reported that prisoners with mental health issues are placed into solitary confinement and do not consistently receive adequate medical care.

Legislation offers some protection from workplace discrimination on the grounds of religious belief, age, disability, and sexual orientation.

Russian-speaking residents report experiencing societal discrimination. Gender discrimination is also a problem, particularly in employment, and the gender pay gap is among the highest in the EU, though it has decreased in recent years. Roma face employment discrimination and disparities in educational outcomes.

In 2020, the EC began infringement proceedings against Estonia for failing to match EU regulations for prosecuting hate crimes and criminalizing hate speech in domestic laws. The EC again cited hate speech as a matter of concern when it launched infringement proceedings in January 2023; legislation resolving the discrepancies had not been passed by year’s end.

In August 2023, the Police and Border Guard Board signed a cooperation agreement with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to ensure fair treatment of asylum seekers. The UNHCR will monitor Estonian authorities’ treatment of asylum cases at border crossing points as part of the agreement.

Citizens and residents enjoy free movement inside Estonia, and there are no significant restrictions on international travel for Estonian residents.

In September 2022, along with other Baltic states and Poland, Estonia effectively closed its borders to Russian citizens.

The legal and regulatory framework is generally supportive of property rights and entrepreneurship, and residents can freely engage in private business activity in practice.

In June 2023, the parliament amended the Family Law Act and related legislation to grant marriage rights to same-sex couples. Implementation language for the Registered Partnership Act, which had been passed in 2014, were also adopted. President Karis ratified the legislative changes later in June, with the changes to take effect in January 2024.

Gender-based violence, including domestic violence, remains a serious problem. The results of a survey by Statistics Estonia—conducted in 2022 and published in October 2023—showed that 41 percent of women have experienced domestic violence at some point in their lives. The Victim Support Act, passed in 2022, came into force in April 2023, allowing those affected by domestic violence greater access to support services.

Score Change: The score improved from 3 to 4 because the parliament amended legislation to allow same-sex marriage in 2024.

There are legal safeguards against exploitative working conditions, and they are generally enforced in practice. The government makes serious and sustained efforts to prosecute those responsible for human trafficking and provide services to victims, though it has encountered difficulties in adequately punishing convicted traffickers and identifying victims, according to the US State Department.