Estonian MEP Madison: Right-wing extremism is relative

  • 2019-07-08
  • BNS/TBT Staff

HELSINKI - Right-wing extremism is relative, MEP Jaak Madison from the Estonian Conservative People's Party (EKRE) told the Finnish media.

When asked about right-wing extremism in EKRE by the Finnish news agency STT, Madison did not deny or confirm its existence in the party, instead he said that he considers the concept to be relative.

"It depends on where the center of the political specter is. A party that may have been called a right-wing extremist force three years ago is now the political mainstream. If Social Democrats garner merely 10 percent of the votes and the so-called right-wing extremist party gets 18 percent, who is then on the sidelines? Where is the center?" Madison said.

The youth caucus of EKRE called the Blue Awakening in particular has been considered a right-wing extremist grouping. The caucus' chairman and incumbent member of the parliament, Ruuben Kaalep, says on his Twitter profile that he is a Finno-Ugric supremacist.

"Ruuben Kaalep is but one of thousand of members. There are different people in every party. The Social Democrats and the Reform Party, too, include former Communists, but I wouldn't call either party communist because of it," Madison said.

When asked whether or not Madison also considers himself to be a Finno-Ugric supremacist, Madison replied that he supports the supremacy of Estonians in Estonia. All Estonians must work towards upholding the Estonian language, culture and future, he noted.