Estonian parliament building. Flickr/Seventh heaven. All rights reserved.The year 2015 looks to be a turning point in Europe´s existing economic and political certainties. The attitudes of people and new political forces towards the austerity supported by the EU and troika are hardening.
Similar developments to Syriza´s victory in Greece can follow in Southern Europe and Ireland. Estonia too faces a choice with the upcoming elections in March. The country has been a bastion of free market policies ever since it regained its independence in the early 90s. Much of its politics has been undertaken in order to achieve distance from the collectivism of the Soviet era. What can Estonia expect from the elections this time? Will its neoliberalism remain unchallenged or can the country expect credible alternatives to the status quo?
European and Estonian context
The project of the EU is being undermined by the contradiction between the Northern and Southern Europe. Achieving integration through single market has proved more than one sided, many eurozone countries are struggling with debt and unemployment. The politics of cuts and austerity, instead of restoring growth, has undermined social cohesion and the process of democratic politics.
