- Source: Estonian National Independence Party
The Estonian National Independence Party, or ENIP, (Estonian: Eesti Rahvusliku Sõltumatuse Partei, ERSP), founded on 20 August 1988 in Estonian SSR, was the first non-communist political party established in the former USSR. Founders of the party were nationalist and anti-communist dissidents.
The initiative to establish the Estonian independentist party came from Vello Väärtnõu, the leader of a local Buddhist group. On 30 January 1988 he organized a press conference in Moscow for Western media where he announced plans for the formation of the party, with the aim to restore the fully independent Republic of Estonia as a nation state on the restitution principle. This made the ENIP the most radical or political movement of its day. Väärtnõu and several fellow Buddhists were expelled from the Soviet Union shortly after the press conference. ENIP was officially founded in August 1988 in the village of Pilistvere in central Estonia.
ENIP represented the radical wing of the Estonian independence movement and used "hardline" anti-communist rhetoric, in contrast with the Popular Front that cooperated with pro-reform communists. The party gained a majority during the February 1990 elections of the Congress of Estonia. After Estonia regained independence in 1991, ENIP was part of the centre-right government from 1992–1995, and later merged with Pro Patria to form the Pro Patria Union, a national-conservative party.
See also
Rahvarinne, another major political movement of the era
Latvian National Independence Movement, a similar organization in Latvia
References
External links
Buddhist Against Empire
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- Estonian National Independence Party
- Estonian Independence Party
- List of political parties in Estonia
- Latvian National Independence Movement
- National Independence Party
- Conservative People's Party of Estonia
- 1992 Estonian parliamentary election
- Estonian War of Independence
- Popular Front of Estonia
- Pro Patria Union
