Left-wing opposition tops EU vote in Estonia: results
(TALLINN) - Estonia's left-leaning opposition Centre Party came out on top in European parliamentary elections in the Baltic state, according to results released Monday.
Figures from the Estonian electoral commission showed that the Centre Party had obtained 26.07 percent of Sunday's vote and won two of Estonia's six seats in the 736-member European Parliament.
Second was independent candidate Indrek Tarand, who won a seat with 25.81 percent of the vote.
The centre-right Reform Party of Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, who is wrestling with a deep recession after years of economic growth ended abruptly in 2008, came in third, receiving 15.34 percent and winning a single seat.
The party will be represented in the EU assembly by Estonia's former foreign minister Kristiina Ojuland.
The other member of Ansip's minority government, the conservative Pro Patria and Res Publica Union, scored 12.21 percent and retained a seat in the EU chamber.
The centre-left Social Democrats, who were evicted from Ansip's coalition last month, received 8.7 percent. That was enough to give them one seat, which will go to axed finance minister Ivari Padar.
No other parties cleared the five-percent hurdle required to get a seat.
Turnout in Sunday's vote was 43.2 percent, the electoral commission said.
Estonia, a former Soviet-ruled republic of 1.3 million people, joined the EU in 2004.
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