| Native Name: | Vene Erakond Eestis Русская партия Эстонии |
| Founder: | Aleksei Sorokin |
| Foundation: | 1920 |
| Dissolved: | 2012 |
| Merged: | Social Democratic Party |
| Ideology: | Russian minority interests Plurinationalism Cultural autonomy |
| Position: | Centre-left[1] |
| Colours: | Blue |
| Country: | Estonia |
The Russian Party in Estonia (et|Vene Erakond Eestis, VEE; ru|Русская партия Эстонии) was a minor centre-left political party in Estonia.[1]
The party was originally established as the Russian National Union (et|Vene Rahvuslik Liit; ru|Русский национальный союз), a right-of-centre party, in 1920.[2] It received 1% of the national vote in the parliamentary elections that year,[3] winning a single seat in the Riigikogu.[4]
After Estonia regained independence after the fall of the Soviet Union the Russian Party of Estonia was established in 1994 as the legal successor to the Russian National Union.[5] For the 1995 elections the party formed the "Our Home is Estonia" alliance with the Estonian United People's Party.[6] The alliance won six seats.
The party ran alone in the 1999 elections, receiving 2% of the vote but failing to win a seat.[7] [8] The 2003 elections saw the party's vote share fall to just 0.2% as it remained without representation in the Riigikogu. It received 0.2% of the vote again in the 2007 elections and 0.9% in the 2011 elections, failing to win a seat on either occasion.
In 2012 the party merged into the Social Democratic Party.[9]
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | 8,623 | 1.8 (#9) | – | |||
| 1995 | 31,763 | 5.87 (#6) | – | |||
| 1999 | 9,825 | 2.03 (#9) | 6 | |||
| 2003 | 990 | 0.20 (#11) | ||||
| 2007 | 1,084 | 0.20 (#10) | ||||
| 2011 | 5,029 | 0.87 (#7) |