FAMILY MATTERS ON THE ESTONIAN CAMPAIGN TRAIL.

Tunne Kelam is Chairman of Estonia's Pro Patria Union (PPU) party. But his record goes back a long way. He is credited with having been a leader of the country's independence movement, as one of the founders in 1988 of the first Soviet-era non-communist Estonian political party, the Estonian National Independence Party (ENIP). And with an intimate knowledge of EU affairs already under his belt he is now standing in the European Parliament elections, along with his wife Mari-Ann, who is also a candidate on the PPU list.

The 67-year old Mr Kelam was Vice-President of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) between 1992 and 2003. He was a member of the Convention on the Future of Europe, and between 1997 and 2003 Chairman of the Riigikogu's European Affairs Committee, and Co-chairman of the EU-Estonia Joint Parliamentary Committee. Mr Kelam, who studied history at Tartu, also has an autobiography and a book of photographs to his name. He is evidently a skilled linguist, with knowledge of English, Finnish, Russian, German, French, Polish and Italian. And he has other 'regional' credentials, as the rapporteur for Ukraine between 1996 and 2000 for the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly Monitoring Committee.

Pro Patria Union et al.

Kelam's Pro Patria Union is a member of the centre-right EPP-ED Group (European People's Party - European Democrats) in the European Parliament. It was formed on December 2, 1995, when the official merger of the ENIP and the National Coalition Party "Pro Patria" was finalised. The parties had co-operated in the struggle for Estonian independence (1988-91) and in the first post-Soviet coalition Government (1992-95) that set the basic goals of joining the EU and NATO. Pro Patria is now in opposition domestically, while Res Publica, another EPP-ED member founded the year before last year's Estonian elections, is the main engine in the Estonian governing coalition.

Election issues.

Asked about his personal motivation for running in the EP elections, Tunne Kelam's response is straightforward: "It is hard to imagine the Chairman of the party that twice headed the Government of Estonia and having as its main foreign policy goal integration into the EU and NATO not running for the European Parliament".

Mari-Ann says that she has agreed to run in order to help the PPU ticket: "It is important that our party, whose members played a leading role in the restoration of Estonian independence after 50 years of Soviet occupation...