Narva city council opposition elects new mayor and council chair

On 1 July, 16 Narva city council delegates from the Centre Party faction and the "Plan B" movement tabled a motion of no confidence in council chair Mihhail Stalnuhhin and Mayor Katri Raik, and elected Urbo Vaarmann and Jaan Toots as their replacements. Mayor Katri Raik and council chair Mihhail Stalnuhhin did not attend the session and do not recognise its decisions as lawful. Resolving the situation will likely require intervention from state authorities, including the Justice and Digital Affairs Ministry.

Narva city council opposition delegates took a step on 1 July 2026 that has plunged the city's governance into confusion. 16 delegates from the Centre Party faction and the "Plan B" movement called a council session on their own initiative, tabled a motion of no confidence in council chair Mihhail Stalnuhhin and Mayor Katri Raik, and elected Urbo Vaarmann as the new council chair and Jaan Toots as mayor respectively.

Session without office and gavel

The meeting took place under unusual circumstances: neither Mayor Raik nor council chair Stalnuhhin attended the chamber, although the latter was working in an adjacent office at the time. The offbox in the council chamber was locked, so the 16 delegates had to vote the old-fashioned way: votes were counted by hand, and they used a personal stamp instead of the electronic display and official seal.

"We even had to buy a gavel ourselves this morning, as we were refused one," noted newly elected council chair Urbo Vaarmann.

The remaining 15 delegates of the 31-member council did not attend the session. Thus the opposition's newly elected leadership lacks a majority mandate from the full council, giving the opposing side grounds to dispute the session's legitimacy.

Two sides, neither backing down

Calling the situation dual power would not be entirely accurate, as each side is convinced the law is on their side. Journalists asked Jaan Toots and Urbo Vaarmann after the session ended, somewhat ironically, whether they would come to Mayor Raik and council chair Stalnuhhin's office tomorrow and take the neighbouring chair.

"There are plenty of rooms, the offices are large," the new leadership answered with a smile. Jaan Toots clarified, however, quite seriously: "Tomorrow I will go to Ms Raik and show her all the documents."

Stalnuhhin and Raik have repeatedly said they do not recognise the council session organised by the opposition or its decisions as lawful. Stalnuhhin has announced plans to call a session himself in the second half of July.

Months of conflict

Today's step is the culmination of a conflict that has lasted several months. The motion of no confidence against Raik, Stalnuhhin and Kondrashov was originally planned for late March, but Stalnuhhin postponed it and subsequent sessions, citing various procedural reasons.

The current situation clearly requires a legal assessment at state level. The Justice and Digital Affairs Ministry will likely have its say. One can say with certainty: today's session is not the final chapter of Narva's story of power change.