Ulle Madise elected Estonian president

Ulle Madise, the sole candidate in Estonia's presidential election, was elected president Wednesday during an extraordinary session in the country's 101-member Parliament (Riigikogu), reported Xinhua.

Madise, Estonia's chancellor of justice, received support from 71 lawmakers, according to the live cast of the parliament session. She needed a two-thirds majority, or at least 68 votes, to be elected in the secret ballot.

78 lawmakers cast ballots in the ballot, of which seven were blank, the Parliament said.

Madise will become Estonia's seventh president and the second female head of state. She will be sworn into office on October 12.

Madise is an Estonian jurist, legal scholar. She emerged in the summer of 2026 as a leading apolitical candidate for the Estonian presidential election, backed by several major parties.

Madise replaces President Alar Karis, who said in June that he would not seek a second term.