Estonian PM resigns to form new government

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas resigned on Thursday in order to form a new government coalition in the Baltic country.

She will convene an extraordinary sitting of the parliament tomorrow to ask for a “mandate for the new government coalition” with the small conservative Fatherland “Isamaa” party and the opposition Social Democratic Party.

Kallas said in a statement that in order to form a new government, the current one needed to resign.

The three parties together will have a majority in the 101-seat Riigikogu legislature.

The deal means that Kallas, Estonia’s first female prime minister, will avoid governing a one-party minority government.

Karis said last week that the new Cabinet has no time to rest given Estonia’s economic woes and the consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“Estonia will have new ministers who must quickly start work to lead our people through inflation and what lies ahead in the autumn and winter in regard to energy prices,” Karis said.

Estonia’s inflation rate is now the highest in the 19-nation eurozone, with annual inflation hitting 22% in June, according to Eurostat, the EU statistics agency.

High energy prices are one of the main causes of inflation in the nation of 1.3 million people.

The country is scheduled to hold a general election in March.