Today, July 15, at 8:30 a.m., the Estonian government headed by Kaja Kallas met for an extraordinary meeting, during which the prime minister and the entire government resigned. After that, Kallas submitted her resignation to President Alar Karis.
This is reported by the Estonian broadcaster ERR.
Kallas will act as prime minister until a new government is appointed. She hopes that a new government will be formed in the near future.
Kallas became the Prime Minister of Estonia in January 2021. She notes that the time of her rule in the government was very difficult. Kallas started work at the height of the crisis of the coronavirus pandemic.
"I am probably the only prime minister who went from being sworn in immediately to the government meeting, where decisions had to be made immediately. There was absolutely no "grace period," Kallas said.
The "covid crisis" was followed by the energy crisis, the war in Ukraine, and the recession.
And yet, despite all the crises, Kallas is convinced that her government was able to significantly develop Estonia and make decisions that had not been made before, including the transition to Estonian-language education.
During Kallasʼ premiership, Estonia supported Ukraine in every possible way in the fight against Russiaʼs full-scale aggression and maintained a firm anti-Kremlin position. In particular, from 2022, Estonia provided military aid to Kyiv in the amount of more than €500 million, or about 1.4% of its GDP.
Kristen Michal, who currently serves as climate minister, is expected to become the next prime minister of Estonia. The countryʼs foreign policy towards Ukraine will not change — Michal is one of the fiercest critics of Russiaʼs aggressive war.
And Kallas herself, most likely, will soon replace Josep Borrell in the position of high representative of the EU for security and foreign policy of EU diplomacy.