Estonian PM Kallas resigns to take on EU foreign policy role
Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas, nominated by EU leaders as the bloc’s next foreign policy chief, handed in her resignation to her country’s president on Monday. Kallas, who has been in office since 2021, will stay on as caretaker until a new government is formed and sworn in.
The appointment of Kallas, an outspoken opponent of the Kremlin, to the post of head of European diplomacy is still subject to a vote in the European Parliament.
Kallas is also due to resign as leader of her centre-right Reform Party. A successor will be chosen in early September.
“It has been a very difficult time,” she told Estonian public radio on Monday. “I started when the Covid crisis was at its height and I was probably the only prime minister who, immediately after being sworn in, went to the government meeting and started taking decisions.”
Estonia’s ruling coalition, comprising Reform Party, the Social Democrats and liberals Estonia 200, has already begun talks to form a new government. Reform have put forward the current Climate minister, Kristen Michal, as their candidate for prime minister.
President Alar Karis will hold discussions with the parties before deciding who will succeed Kallas.
© PHOTO JOHN THYS / AFP
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