Estonian coalition government collapses as tensions over Russia come to a head

Estonia’s government collapsed after the Baltic country’s prime minister launched a blistering attack on her coalition partners, accusing them of working against the nation’s values and failing to protect its independence in the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

At the request of prime minister Kaja Kallas, president Alar Karis on Friday dismissed all seven ministers from the Centre party, which used to have formal ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party.

“The security situation in Europe does not give me any opportunity to continue co-operating with the Centre party, which is unable to put Estonia’s interests above those of the party,” said Ms Kallas, adding that Centre was “actively working against Estonia’s core values”.

She will now try to form a new coalition with two smaller parties, but if she fails, Jüri Ratas, Centre’s leader and former prime minister, will have the opportunity to try to form his own alternative government.

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The extraordinary collapse of Estonia’s government comes as improving security for the three Baltic countries becomes a priority for Nato ahead of a crucial summit of the military alliance at the end of this month in Madrid.

Ms Kallas has become one of the most vocal western figures in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, arguing that Europe and the US must do more to defeat Moscow both militarily and through sanctions. Estonia has given more military support to Ukraine per capita than any other country.

The immediate cause of Ms Kallas’s anger was Centre’s opposition, alongside the far-right populists of Ekre, to a government preschool education Bill. But some believe there are other, underlying reasons for the long-running tensions between Ms Kallas’s liberal Reform party and Centre.

“Many Estonians, including myself, fear that political players sharing the Kremlin’s interests are attempting to take over the Estonian government,” Rein Raud, the Estonian author, wrote on Twitter this week, arguing that Centre and Ekre were trying to tone down Tallinn’s response on Ukraine.

Centre, which cancelled its long-standing co-operation with United Russia after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February, shocked the Estonian establishment by forming a government with Ekre and another party in 2019 rather than Reform, which won the most votes.

When that coalition collapsed in early 2021 due to Centre’s links with a corruption scandal, Ms Kallas and Reform formed a new government in an uneasy partnership with Centre.

Ekre’s inclusion in the former government threatened Estonia’s liberal image after the nationalists’ leaders insulted everybody from Finland’s prime minister, Sanna Marin, and US president Joe Biden to gays and immigrants.

Mart Helme, former Ekre leader and former interior minister, sparked outrage in April by saying Ukrainian refugees would bring HIV with them because many would become involved in prostitution in Ukraine.

Mr Ratas said Ms Kallas should have resigned as head of government and refused to deny speculation that he could try to resurrect the former coalition with Ekre.

Ms Kallas said on Friday: “Unfortunately, it turned out that there are two parties in the parliament that just cannot shape up, even in the current situation, and make sure our independence and constitutional values are protected.” – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2022