Jüri Ratas (; born 2 July 1978) is an Estonian politician who served as the
prime minister of Estonia from 2016 to 2021 and as the leader of the
Centre Party from 2016 to 2023, and the mayor of
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...
from 2005 to 2007. Ratas was a member of the Centre Party until switching to
Isamaa in 2024.
As the prime minister Ratas led two cabinets
his first cabinet was in office from 2016 to 2019 and
second
The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...
from 2019 to 2021. His second cabinet was notable for its share of public scandals, highest number of resignations of ministers in Estonian history and the number of public apologies from Ratas, mostly connected to the activities and offensive public statements of the smaller coalition partner nationalist and right-wing populist
EKRE party. Among others they called
Sanna Marin a "non-educated sales girl" and
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
a "corrupt character" forcing Ratas to apologize on their behalf.
His tenure also saw the national budget of Estonia moving to deficit after years of being in surplus.
Career
He acted as the vice-president of the
Riigikogu
The Riigikogu (, from Estonian ''riigi-'', "of the state", and ''kogu'', "assembly") is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the prime minister and chi ...
from 2007 to 2016 and
Mayor of Tallinn from 2005 to 2007, attaining the post at age 27. As a mayor of Tallinn he initiated the
European Green Capital Award programme.
In the
2015 Estonian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Estonia on 1 March 2015. Advance voting was held between 19 and 25 February with a turnout of 33 percent. The Reform Party (Estonia), Reform Party remained the largest in the Riigikogu, winning 30 of the 101 s ...
, Ratas was re-elected to the parliament with 7,932 individual votes. In March he was elected as the second deputy speaker of the Riigikogu.
On 5 November 2016, Ratas was elected to succeed
Edgar Savisaar
Edgar Savisaar (31 May 1950 – 29 December 2022) was an Estonian politician, one of the founding members of Popular Front of Estonia and the Estonian Centre Party, Centre Party. He served as the Prime Minister of Estonia, acting Prime Minister ...
as the leader of the Centre Party. After
Taavi Rõivas' second cabinet split in November 2016 due to internal struggle, coalition talks began between Centre Party, Social Democratic Party, and Pro Patria and Res Publica Union.
Premiership
On 19 November, the three parties agreed on the conditions of
Ratas' first cabinet. Ratas was sworn in as the prime minister of Estonia on 23 November.
After
2019 parliamentary election, Ratas turned down an offer from the liberal, election-winning Reform Party for coalition and instead entered into talks with the conservative
Isamaa and the often-considered as far-right,
EKRE. On 17 April, Riigikogu granted Ratas the authority to form the government and remain Prime Minister.
These talks resulted in the formation of
Ratas' second cabinet in April 2019.
During his tenure, the national budget of
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
went into deficit after years of being in surplus. This drew widespread criticism, notably from the European Commission and the Estonian Central Bank.
On 9 March 2018, after
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
's referral to the
European Court of Justice
The European Court of Justice (ECJ), officially the Court of Justice (), is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is tasked with interpreting ...
, leaders of
Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
,
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
and
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
expressed their support for Poland over the
Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union. Ratas said that "Any problems related to voting and taking away the right to vote – I do not think that it should happen at all, it would be a step too far."
Coalition formation in 2019
In the elections of 2019, the party of Ratas, the
Estonian Centre Party, lost support while the oppositional, liberal
Estonian Reform Party, gained support and became the largest party by parliament seats in Estonia. After the elections, Ratas turned down an offer by the Reform party for coalition talks and entered into talks with
Isamaa and
EKRE, the latter being widely considered a far-right party. Ratas had previously ruled out forming a coalition with EKRE during the election campaign because of its hostile views.
The subsequent reversal of his stance and the inclusion of
EKRE by Ratas in coalition talks after the elections was met with local and international criticism. In a poll conducted after the start of the coalition talks, the party of Jüri Ratas further lost support.
The critics of the decision have claimed that Ratas is willing to sacrifice his party's values, the confidence of his voters and the stability and reputation of the country to keep his position as prime minister. Ratas has countered that his first duty is to look for ways to get his party included in the government to be able to work in the benefit of his voters and that the coalition would continue to firmly support the EU, NATO and would be sending out messages of tolerance.
Some key members and popular candidates of the party of Ratas have been critical of the decision, with
Raimond Kaljulaid leaving the party in protest.
Yana Toom, a member of the party and its representative in the European Parliament expressed criticism of the decision.
Mihhail Kõlvart, popular among the Russian-speaking voters and the newly-elect mayor of
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...
, has said the Centre party cannot govern with EKRE's approach.
The decision was also criticised by
Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the
ALDE group in the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
where The Centre Party of Ratas is a member, suggesting that Ratas should break off coalition talks with the national-conservative EKRE. Ratas responded in the Estonian media that "Brussels should not dictate to us what our coalition should be like."
When on the third week of coalition talks,
Martin Helme of
EKRE accused gynaecologists of violating their
Hippocratic Oath by performing abortions, Ratas demanded the party to stop accusing doctors – with this being the first public criticism of EKRE by Ratas after the start of the coalition talks.
On 17 April, Riigikogu voted in favour of granting Ratas the authority to form the government.
Ratas resigned as prime minister on 13 January 2021 after the
Prosecutor General suspected the Centre Party of "
criminal involvement" in an
influence peddling scandal involving businessman
Hillar Teder. Ratas stated that he had no knowledge of the alleged affair and had committed no wrongdoing, but chose to resign to take political responsibility for the scandal. He remained as the head of a
caretaker government
A caretaker government, also known as a caretaker regime, is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it co ...
until a new coalition was formed. On 25 January 2021
Kaja Kallas formed an
Estonian Reform Party-led coalition government with the
Estonian Centre Party. He was succeeded by
Lauri Hussar as the president of Riigikogu on 10 April 2023.
Changing party
On 29 January 2024, Ratas announced leaving the Center Party and joining the conservative-christian democratic
Isamaa due to value differences with his successor as the leader of the party
Mihhail Kõlvart.
Personal life
Ratas was born in
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...
, Estonia. His father was Centre Party politician
Rein Ratas. He attended secondary school in
Nõmme. He graduated in
Business Management
Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization.
Overview
The administration of a business includes the performance o ...
from
Tallinn University of Technology
Established in 1918, Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech; ) is the only Institute of technology, technical university in Estonia. TalTech, in the capital city of Tallinn, is a university for engineering, business, public administration a ...
and obtained a master's degree in
Economic Sciences from the same university. He also holds a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in Law from the
University of Tartu.
Ratas is married; he has a daughter and three sons.
Ratas regards himself to be a believer and has completed the
Alpha course at
St. Olaf's Church. Although in the press he has been described as a
baptist
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
, he has denied this. Apart from the
Estonian language
Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language and the official language of Estonia. It is written in the Latin script and is the first language of the majority of the country's population; it is also an official language of the European Union. Estonian is sp ...
, Ratas is fluent in English and has an understanding of Russian,
Swedish and
Portuguese. He began learning Russian in early 2017.
His hobbies include
chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
, reading and
horse riding
Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding ( Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...
.
Honours
National honours
* :
Order of the National Coat of Arms, 2nd class (23 February 2021)
Foreign honours
* : Grand Officer of the
Order of the Three Stars (8 April 2019)
* : Knight Grand Cross of the
Order of Orange-Nassau
The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands.
The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...
(12 June 2018)
* : Member 2nd Class of the
Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (21 October 2022)
References
External links
Profile of Ratas at Tallinn.eeProfile of Ratas at Parliament web
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratas, Juri
1978 births
Estonian Centre Party politicians
Estonian Christians
Living people
Mayors of Tallinn
Members of the Riigikogu, 2007–2011
Members of the Riigikogu, 2011–2015
Members of the Riigikogu, 2015–2019
Members of the Riigikogu, 2019–2023
Members of the Riigikogu, 2023–2027
Politicians from Tallinn
Prime ministers of Estonia
Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 2nd Class
Speakers of the Riigikogu
Tallinn University of Technology alumni
Isamaa politicians
MEPs for Estonia 2024–2029