Kaja Kallas's first cabinet was the Cabinet of Estonia between 26 January 2021 and 14 July 2022. It was a

grand Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), ...

coalition cabinet A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an e ...

of the Reform Party and the Centre Party until 3 June 2022 when Kallas dismissed Centre Party ministers from government after several weeks of disputes between the two parties.

Background

The cabinet was formed after the previous cabinet led by the Centre Party resigned on 14 January 2021 following the resignation of the prime minister

Jüri Ratas 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 from 2005 to 2007. Ratas was a member o ...

in the wake of a corruption scandal. From the very beginning, pundits stated several possible coalitions, among them were Reform Party–Centre Party, Reform Party–Isamaa–SDE, Centre Party–EKRE–Isamaa, Reform Party–EKRE. On 14 January 2021, negotiations started between the Reform Party and the Centre Party. Although it was seen as a surprise to many, the leaders of Isamaa and EKRE ( Helir-Valdor Seeder and

Martin Helme Martin Helme (born 24 April 1976) is an Estonian politician and current leader of the Conservative People's Party of Estonia, Conservative People's Party (EKRE). From 2019 to 2021 he was the country's Minister of Finance (Estonia), Minister of ...

, respectively) stated that the Centre Party members were probing a possible coalition with the Reform Party since the end of 2020. The cabinet received its mandate on 25 January 2021. This cabinet was the first coalition government between the Reform Party and the Centre Party since 2003. Also, it became the most gender-equal cabinet in Estonia's history. The cabinet led Estonia in the times of health crisis of

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and energy and security crisis caused by

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. Estonia became one of the largest donors of weapons for Ukraine per capita and received over 40,000 Ukrainian refugees.

Ministers

The coalition agreed on 14 ministers in addition to the prime minister with seven each for Reform and Center. In November 2021, Centre's

Anneli Ott Anneli Ott (; born 2 May 1976) is an Estonian politician. She served as Minister of Culture in the cabinet of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. She previously served as Minister of Public Administration in the second cabinet of Jüri Ratas Jür ...

announced her resignation after criticism related to her not allowing herself to be vaccinated against COVID-19, citing disagreements with the Reform Party on restrictions. Her resignation revealed deeper disagreements between the two coalition parties regarding

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

restrictions and vaccination. On 2 June 2022, Kallas dismissed the seven ministers of the Centre Party after several weeks of deadlock, during which her coalition partner voted with the far-right EKRE opposition against an education bill. Continuing with a minority cabinet, the Reform Party called up the conservative

Isamaa Isamaa () is a Christian democratic and national conservative political party in Estonia. It was founded on 4 June 2006 under the name of "Pro Patria and Res Publica Union", by the merger of two conservative parties, Pro Patria Union and Res ...

and the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

for talks on a possible new coalition. On July 8, the three parties announced that they agreed on forming a new coalition government. The new coalition was given a mandate by 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 ...

on July 15 and became Kaja Kallas's second cabinet.

References

External links

Official Website of Estonian Government
{{s-end 2021 establishments in Estonia Cabinets of Estonia Cabinets established in 2021