Estonian Prime Minister who supports Ukraine is re-elected

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Prime Minister Kaja Kallas’ Reform Party, one of Europe’s most vocal supporters of Ukraine, won Estonia’s general election with a landslide victory, while an extreme party right lost seats in a vote focused on the Baltic country’s security and economy.

Preliminary results from a comprehensive vote recount showed the Reform Party, the main partner in the outgoing three-party coalition government, winning 31.2% of the vote, the highest turnout in Sunday’s election. .

This translates to 37 seats in the 101-seat Estonian parliament, called Riigikogu, an increase of three seats since the 2019 elections.

“This result, which is not yet final, will give us a strong mandate to form a good government,” Kallas told other party members and cheering supporters at a hotel in the capital Tallinn.

Kallas, prime minister since 2021, faced a challenge from the far-right EKRE party, which seeks to limit the Baltic nation’s exposure to Russia’s war in Ukraine, and blames the current government for the inflation rate bred from Estonia.

EKRE came second with 16.1% of the vote and 17 seats in the Legislative Assembly, a decrease of two seats compared to four years ago. The Center Party, traditionally favored by Estonia’s large Russian ethnic minority, was third with 15.3% of the vote.

More than 900,000 people were eligible to vote.

The biggest surprise of the election was the appearance of the Eesti 200, a small centrist liberal party, which won 14 seats and 13.3% of the vote.

“I think that with such a strong mandate, (aid to Ukraine) will not change because other parties, except EKRE and maybe the Center, have chosen the same line” , said Kallas.

He was referring to the substantial assistance Estonia has provided to Ukraine over the past year. In addition to weapons, the Baltic country has provided Kiev with substantial humanitarian aid and taken in more than 60,000 Ukrainian refugees.