Kaja Kallas formally resigned as Estonian prime minister on Monday to take up her new role as the European Union’s foreign policy chief.
Kallas’ resignation paved the way for the start of negotiations to form a new government, with President Alar Karis announcing that he will begin talks with representatives of all parliamentary parties.
Kallas’ centrist Reform Party, the largest group in the Estonian parliament, has already named Minister of Climate Kristen Michal as possible candidate to replace Kallas as prime minister and chairman of the party.
Representatives from Reform, the liberal Estonia 200 party and the center-left Social Democrats already began coalition negotiations on July 8, with Michal leading the discussions.
All parties hope to reach an agreement by the end of July, and the new government will likely take office at the beginning of August.
EU leaders picked Kallas for the top job at the bloc’s foreign policy service at the end of June, along with Antonio Costa as head of the European Council and Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as president of the European Commission. After the leaders’ meeting, Kallas said of the trio: “We make a great team.”
Following her resignation, Karis thanked Kallas for her work over the past three and a half years. “It has been a time full of crises with the coronavirus, the economic recession and the war in Europe, as Russia destroyed our security image with its aggression in Ukraine,” he said.