Estonia’s parliament has tasked Prime Minister Kaja Kallas with forming a new government, after her centre-right Reform Party won last month’s general election by a wide margin.
Kallas, who has been the Baltic state’s premier since 2021, was given the green light from parliament on Wednesday with 59 votes in favour and 38 against.
She had earlier announced that her party would form a coalition with the liberal Estonia 200 party and the Social Democrats.
“The common will of the parties of the future coalition is to ensure the all-round security of the Estonian state,” Kallas said.
She added that the parties also intend to invest in energy security, implement green reforms and modernise tax policy.
She also stressed the need to increase military spending, which her party had promised ahead of the election to raise to at least three percent of GDP.
“The purpose of increasing our defence spending is not to destroy our enemy, but the purpose is to destroy our enemy’s will to attack us,” Kallas told parliament.
Kallas is due to meet the president on Monday, with the government’s swearing-in ceremony to follow.
READ MORE: Estonian PM’s party secures win in parliamentary election by wide margin
Supporting war-torn Ukraine
The country of 1.3 million people, which borders Russia and is a member of the EU and NATO, has been a staunch supporter of war-torn Ukraine.
Over the past year it has led international calls for more military aid to help Ukraine fight off Russia’s military attack.
Reform’s election rival, the right-wing EKRE, had campaigned against further arms deliveries to Ukraine.
EKRE came in second with 16 percent of the vote last month, while Reform won nearly 32 percent of the vote.
READ MORE: Estonians vote with parties split over Ukraine military aid
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