Estonia’s new government, led by Kaya Kallas, a strong supporter of Ukraine, was sworn in before parliament on Monday, France Presse and Agerpres reported.

Kaya CallasPhoto: Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto/Shutterstock Editorial/Profimedia

Kallas, who has been Estonia’s prime minister since 2021, will continue in office after his center-right Reform Party wins parliamentary elections in March. Entered into a coalition with the liberal party Eesti 200 and the Social Democrats.

The three parties pledged to invest in energy security, introduce environmental reforms and modernize fiscal policy in the Baltic country of 1.3 million people, which is a member of the EU and NATO.

The new coalition intends to maintain the goal of increasing defense spending to at least 3% of GDP.

Good news for Ukraine from Estonia

Estonia, which borders Russia, is one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters, regularly asking for more aid to help Kiev defend itself against Moscow’s aggression, and providing military support to Ukraine on its own.

The right-wing opponent of the Reform Party in the EKRE elections opposed further arms deliveries to Ukraine. EKRE came second with 16% of the vote, while the Reform Party received almost 32%.

Former Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, another strong supporter of Ukraine, lost parliamentary elections in early April, but the new right-wing government in Helsinki reaffirmed its commitment to continuing to support Kyiv.

Finland was officially accepted into NATO just two days after Sanna Marin lost the election after Turkey blocked the northern country’s entry into the alliance for months.

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