Europhile to be Estonia’s first woman PM

TALLINN: Estonia’s pro-business opposition leader Kaja Kallas was nominated on Thursday to become the Baltic eurozone member’s first woman prime minister, pending the support of parliament.

Kallas, leader of the Reform Party, is a staunch europhile and the daughter of former Estonian prime minister Siim Kallas. The 43-year-old would replace Juri Ratas, who resigned on Wednesday. His resignation brings down the governing centre-right coalition, which includes the far-right EKRE party.

"Both the Estonian people and I are expecting that Estonia would quickly have an active and competent government, which focuses on handling the pandemic and the economic crisis," President Kersti Kaljulaid said in a statement.