At 14:00 today, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas came to Kadriorg with the proposal that all of the Centre Party ministers in the government be dismissed from office. At 14:49 I signed my name to the decision confirming this.
From a purely personal point of view, I am sorry that a number of ministers only heard of the decision via the media.
It had been clear for some time that the coalition between the Reform Party and the Centre Party was on the verge of collapse. Today’s events brought that coalition to an end.
Now our politicians must act quickly: there is no time to lose.
Estonia needs a functioning coalition – and a functioning government that is capable of making decisions and leading the country – to be in place as soon as possible.
These are turbulent times, at home and abroad. We are facing the most acute security crisis Europe has seen in recent decades.
Energy security issues remain unresolved.
Socio-economic problems are also becoming more acute, with the cost of gas, electricity and heating continuing to rise and placing many people in a precarious position.
All of this is exacerbated by uncertainty regarding how to cover spiralling budgetary costs.
As the head of the Reform Party, Kaja Kallas has extended an invitation to the Pro Patria party and the Social Democrats to enter into talks to form a coalition. I now want to see a determined effort on the part of our politicians to forge and maintain allegiances and enter into agreements with one another.
It bears mentioning at this point that those who think there is nothing personal in politics are mistaken: there is a great deal of it, as there is in any interpersonal relationship. I call on all of our politicians to rise above resentment and misunderstandings.
