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Estonia Set for New Coalition Including Controversial Populists

  • Ruling Center Party agrees deal with populist EKRE, Isamaa
  • Coalition still needs formal offer from President Kaljulaid
Kersti Kaljulaid  looks on as Juri Ratas takes the oath during the Estonian parliament Riigikogu's opening sitting after elections. 

Kersti Kaljulaid  looks on as Juri Ratas takes the oath during the Estonian parliament Riigikogu's opening sitting after elections. 

Photographer: Raigo Pajula/AFP via Getty Images 

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Estonia moved toward a new governing coalition that includes a controversial anti-immigrant party, signaling the further spread of populism in the European Union.

Prime Minister Juri Ratas’s ruling Center Party, which snubbed the election-winning Reform party and instead invited the euroskeptic EKRE to talks, overcame opposition from his party’s Russian-speaking members to agree on an alliance that also includes the conservative Isamaa, a junior member of the outgoing government.