Estonia: Juri Ratas secures parliament's support to form new govt

Estonia's Centre party leader Juri Ratas secured parliament's support on Wednesday to continue as prime minister and form a new government that will bring a far-right party into the cabinet for the first time. Ratas secured support from 55 lawmakers in parliament, exceeding the 51 votes required to form a new government and continue as prime minister.

Ratas, prime minister since late 2016, lost a March 3 election in which the centre-right Reform Party emerged the largest party. Ratas blocked Reform's leader Kaja Kallas from taking power by agreeing a surprise coalition between his left-leaning Centre, the conservative Fatherland party and the far-right EKRE, giving the three parties a majority in parliament.