Jüri Ratas (Estonian pronunciation:[ˈjyriˈrɑtːɑs]; born 2 July 1978) is an Estonian politician who served as theprime minister of Estonia from 2016 to 2021 and as the leader of theCentre Party from 2016 to 2023, and the mayor ofTallinn from 2005 to 2007. Ratas was a member of the Centre Party until switching toIsamaa in 2024.
As the prime minister Ratas led two cabinetshis first cabinet was in office from 2016 to 2019 andsecond from 2019 to 2021. His second cabinet was notable for its share of public scandals, highest number of resignations of ministers in Estonian history and the number of public apologies from Ratas, mostly connected to the activities and offensive public statements of the smaller coalition partner nationalist and right-wing populistEKRE party.[1][2] Among others they calledSanna Marin a "non-educated sales girl"[3] andJoe Biden a "corrupt character"[4] forcing Ratas to apologize on their behalf.
His tenure also saw the national budget of Estonia moving to deficit after years of being in surplus.[5]
In the2015 Estonian parliamentary election, Ratas was re-elected to the parliament with 7,932 individual votes.[7] In March he was elected as the second deputy speaker of the Riigikogu.[8]
On 5 November 2016, Ratas was elected to succeedEdgar Savisaar as the leader of the Centre Party.[9] AfterTaavi Rõivas' second cabinet split in November 2016 due to internal struggle, coalition talks began between Centre Party, Social Democratic Party, and Pro Patria and Res Publica Union.[10]
Ratas withBoris JohnsonRatas with U.S. Vice PresidentMike Pence on 31 October 2019Ratas with Finnish Prime MinisterSanna Marin on 22 September 2020
On 19 November, the three parties agreed on the conditions ofRatas' first cabinet.[11] Ratas was sworn in as the prime minister of Estonia on 23 November.[12][13]
After2019 parliamentary election, Ratas turned down an offer from the liberal, election-winning Reform Party for coalition and instead entered into talks with the conservativeIsamaa and the often-considered as far-right,EKRE. On 17 April, Riigikogu granted Ratas the authority to form the government and remain Prime Minister.[14] These talks resulted in the formation ofRatas' second cabinet in April 2019.
During his tenure, the national budget ofEstonia went into deficit after years of being in surplus. This drew widespread criticism, notably from the European Commission and the Estonian Central Bank.[15][16]
In the elections of 2019, the party of Ratas, theEstonian Centre Party, lost support while the oppositional, liberalEstonian Reform Party, gained support and became the largest party by parliament seats in Estonia. After the elections, Ratas turned down an offer by the Reform party for coalition talks and entered into talks withIsamaa andEKRE, the latter being widely considered a far-right party. Ratas had previously ruled out forming a coalition with EKRE during the election campaign because of its hostile views.[18]
When I said before that it would be impossible for me to cooperate with a political party which cuts heads off, doesn't agree to certain nationalities or races, then EKRE has indeed said those things.[18]
— Ratas talking aboutEKRE in November 2018, widely interpreted as ruling out a coalition with EKRE.
The subsequent reversal of his stance and the inclusion ofEKRE by Ratas in coalition talks after the elections was met with local and international criticism. In a poll conducted after the start of the coalition talks, the party of Jüri Ratas further lost support.[19][20]
The critics of the decision have claimed that Ratas is willing to sacrifice his party's values, the confidence of his voters and the stability and reputation of the country to keep his position as prime minister. Ratas has countered that his first duty is to look for ways to get his party included in the government to be able to work in the benefit of his voters and that the coalition would continue to firmly support the EU, NATO and would be sending out messages of tolerance.[21][22][23]
Some key members and popular candidates of the party of Ratas have been critical of the decision, withRaimond Kaljulaid leaving the party in protest.Yana Toom, a member of the party and its representative in the European Parliament expressed criticism of the decision.Mihhail Kõlvart, popular among the Russian-speaking voters and the newly-elect mayor ofTallinn, has said the Centre party cannot govern with EKRE's approach.[24][25][26]
The decision was also criticised byGuy Verhofstadt, leader of theALDE group in theEuropean Parliament where The Centre Party of Ratas is a member, suggesting that Ratas should break off coalition talks with the national-conservative EKRE. Ratas responded in the Estonian media that "Brussels should not dictate to us what our coalition should be like."[27][28]
When on the third week of coalition talks,Martin Helme ofEKRE accused gynaecologists of violating theirHippocratic Oath by performing abortions, Ratas demanded the party to stop accusing doctors – with this being the first public criticism of EKRE by Ratas after the start of the coalition talks.[29]
On 17 April, Riigikogu voted in favour of granting Ratas the authority to form the government.[14]
On 29 January 2024, Ratas announced leaving the Center Party and joining the conservative-christian democraticIsamaa due to value differences with his successor as the leader of the partyMihhail Kõlvart.[34]
Ratas is married; he has a daughter and three sons.[38]
Ratas regards himself to be a believer and has completed theAlpha course atSt. Olaf's Church.[39] Although in the press he has been described as abaptist,[40] he has denied this.[41] Apart from theEstonian language, Ratas is fluent in English and has an understanding of Russian,Swedish andPortuguese. He began learning Russian in early 2017.[42]
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