The Estonian parliament on Monday voted for Climate Minister Kristen Michal to take over as prime minister, with 64 votes in favor and 27 against.
Michal will succeed Kaja Kallas, who resigned as prime minister on July 15 to become the European Union’s new chief diplomat.
Following her resignation, Kallas named Michal as a possible candidate to succeed her as prime minister and chairman of the party. Both politicians hail from Estonia’s centrist Reform party.
Michal will lead the same majority coalition as his predecessor, which is composed of Reform, the liberal party Estonia 200 and the center-left Social Democrats.
At Monday’s parliamentary session, Michal gave a 20-minute presentation on his governmental agenda in which he justified tax increases on defense and security grounds, promised reforms to governance and stimulation of economic growth, and defended the green transition.