Estonian populists, 2 other parties seal coalition deal

HELSINKI – A nationalist, euroskeptic Estonian party says it has agreed with two other parties to form a center-right coalition in a deal that would allow a populist party to be part of the government for the first time in the small Baltic country's history.

The Estonian Conservative People's Party, or EKRE, said Saturday it will form a three-way majority government with the centrist Center Party and the conservative Fatherland.

The Cabinet would be led by Center's leader, ex-Prime Minister Juri Ratas who has held the top government post in the nation of 1.3 million since November 2016.

The deal was concluded after weeks of negotiations following the March 3 election won by the center-right Reform Party with 28.9% of votes, followed by Center and EKRE with 23.1% and 17.8%, respectively.