Estonia's prime minister resigns over corruption scandal

Estonia's Prime Minister Jüri Ratas has announced his resignation against the background of corruption investigations against his party. Today I made the decision to resign as prime minister, said Ratas on Wednesday in the online service Facebook. The decision was preceded by hours of deliberation by the leadership of Ratas Center Party. He hopes that his resignation will help clear up his party's affair. However, he himself did not make any malicious or knowingly wrong decisions, stressed Ratas. The focus of the corruption affair is a real estate project by the company Porto Franco. Porto Franco had signed a lucrative deal with the authorities of the capital Tallinn, whose mayor is also a member of the Center Party. The father of the owner of Porto Franco is also said to have donated large sums to the Center Party. One of the suspects in the affair is Kersti Kracht, an advisor to Finance Minister Martin Helme from the far-right Ekre party.