Siim Kallas (; born 2 October 1948) is an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

n politician, former

Prime Minister of Estonia The Prime Minister of Estonia (Estonian: ''peaminister'') is the head of government of the Republic of Estonia. The prime minister is nominated by the president after appropriate consultations with the parliamentary factions and confirmed by th ...

, and former

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

er. He served as the

European Commissioner for Transport The European Commissioner for Transport is a member of the European Commission whose portfolio includes the planning and development of homogeneous transport policies and regulations across the Union, of the Trans-European Transport Network as w ...

between 2010 and 2014. Before that he was the European Commissioner for Administrative Affairs, Audit and Anti-Fraud between 2004 and 2009. In both

Barroso Commission The Barroso Commission was the European Commission in office from 22 November 2004 until 31 October 2014. Its president was José Manuel Barroso, who presided over 27 other commissioners (one from each of the states composing the European Un ...

s he was also a

Vice-President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

. He was twice appointed the Acting Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro in

Olli Rehn Olli Ilmari Rehn (; born 31 March 1962) is a Finnish economist and public official who has been serving as governor of the Bank of Finland since 2018. A member of the Centre Party, he previously served as the European Commissioner for Enlargeme ...

's stead, from 19 April 2014 to 25 May 2014 while he was on electoral campaign leave for the

2014 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2014. * 2014 United Nations Security Council election 16 October 2014 Africa * 2014 Algerian presidential election 17 April 2014 * 2014 Botswana general election 24 October 2014 * 2014 Comorian presi ...

to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

and from 1 July 2014 to 16 July 2014 after he took up his seat. Prior to his tenure as a European Commissioner, Kallas was the Prime Minister of Estonia, Estonian Minister of Finance,

Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs , insignia = Coat of arms of Estonia.svg , insigniasize = 80px , department = Ministry of Foreign Affairs , image = File:Urmas Reinsalu 2017-05-25 (cropped).jpg , incumbent = Urmas Reinsalu , incumbentsince = 18 July 2022 , acting = , for ...

, a member of the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union and a member of the

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (; from Estonian ''riigi-'', of the state, and ''kogu'', assembly) is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the Prime Minister and Chief Just ...

. Kallas is a member and former leader of the free-market liberal

Estonian Reform Party The Estonian Reform Party ( et, Eesti Reformierakond) is a liberal political party in Estonia. The party has been led by Kaja Kallas since 2018. It is colloquially known as the "Squirrel Party" ( et, Oravapartei). It was founded in 1994 by Sii ...

and a former vice-president of

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism aroun ...

. After leaving the European Commission, Kallas ran in the Estonian

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

in 2016, but was not elected. In October 2017, he started as the municipal mayor of Viimsi Parish.

Education

*1966–1969, 1972–1974 Budget and Finance,

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

, specialist *(1969–1972 Junior Sergeant, Soviet Armed Forces Corps of Signals) *1974–1977 Economics of environmental protection, University of Tartu,

Candidate of Sciences Candidate of Sciences (russian: кандидат наук, translit=kandidat nauk) is the first of two doctoral level scientific degrees in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It is formally classified as UNESCO's ISCED level 8, "d ...

Career

*1969–1972 : Signals officer in Soviet Army *1975–1979: Specialist at the Finance Ministry Planning Committee of the

Estonian SSR The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an National delimitation in ...

*1979–1986: Joint Secretary of the Central Authority of the Savings Banks of the

. *1986–1989: Deputy chief editor of the Communist Party of Estonia newspaper

Rahva Hääl ''Rahva Hääl'' (lit. ''The People's Voice'') was the official daily newspaper of the Communist Party of Estonia during Soviet occupation of Estonia. It was founded shortly after the first Soviet takeover in 1940 based on offices and resources ...

*1989–1991: Chairman of the Central Union of the Estonian Trade Unions *1989–1991: Member of the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union *1991–1995: President of the

Bank of Estonia Bank of Estonia ( et, Eesti Pank) is the central bank of Estonia as well as a member of the Eurosystem organisation of euro area central banks. The Bank of Estonia also belongs to the European System of Central Banks. Until 2010, the bank i ...

*1995–2004: Member of the Parliament of the Republic of Estonia *1995–1996: Minister of Foreign Affairs *1996: Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe *1999–2002: Minister of Finance *2002–2003: Prime minister *2004–2004: EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, serving with Joaquín Almunia *2004–2010: EU Commissioner for Administrative Affairs, Audit and Anti-Fraud and Vice-president of the Commission *2010–2014: EU Commissioner for Transport and Vice-president of the Commission *2017–2019: Municipal mayor of

Viimsi Viimsi (german: Wiems) is a small borough ( et, alevik) in Harju County, Estonia, about northeast of the centre of Tallinn, just north of Tallinn's subdistrict Merivälja. Viimsi is the administrative centre of Viimsi Parish. As of the 2011 c ...

Personal life

Kallas' grandfather was

Eduard Alver Eduard Alver (15 March 1886, Valga – 15 August 1939, Tallinn) was an Estonian lawyer, policeman, politician, and the Commander of the Estonian Defence League (''Kaitseliit'') during the Estonian War of Independence. 1906-1911 he studied medic ...

, one of the founders of the

Republic of Estonia A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

on 24 February 1918, and the Commander of the Estonian Defence League during the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westw ...

, and the first chief of the

Estonian Police The Estonian Police ( et, Eesti Politsei) was the law enforcement agency of Estonia. It was subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior. In 2010, the organization was superseded by the Police and Border Guard Board. History Formation and d ...

from 1918 to 24 May 1919.Even further from Russia: what is known about the new head of the Estonian government
Europeeska Pravda, 26 January 2021 He speaks Estonian, English, Russian, Finnish, and German. Kallas is of Estonian and distant

Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...

ancestry. Kallas is married to doctor Kristi Kallas. He has one son and one daughter; his daughter

Kaja Kallas Kaja Kallas (; born 18 June 1977) is an Estonian politician who has been serving as the prime minister of Estonia since 2021. The leader of the Reform Party since 2018, she was a Member of Parliament from 2019 to 2021, and previously between ...

is the current leader of the Reform party and Prime Minister of Estonia since 2021. During the

Soviet deportations from Estonia Soviet deportations from Estonia were a series of mass deportations by the Soviet Union from Estonia in 1941 and 1945–1951. The two largest waves of deportations occurred in June 1941 and March 1949 simultaneously in all three Baltic states ...

his wife Kristi Kallas, 6 months old at the time, was deported to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part ...

with her mother and grandmother in a cattle car and lived there until she was 10 years old.Even further from Russia: what is known about the new head of the Estonian government
Europeeska Pravda (26 January 2021)

Controversy

Kallas' inability to address some politically controversial issues such as corruption caused him to renounce his candidacy for the office of Prime Minister of Estonia in 2014.

References

External links

Siim Kallas, Official Media Gallery

International Who's Who ''The International Who's Who'' is a Who's Who series of reference books of notable people worldwide that has been published annually since 1935. History The first edition was published in 1935 by Europa Publications. The eighth edition (1943-44 ...

European Parliament Answers to Commissioner Designate M. Kallas
, - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kallas, Siim 1948 births Estonian European Commissioners Estonian people of Baltic German descent Estonian Reform Party politicians Government ministers of Estonia Living people Members of the Riigikogu, 1995–1999 Members of the Riigikogu, 1999–2003 Members of the Riigikogu, 2019–2023 Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Finance ministers of Estonia Politicians from Tallinn Prime Ministers of Estonia Chairmen of the Bank of Estonia Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 1st Class Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 2nd Class Resigned Communist Party of the Soviet Union members University of Tartu alumni Leaders of political parties in Estonia Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century Estonian politicians 21st-century Estonian politicians Members of the Riigikogu, 2003–2007