The Ministry of the Interior of

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

() is a Ministry in the Estonian Government. The current Minister of the Interior is

Lauri Läänemets Lauri Läänemets (born 31 January 1983) is an Estonian politician who served as Minister of Interior Affairs and was a member of XIV Riigikogu. Biography In 2007 he graduated from Tallinn University in recreation management. Political car ...

. In 2018, Estonia’s ministry of interior planned to introduce the world’s first

digital nomad A digital nomad is a person who travels freely while working remotely using information and communications technology such as the Internet. Such people generally have minimal material possessions and work remotely in temporary housing, hotels, c ...

visa in accordance to celebrating its 100 years of

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

. The purpose of this visa is to allow non-Estonians access to Estonian services from abroad. This is an addition to groundbreaking initiatives like e-residency and border-less banking which has listed the

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

as one of the most digitally advanced nations of the decade.

List of ministers

List of ministers of internal affairs since 1990: * Olev Laanjärv (17 April 1990 – 30 January 1992) * Robert Närska (30 January 1992 – 21 October 1992) *

Lagle Parek Lagle Parek (born 17 April 1941) is an Estonian politician. She served as the Minister of the Interior in the first post-soviet government, led by the Prime Minister Mart Laar. Biography Lagle Parek was born on 17 April 1941 in Pärnu and was t ...

(21 October 1992 – 27 November 1993) *

Heiki Arike Heiki Arike (5 May 1965 – 9 October 2018) was an Estonian politician and a major in the Estonian Defence League, who was also Estonia's Minister of the Interior from 1993 to 1994. Born in Tallinn, Arike studied at the Estonian University of ...

(14 December 1993 – 4 November 1994) *

Kaido Kama Kaido Kama (born 18 December 1957) is an Estonian politician, conservationist, and teacher. He served as the Minister of Justice of Estonia from 1992 to 1994, as well as Estonia's Minister of the Interior from 1994 to 1995. Biography Kama gradua ...

(4 November 1994 – 12 April 1995) *

Edgar Savisaar Edgar Savisaar (31 May 1950 – 29 December 2022) was an Estonian politician, one of the founding members of Popular Front of Estonia and the Estonian Centre Party, Centre Party. He served as the Prime Minister of Estonia, acting Prime Minister ...

(12 April 1995 – 10 October 1995) *

Märt Rask Märt Rask (born 19 December 1950) is an Estonian attorney, jurist, and politician who was the Estonian Minister of the Interior from 1995 to 1996, as well as being the Justice Minister in 1992 and from 1999 to 2003 and Chief Justice of the Sup ...

(3 November 1995 – 1 December 1996) *

Riivo Sinijärv Riivo Sinijärv (born 27 May 1947 in Tallinn) is an Estonian politician and a former Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively ...

(1 December 1996 – 29 April 1997) *

Robert Lepikson Robert Lepikson (14 June 1952 – 1 July 2006) was an Estonian politician, businessman and rally driver/co-driver. As a rally driver, he was the Estonian champion three times, winner of the Baltic Cup and was the head of the Estonian motorsport ...

(5 May 1997 – 28 January 1998) *

Olari Taal Olari Taal (born 7 August 1953) is an Estonian businessman and politician. He was born in Valga, Estonia. In 1971, he graduated from Varstu Secondary School (). In 1976, he graduated from the Tallinn University of Technology as a civil engineer ...

(29 January 1998 – 25 March 1999) *

Jüri Mõis Jüri Mõis (born 25 October 1956 in Pärnu) is an Estonian politician and businessman, who was mayor of Tallinn between November 1999 and June 2001, and who was the Minister of the Interior (Estonia), Minister of the Interior between 25 March a ...

(25 March 1999 – 5 November 1999) *

Tarmo Loodus Tarmo Loodus (born 18 February 1958 in Lihula) is an Estonian educator and politician. In 1996, he was elected mayor of Viljandi. From 1999 to 2002, he was Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal a ...

(9 November 1999 – 28 January 2002) *

Ain Seppik Ain Seppik (born 12 March 1952 in Tallinn) is an Estonian politician. He has been a member of the X and XI Riigikogu representing the Estonian Centre Party. 2002-2003 he was Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a min ...

(28 January 2002 – 3 February 2003) *

Toomas Varek Toomas Varek (born in 1948 in Rakvere) is an Estonian politician. He has been a member of IX, X and X Riigikogu. In 2003 he was Minister of the Interior of Estonia, Deputy Speaker of the Riigikogu 2005–2006 and Speaker of the Riigikogu 2006– ...

(10 February 2003 – 10 April 2003) * Margus Leivo (10 April 2003 – 13 April 2005) *

Kalle Laanet Kalle Laanet (born 25 September 1965) is an Estonian politician and police officer. He is member of XIV Riigikogu. Since 2014 he belongs to Estonian Reform Party. He served as Minister of Justice from April 2023 to April 2024 in the third cabine ...

(13 April 2005 – 5 April 2007) *

Jüri Pihl Jüri Pihl (17 March 1954 – 3 February 2019) was an Estonian politician, a member of the Social Democratic Party. From 1993 to 2003 he served as the General Director of Kaitsepolitsei, the central security institution in Estonia. After that, f ...

(5 April 2007 – 21 May 2009) *

Marko Pomerants Marko Pomerants (born 24 September 1964) is an Estonian politician. He was the Minister of the Environment in 2015–2017. Previously, Pomerants has served as the Minister of Social Affairs from 2003 to 2005 and as the Minister of the Interior fr ...

(3 July 2009 – 5 April 2011) * Ken-Marti Vaher (6 April 2011 – 26 March 2014) *

Hanno Pevkur Hanno Pevkur (born 2 April 1977) is an Estonian politician who is currently the Minister of Defence. He is the former chairman of the Estonian Reform Party. He has served as the Minister of Social Affairs from 2009 to 2012, as the Minister of J ...

(26 March 2014 – 23 November 2016) *

Andres Anvelt Andres Anvelt (born on 30 September 1969 Tallinn) is an Estonian politician and writer. He belonged to Social Democratic Party until 2019. 2003-2006 he was director of Estonian Academy of Security Sciences Police College (). 2011-2015 he was ...

(23 November 2016 – 26 November 2018) *

Katri Raik Katri Raik (born 26 October 1967) is an Estonian politician who served as the Minister of the Interior from 2018 to 2019 and has intermittently served as the Mayor of Narva for three separate periods since 2020. She is a member of the Social Democ ...

(26 November 2018 – 29 April 2019) *

Mart Helme } Mart Helme (, born 31 October 1949) is an Estonian politician, diplomat and historian who served as the Ministry of the Interior (Estonia), Minister of the Interior from 2019 to 2020. He was the longtime chairman of the national conservative Co ...

(29 April 2019 – 9 November 2020) *

Alar Laneman Alar Laneman (born 6 May 1962) is an Estonian politician. Alar Laneman stood as a candidate on the list of the Estonian Conservative People's Party in the 2019 Riigikogu elections in the 12th constituency and was elected with 673 votes. He s ...

(18 November 2020 – 26 January 2021) *

Kristian Jaani Kristian Jaani (born 11 December 1976) is an Estonian politician and a former high-ranking police officer. He served as Minister of the Interior in the cabinet of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas Kaja Kallas (; born 18 June 1977) is an Estonian ...

(26 January 2021 – 3 June 2022) *

(3 June 2022 – 14 July 2022) *

(18 July 2022 – 11 March 2025) *

Igor Taro Igor Taro (1 August 1981) is an Estonian journalist and politician, who is the current Minister of the Interior. He previously served as a member of the XV Riigikogu. Biography Taro was born in Võru. In 1999, he graduated from Võru Kreutzwal ...

(25 March 2025 – present)

References

Internal Affairs

Interior Interior may refer to: Arts and media * ''Interior'' (Degas) (also known as ''The Rape''), painting by Edgar Degas * ''Interior'' (play), 1895 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck * ''The Interior'' (novel), by Lisa See * Interior de ...

Ministers of Internal Affairs

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