Hanno Pevkur (born 2 April 1977) is an

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 ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who is currently the

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

. He is the former chairman of the

Estonian Reform Party The Estonian Reform Party () is a liberal political party in Estonia. The party has been led by Kristen Michal since 2024. It is colloquially known as the "Squirrel Party" () or as "the Squirrels" (), referencing its logo. It was founded in ...

. He has served as the Minister of Social Affairs from 2009 to 2012, as the

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

from 2012 to 2014 and as the

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

from 2014 to 2016.

Early life

Pevkur graduated from Järva-Jaani Secondary School and studied law at the Tallinn School of Economics, and at the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

. Until 2000, Pevkur worked as a lawyer.

Political career

From 2000 to 2005, Pevkur worked in the

Nõmme Nõmme ( Estonian for ' heath') is one of the eight administrative districts () of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It has a population of 39,422 () and covers an area of , population density is . The district is largely a middle-class, suburban ...

City District Government, first as Administrative Secretary and later as Head of City District. From 2005 to 2007, he was on the

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

City Council and served as an adviser to the

. From 2007 to 2009, Pevkur was a member of the 11th

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 chi ...

and also a member of the Nõmme Administrative Council. On 23 February 2009, Pevkur replaced

Maret Maripuu Maret Maripuu (born 16 July 1974 in Tallinn) is an Estonian politician, a member of the Reform Party. From April 2007 until February 2009 she served as Minister of Social Affairs. Previously, she was a member of the Riigikogu The Riig ...

as the Minister of Social Affairs, after Maripuu decided to step down due to a scandal caused by the Ministry's inability to ensure home delivery of pensions and timely welfare payments. 10 December 2012, Pevkur was appointed as the Minister of Justice. From 2014 to 2016, Pevkur was the

Taavi Rõivas Taavi Rõivas (; born 26 September 1979) is an Estonian politician, former Prime Minister of Estonia from 2014 to 2016 and former leader of the Reform Party. Before his term as the Prime Minister, Rõivas was the Minister of Social Affairs from ...

' first and second cabinets. On 23 October 2017, Pevkur was elected as a deputy speaker of the Riigikogu to replace

, who had resigned following a sexual harassment scandal. On 13 December 2017, Pevkur announced that he would not run for the chairmanship of the Reform Party anymore in January 2018.

Personal life

Hanno Pevkur is married and has two children – a son and a daughter.Hanno Pevkur's biography on his official homepage
/ref> In addition to his native

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

, he speaks

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and Finnish.

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pevkur, Hanno 1977 births Estonian Reform Party politicians Ministers of defence of Estonia Government ministers of Estonia Living people Members of the Riigikogu, 2007–2011 Members of the Riigikogu, 2011–2015 Members of the Riigikogu, 2015–2019 Members of the Riigikogu, 2019–2023 Members of the Riigikogu, 2023–2027 Ministers of the interior of Estonia People from Alutaguse Parish Politicians from Ida-Viru County University of Tartu alumni