Igor Gräzin (birth name: (born 27 June 1952 in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

) 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 ...

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

and

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 ...

currently serving as a member of the Tallinn City Council. He is a former member of

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 former

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

. Currently sitting as an independent city councillor, he was former affiliated with the Reform Party until 2019 and the Centre Party until 2024.

Academic career

Grazin began his career as a professor of law at

Tartu State University The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a Public university, 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.dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

he taught at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

in the United States until 2000, after that at the

University Nord University Nord () was a private university in Tallinn, Estonia, established in 1991. In 2010 it joined the University of Tallinn. See also * List of universities in Estonia The following is a list of university, universities in Estonia. Pub ...

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 ...

(as the Dean of the Law School and the Vice President). He has also served as a research fellow at the

Woodrow Wilson Center The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) or Wilson Center is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank dedicated to research and policy discussions on global issues. Established by an act of Congress in 1968, it serves as both ...

in Washington D.C.

Political career

Grazin was elected to the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the So ...

in 1989 as a candidate of the

Popular Front of Estonia The Popular Front of Estonia (; RR), introduced to the public by the Estonian politician Edgar Savisaar under the short-lived name Popular Front for the Support of Perestroika, was a political organisation in Estonia in the late 1980s and earl ...

and served until its dissolution in 1991.

Political views

Proposed restoring the Estonian maritime border to where it was before 1993, allowing Estonian access to the

Nord Stream 1 Nord Stream (Denglisch, German–English mixed expression for "North Stream 1"; ) is a pair of offshore natural gas pipeline transport, pipelines in Europe that run under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. It consists of the Nord Stream 1 ( ...

gas pipeline. He opposed the decision to sentence

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

to death without a jury. An

Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek refor ...

, he was a dissenting voice in the strongly pro-EU Reform Party. He was the only member of Riigikogu to vote against ratifying the

Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an Ratification, unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for ...

. He supports abolishing the Estonian presidency and implementing a

bicameral legislature Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single ...

with 80 members in the lower house and 40 in the upper house.

Personal life

He is functionally trilingual in Estonian, English, and Russian.

References

1952 births Living people Members of the Riigikogu, 1995–1999 Members of the Riigikogu, 2003–2007 Members of the Riigikogu, 2007–2011 Members of the Riigikogu, 2011–2015 Members of the Riigikogu, 2015–2019 Estonian Reform Party politicians Politicians from Tartu Miina Härma Gymnasium alumni University of Tartu alumni University of Notre Dame faculty Academic staff of the University of Tartu MEPs for Estonia 2014–2019 Estonian people of Russian descent {{Estonia-1995-Riigikogu-politician-stub