Karel Rüütli (born 25 December 1978, in Valga) was Chairman of the

Estonian People's Union 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 * ...

(''Eestimaa Rahvaliit'') and also leader of Estonian People's Union faction in the

Estonian Parliament 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 ...

. He left the ERL and joined the Social Democratic Party of Estonia on 14 June 2010.

Education

Karel Rüütli acquired secondary education in Valga Gymnasium in 1997. Rüütli continued his studies in the

Estonian University of Life Sciences The Estonian University of Life Sciences ( Estonian: ''Eesti Maaülikool'', EMÜ) is a public university located in Tartu, Estonia. Its roots trace back to 1802 when the Chair of Agriculture was founded in the University of Tartu. EMÜ is the fo ...

(''Eesti Maaülikool'') in the Institute of Forestry and Rural Engineering and graduated 2004. He wrote his candidate thesis on the topic of forestry politics in Estonia.

Career

From 2005 to 2007 Karel Rüütli has been Political Advisor in the Ministry of the Environment. He was elected to the Municipal Council of the

City of 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 ...

from 2005 to 2007. He has been a member of the Council of Association of Estonian Cities. In April 2007, he was elected to the National Parliament. He has been member of supervisory boards of several state or municipal owned companies: Estonian Lottery (2003–2007), National Forest Administration (2005–2007) and Tartu Waterworks (2005–2007). At the moment he is member of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) and the Leader of the Parliamentary Fraction. He specialized in issues of educational affairs and civil control of police, prosecution and intelligent agencies being member of the Cultural Affairs Committee and the Security Authorities Surveillance Select Committee.

Party-political career

Karel Rüütli has been a member of

from 2001 and a member of the party's executive committee from 2002. From 2001 to 2003 he was the chairperson of the party's Youth Organisation (''Rahvaliidu Noored''). He has been from 2005 to 2008 the vice-chairperson of the party council. From November 2008 to 28 May 2010 he was the chairperson of the party being the youngest chairs of parties represented in the national parliament. He left the ERL with Jaanus Marrandi,

Jaan Õunapuu Jaan Õunapuu (born 13 September 1958 in Mustjala) 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 S ...

and Rein Randverd on 14 June 2010 and they subsequently joined the Social Democratic Party of Estonia after the failed merger attempt with Social Democrats.

Community and Society

Karel is a member of Estonian Society of Foresters (''Eesti Metsaüliõpilaste Selts''), the Alumni Club of the

Federation of Estonian Student Unions A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

, Alumni Association of Valga Gymnasium and a member of Supervisory Board of Heino Teder Forestry Farm Training Centre Foundation. Karel started his active social life in the secondary school being one of the leaders of the student council. From 2000 to 2002 he was vice-chair of the executive board of the Student Union of the

, also a member of the university council and a member of the Council of the

. In 2002 he was one of the founders of the Foundation of the Student Union of

Personal life

Karel Rüütli lives together with his fiancée Merylin and their two sons - Karl-Erik and Hans-Robert.

Sources

Official Webpage of Estonian Parliament about Karel Rüütli

Official Webpages of the People´s Union of Estonia

Official Webpage of Karel Rüütli
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruutli, Karel 1978 births Living people People from Valga, Estonia Politicians from Valga County People's Union of Estonia politicians Social Democratic Party (Estonia) politicians Members of the Riigikogu, 2007–2011 Members of the Riigikogu, 2011–2015 Estonian foresters Estonian University of Life Sciences alumni