Karmen Joller (née Palts; born 3 January 1976) is an Estonian

family doctor Family medicine is a medical specialty that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body. The specialist, who is usually a primary care physician, is ...

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 ...

. A member of the Reform Party, currently serves as the

Minister of Social Affairs of Estonia The Ministry of Social Affairs of Estonia () is a government ministry of Estonia responsible for Social policy, social policies of the country. The Ministry was formed on 1 February 1993, when three earlier ministries were merged. These three m ...

. In 2019 and 2020, ''

Eesti Päevaleht (Estonia Daily) is a major daily Estonian newspaper, from the same publishers as the weekly '' Eesti Ekspress''. Another newspaper under the same name is published weekly in Stockholm, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is ...

'' (''Estonian Daily'') included Joller in the list of the most influential people in Estonia.

Biography

Joller graduated from 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.

Faculty of Medicine in 2001 and completed her residency in family medicine in 2005. Joller has worked as a family doctor at various healthcare centres, including OÜ Meditiim from 2005 to 2006, and Telliskivi Perearstikeskus from 2006 to 2016. Since 2016, she has been a family doctor at Kivimäe Perearstikeskus. She is also a member of the Estonian Society of Family Doctors. Additionally, from 2016 onwards, Joller has been a lecturer at the University of Tartu.

Political career

On 23 November 2022, Karmen Joller joined 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 ...

. Joller ran for 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 chi ...

in the 2023 elections and received 3,564 votes in the electoral district number 2 (

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 ...

Central,

Lasnamäe Lasnamäe is the most populous administrative district of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The district's population is about 119,000, the majority of which is Russian-speaking. Local housing is mostly represented by 5–16 stories high panel b ...

, and

Pirita Pirita is one of the eight administrative districts () of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Pirita occupies a relatively large area, but compared to other districts of Tallinn its population of 17,592 (as of 1 November 2014) is relatively small. ...

districts), securing her election. In April 2025, after the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

was sacked from Kristen Michal's coalition government, she succeeded

Riina Sikkut Riina Sikkut (born 12 January 1983) is an Estonian politician of the Social Democratic Party of Estonia who served as Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure in the second cabinet of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. She also served as Minist ...

as the Minister of Social Affairs.

Personal life

Joller has been married to Jüri Joller since August 2011, and they have two sons. The Joller family has also raised the children of Karmen's late sister. In her free time, Joller engages in activities such as music, handicrafts, reading, and horseback riding. Additionally, she is one of the founders of the NGO Nõmme Abikäsi, which helps Ukrainian refugees. She collects and processes wool, which volunteers use to knit woollen items for sending to the front lines.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joller, Karmen 1976 births Living people Estonian Reform Party politicians Estonian Reform Party MEPs Members of the Riigikogu, 2023–2027 Estonian physicians University of Tartu alumni Academic staff of the University of Tartu People from Rakvere Politicians from Lääne-Viru County