Meelis Kiili (born 20 March 1965) 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 ...

n Major General. From December 2012 to July 2019, he was the commander of the

Estonian Defence League The Estonian Defence League (, 'Defence League') is a voluntary paramilitary national defence organization of the Republic of Estonia, under management of the Ministry of Defence. Its aim is to guarantee the preservation of the independence and s ...

Military career

Estonian Armed Forces

Meelis Kiili joined the Estonia Defence Forces at its reconstruction in the 1990s. From 2005 to 2006 he was the Chief of Staff of the Army, and from 2006 to 2007 he was the deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces. From 2008 to 2010 he was a

military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

in the United States and Canada. In 2009, he was promoted to Colonel, and in October 2010 he was promoted to Brigadier General.

Paramilitary organisations

Two months after his promotion to the rank of Brigadier General, Kiili was appointed to the commandant of the

Baltic Defence College The Baltic Defence College (BALTDEFCOL) is a multinational military college that was established by the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) in 1999. It serves as a centre of strategic and operational research and provides professi ...

. After retiring from this position in December 2012, he became the Commander of the

until July 2019.

Personal life

Born on 20 March 1965, Kiili is married with two daughters. Before his military career he studied at 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 ...

, from 1984 to 1991. In May 2015, Kiili was added to the Russian list of sanctioned individuals, blocking him from entering Russia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiili, Meelis 1965 births Estonian major generals Estonian Reform Party politicians Living people Members of the Riigikogu, 2023–2027 Estonian University of Life Sciences alumni