Indrek Saar | |
|---|---|
 Saar in 2024 | |
| Leader of theSocial Democratic Party | |
| In office 9 June 2019 – 5 February 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Jevgeni Ossinovski |
| Succeeded by | Lauri Läänemets |
| Minister of Culture | |
| In office 9 April 2015 – 29 April 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Taavi Rõivas Jüri Ratas |
| Preceded by | Urve Tiidus |
| Succeeded by | Tõnis Lukas |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1973-02-20)20 February 1973 (age 52) |
| Party | Social Democratic Party |
| Spouse | Ülle Lichtfeldt |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre |
Indrek Saar (born February 20, 1973) is anEstonian actor and politician. He has been the leader of theSocial Democratic Party from 2019 to 2022[1] and theMinister of Culture of Estonia from 2015 to 2019.[2]
Saar has been elected to the Estonian parliamentRiigikogu at four consecutive general elections in2007,2011,2015 and2019 and has been a member of theXI,XII,XIII andXIV Riigikogu from 2007 to 2023.
Saar attended secondary school inKuressaare and graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music and Higher Drama (now, theEstonian Academy of Music and Theatre) in Tallinn. He was an actor and director of theRakvere Theatre from 1996 until 2005. From 2002 until 2007, he was Deputy Chairman ofRakvere City Council. In 2004 and 2005, he was a theatre director and advisor at theNO99 theatre and from 2006 to 2007, he was a chief executive officer at the NO99 theatre.[3]
According to Saar, his decision to enter national politics was spurred by the suggestion by the then leader of thePeople's Union of Estonia party,Villu Reiljan that "people of the arts remain true to their trade" in response to 80 renowned Estonian writers, composers, actors, artists and scientists endorsingToomas Hendrik Ilves for the office ofPresident of Estonia in 2006.[4][5]
As the Estonian minister of culture, Saar led a substantial rise in the wages of state-employed culture and arts professionals and sports instructors as well as a general overhaul of the principles of funding sports. He also presided the sessions of culture ministers in theCouncil of the European Union, achieving significant progress in the negotiations over theAudiovisual Media Services Directive.
As a member of parliament, Saar has been the chair and vice chair of the Social Democratic parliamentary group as well as the deputy chair of the constitutional committee and a member of the legal affairs committee and the European Union affairs committee.[6]
Saar has been a representative in the Estonian delegation to theParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) between 2007 and 2023, having served as the chairperson of the national delegation, the chairperson of the Committee on Rules of Procedure as well as the vice-chairperson of theSocialists, Democrats and Greens Group.[7] Saar has participated in election monitoring missions inMoldova (as the leader of the delegation),Albania,Azerbaijan,Georgia,Montenegro,Serbia,Ukraine as well asRussia and has been co-rapporteur of the PACE for the monitoring of Serbia.[8] Saar has worked in several PACE committees: the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, the Monitoring Committee the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee, the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media as well as the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination.[9]
From 1995 until 2015, Indrek Saar played the role of Raim Raidver on the long-runningETV television drama seriesÕnne 13.[10]
Indrek Saar was born inKuressaare, the administrative centre of theSaaremaa island. His fatherJüri Saar has served as the County Governor of Saaremaa as well as the mayor of the rural municipalities ofPihtla andKihelkonna and was a member of theEstonian parliament from 2003 to 2007.
Saar graduated fromKuressaare Secondary School No. 2 in 1991 and studied as an exchange student inRønne,Denmark. He received a master's degree in acting from the theatre faculty of theEstonian Academy of Music in 1996. Saar speaksEstonian,English,Danish andRussian, with a limited proficiency inGerman andFrench.
In 1995, Saar was cast the role of Raim Randver in the long-runningETV dramaÕnne 13. He appeared in the role as a regular cast member until 2015.[11]
From 1996 to 2005, Indrek Saar was the director ofRakvere Theatre (from 2005, manager of the foundation Rakvere Teatrimaja). In 2004 and 2005, he served as an adviser atVanalinnastuudio/Theatre NO99, becoming the chief executive officer of Theatre NO99 from 2006 to 2007.
Indrek Saar has served as the member of thesupervisory boards of the Estonian public broadcasterEesti Rahvusringhääling,Rakvere Theatre,Theatre NO99, theEstonian National Opera, theEstonian Academy of Arts and theCultural Endowment of Estonia. He is a member of the Association of Professional Actors of Estonia and of the Estonian Stage Fight Society.[12]
Since 2020, Saar has been a member of the executive board of theEstonian Olympic Committee.[13]
Saar is married to actressÜlle Lichtfeldt. The couple have two daughters and two grandchildren.[14][15]
Indrek Saar has been a member of the Social Democratic Party since 1998. From 2002 to 2007, he was the deputy chairman of the municipal council of Rakvere. Saar was elected as the deputy chairman of the Social Democratic Party on 7 March 2009. He served as the Secretary General of the party from 2011 to 2015. Indrek Saar was the chairman of the Social Democratic Party from 9 June 2019 until 5 February 2022. He has also been the leader of the party organisations in Rakvere andLääne-Viru County.
Saar was first elected toRiigikogu in2007 election with 1,855 votes.[16] He was elected again in the2011 and2015 elections, with 3,931 and 1,944 votes respectively. In 2019, he was again elected to the Riigikogu.[17][18]
Indrek Saar was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Estonian Parliament from 2019 to 2023.[19]
As deputy chairman of the Social Democratic Party from 2009, Indrek Saar was involved in merger talks with thePeople's Union of Estonia. After the Congress of the People's Union rejected the merger proposal presented by the party leadership on 23 May 2010, several members of the management board and other leading members of the People's Union, including half the People's Union's caucus in the Estonian parliament, joined the Social Democratic Party.[20][21] In theEstonian parliamentary election in March 2011, the enlarged Social Democratic Party's share of the vote was the best since therestoration of Estonia's independence in 1991, with 19,1 per cent of the vote and 19 seats in the 101-member legislature.
Indrek Saar was appointed Secretary General of the Social Democratic Party in 2011, his candidacy was proposed by the party chairmanSven Mikser. As secretary general, Saar oversaw the merger of theRussian Party in Estonia with the Social Democratic Party in 2012 and the surge of the party in the polls to the position of the most popular political party in Estonia with a support of 27 per cent in the spring of 2013.[22]
At themunicipal elections in 2013, the Social Democratic Party received 12.5 per cent of the vote.[23] Social Democrats became mayors inKuressaare,Paide,Põltsamaa,Valga as well asVõru; after a years-long hiatus, the party became one partner of the governing coalition inTartu, the second city of Estonia.[24] At the elections to theEuropean Parliament in 2014, the party received 13.6 per cent of the vote and one of the six seats reserved for Estonia.[25]
In 2014, the Social Democratic Party formed a coalition government with theEstonian Reform Party. The government proceeded to increase universal family benefits and propose amendments to theEstonian nationality law that, after being passed by the parliament, eased the eligibility criteria for Estonian citizenship for children and the elderly. According to Saar, the changes were meant to "strengthen the rule of law, the cohesion of the society and the loyalty of the people to the state" without undermining the prior principles of Estonian citizenship policy.[26] The coalition also passed the Registered Partnership Act[27] allowingcivil unions for same-sex couples.
Indrek Saar was the minister of culture of Estonia in thesecond cabinet of prime ministerTaavi Rõivas and thefirst cabinet of prime ministerJüri Ratas from 9 April 2015 to 29 April 2019, making him the longest-serving Estonian minister of culture. During the tenure of Indrek Saar from 2015 to 2019, the government of Estonia and the Ministry of Culture accepted measures raising the minimum public-sector wages of people employed in culture, the arts and sports by 78 per cent, from 731 euros to 1300 euros per month.[28][29][30][31]
During the Estonianpresidency of the Council of the European Union in 2017, Saar presided the meetings of ministers of culture and sports of the EU member states (the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council configuration), achieving notable progress in the negotiations on the draftAudiovisual Media Services Directive (adopted in 2018). Saar's tenure as the Minister of Culture also included thecelebration of the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia that included a programme of cultural events spanning a period of over a year.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of Culture 2015–2019 | Succeeded by |