Siim Kallas | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2010 | |
| European Commissioner for Transport | |
| In office 9 February 2010 – 1 November 2014 | |
| President | José Manuel Barroso |
| Preceded by | Antonio Tajani |
| Succeeded by | Violeta Bulc |
| European Commissioner for Administrative Affairs, Audit and Anti-Fraud | |
| In office 22 November 2004 – 9 February 2010 | |
| President | José Manuel Barroso |
| Preceded by | Neil Kinnock (Administrative Reform) |
| Succeeded by | Maroš Šefčovič (Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration) Algirdas Šemeta (Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud) |
| European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs | |
| In office 1 May 2004 – 22 November 2004 Served withJoaquín Almunia | |
| President | Romano Prodi |
| Preceded by | Pedro Solbes |
| Succeeded by | Joaquín Almunia |
| Prime Minister of Estonia | |
| In office 28 January 2002 – 10 April 2003 | |
| President | Arnold Rüütel |
| Preceded by | Mart Laar |
| Succeeded by | Juhan Parts |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 9 November 1995 – 21 November 1996 | |
| Prime Minister | Tiit Vähi |
| Preceded by | Riivo Sinijärv |
| Succeeded by | Toomas Hendrik Ilves |
| Member of theRiigikogu | |
| In office 3 March 2019 – 7 September 2024 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1948-10-02)2 October 1948 (age 77) |
| Political party | Reform (since 1994) |
| Other political affiliations | Communist Party of the Soviet Union (until 1991) |
| Spouse | Kristi Kallas |
| Children | 2, includingKaja |
| Relatives | Eduard Alver (grandfather) |
| Alma mater | University of Tartu |
Kallas announcing Estonia's intention to pursue European Union candidate status Recorded 4 December 1995 | |
Siim Kallas (Estonian pronunciation:[ˈsiːːmˈkɑlːɑs]; born 2 October 1948) is an Estonian former politician who served asPrime Minister of Estonia from 2002 to 2003 and as aEuropean Commissioner from 2004 to 2014.[1]
From 1972-90 Kallas was a member of theCPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union). He worked in the finance ministry ofEstonian SSR and was the director of the Estonian branch ofState Labor Savings Banks System of the USSR in 1986-1989.[2] In 1987, Kallas was one of the authors of the IME plan for self-managing Estonia withTiit Made,Edgar Savisaar andMikk Titma. The plan proposed to make Estonia economically independent from the Soviet Union – adopting a market economy and establishing Estonia’s own currency and tax system.[3] Kallas was the chief editor ofRahva Hääl newspaper in 1989-1991.[2] He was elected a member of theCongress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union in the1989 Soviet Union legislative election, the first partially free elections in the Soviet Union.
After Estonia restored its independence in 1991, Kallas was appointed the President of theBank of Estonia, which at the time had only 11 employees. Within a year a coherent structure of the bank was set up and on 20 June 1992, Estonia's own currency, thekroon, was back in circulation after being removed from circulation by the Soviets on 25 March 1941.[3]
Kallas entered politics in 1994 as one of the founders of liberalEstonian Reform Party.The 1995 elections were successful for the new party. Kallas served as theminister of foreign affairs from 1995 to 1996. He later served also as theminister of finance from 1999 to 2002 and thePrime Minister from 2002 to 2003.
He served as theEuropean Commissioner for Transport between 2010 and 2014. Before that he was the European Commissioner for Administrative Affairs, Audit and Anti-Fraud between 2004 and 2009. In bothBarroso Commissions he was also aVice-President. He was twice appointed theActing Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro inOlli Rehn's stead, from 19 April 2014 to 25 May 2014 while he was on electoral campaign leave for the2014 elections to theEuropean Parliament and from 1 July 2014 to 16 July 2014 after he took up his seat.[4][5]
After leaving the European Commission, Kallas ran in the Estonianpresidential election in 2016, but was not elected. In October 2017, he started as the municipal mayor ofViimsi Parish.[6] In 2019 he was elected member of theRiigikogu, a post he was also elected to in 2023.[7][8] He resigned as a member of Riigikogu and from politics in September 2024.[9][10]
His daughter,Kaja Kallas, was the prime minister of Estonia from 2021 to 2024.
Kallas' grandfather wasEduard Alver, one of the founders of theRepublic of Estonia on 24 February 1918, and the Commander of theEstonian Defence League during theEstonian War of Independence, and the first chief of theEstonian Police from 1918 to 24 May 1919.[11] He speaks Estonian, English, Russian, Finnish, and German. Kallas is of Estonian and distantBaltic German ancestry.
Kallas is married to doctorKristi Kallas, who, during theSoviet deportations from Estonia, at age six months, was deported toSiberia with her mother and grandmother in a cattle car and lived there until she was 10 years old.[12]
He has one son and one daughter. His daughterKaja Kallas was the leader of the Reform party and the prime minister of Estonia from 2021 to 2024,[13] after which she becameEU Representative for Foreign Affairs.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chairman of theBank of Estonia 1991–1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Foreign Affairs 1995–1996 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairperson of theCommittee of Ministers of the Council of Europe 1996 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Finance 1999–2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Estonia 2002–2003 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Estonian European Commissioner 2004–2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs 2004 Served alongside:Joaquín Almunia | Succeeded by |
| Preceded byas European Commissioner for Administrative Reform | European Commissioner for Administrative Affairs, Audit and Anti-Fraud 2004–2010 | Succeeded byasEuropean Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration |
| Succeeded byasEuropean Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud | ||
| Preceded by | European Commissioner for Transport 2010–2014 | Succeeded by |
| Chairman of the Council of Ministers |  | |
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