Siim Kallas
Siim Kallas (born 2 October 1948 in Tallinn) is an Estonian politician, currently serving as European Commissioner for Transport. He is also one of five vice-presidents of the 27-member Barroso Commission. He has been nominated as commissioner for Transport and vice-president in the second Barroso Commission.[1]
Kallas has been Prime Minister of Estonia, Estonian Minister of Finance, Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Member of the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union and member of the Riigikogu. Kallas is a member and former leader of the free-market liberal Estonian Reform Party. Kallas was a vice-president of Liberal International.
Education
- 1967–1972 Budget and Finance, University of Tartu, M.Sc.
- 1968–1972 The military department of the University of Tartu, Lieutenant
- 1972–1975 Economics of environmental protection, University of Tartu, PhD
Career
- 1975–1979: Specialist at the Finance Ministry of the Estonian SSR
- 1979–1986: Chairman of the Central Authority of the Savings Banks
- 1986–1989: Deputy chief editor of the Communist Party newspaper Rahva Hääl
- 1989–1991: Chairman of the Central Union of the Estonian Trade Unions
- 1989–1991: Member of the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union
- 1991–1995: President of the Bank of Estonia
- 1995–2004: Member of the Parliament of the Republic of Estonia
- 1995–1996: Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1996 : Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
- 1999–2002: Minister of Finance
- 2002–2003: Prime minister
- 2004–2004: EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, serving with Joaquín Almunia
- 2004–2010: EU Commissioner for Administrative Affairs, Audit and Anti-Fraud and Vice-president of the Commission
- 2010– : EU Commissioner for Transport and Vice-president of the Commission
Personal life
Language skills: Active: Estonian (mother tongue), English (primary working language), Finnish, Russian, German. Passive: French. Married to doctor Kristi Kallas; one son and one daughter Kaja, who is a member of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu). The ancestors of Siim Kallas were of Estonian and Baltic German origin. Kallas has been an active participant in the restoration of Estonian statehood.
References
- KALLAS Siim International Who's Who. accessed 4 September 2006.
European Parliament Answers to Commissioner Designate M. Kallas
External link and sources
Media related to Siim Kallas at Wikimedia Commons
- Use dmy dates from April 2011
- 1948 births
- Estonian European Commissioners
- Government ministers of Estonia
- Living people
- People from Tallinn
- Prime Ministers of Estonia
- Resigned Communist Party of the Soviet Union members
- University of Tartu alumni
- Estonian Reform Party politicians
- People of Baltic German descent
- Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 2nd Class
- Members of the Riigikogu