Siim Kallas

Siim Kallas (born 2 October 1948) is an Estonian politician, former Prime Minister of Estonia, and former European Commissioner.

From 1972-90 Kallas was a member of the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union). In 1987, Kallas was one of the authors of the IME plan for self-managing Estonia with Tiit Made, Edgar Savisaar and Mikk 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. Kallas was elected a member of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union in the 1989 Soviet Union legislative election, the first partially free elections in Soviet Union.

After Estonia restored its independence in 1991, Kallas was appointed the President of the Bank of Estonia, at the time only having 11 employees. Within a year coherent structure of the bank was set up and on 20 June 1992, Estonia's own currency Kroon was back in circulation after being removed from circulation by the Soviets on 25 March 1941.

Kallas entered politics in 1994 as one of the founders of liberal Estonian Reform Party. The 1995 elections were successful for the new party. Kallas served as the minister of foreign affairs from 1995 to 1996. He later served also as the minister of finance from 1999 to 2002 and the Prime minisiter from 2002 to 2003.

He served as the European 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 both Barroso Commissions he was also a Vice-President. He was twice appointed the Acting Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro in Olli Rehn's stead, from 19 April 2014 to 25 May 2014 while he was on electoral campaign leave for the 2014 elections to the European Parliament and from 1 July 2014 to 16 July 2014 after he took up his seat.

After leaving the European Commission, Kallas ran in the Estonian presidential election in 2016, but was not elected. In October 2017, he started as the municipal mayor of Viimsi Parish. His daughter, Kaja Kallas, is the current prime minister of Estonia.

Education

 * 1966–1969, 1972–1974 Budget and Finance, University of Tartu, specialist
 * (1969–1972 Junior Sergeant, Soviet Armed Forces Corps of Signals)
 * 1974–1977 Economics of environmental protection, University of Tartu, Candidate of Sciences

Career

 * 1969–1972 : Signals officer in Soviet Army
 * 1975–1979: Specialist at the Finance Ministry Planning Committee of the Estonian SSR
 * 1979–1986: Joint Secretary of the Central Authority of the Savings Banks of the Estonian SSR.
 * 1986–1989: Deputy chief editor of the Communist Party of Estonia newspaper Rahva Hääl
 * 1989–1991: Chairman of the Central Union of the Estonian Trade Unions
 * 1989–1991: Member of the Congress of People's Deputies 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
 * 2010–2014: EU Commissioner for Transport and Vice-president of the Commission
 * 2017–2019: Municipal mayor of Viimsi.
 * 2019-today: Member of the Riigikogu.

Personal life
Kallas' grandfather was Eduard Alver, one of the founders of the Republic of Estonia on 24 February 1918, and the Commander of the Estonian Defence League during the Estonian War of Independence, and the first chief of the Estonian Police from 1918 to 24 May 1919. He speaks Estonian, English, Russian, Finnish, and German. Kallas is of Estonian and distant Baltic German ancestry.

Kallas is married to doctor Kristi Kallas, who, during the Soviet deportations from Estonia, at age six months, was deported to Siberia with her mother and grandmother in a cattle car and lived there until she was 10 years old.

He has one son and one daughter. His daughter Kaja Kallas is the current leader of the Reform party and Prime Minister of Estonia since 2021.