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Siim KallasEstonian politician
Date of Birth: 02.10.1948
Country:  Estonia |
Content:
Early Life and Education
Siim Kallas was born on October 2, 1948, in Tallinn, Estonia, to Udo and Riina Kallas (née Alver). His grandfather, Eduard Alver, was the first police chief of the Estonian Republic and the head of the Estonian Defence League. Kallas is related to the renowned Estonian poet Betti Alver. His grandmother was of Baltic German descent.
Kallas graduated from Tallinn Secondary School No. 22 in 1967 and with honors from the University of Tartu in 1972 with a degree in finance and credit. He later pursued postgraduate studies in the same field and defended his doctoral dissertation in 1975.
Political Career
During the perestroika era, Kallas became one of the authors of the concept of "Self-Reliant Estonia" (IME). From 1991 to 1995, while serving as the President of the Bank of Estonia, he also worked as an associate professor at the University of Tartu on a part-time basis.
Kallas joined politics in 1994 and founded the Reform Party. President Lennart Meri nominated him as Prime Minister, but he failed to gain enough parliamentary support to form a government. In the 1995 parliamentary elections, the Reform Party performed well and became part of the governing coalition. Kallas was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In subsequent governments, he served as Minister of Finance (1999-2002) and Prime Minister (2002-2003). He was also Vice President of the Liberal International.
European Union Career
After resigning as Prime Minister, Kallas served as a member of the Estonian Parliament until becoming the European Union's Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs in 2004 under Pedro Solbes Mira and Joaquín Almunia.
Recognized as a liberal in matters of economics by publications such as the Wall Street Journal and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Kallas was appointed Commissioner for Administration, Audit, and Anti-Fraud by the European Parliament in August 2004. He simultaneously became Vice President of the European Commission.
