📅 Latest Update — Estonia:
Alar Karis has served as President of Estonia since October 11, 2021, succeeding Kersti Kaljulaid.
About Alar Karis
Alar Karis (born 26 March 1958 in Tartu, Estonia) is an Estonian scientist, academic administrator, and politician who has served as the sixth President of Estonia since 11 October 2021. Before entering public life, he was one of Estonia’s most distinguished molecular geneticists, with a career that took him from research laboratories in Tartu to the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany. His elevation to the presidency was widely seen as a choice of intellectual integrity and cultural stature over partisan political loyalty.
Karis studied biology at the University of Tartu and later completed postdoctoral research at EMBL in Heidelberg, where he worked on developmental biology and genomics. He returned to Estonia to continue his academic career, rising to become Rector of the University of Tartu — one of the oldest universities in Northern Europe, founded in 1632. As rector, he oversaw the university’s development into a modern research institution and worked to strengthen its international partnerships.
He subsequently became Director General of the Estonian National Museum, a role that placed him at the heart of Estonian cultural life during a particularly significant period: the construction of a vast, award-winning new museum building that opened in 2016 near Tartu. The building, designed to reflect Estonia’s flat landscape and the memory of the Soviet-era runway it was built on, became a symbol of post-independence Estonian identity and national confidence. Karis also served as Auditor General of Estonia, heading the National Audit Office.
In 2021, Karis was nominated for the presidency by the Reform Party and subsequently received support from other parliamentary groups. Estonia’s president is elected by the Riigikogu (parliament) rather than by direct popular vote, and Karis was elected on 31 August 2021, taking office on 11 October. As a constitutional head of state in a parliamentary republic, the Estonian president’s role is largely ceremonial but carries significant moral authority and has important functions in representing the nation abroad and safeguarding constitutional order.
In his personal life, Karis is married to Sirje Karis, and the couple have two adult sons. He is known for his thoughtful, measured public style and genuine commitment to Estonian cultural heritage and democratic values. As a head of state on NATO’s eastern flank bordering Russia, he has been a consistent and outspoken defender of European solidarity, international law, and Ukraine’s sovereignty following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia (elected on Oct 3, 2016 with 81 out f 98 votes)
Kersti Kaljulaid (born 30 December 1969) is an Estonian politician who is the fifth and current President of Estonia, in office since 10 October 2016. She is the first female head of state of Estonia since the country declared independence in 1918, as well as the youngest holder of the office, aged 46.
Kaljulaid is a former state official, serving as Estonia’s representative in the European Court of Auditors from 2004 until 2016. After several rounds of Estonian presidential elections in 2016 ended without success, she was brought as a “dark horse” and on 30 September 2016 she was nominated by the majority of parliamentary parties as a joint candidate for President of Estonia, she was the only nominated candidate in that round. She was voted President of Estonia on 3 October 2016, by 81 votes with 17 abstainers.
Kaljulaid has a daughter and a son from her first marriage. She is also a grandmother. Kaljulaid’s second husband is Georgi-Rene Maksimovski; they have two sons.
Kaljulaid’s half-brother, Estonian Centre Party politician Raimond Kaljulaid, is the elder of Põhja-Tallinn district of the capital of Estonia, Tallinn.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kersti_Kaljulaid
TOOMAS HENDRIK ILVES, President of the Republic of Estonia
Born on December 26, 1953 in Stockholm, Kingdom of Sweden
Married to Evelin Ilves
Children: son Luukas Kristjan (1987), daughters Juulia Kristiine (1992) and Kadri Keiu (2003)
Education
1976 Columbia University (USA), BA in psychology
1978 Pennsylvania University (USA), MA in psychology
Career and public service
2006- President of the Republic of Estonia
2004-2006 Member of the European Parliament
2002-2004 Member of the Parliament of the Republic of Estonia
1999-2002 Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Estonia
1998 Chairman, North Atlantic Institute
1996-1998 Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Estonia
1993-1996 Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to the United States of America, Canada, and Mexico
1988-1993 Head of the Estonian desk, Radio Free Europe in Munich, Germany
1984-1988 Analyst and researcher for the research unit of Radio Free Europe in Munich, Germany
1983-1984 Lecturer in Estonian Literature and Linguistics, Simon Fraser University, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, Vancouver, Canada
1981-1983 Director and Administrator of Art, Vancouver Arts Center, Canada
1979-1981 Assistant Director and English teacher, Open Education Center, Englewood, New Jersey, USA
1974-1979 Research Assistant, Columbia University department of Psychology, USA
Publications
Compilation of speeches and writings from 1986-2006: “Eesti jõudmine. Kõned ja kirjutised aastaist 1986-2006”. Varrak, 2006 Tallinn.
Articles in Estonian and other newspapers and magazines.
Involvement in Civic Groups
Member of the Estonian Students Society (Eesti Üliõpilaste Selts) 1995
Member of the Trilateral Commission 2004-2006
Member of the Board of Trustees of think-tank Friends of Europe 2005
Founder of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute (Eesti Välispoliitika Instituut), Member of the Executive Committee until 2002
Honorary Member of the Latvian Students Society “Austrums”
Member of the Board, Viljandi County Municipal Fund
Board of Trustees, Estonian Academy of Arts 2004-2006
President of the Estonian Special Olympics 1997-2004
Member of the Board of Trustees of Tartu University 1996-2003
European Movement Estonia (EME) Member of the Board, Founding Member 1999-2004
Honorary Member of the Estonian Society in Belgium 2006
Decorations
2001 Grand Commandeur Legion d’Honneur of the Republic of France
2004 Third Class Order of the Seal of the Republic of Estonia
2004 Three Star Order of the Republic of Latvia
2006 The Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (Estonia)
2006 The Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath of Great Britain
2007 Order of the White Rose of Finland
Foreign languages
English, German, Spanish