BRUSSELS — Former Estonian Prime Minister and European Commissioner Siim Kallas has died at the age of 77.
“It is with sadness that I must announce that my dear father, Siim Kallas, passed away last night,” posted EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas on Instagram.
The Estonian politician was the country’s first ever European commissioner, starting from 2004. He took up the economic and monetary affairs post under then-European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, and later served as vice-president and transport commissioner from 2010 to 2014.
An economist by training, Kallas started his career as president of the Bank of Estonia in 1991, where he was one of the principal architects of the country’s monetary reform. In 1994, he founded the liberal-democratic Reform Party and was elected to the Estonian parliament the following year, when he became foreign affairs minister.
Kallas was also an important figure in the Baltic country’s European trajectory: After his appointment as foreign minister, he oversaw Estonia’s bid to join the EU. He was prime minister in 2002, when the country concluded negotiations to become a member and was invited to join NATO.
“I think of courage required to rebuild a state and introduce its own currency in the early 1990s, as well as the quiet conviction he brought with him to Brussels,” wrote European Parliament Roberta Metsola on social media in response to the news. “Estonia and Europe are better because of his life’s work.”
“Through his public career, [Kallas] helped shape Estonia’s EU path and key European policies,” stated the Commission.
His daughter, Kaja Kallas, was Estonia’s youngest-ever serving prime minister, holding office from 2021 to 2024. She is now the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs for Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s second term.
This story has been updated.
