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Toomas Hendrik Ilves
President of Estonia
Incumbent
Assumed office  09 October 2006
Prime Minister	Andrus Ansip
Preceded by	Arnold Rüütel
Born	26 December 1953 (1953-12-26) (age 53) Stockholm, Sweden
Political party	SDE
Spouse	Evelin Ilves
Profession	Diplomat Journalist

Toomas Hendrik Ilves (pronounced [ˈtoːmɑs ˈhendrik ˈilves], born December 26, 1953) is the current President of Estonia. He is a former diplomat and journalist, was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the 1990s and later a member of the European Parliament. He was elected to the post by an electoral college on September 23, 2006 and his term as President began on October 9, 2006.

Contents 1 Childhood and education 2 Career 3 Presidential elections 4 Presidency 5 Personal life 6 Decorations 7 Trivia 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 External links

Ilves was born in Stockholm, Sweden; his parents were Estonian refugees.^[1] He grew up in the United States and graduated from Leonia High School in Leonia, New Jersey in 1972. He attended a bachelors degree in psychology from Columbia University and a masters degree in the same subject from the University of Pennsylvania.

During the 1980s, Ilves worked as a journalist for Radio Free Europe and became actively involved in politics prior to Estonia's independence in 1991. Ilves subsequently served as the ambassador of Estonia to the United States, Canada, and Mexico for several years.

In December 1996, Ilves became Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, serving until resignation in September 1998, when he became member of a small opposition party (Peasants' Party, agrarian-conservative). Ilves was soon elected chairman of the People's Party (reformed Peasants' Party), which formed an electoral cartel with the Moderates, a centrist party. After the March 1999 parliamentary election he became foreign minister again, serving until 2002, when the so-called Triple Alliance collapsed. He supported Estonian membership in the European Union and succeeded in starting the negotiations which led to Estonia joining the European Union on May 1, 2004. From 2001 to 2002 he was the leader of the People's Party Moderates. He resigned from the position after the party's defeat in the October 2002 municipal elections, in which the party received only 4.4% of the total votes nationwide. In early 2004, the Moderates party renamed itself the Estonian Social Democratic Party.

In 2003, Ilves became a member of the European Parliament and, on May 1, 2004, a full member. In the 2004 elections to the European Parliament, Ilves was elected MEP in a landslide victory for the Estonian Social Democratic Party. He sat with the Party of European Socialists group in the Parliament. Katrin Saks took over his MEP seat when Ilves became President of Estonia.

Ilves was nominated by the Reform Party, Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica and his own Social Democratic Party on March 23, 2006, as a candidate for the 2006 presidential election.

On August 29, Ilves was the only candidate in the second and the third round of the presidential election in Riigikogu, the Parliament of Estonia (he was supported by an electoral coalition consisting of the governing Reform Party plus the Social Democrats and the Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica which form the parliamentary opposition). The elections were boycotted by the Centre Party and the People's Union (the MPs were called upon by the party leaders not to participate in the election). Ilves gathered 64 votes out of 65 ballots. Therefore, one deputy of the three party alliance supporting Ilves did not vote in favour of his candidacy. A two-third majority in the 101-seat Riigikogu was required, so he was not elected in Riigikogu. His candidacy was automatically transferred to the next round in the Electors' Assembly on September 23.

On September 13, 2006, a broad spectrum of 80 well-known intellectuals published a declaration in support of Ilves' candidacy. Among those who signed were Neeme Järvi, Jaan Kross, Arvo Pärt and Jaan Kaplinski.^[2]

On September 23, 2006 he received 174 ballots in the first round of the presidential election in the Electors' Assembly, thus having been elected the next president of Estonia. His five-year term started on October 9, 2006.

Ilves has promised to concentrate more on foreign policy; according to Ilves, "The road to Moscow goes via Brussels." He also wishes to move Estonia politically more towards the centre of Europe. With regard to Estonia's domestic policies, he has supported re-affirming the president's role as a moral arbitrator in case of leading politicians' misdeeds. Ilves has severely criticised alleged political pressure exercised by the Centre Party and People's Union leaders over their parliamentary deputies and local politicians. Edgar Savisaar in turn has expressed dissatisfaction with Ilves' victory.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves has been married twice. With his first wife, American psychologist Dr. Merry Bullock, he has two children: son Luukas (b. 1987), currently attending Stanford University, and daughter Juulia Kristiine (b. 1992). In 2004 he married his long-term partner Evelin Int-Lambot with whom he has one daughter Kadri Keiu (b. 2003). Toomas Hendrik Ilves has a brother, Andres Ilves, head of the Persian and Pashto World Service of the BBC. Andres is an avid follower of hip hop, graduated from Princeton University in the early 1980s and was awarded a fellowship with the prestigious public affairs leadership training program Coro Southern California based in Los Angeles, California. Until the early 2000s, Andres Ilves was head of the Afghanistan bureau of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty based in Prague, Czech Republic.

• 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.

• Ilves is the fourth youngest elected head of state in the European Union, after Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov, Latvian President Valdis Zatlers and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
• He almost exclusively wears bow ties in public. He claims that this is because his late father used to do so.^[3]
• The Economist listed Ilves as a "Star in the making" in January 2007.^[4]
• Estonians almost never skip his middle name. In Estonian, he is always Toomas Hendrik Ilves, not Toomas Ilves, while president Lennart Georg Meri was always called just Lennart Meri.
• Ilves was one of the early proponents of the Tiigrihüpe (Tiger's Leap) program. This has been used in political humour, as Ilves means Lynx in Estonian.

• Valdas Adamkus, Lithuanian President and, like Ilves, a former U.S. citizen.
• Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, Latvian President and, like Ilves and Adamkus, a former U.S. citizen.

• "Estonians elect former exile as new president", DPA, September 23, 2006
• "Ilves wins Estonia's presidential election", AP, 23 September 2006

• (English) Official Website of the President of the Republic of Estonia
• (English) Personal website

Preceded by Siim Kallas	Minister of Foreign Affairs November 1996 – October 1998	Succeeded by Raul Mälk
Preceded by Raul Mälk	Minister of Foreign Affairs March 1999 – January 2002	Succeeded by Kristiina Ojuland
Preceded by Arnold Rüütel	President of Estonia October 2006 – present	Succeeded by incumbent

v • d • e Leaders of Estonia

Republic of Estonia State Elder (1920-1934): Piip | Päts | Kukk | Päts | Akel | Jaakson | Teemant | Tõnisson | Rei | Strandman | Päts | Teemant | Eenpalu | Päts | Tõnisson | Päts Prime Minister in the Duties of the Elder of State (1934-1937): Päts Protector of State (1937-1938): Päts President (1938-1940): Päts Prime Minister in the Duties of the President (in exile) (1940-1992): Uluots | Rei | Warma | Kint | Mark Presidents (1992-): Meri | Rüütel | Ilves Estonian SSR First Secretaries (1940-1991): Säre | Karotamm | Käbin | Vaino | Väljas

Persondata
NAME	Ilves, Toomas Hendrik
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Estonian president
DATE OF BIRTH	December 26, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH	Stockholm, Sweden
DATE OF DEATH	living
PLACE OF DEATH