Article
Toomas Hendrik Ilves: MEP to President
Institutions - 11-10-2006 - 18:13
From Brussels to Tallinn: Toomas Hendrik Ilves
This week the first ever sitting MEP to be elected President of a country starts their term of office. For Toomas Hendrik Ilves, becoming President of Estonia on 9 October is especially symbolic as he was born in exile after his parents fled the Soviet occupation during the Second World War. The 53 year old former journalist and diplomat - recognizable by his bow ties - has spent the last 3 years in Parliament as a Socialist MEP and vice-chairman of the Foreign Affairs committee.
Before leaving for Tallinn, we caught up with him and asked him about his impressions of the Parliament. We began by asking about what he felt to be his biggest achievement whilst an MEP. According to Mr Ilves it was to make the voice of the new member states (the 10 who joined the EU in May 2004) heard. "In the beginning we were not taken seriously...I am sure that now our viewpoints are taken fully into consideration" he said.
However, he struck a cautious note when he said that "the biggest failure I think is the weak cooperation of the new member states, for example in the case of the services directive, as a result of which that piece of legislation is not favourable enough for us."
Baltic cooperation a key area for Ilves
Regarding his work in Parliament's foreign affairs committee, he looks fondly on the foundation the "Baltic strategy inter-group" of MEPs to boost cooperation in the Baltic region.
He was working with Finnish member of the European People's Party, Alexander Stubb, on a report into the "Baltic Sea Strategy for the Northern Dimension" when he was elected as President by Estonian MPs. However, work remains to be done - "what remains unfinished is the Parliament's opinion on the Russian visa regime and the readmission agreement, which has a special importance for me".
On the Parliament more generally he pointed out that with the co-decision legislative procedure (where MEPs have the same weight as the Council of ministers on such areas as transport, the environment and consumer protection), Parliament now has a much stronger role. But, "there is always room for more, since Parliament is the first place where the European citizen is represented."
Cosmopolitan background
Although he has strong Estonian roots, Ilves has had a very cosmopolitan upbringing having spent much of his life abroad. He was born in Sweden where his parents had fled, but soon moved to the US, where he spent his formative years.
During the 1980s he worked as a journalist for Radio Free Europe, becoming actively involved in politics prior to Estonia regaining independence in 1991. He served as the Estonian Ambassador to the US from 1993-1996. Before becoming an MEP, Ilves served as Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs twice: between 1996-1998 and 1999-2002. He was also the former leader of the "People's Party Moderates" in Estonia.
French President Jacques Chirac and Italian President Giorgio Napolitano were also MEPs although they had left Parliament before being elected head of state.
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