Siim Kallas: Kaja Kallas’ father is dead

Father of Kaja Kallas

Former EU Commissioner Siim Kallas is dead

Siim Kallas has long held leading positions in Tallinn and Brussels. Now the father of EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has died.

Former Estonian Prime Minister and long-time EU Commissioner Siim Kallas has died at the age of 77. “It is with deep sadness that I have to announce that my dear father, Siim Kallas, passed away last night,” his daughter, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, wrote on social media. A spokeswoman for the Estonian State Chancellery confirmed the death.

Since Estonia’s regained independence in 1991, Kallas has had a say in the fate of the Baltic EU and NATO country for longer than almost anyone else – as prime minister, foreign minister, finance minister and central bank chief.

After Estonia’s accession to the EU in 2004, which he helped negotiate, the liberal, who was considered a cool technocrat, was appointed EU Commissioner. As Vice President of the Brussels authority, Kallas was initially responsible for administration, internal auditing and combating fraud, and in 2010 he became Transport Commissioner.

After leaving the EU Commission, Kallas ran in the presidential election in 2016 – without success. In 2019 he moved to the Estonian Parliament as a member, and in 2024 he resigned from his mandate and also withdrew from politics for health reasons.