Taavi Rõivas

Taavi Rõivas
Prime Minister
Incumbent
Assumed office 26 March 2014
President	Toomas Hendrik Ilves
Preceded by	Andrus Ansip
Minister of Social Affairs
In office 11 December 2012 – 26 March 2014
Prime Minister	Andrus Ansip
Preceded by	Hanno Pevkur
Succeeded by	Helmen Kütt (as Minister of Social Protection) Urmas Kruuse (as Minister of Health and Labour)
Personal details
Born	26 September 1979 Tallinn, Estonia
Political party	Reform Party
Spouse(s)	Luisa Värk
Children	1
Alma mater	University of Tartu

Taavi Rõivas (Estonian pronunciation: [ˈtɑːʋi ˈrɤiʋɑs]; born 26 September 1979) is an Estonian politician who is currently the Prime Minister of Estonia and the Leader of the Reform Party. Taavi Rõivas' second government took office at 9 April 2015.^[1] Before his term as the Prime Minister, Rõivas was the Minister of Social Affairs from 2012 to 2014.

Early life

Rõivas graduated from Tallinn Secondary Science School and from the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of the University of Tartu in international economics and marketing.

Political career

Taavi Rõivas in 2014

Rõivas joined the Reform Party in 1998. His political career began as an advisor to Minister of Justice Märt Rask from 1999 to 2002.^[2] He was Mayor of Haabersti district of Tallinn 2004–2005 and advisor to the Minister of Population Affairs Paul-Eerik Rummo from 2003 to 2004. In 2005, he became an advisor to the Prime Minister and Reform Party Leader Andrus Ansip. He was elected to the Tallinn City Council in 2005 and to the Riigikogu in 2007 and again in 2011.

In December 2012, Rõivas became the youngest member of the Estonian Government as the Minister of Social Affairs, replacing Hanno Pevkur. Pevkur in turn replaced Kristen Michal as the Minister of Justice Kristen Michal who had resigned due to corruption allegations by fellow Reform Party member Silver Meikar.

In February 2014, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip announced he would resign a year before the 2015 parliamentary elections and hand his post to the European Commissioner Siim Kallas, former Reform Party Leader and Prime Minister 2002–2003. Kallas began coalition talks with the Social Democratic Party, deciding to replace the conservative Pro Patria and Res Publica Union as Reform Party's coalition partner. On March 12, Kallas unexpectedly announced he would not seek the post, due to media scrutiny of his actions as President of the Bank of Estonia in the early 1990s. On the same day, the leadership of the Reform Party chose Rõivas as the new candidate for Prime Minister.^[3] The coalition agreement with the Social Democratic Party was signed on 20 March and the nomination was confirmed by the Riigikogu on 24 March.^[4][5] Rõivas became Prime Minister after the President Toomas Hendrik Ilves approved his proposed cabinet on 26 March 2014. At the time, Rõivas was the youngest government leader in the European Union.^[6]

Rõivas led his party to the 2015 parliamentary elections, in which Reform Party succeeded in staying as the largest party and began coalition talks with the Social Democratic Party, the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union and the Free Party.^[7] After nearly three weeks of negotiations, the Free Party left the coalition talks due to disagreements with the Reform Party and the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union.^[8] The three remaining parties signed the coalition treaty on 8 April, and Rõivas' second cabinet took office on 9 April.^[9]

Personal life

Rõivas speaks Estonian, English, Russian and Finnish.^[10]

Rõivas lives together with the pop singer Luisa Värk, with whom he has a daughter.^[6]

See also

• Taavi Rõivas' first cabinet
• Taavi Rõivas' second cabinet

References

1. "Taavi Rõivas sai Reformierakonna esimeheks – Eesti uudised – Postimees.ee". Postimees. 6 April 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
2. Website of the Estonian Government , archived at Internet Archive on March 2, 2014
3. "Reform Party Picks Dark Horse as New PM Candidate". News – ERR. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
4. "Reform Party and Social Democrats Sign Coalition Agreement". News – ERR. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
5. "Rõivas Receives Parliament Approval to Form Government". News – ERR. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
6. "Taavi Roivas designated Estonia PM, EU's youngest". GlobalPost. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
7. Coalition consultations begin with four parties in attendance ERR, 6 March 2015
8. Coalition talks to continue between three parties, Free Party to go into opposition ERR, 23 March 2015
9. "Otseülekanne: kolme erakonna koalitsioonileping saab allkirjad". Postimees. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
10. Viron tuleva pääministeri Taavi Rõivas, 34: Emme saa Suomea kiinni elintasossa – Viro – Ulkomaat – Helsingin Sanomat

External links