European Parliament President Roberta Metsola paid tribute to former Estonian Prime Minister and European Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas following the news of his death which was announced by the EU’s foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas on Saturday.
“It is with sadness that I must announce that my dear father, Siim Kallas, passed away last night,” Kaja Kallas posted on Instagram.
Siim Kallas, Estonia’s first ever European commissioner, starting from 2004 and father to the EU’s current foreign affairs chief, died at the age of 77.
Metsola’s tribute highlighted the courage needed to rebuild Estonia, introduce its own currency in the 1990s and shape European policies.
“I was saddened to learn of the passing of former Prime Minister and EU Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas”, Mestola wrote on X.
“I am thinking of the courage it took to build the state and introduce our own currency in the early 1990s, and the quiet conviction he brought with him to Brussels years later. Estonia and Europe are better off because of his life’s work.”, she added.
She also expressed deep sympathy to his family, including his daughter Kaja Kallas, the EU High Representative.
‘Kaja Kallas and the whole family: I am deeply sorry for your loss. I wish you strength and warmth during this difficult time’, Metsola said.
The European Commision on X also expressed its condolences and paid tribute to the Kallas family.
Siim Kallas, born in 1948, was also an economist. He served as the President of the Bank of Estonia (Eesti Pank) from 1991 to 1995, where he helped create the national currency, the kroon. He later served as Prime Minister of Estonia and European Commissioner for Transport and Vice-President of the European Commission from 2010 to 2014.