"It is with sadness that I must announce that my dear father, Siim Kallas, died last night," his daughter Kaja Kallas wrote on social media Saturday morning.

Kallas served as prime minister of Estonia from 2002 to 2003 and as European Commissioner from 2004 to 2014.

During the Soviet period, Kallas was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He was one of the authors of the IME plan for self-managing Estonia with Tiit Made, Edgar Savisaar and Mikk Titma. The plan proposed to make Estonia economically independent from the Soviet Union — adopting a market economy and establishing Estonia's own currency and tax system.

After Estonia restored its independence in 1991, Kallas was appointed the president of the Bank of Estonia, which at the time had only 11 employees.

Kallas entered politics in 1994 as one of the founders of liberal Estonian Reform Party, which was successful in the 1995 parliamentary elections. Kallas served as the minister of foreign affairs from 1995 to 1996. He later served as the minister of finance from 1999 to 2002.

He served as the European commissioner for transport between 2010 and 2014. Before that he was the European commissioner for administrative affairs, audit and anti-fraud between 2004 and 2009. In both Barroso Commissions he was also a vice-president.

After leaving the European Commission, Kallas ran in the Estonian presidential election in 2016, but was not elected. In October 2017, he started as the mayor of Viimsi Municipality. In 2019, he was elected member of the Riigikogu, a post he was also elected to in 2023. He resigned as MP and from politics in September 2024.

His daughter, Kaja Kallas, was the prime minister of Estonia from 2021 to 2024.

Politicians on Kallas

President Alar Karis expressed his condolences to Siim Kallas' family and loved ones, saying Kallas was a statesman who played an important role in shaping Estonia into the country it is today through bold, forward-looking goals and actions.

"The era of the Singing Revolution, the restoration of independence and the building of a free Estonia into a modern, European country needed precisely this kind of independent thinking and courage to act. Economic reforms, Estonia's accession to the European Union and NATO, the defense of freedoms — in all of this, we can see Siim Kallas' important role. He helped our country grow more confident, stronger and more European," he added.

Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform) also expressed his condolences to the loved ones of Siim Kallas and said Kallas had been a role model for many.

"Siim Kallas was a role model for many people in the Reform Party. After all, he founded the party and his influence extended far beyond it," Michal told ERR on Saturday, describing Kallas as cheerful, well-read and someone who could offer advice on almost any subject. Michal, who joined the Reform Party as a young man and became its secretary-general while Kallas was chairman, said Kallas had been a major role model for his generation as well as a longtime personal friend, ally and mentor.

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