Minister of Defence (Estonia)

Minister of Defence
Standard of the Minister of Defence
Incumbent Hannes Hanso since 14. September 2015
Ministry of Defence
Style	Mister
Appointer	Taavi Rõivas
Inaugural holder	Märt Rask

The Minister of Defence (Estonian: Kaitseminister) is the senior minister at the Ministry of Defence (Kaitseministeerium) in the Estonian Government. The Minister is one of the most important members of the Estonian government, with responsibility for coordinating the governments policies on national defence and the military forces.

The Defence Minister is chosen by the Prime Minister as a part of the government. The current Defence Minister is Hannes Hanso.

When the position was originally established in 1918, it was called the Minister of War (Sõjaminister). The post was renamed Minister of Defence on April 1, 1929, but would change back to Minister of War in 1937. Though the name of the position, and subsequently the ministry, was changed the main responsibilities of the position remained virtually unchanged.

Since Estonia regained its independence in 1991 the post has been known as the Minister of Defence.

Building of Estonian Ministry of Defence

List of Ministers

1918 to 1929 (Minister of War)

	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
1	Andres Larka	February 24, 1918	November 27, 1918
2	Konstantin Päts	November 27, 1918	May 8, 1919
3	Otto Strandman	May 8, 1919	November 18, 1919
4	August Hanko	November 18, 1919	July 28, 1920
5	Aleksander Tõnisson	July 28, 1920	October 26, 1920
6	Ants Piip	October 26, 1920	January 25, 1921
7	Jaan Soots	January 25, 1921	August 2, 1923
8	Ado Anderkopp	August 2, 1923	February 19, 1924
9	Oskar Amberg	March 26, 1924	October 18, 1924
10	Hans Kurvits	November 11, 1924	November 26, 1924
	Jaan Soots (2nd time)	December 16, 1924	March 4, 1927
11	Nikolai Reek	March 4, 1927	December 4, 1928
12	Mihkel Juhkam	December 4, 1928	March 31, 1929

1929 to 1937 (Minister of Defence)

	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
	Mihkel Juhkam	April 1, 1929	July 9, 1929
13	Oskar Köster	July 9, 1929	February 12, 1931
14	August Kerem	February 12, 1931	November 19, 1932
	Aleksander Tõnisson (2nd time)	November 1, 1932	May 18, 1933
	August Kerem (2nd time)	May 18, 1933	October 21, 1933
15	Paul Lill	October 21, 1933	February 28, 1937

1937 to 1940 (Minister of War)

	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
	Paul Lill	March 1, 1937	October 12, 1939
	Nikolai Reek (2nd time)	October 12, 1939	1940

1992 to Present (Minister of Defence)

	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
	Uno Veering (acting)	1992	1992
16	Ülo Uluots	1992	1992	Popular Front of Estonia
17	Hain Rebas	1992	1993	Estonian National Independence Party
18	Jüri Luik	1993	1994	Pro Patria Union
19	Indrek Kannik	1994	1994	Pro Patria Union
20	Enn Tupp	1994	1995	Pro Patria Union
21	Andrus Öövel	1995	1999	Estonian Coalition Party
	Jüri Luik (2nd time)	1999	2002	Pro Patria Union
22	Sven Mikser	2002	2003	Estonian Centre Party
23	Margus Hanson	2003	2004	Estonian Reform Party
24	Jaak Jõerüüt	2004	2005	Estonian Reform Party
25	Jürgen Ligi	2005	2007	Estonian Reform Party
26	Jaak Aaviksoo	2007	2011	Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica
27	Mart Laar	2011	2012	Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica
28	Urmas Reinsalu	2012	2014	Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica
	Sven Mikser (2nd time)	2014	2015	Social Democratic Party
29	Hannes Hanso	2015		Social Democratic Party

External links

• Ministry of Defence
• Estonian Defence Forces