The 15 go-to Estonians in Brussels who will drive their country’s EU presidency

The Baltic nation will steer the European Union in a liberal, pro-innovation and pro-business direction.

The tiny country of Estonia takes over the reins of the EU’s rotating presidency bearing the burden of high expectations.

As a digital leader with firsthand experience of the threats posed by Russia, Estonia has been a go-to country in EU decision-making. Other small, recently joined EU countries might get a passing grade by simply not messing up. But Brussels is expecting more from Tallinn.

As Estonia leads the Council of the European Union through to the end of the year, its officials are determined to project a Europe in their country’s image: liberal, pro-innovation and pro-business.

So who are the go-to Estonians?

Keep an eye on Prime Minister Jüri Ratas and President Kersti Kaljulaid in Tallinn. Other top officials in the Estonian capital include Matti Maasikas, deputy EU affairs minister (and former Estonian ambassador to the EU); Klen Jäärats, EU adviser to the prime minister, and Kadri Peeters, security adviser to the prime minister.

In Brussels, POLITICO has sifted through the 210 Estonians working at the European Commission, the 200 at the country’s permanent representation to the EU (which has doubled its size for the presidency), the country’s six members of the European Parliament, and its six members of the Committee of the Regions. Here are the 15 Estonians you most need to know.

Riina Kionka

The chief foreign policy adviser of European Council President Donald Tusk, Kionka did something in the 1990s that few get to do: she helped Estonia reinvent itself as a new state emerging from behind the Iron Curtain. After campaigning for Estonia to join the EU, Kionka in 2004 became a manager at the Council of the European Union, responsible for the United Nations and transatlantic relations. In 2007, she worked as the human rights envoy for Javier Solana, the EU’s first foreign policy high representative. She has been working for Tusk since 2014.

Marit Sillavee

If you want something done at the Commission, your best bet is to call Martin Selmayr, Jean-Claude Juncker’s chief of staff. And to get to Martin Selmayr, the person most people need to call is Marit Sillavee, his Estonian assistant, who left a high-powered PR job in London to return to the Selmayr fold. Like many of his confidantes, Sillavee got her start in the Commission’s digital department, where the pair worked for Viviane Reding during the Barroso Commission.

Kaja Tael

Tael described her role as “interpreter and intermediary” when appointed in 2016 as her country’s permanent representative to the EU. “But definitely it could and should include a bit of being a promoter as well,” she said. “Clearly, I have to be an engine for some things” (including working Sundays). Tael comes armed with experience as Estonia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom and to Germany.

Johannes Tralla

For most Estonians, more than any politician, Johannes Tralla is the face of the EU. As Brussels correspondent for Estonian public broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR), he appears in living rooms with nightly stories and summit standups. On June 29 he even hosted the broadcast of a major concert in Freedom Square in Tallinn to celebrate the launch of the Estonian presidency.

Andrus Ansip

The European Commission vice president for the digital single market is fourth in the Commission’s order of protocol, behind Jean-Claude Juncker, Frans Timmermans and Federica Mogherini. That makes him the most senior Estonian in Brussels.

It was on Ansip’s watch as the country’s longest-serving prime minister, from 2005 to 2014, that e-Estonia (the country’s digital push) grew to maturity. Prime Minister Ratas may be from the Centre Party, the main rival to Ansip’s Reform Party, but both are part of the liberal ALDE political grouping in the European Parliament. During his country’s presidency, expect Ansip to focus on the free flow of data and telecoms reforms, files currently blocked in inter-institutional negotiations.

Henrik Hololei

As head of the Commission’s transport department (DG MOVE), Hololei works closely with Ansip in implementing the Commission’s digital single market strategy, especially on topics like driverless cars, smart cities and other changes to public transport infrastructure. Hololei previously held the senior role of deputy secretary-general of the European Commission, giving him a valuable birds-eye view of the workings of the executive.

Hololei, formerly chief of staff to then Commission Vice President Siim Kallas, is extremely well connected. And he has kept another Estonian, Marit Ruuda, with him at DG MOVE to oversee the department’s communications.

Christian-Marc Lifländer

Lifländer is the head of NATO’s cyber defense section and the organization’s most visible face on all things digital. The American-educated defense expert worked for the Estonian ministry of defense for many years before moving to NATO. His competence will again take center stage when the European Commission releases its reviewed cybersecurity strategy, likely in September.

Kaja Kallas

Kallas is the most visible member of the European Parliament on digital issues, where she is involved with telecoms, e-privacy and broadcasting rights. She is a regular on the Brussels conference panel circuit, and a competition lawyer by background. Kallas is the daughter of former Commission Vice President Siim Kallas, who was Estonian prime minister from 2002 to 2003. She is from the same party — the Estonian Reform Party — as Commissioner Ansip.

Juhan Lepassaar

Lepassaar is Ansip’s chief of staff, and he has the vice president’s ear on digital policy decisions. He is more of a political animal than a digital one: He got his start in Brussels working as a sherpa for the Estonian government, then as an EU adviser for Ansip while he was Estonia’s prime minister. Tech seems to run in the family. Annikky Lamp (listed below), Lepassaar’s partner, works for the Estonian permanent representation as a spokesperson, communicating on many of Estonia’s key tech initiatives.

Luukas Ilves

Ilves, just 29, is already a Brussels veteran and the Estonian presidency’s designated digital specialist. He will be in charge of getting EU member countries to agree on digital files such as the telecoms reform. He arrived in Brussels to join Dutch Commissioner Neelie Kroes’ cabinet in the previous European Commission. He is also the son of former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and shares his father’s penchant for bow ties.

Uku Särekanno

Särekanno will be Estonia’s eyes and ears in the Brexit task force of EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, known as “TF50” to Brussels insiders. Formerly a senior diplomat in the Estonian permanent representation, he has written about the potential of the Estonian presidency for cementing the country’s reputation for reliability and openness.

Marika Post, Annikky Lamp and Jüri Laas

The press team of the Estonian permanent representation is a powerhouse. Post first held her position in 2007, making her, along with Finland’s Leena Brandt, one of the most experienced national spokespersons in Brussels. Lamp recently joined the embassy from the European Commission spokespersons service. Laas joins from the European Council, where he has supported Tusk at dozens of summits.

Signe Ratso

Ratso is a director in the European Commission’s trade department, in charge of general trade strategy for multilateral trade and free-trade agreements, as well as analysis of various industries, including energy. That puts her at the heart of the EU’s efforts to fill the emerging vacuum created by a retreating United States, and at the center of forging whatever future relationship the EU has with the United Kingdom. Ratso previously worked closely with the World Trade Organization and the OECD, and helped negotiate Estonia’s accession to the EU in 2004.

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