Margus Tsahkna (born 13 April 1977) is an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, one of the leaders of new liberal

Estonia 200 Estonia 200 (, russian: Эстония 200) is a liberal political party in Estonia. It is a party that adheres to social and economic liberalism. History In 2017 the initiators started to discuss about the future of Estonia. The formal foun ...

party, former leader of the conservative

Isamaa Isamaa is a Christian-democratic and national-conservative political party in Estonia. It was founded on 4 June 2006 under the name of "Pro Patria and Res Publica Union", by the merger of two conservative parties, Pro Patria Union and Res Publica ...

party, former Minister of Defence in

Jüri Ratas' cabinet Jüri is a small borough ( et, alevik) in Harju County, northern Estonia. It is located southeast of the capital Tallinn, by the Tallinn–Tartu road (E263), directly after the intersection with Tallinn Ring Road (nr. 11). Jüri is the admin ...

and Minister of Social Protection in

Taavi Rõivas' second cabinet Taavi Rõivas' second cabinet was the cabinet of Estonia, in office from 9 April 2015 to 23 November 2016. It is a coalition cabinet of liberal centre-right Estonian Reform Party, Social Democratic Party and conservative Pro Patria and Res P ...

Early life

Tsahkna was born in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

, Estonia. After graduating high school in Tartu in 1995, he studied theology and law at the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

, from 1996 to 2002 and

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, from 1999 to 2000.

Political career

In 2000, he joined the "Pro Patria" party. From 2001 to 2004 he was chairman of "Noor-Isamaa", the party's youth organisation. From 2001 to 2003 he was a member of

city council. From 2003 to 2006 he was the party's political secretary. After the affiliation of the "Pro Patria" and "Res Publica" parties, to form the " Pro Patria ja Res Publica Liit" party, he was secretary general from 2007 to 2010, and political secretary from 2010 to 2013. In 2013 he became assistant chairman. He has been a member of the Estonian parliament since 2007, the member of the parliaments finance committee and social committee. He has also acted as a chairman of the parliaments social committee from 2011-2014. In 2000, he founded the Christian Adolescent Home in Tartu. He is a member of the General

Johan Laidoner Johan Laidoner ( – 13 March 1953) was an Estonian general and statesman. He served as Commander‑in‑Chief of the Estonian Armed Forces during the 1918–1920 Estonian War of Independence and was among the most influential people in the Eston ...

Society and of the

Korp! Sakala Korporatsioon Sakala (abbreviated Korp! Sakala) is a fraternal organization of Estonian higher education students. It was established at the University of Tartu on November 14, 1909. The motto of korp! Sakala is ''One for all, and all for one ...

student society. In 2009, he won second place in the

Estonian television Eesti Televisioon (ETV) ( en, Estonian Television) is an Estonian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Estonian Public Broadcasting. It made its first broadcast on 19 July 1955. History Eesti Televisioon (''Estonian Televis ...

singing competition ''Laulud tähtedega'' ("Singing with Stars"). He sang with

Birgit Õigemeel Birgit Sarrap (née Õigemeel, born 24 September 1988), also known as simply Birgit, is an Estonian singer. Õigemeel rose to prominence in 2007 after winning the Eesti otsib superstaari (season 1), first season of ''Eesti otsib superstaari'', ...

, winner of the ''

Eesti otsib superstaari ''Eesti otsib superstaari'' ''(Estonia is Searching for a Superstar)'' is an Estonian reality-competition gameshow airing on TV3. It debuted on 11 March 2007 and it has since become one of the most popular shows in Estonia. Part of the Idol ...

''. In 2015

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, Tsahkna was re-elected to the parliament with 2,267 individual votes. He was chosen the chairman of the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union on 6 June 2015. In April 2017, Tsahkna announced that he would not seek re-election as chairman. He was followed by

Helir-Valdor Seeder Helir-Valdor Seeder (born 7 September 1964) is an Estonian politician. He is a member of the parliament, current chairman of the Isamaa and served as Minister of Agriculture from 2007 to 2014. Seeder has a master's degree in economics from the E ...

on 13 May 2017. Tsahkna left the party on 26 June 2017. In 2018 he left Isamaa and joined

Personal life

Tsahkna speaks Estonian, English and Russian. He is married and has four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsahkna, Margus 1977 births Living people Politicians from Tartu Pro Patria Union politicians Isamaa politicians Government ministers of Estonia Members of the Riigikogu, 2007–2011 Members of the Riigikogu, 2011–2015 Members of the Riigikogu, 2015–2019 Leaders of political parties in Estonia 21st-century Estonian politicians Defence Ministers of Estonia