Marianne Mikko (born 26 September 1961) 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 ...

n politician and former

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

and forme
Member of the Parliament of Estonia
for the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

, part of the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a social democratic and progressive European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus Norway and the United Kingdom ...

. Mikko was born in

Võru Võru (; vro, Võro; german: Werro) is a town and a municipality in south-eastern Estonia. It is the capital of Võru County and the centre of Võru Parish. History Võru was founded on 21 August 1784, according to the wish of the Empress Cather ...

Early life and career

Before entering politics, Mikko worked as editor of ''Diplomaatia'', a foreign and security policy monthly magazine, from 2003 to 2004.

Member of the European Parliament, 2004–2009

Mikko was a

from 2004 until 2009. She served on the

Committee on Culture and Education The Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) is a committee of the European Parliament. Responsibilities of the Committee This committee has focused on the well-being of all members of the human race and the increased opportunities for educat ...

and on the

Committee on Fisheries The Committee on Fisheries (PECH) is a committee of the European Parliament. Chris Davies was the chairman (2019 – 2020) - until the United Kingdom left the European Union. Committee mandate PECH is the European Parliament committee respon ...

. In this capacity, she drafted the Parliament's 2008 own-initiative report on concentration and pluralism in the media in the European Union. In addition to her committee assignments, Mikko headed the Parliament's delegation to

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

Member of the Estonian Parliament, 2011–2019

Mikko was a member of the Parliament of Estonia (Riigikogu) since the

2011 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2011. * Local electoral calendar 2011 * National electoral calendar 2011 * 2011 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 2011 Beninese presidential election * 2011 Beninese parliamentary el ...

until 2019. She has served on the Defense Committee and on the Committee on European Union Affairs
as the vice-chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee
and on the National Defense Committee. In addition to her committee assignments, Mikko was a member of the Estonia-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group and the Estonia-India Parliamentary Friendship Group, and the chairman of the Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. In addition to her role in parliament, Mikko has been serving as head of the Estonian delegation to the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up o ...

since 2015. As member of the Social Democratic Party, she is part of the

Socialist Group The Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group (french: Groupe Socialiste, SOC) is a primarily social-democratic political grouping in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. It was known as the Socialist Group prior to August 2017. The g ...

. She is currently a member of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy and a member of the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by

Member States of the Council of Europe The Council of Europe was founded on 5 May 1949 by ten western and northern European states, with Greece joining three months later, and Iceland, Turkey and West Germany joining the next year. It now has 46 member states, with Montenegro being t ...

(Monitoring Committee). Alongside

Ingebjørg Godskesen Ingebjørg Amanda Godskesen (born 26 May 1957) is a Norwegian politician who represented the Progress Party until 2017. She was a member of the Storting from 2013 to 2017. Biography Godskesen was born in Kristiansand on 26 May 1957. She was ...

, she served as co-rapporteur on the post-monitoring dialogue with

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, concerning the

2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt On 15 July 2016, a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces, organized as the Peace at Home Council, attempted a coup d'état against state institutions, including the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They attempted to seize cont ...

. In January 2017, she was elected as one of 17 Vice-Presidents of the Assembly, under the leadership of

Pedro Agramunt Pedro Agramunt Font de Mora (born 12 September 1951) is a Spanish and European politician. Agramunt is from Valencia and has served as a member of the Senate of Spain since 2008. He had previously represented Valencia Province in the Spanish Cong ...

. She later participated in the Assembly's observer mission to the 2018 presidential election in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

.Ad hoc Committee to Observe the Presidential Election in Azerbaijan

, press release of 3 April 2018.

Other memberships

* Women in International Security – Estonia (WIIS-EST), Member

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikko, Marianne 1961 births Living people Estonian journalists Estonian women journalists People from Võru Social Democratic Party (Estonia) politicians Social Democratic Party (Estonia) MEPs MEPs for Estonia 2004–2009 Women MEPs for Estonia Members of the Riigikogu, 2011–2015 Members of the Riigikogu, 2015–2019 Women members of the Riigikogu University of Tartu alumni 21st-century Estonian politicians Diplomaatia editors