Riho Terras (born 17 April 1967) is an Estonian politician and a former military officer who is serving as a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

since 1 February 2020. He was the Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces from 2011 to 2018. He was promoted to

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

in 2017. He was elected as a

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 ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and took his seat after

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...

Military career

His military education includes studies in the

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest lev ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the Joint Command and General Staff Course in the

Baltic Defence College The Baltic Defence College (BALTDEFCOL) is a multinational military college, established by the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) in 1999. It serves as a centre of strategic and operational research and provides professional ...

, the European Security. Policy Course in the

Geneva Centre for Security Policy The Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) is an international foundation that was established in 1995 under Swiss law to "promote the building and maintenance of peace, security and stability". The GCSP was founded by the Federal Department o ...

, a Battalion Commander's Course in Switzerland, a Company Commander's course in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, a Company Commander's course in Sweden and the Officer's Basic course in

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 ...

. Terras's civilian education includes history studies in 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 ...

, and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Political Science and Sociology from the University of Bundeswehr.Official Biography
www.mil.ee After graduating from the Basic Officer's Course in Estonia, Terras served as a

Company Commander A company commander is the commanding officer of a company, a military unit which typically consists of 100 to 250 soldiers, often organized into three or four smaller units called platoons. The exact organization of a company varies by countr ...

and as a Battalion Second in Command of the Kalev Single Infantry Battalion from 1992 to 1993. Between 1993 and 1994 Terras served as the commander of the Põhja Single Infantry Company. After graduating from the Bundeswehr University (Germany) he served as the commander of the Guard Battalion from 1998 to 2000. Terras was appointed the Chief of Staff of the Defence League Headquarters in 2000. From 2001 to 2004 he served as the Estonian Defence Attaché in Germany and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. Between 2005 and 2008 Terras served as the Chief of the Analysis and Planning Department and as Chief of the Planning Section, Analysis and Planning Department in the Estonian Defence Forces Headquarters. In 2007, Terras served in the NATO Training Mission - Iraq as Deputy Chief of Staff. Riho Terras was confirmed in December 2008 as Permanent Secretary of the Estonian Ministry of Defence. Before taking up the position of the Permanent Secretary, he was Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations in the Estonian Defence Forces. Terras served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations of the Estonian Defence forces from January 2011 to March 2011 and then continued his service as the Chief of Staff of the Estonian Defence Forces. Terras was appointed the Chief of Defence from 5 December 2011

Education

*1989-1993,

, History studies,

Tartu, Estonia 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 o ...

*1991-1992, Officer's Basic course,

Tallinn, Estonia Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

*1993, Company Commander's course, Sweden *1996, Company Commander's course,

*1994-1998, University of Bundeswehr,

in Political Science and Sociology,

Munich, Germany Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

*1999, Battalion Commander's Course, Switzerland *2000, Estonian National Defence Course,

*2000,

, Policy Course,

Geneva, Switzerland Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

*2005,

, Joint Command and General Staff Course,

*2010,

, London, United Kingdom

Effective dates of promotion

Assignment History

Awards, decorations, and recognition

Awards and decorations

Personal

In his youth, Terras was conscripted as a sailor in the Soviet Navy. He later studied history at

, during which he also became a member of the

Estonian Defence League The Estonian Defence League ( et, Eesti Kaitseliit) is the name of the unified paramilitary armed forces of the Republic of Estonia. The Defence League is a paramilitary defence organization whose aim is to guarantee the preservation of the indep ...

. He joined

Johannes Kert Johannes Kert (3 December 1959 – 4 March 2021) was an Estonian politician and military officer. He served as the Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces from 1996 until 2000. He retired from the military in 2008. Since 2014, Kert had been a me ...

in the defence of radio and television buildings in Tallinn during the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt. Due to a lack of personnel in the Defence League, he decided to join a course for reserve officers, where he studied alongside Leo Kunnas. He was soon persuaded by

Ants Laaneots Ants Laaneots (born 16 January 1948) is an Estonian politician and former military officer. He was previously the Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces and a veteran officer in the Soviet Army. Laaneots previously served as the Commandant o ...

to become a member of the Estonian Defence Forces. In 1994 he started studying at the

Bundeswehr University Munich 200px, Entrance to the university Bundeswehr University Munich (german: Universität der Bundeswehr München, UniBw München) is one of two research universities in Germany at federal level that both were founded in 1973 as part of the German Ar ...

, where he received a master's degree in Political Science and Sociology. Thus he picked up where he had left off in his education after his time at the University of Tartu. In addition to the

Estonian language Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language, written in the Latin script. It is the official language of Estonia and one of the official languages of the European Union, spoken natively by about 1.1 million people; 922,000 people in Estonia and 160, ...

Terras is fluent in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

. He is married with two sons. His eldest sons name is Hendrik Johannes - in honor of Johannes Kert. His hobbies include opera, medieval history and hunting.

References

External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Terras, Riho 1967 births Living people People from Kohtla-Järve Isamaa politicians MEPs for Estonia 2019–2024 Estonian generals Recipients of the Military Order of the Cross of the Eagle, Class IV Recipients of the Order of the Lion of Finland Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Badge of Honour of the Bundeswehr Recipients of the Legion of Merit