Yana Toom (born Jana Tšernogorova, formerly Yana Litvinova; 15 October 1966) is an Estonian politician who has been serving 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 ...

since 2014. She is a member of the

Estonian Centre Party The Estonian Centre Party ( et, Eesti Keskerakond, EK) is a populist political party in Estonia. It was founded in 1991 as a direct successor of the Popular Front of Estonia, and it is currently led by Jüri Ratas. The party was founded on 12 Oc ...

. Born to

ethnic Russian The Russian diaspora is the global community of ethnic Russians. The Russian-speaking (''Russophone'') diaspora are the people for whom Russian language is the native language, regardless of whether they are ethnic Russians or not. History ...

immigrant parents, Toom become a naturalized citizen of Estonia in 2008. In the 2015 Estonian elections, Toom was also elected to the

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 ...

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

(''Riigikogu'') with 11,573 votes; she decided to not become MP and kept her MEP seat in 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 ...

instead. A member of the ALDE (Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe), Toom currently serves on the

Committee on Petitions The Committee on Petitions (PETI) is a permanent committee of the European Parliament to offer a petition process including a web portal to create and admit petitions. Its current chair, elected on 10 July 2019, is Dolors Montserrat, member of the ...

(since 2014) and the

Committee on Regional Development The Committee on Regional Development (REGI) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its current chair, elected on 10 July 2019, is Younous Omarjee Younous Omarjee (born 30 September 1969 in Saint-Denis, Réunion) is a French politician who ...

(since 2021). She was previously a member of the

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) is a committee of the European Parliament. It is responsible for issues of employment and social policy, including labour rights, social security, inclusion, free movement for workers and pensio ...

(2014–2021) and her parliamentary group's coordinator 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 ...

(2014–2019). In addition to her committee assignments, Toom has been part of the parliament's delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee since 2014. She is also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Artificial Intelligence and Digital, the European Parliament Intergroup on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights and the European Parliament Intergroup on Traditional Minorities, National Communities and Languages. Toom was re-elected in

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 ...

. In the

2023 Estonian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections will be held in Estonia on 5 March 2023 to elect all 101 members of the Riigikogu. Electoral system The 101 members of the Riigikogu are elected by proportional representation in twelve multi-member constituencies. Seats ...

, she was elected in the Riigikogu electoral district no. 7.

Controversy

In July 2016, Toom was part of a small delegation of MEPs, including

Javier Couso Permuy Javier may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Javier, in video game '' Advance Wars: Dual Strike'' * Javier Rios, a character in the Monsters, Inc. franchise. * ''Javier'' (album), a 2003 album by the American singer Javier Colon, known ...

and

Tatjana Ždanoka Tatjana Ždanoka or Tatyana Zhdanok (russian: Татья́на Арка́дьевна Ждано́к, ''Tatyana Arkadyevna Zhdanok''; born Tatyana Khesin (''Хесин'') on May 8, 1950 in Riga) is a Latvian politician and a Member of the Europ ...

, which traveled to

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

to meet

Bashar Al-Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the ...

.Maïa de La Baume (July 4, 2017)
Push to crack down on rogue European Parliament missions
''

Politico Europe ''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the German-owned news organization ''Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toom, Yana 1966 births 21st-century Estonian politicians 21st-century Estonian women politicians Estonian Centre Party MEPs Estonian people of Russian descent Living people Members of the Riigikogu, 2011–2015 Members of the Riigikogu, 2023–2027 MEPs for Estonia 2014–2019 MEPs for Estonia 2019–2024 Politicians from Tallinn University of Tartu alumni Women MEPs for Estonia