PROFILE: Andrus Ansip, Estonia's low-key leader

By Mike Collier Mar 7, 2011, 13:14 GMT

Estonia\'s center-right Reform Party leader and Prime Minister Andrus Ansip holds piece of a pre-election poster that was converted into an apron as he along with supporters waits for a result of Estonian parliamentary election at a hotel in Tallinn, Estonia, on 06 March 2011. Voters in Estonia cast their ballots 06 March 2011 in a parliamentary election that looked likely to return incumbent Prime Minister Andrus Ansip to power. EPA/STR LATVIA OUT/LITHUANIA OUT/ESTONIA OUT

Tallinn - Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip triumphed as predicted in parliamentary elections on Sunday, giving him a third term in office after first coming to power in April 2005.

Voters confirmed his reputation as a stabilizing influence, rewarding his centre-right Reform party with a third of the seats in the national parliament and the chance to continue his coalition with the right-wing IRL party.

With his dark grey suit, clipped tones and prodigious memory, he seems a living example of the 'Nordic-ness' that Estonians believe makes them temperamentally closer to Scandinavia than Eastern Europe.

In his victory speech on election night he made a point of talking about 'the Nordic nation of Estonia.'

Ansip's win was probably assured by his success, against all odds, in getting Estonia into the eurozone at the beginning of the year.

Born in 1956 and educated as a chemist at the University of Tartu, he went on to study agronomy at the Estonian Academy of Agriculture and business management at York University in Toronto, Canada.

His political foundation was a six-year stint as mayor of Tartu from 1998 to 2004. His time in charge of Estonia's second-largest city coincided with an economic boom that made him a popular figure in the town and prompted his move into the national parliament, or Riigikogu, in 2004.

His arrival in Tallinn began a rapid rise to the top. Initially appointed as economics minister in September 2004, he became chairman of the centre-right Reform Party two months later. In March 2005, he was asked by President Arnold Ruutel to form a new government after the resignation of prime minister Juhan Parts.

He quickly showed his skill at political negotiation, patching together a three-party coalition that lasted until the next parliamentary election in March 2007.

The 2007 election further enhanced his standing, with Reform becoming the largest party in parliament, allowing him to ditch his former coalition partners and instead ally himself with the right- wing IRL party and Social Democrats.

He made international headlines in April 2007 with his controversial decision to relocate a Soviet-era war memorial from central Tallinn to a military cemetery. Subsequent protests by Estonia's large Russian minority turned violent and saw the launch of 'cyber attacks' against Estonian websites from servers in Russia.

The events enhanced both Ansip's reputation among Estonians and his country's international reputation as a centre of IT excellence. NATO's cyber-defence centre is now based in Tallinn.

Despite the bursting of a property bubble and subsequent deep recession, Ansip has managed to push through most of his legislative programme.

To his opponents, Ansip is a grey and boring technocrat who is part of an arrogant political elite: He is sometimes caricatured as a robot or alien. But to his supporters, what he lacks in charisma he makes up for in pragmatism and focus.

Indeed he has acted as something of a model for two fellow Baltic leaders - Valdis Dombrovskis in Latvia and Andrius Kubilius in Lithuania.

Ansip may also be the world's fittest prime minister. He is an enthusiastic cyclist and rollerblader, but his particular passion is cross-country skiing.

Using the travel opportunities that come with the job, he has competed in gruelling events around the globe, from the Czech Republic to Australia and Japan, earning himself the prestigious Worldloppet Masters' medal in the process.

Even with his election campaign in full swing on February 20, he completed the 63-kilometre ski marathon held annually in his home city of Tartu.

However, as he told the German Press Agency dpa, he is wary of talking about this aspect of his life too much in case it gives the impression there is 'some dumb sports nut running the country.'

Read more about Estonia Elections