The Estonian parliament has elected the country’s first female head of state. Kersti Kaljulaid, 46, a former EU budget auditor, received 81 votes in the election for the five-year presidential term, well above the two-thirds majority of 68 required.

The office is largely symbolic in the Baltic country although it gained weight after outgoing President Toomas Hendrik Ilves carved a role as an outspoken critic of Russia and a campaigner for government digitalization and cybersecurity. The choice of Kaljulaid, who works at the European Court of Auditors, became possible after the six parties in Parliament agreed to propose a political outsider as a single candidate. The election was preceded by an electoral college’s failure to choose a president from among five candidates last month.

Did You Know?

• Modern Estonia is a democratic parliamentary republic divided into fifteen counties, with its capital and largest city being Tallinn.
• With a population of 1.3 million, it is one of the least-populous member states of the European Union, Eurozone, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the OECD and the Schengen Area.
• Estonia is a developed country with an advanced, high-income economy that is among the fastest growing in the EU.
• It ranks very high in the Human Development Index, and performs favourably in measurements of economic freedom, civil liberties, education, and press freedom.
• Capital – Tallinn & Currency – Euro