H.E. Mart Laar, Ph.D.
His Excellency Dr. Mart Laar is a member of the National Advisory Council and recipient of the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. Laar was the Prime Minister of Estonia from 1992 to 1994, and again from 1999 to 2002, during which time he won critical acclaim for Estonia’s rapid economic development and for advocating for Estonia’s membership in both NATO and the EU. He also served as the Estonian Minister of Defense from 2011 to 2012, and the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Bank of Estonia in 2013. Laar is the recipient of the 2006 Milton Friedman Prize from the Cato Institute and the Faith and Freedom Award from the Acton Institute in 2007. He received his history degree from Tartu University in 1983 and is the author of many books on Estonian and Soviet history, such as War in the Woods (1992).
