On Friday, 9 September, Marina Kaljurand, the new Estonian Ambassador to the United States, presented her credentials to U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House.
In a conversation that followed the presentation ceremony, President Obama welcomed Marina Kaljurand as the first female Estonian ambassador in Washington. He also expressed his satisfaction that relations between Estonia and the U.S. are very good and that the countries are cooperating in many important fields of activity. Obama expressed his hope that this cooperation will continue and asked to have his greeting forwarded to President Ilves.
Ambassador Kaljurand said she was very happy to be assuming the position of Estonian Ambassador to the United States and promised to do everything in her power to further strengthen relations between the two countries. Ambassador Kaljurand also delivered greetings from President Ilves and signed the White House guestbook.
Marina Kaljurand was born on 6 September 1962 in Tallinn. She studied at the Tallinn 7th Secondary School and graduated from the Law Department of Tartu State University in 1986. In 1992, Marina Kaljurand graduated from the Estonian School of Diplomacy and received a Master’s degree in Inter-national Law and Diplomacy from Tufts University in U.S. in 1995. She supplemented her studies at the University of Lapland in Finland, at the University of Pittsburgh in the U.S., as well as Durham University and Civil Service College in Great Britain.
Marju Kaljurand started her diplomatic service in 1991 by joining the Press and Information Department of the Foreign Ministry. From 1992 to 1996, Kaljurand worked as the Director of the International Treaties Office of the Legal Department of the Foreign Ministry. From 1996 to 1999, she was an adviser at the Estonian Embassy in Helsinki. From 1999 to 2001, Kaljurand worked as the Executive Director of the Legal Department of the Foreign Ministry and from 2001 to 2005 as the Undersecretary for Legal and Consular Affairs. From 2004 to 2006, Kaljurand served as the Estonian Ambassador to Israel residing in Tallinn, and from 2005 to 2008, she was the Estonian Ambassador in Russia. Before being named Estonian Ambassador to the United States, Kaljurand worked since 2008 as the Undersecretary for External Economic and Development Affairs and served as the Ambassador to Kazakhstan residing in Tallinn.
Marina Kaljurand is married and has a son and daughter. She speaks English, Russian and Finnish.
Estonian Embassy in US
