Former President of Estonia Arnold Rüütel dies at the age of 96

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) – Arnold Rüütel, the last communist leader of Soviet Estonia and the Baltic country’s second post-independence president, has died. He was 96 years old.

The office of Estonian President Alar Karis announced on its website that Rüütel died on Tuesday.

Rüütel, a farmer by profession, was almost 50 years old when in 1977 he began serving in high positions in the Communist Party of the Estonian Soviet Republic. In 1983, he was elected chairman of the Supreme Council of the republic, becoming the highest communist official in Estonia.

Soon, however, Rüütel used his position to prepare Estonia’s separation from the Soviet Union, which had occupied the tiny European country on the Baltic Sea in 1940. In November 1988, Rüütel played a key role in preparing the declaration of independence, including: full sovereignty after three years.

In newly independent Estonia, which inherited a large ethnic Russian minority as part of its Soviet legacy, Rüütel advocated social democratic policies and support for farmers, and in 1994 helped establish the People’s Union, a left-wing party that participated in several governing coalitions.

Rüütel was elected president in 2001, replacing the highly popular Lennart Meri, and served for the next five years, bringing the Baltic nation into NATO and the European Union in 2004. He ran for re-election to a second five-year term, but was defeated by Toomas Hendrik Ilves in 2006.

On Wednesday, Estonian public broadcaster ERR reported that Rüütel would be buried with full state honors. No funeral date was given.