Eerik-Niiles Kross

Eerik-Niiles Kross (born 8 September 1967) is an Estonian politician, diplomat, former chief of intelligence and entrepreneur.

He is a member of parliament (Riigikogu).

During the 1980s, Kross was a prominent figure in the anti-Soviet non-violent resistance movement in Soviet Estonia.

In April 1988, he was one of three-member group (along with Margus Kasterpalu and Tiit Pruuli) that brought out the banned national flag (blue-black-white).

In June 1988, Kross was one of organizers of the First Youth Forum gathering all pro-independence youth organizations of the country.

Kross was also one of ideologues of re-establishing of Soviet-banned Estonian academic student organizations.

On 1 December 1988 the Estonian Students' Society (EÜS) was reestablished under his leadership.

Kross was the first post-war chairman of Estonian Students Society.

Kross represented Estonia as a diplomat in the UK, from 1990 to 1992; then in the US from 1992 to 1995.

Internationally, Kross is best known as a security expert, having worked in Iraq as a Senior Director of the Coalition Provisional Authority being responsible for creating the new Iraqi Ministry of Defense and Military Intelligence.

In 1990-91 Kross represented the Estonian independence movement in the United Kingdom running the so-called Estonian Information Bureau in London.

Eerik-Niiles Kross re-established the Estonian Embassy in the UK.

He was the first representative (chargé d'affaires) of the restored Republic of Estonia in London becoming the youngest representative of a foreign government in the history of the London Diplomatic Corps.

After re-independence, in 1991, he joined Estonia's Foreign Ministry.

Kross graduated from the University of Tartu in 1991 majoring in history.

He also studied at the University of Hamburg, Germany.

In 1992 Kross worked as a minister-counselor at Estonian Mission to the UN in New York.

In November 1992, Kross took over the representation of Republic of Estonia in United States of America from Ambassador Ernst Jaakson who had maintained Estonia's legal continuity from before World War II; Kross was chargé d'affaires of Estonian Republic until arrival of Ambassador Toomas Hendrik Ilves in summer of 1993.

In 1993, Kross received an MA in History (Political and Social Change in Europe) at the University of London, United Kingdom (School of Slavonic and East European Studies).

During 1993–1995, Kross worked at the Embassy of Estonia, Washington, D.C. as the Deputy Chief of Mission.

He served as the head of intelligence from 1995 to 2000; and as national security advisor to former President Lennart Meri in 2000 and 2001.

During 1995–2000, Eerik-Niiles Kross was the Intelligence Coordinator of Government of Estonia.

In 2000-2003 Kross studied at the University of Tartu's Institute of Law.

In Soviet occupied Estonia Kross was actively involved in the independence movement.

In 2000-2001 he was the National Security Adviser to the Estonian president Lennart Meri.

Kross was responsible for the security parts of Estonia's Membership Action Plan for Estonia to join NATO.

He wrote the script for the 2006 documentary, The Blue Hills (Sinimäed), which received the Estonian Cultural Foundation's Film of the Year Award; also, special mention at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.

Kross is married to American filmmaker, Mary Jordan.

He was an advisor to the Government of Georgia during and after its war with Russia in 2008.

He coordinated the Georgian information campaign.

As an observer of foreign affairs, Kross has published more than a 100 articles on Russian foreign policy, NATO and Estonian-Russian relations.

Kross is a well known critic of the Russian foreign policy and the Russian head of state, Vladimir Putin.

In 2008 the President of Estonia awarded him the Order of the White Star III class for his "contribution to joining NATO".

In 2011, Russian authorities accused him of masterminding the 2009 hijacking of the MV Arctic Sea off the coast of Sweden.

The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Estonia, rejected this accusation as a fabrication by Russia's FSB.

Kross joined the moderate-conservative IRL in November 2011, and was elected to the Party Executive.

He served on the Advisory Board to the Ministry of Defense.

In October 2014 Kross left the IRL and joined the liberal democratic Estonian Reform Party.

At the Parliamentary Elections of 2015 he ran at the Reform Party ticket in the Tallinn 3rd district and won a seat in Parliament after the MEP Urmas Paet did not accept his mandate.

Kross has published several books and written scripts for documentary films.