Lauri Läänemets
The Minister of the Interior
Läänemets has been the Estonian Minister of the Interior and the chairman of the Estonian Social Democratic Party since 2022. He was a member of the 14th Riigikogu and the Deputy Chairman of the Constitutional Committee. Prior to that he was the deputy chairman of Järvamaa Local Government Association and the Mayor of the Väätsa Rural Municipality. In 2010-2013, he was an adviser of the Tallinn City Government and City Council. In 2008-2010, he was a member of the political party People’s Union of Estonia (Rahvaliit). In 2007–2008, he served as an adviser in the field of membership at the Federation of Estonian Student Unions, while earlier he had been the Chairman of the Management Board of the Tallinn University Student Union and the Chairman of the Management Board of Roundtable of Tallinn Student Unions. In 2019, he was awarded with the third-class decoration of the Estonian Defence League.
Kuno Tammearu
Rector of the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences
Kuno Tammearu has been the Rector of the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences since June 2023. He worked as the Director General of the Rescue Board since 2013, prior to that he held the position of Deputy Director General and the Head of Rescue Department in the same authority. He graduated from the Academy of Security Sciences and acquired his Master’s degree in public administration at Tallinn University of Technology and in strategic business management at Tartu University. Tammearu has been awarded the Order of Merit of the Estonian Red Cross, Fourth Class, and the Order of Merit of the Estonian Red Cross, Second Class, similarly he has been awarded the Gold Cross of the Rescue Service.
Taimar Peterkop
Secretary of State
Taimar Peterkop has been the Secretary of State since 10 December 2018. Before that he was in charge of the Estonian Information System Authority. He is a graduate of the University of Tartu School of Law and the United States Army War College, holding a Master’s degree in Strategic Management.
Hans DAS
Director for Emergency Management and rescEU
Since December 2020, Hans Das is the Director for Emergency Management and rescEU in the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations of the European Commission, where he oversees the EU operations coordinated by the European Emergency Response Coordination Centre and the development of a strategic reserve of response capacities called rescEU. Hans joined the European Commission in 2004. In May 2010, he was appointed Head of DG ECHO's Emergency Response Unit, where he coordinated the EU’s response to various natural and man-made disasters in the world. In March 2012, he was appointed Head of the Civil Protection Policy Unit. After that, between October 2016 and November 2020, Hans headed the unit dealing with terrorism and radicalisation in DG HOME. Hans holds a Ph.D degree in public international law and started his career at Leuven University. From 1997 to 1999, he was Head of the Legal Department of the International Commission for Real Property Claims of Refugees and Displaced persons (CRPC), established by the Dayton Peace Agreement, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Afterwards, he served as a consultant on post-war property restitution issues to the UN in Kosovo (1999-2000).
Jussi Korhonen
Director, Civil Emergency Preparedness
Mr Korhonen is a deputy Director General working as a director for Civil Emergency Preparedness in the Department for Finnish Ministry of the Interior. He has ca. 20 years of experience in the fields of civil protection, civil defence and civil emergency preparedness. His unit is responsible is responsible for national civil defence preparedness planning and the operational steering of preparedness activities of rescue services and national coordination tasks of regional preparedness. Prior to Ministry he worked as a head instructor at the Finnish Emergency Services Academy.
K.Harald Drager
TIEMS President
K. Harald Drager, is the founding member of the worldwide acting society TIEMS (The International Emergency Management Society), which he took the initiative to establish in 1993. He was the International Vice President of TIEMS since its inauguration until 2002, when he took over as TIEMS President, a position he was re-elected in 2022. He has brought in new ideas and new people in TIEMS and succeeded the organization to span worldwide. TIEMS has under his leadership become a well-recognized organization with growing activities in Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, and North America and Latin America and Caribbean. TIEMS has developed to a global well-known organization with local chapters in 16 regions/countries, and TIEMS arranges each year workshops and conferences all over the world with focus on disaster risk reduction.
Tiina Ristmäe
Research executive
Tiina Ristmäe is a civil protection expert working for German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW). She is responsible for international research projects acquisition in the THW Research Unit and is coordinating an EU-Team to successfully participate in international research activities. Tiina Ristmäe is experienced research project coordinator, the EU research project CURSOR was recently successfully finalised under her leadership. From September 2023 she is the coordinator of the EU research project SYNERGISE. Both of these projects develop innovative rescue and disaster relief technologies for civil protection first responders with the focus on robotics. Starting from 2021 Tiina Ristmäe is the vice-president of the International Forum to Advance First Responder Innovation (IFAFRI). The Forum focuses on the technologies needed to help first responders conduct their missions safely, effectively and efficiently. Ristmäe is a member of the European Commission expert group “Community for European Research and Innovation for Security” (CERIS). Her role is to advise the EC in regard operational capability gaps in the field of civil protection and to contribute to EU security research and innovation activities.
Galina Danilišina
Advisor at Government Office
Galina Danilišina works as an advisor at the Government Office leading and managing the area of the continuity of vital services in the country. She has dealt with the topics of the continuity of vital services and infrastructure protection since 2014. She is the author of the current legal framework for vital services and also the cross-dependency analysis of vital services from 2016.
She has been a visiting lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences since 2017. Earlier she worked at the Ministry of Environment on the topics of public water supply and sewerage as well as the company Aqua Consult Baltic OÜ specialising in water treatment solutions.
Hergo Tasuja
Head of local government Hiiumaa
Hergo Tasuja has held the position since November 2021. Since 2018, he had been the head of the rural municipality of Emmaste. Before taking the position, Hergo had been a teacher. He is trained as a multi-subject teacher. He has been the head of a subdistrict of the youth organisation Young Eagles of the Estonian Defence League for five years and a member of the Defence League for ten years. He is trained as a voluntary rescuer and worked for the NPO Emmaste Tuletõrje Selts.
Maarja Kruusmaa
Professor at Tallinn University of Technology and Chief Scientific Advisor of European Commission
Maarja Kruusmaa is Professor at Tallinn University of Technology and Chief Scientific Advisor of European Commission. She led the preparation of the scientific advisory report for the European Commission on strategic crisis management in the EU.
Margo Klaos
Director General of the Rescue Board
Margo Klaos is the Director General of the Estonian Rescue Board. He graduated cum laude from the Rescue College of the Academy of Security Sciences, obtained his Master’s degree in administrative management at Tallinn University of Technology and is currently doing his PhD in sociology at Tartu University. Before taking the position of Director General, Klaos worked on several managerial positions at the Rescue Board and was also the head of civil protection task force at the Government Office. He has been awarded, for instance, the Order of Merit of the Estonian Red Cross, Third Class, Gold Cross of the Rescue Service, Gold Cross of the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences and the Order of Merit of the Finnish Association of Fire Chiefs.
Marti Lung
Head of Development of the IT and Development Centre of the Estonian Ministry of the Interior (SMIT)
Marti Lung has long-term IT management experience from TalTech, Swedbank and Telia. At the university, he led the digital tool upgrading process, in Swedbank he established the network for Baltic and Swedish project managers and in Telia he led the makeover of EMT and Elion brands. At SMIT, he is responsible for the management of the high-priority IT-projects and development of systems for the Police and Border Guard Board, Rescue Board and Emergency Dispatch Centre. Marti considers it important to focus on service design, user experience as well as agile development process when developing services. He holds a Master’s degree in computer systems engineering from TalTech.
Mihkel Toomas Välimäe
Product Owner at the rescue and emergency services department of the IT and Development Centre at the Estonian Ministry of the Interior (SMIT)
At SMIT, Mihkel Toomas’s daily tasks include the creation and administration of the IT systems used for the operational work. These are IT solutions that shorten the response time, bring the necessary real-time information to rescue and ambulance services and help to save lives and property. In addition to their focus on the end-user, they concentrate on automatization of tasks, thus freeing up the time of the workers in the field. He has worked on the development of IT systems in both public and private sectors for more than ten years and he holds a BA degree in computer systems from TalTech.
Mati Raidma
Member of Parliament
Mati Raidma is a member of the current parliament. He has been the Director General of the Rescue Board and worked on managerial positions at Rescue Board and Fire Department. He graduated from Leningrad Fire Service Technology School and Moscow Higher Fire Service Technology School as a fire technology and fire safety engineer. He is a former member of the Council of Elders of the Defence League and a member of the Estonian Reserve Officers’ Association. He has been a member of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team and an alternate council member of the UN Central Emergency Response Fund. He has been awarded the Order of the Cross of the Eagle, Third Class.
