Indrek Saar (born February 20, 1973) is an Estonian actor and politician. He has been the leader of the Social Democratic Party from 2019 to 2022 and the Minister of Culture of Estonia from 2015 to 2019.
Saar has been elected to the Estonian parliament Riigikogu at four consecutive general elections in 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019 and has been a member of the XI, XII, XIII and XIV Riigikogu from 2007 to 2023.
Saar attended secondary school in Kuressaare and graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music and Higher Drama (now, the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre) in Tallinn. He was an actor and director of the Rakvere Theatre from 1996 until 2005. From 2002 until 2007, he was Deputy Chairman of Rakvere City Council. In 2004 and 2005, he was a theatre director and advisor at the NO99 theatre and from 2006 to 2007, he was a chief executive officer at the NO99 theatre.
According to Saar, his decision to enter national politics was spurred by the suggestion by the then leader of the People's Union of Estonia party, Villu Reiljan that "people of the arts remain true to their trade" in response to 80 renowned Estonian writers, composers, actors, artists and scientists endorsing Toomas Hendrik Ilves for the office of President of Estonia in 2006.
As the Estonian minister of culture, Saar led a substantial rise in the wages of state-employed culture and arts professionals and sports instructors as well as a general overhaul of the principles of funding sports. He also presided the sessions of culture ministers in the Council of the European Union, achieving significant progress in the negotiations over the Audiovisual Media Services Directive.
As a member of parliament, Saar has been the chair and vice chair of the Social Democratic parliamentary group as well as the deputy chair of the constitutional committee and a member of the legal affairs committee and the European Union affairs committee.
Saar has been a representative in the Estonian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) between 2007 and 2023, having served as the chairperson of the national delegation, the chairperson of the Committee on Rules of Procedure as well as the vice-chairperson of the Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group. Saar has participated in election monitoring missions in Moldova (as the leader of the delegation), Albania, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine as well as Russia and has been co-rapporteur of the PACE for the monitoring of Serbia. Saar has worked in several PACE committees: the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, the Monitoring Committee the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee, the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media as well as the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination.
From 1995 until 2015, Indrek Saar played the role of Raim Raidver on the long-running ETV television drama series Õnne 13.
Background
Early life and education
Indrek Saar was born in Kuressaare, the administrative centre of the Saaremaa island. His father Jüri Saar has served as the County Governor of Saaremaa as well as the mayor of the rural municipalities of Pihtla and Kihelkonna and was a member of the Estonian parliament from 2003 to 2007.
Saar graduated from Kuressaare Secondary School No. 2 in 1991 and studied as an exchange student in Rønne, Denmark. He received a master's degree in acting from the theatre faculty of the Estonian Academy of Music in 1996. Saar speaks Estonian, English, Danish and Russian, with a limited proficiency in German and French.
Early career
From 1996 to 2005, Indrek Saar was the director of Rakvere Theatre (from 2005, manager of the foundation Rakvere Teatrimaja). In 2004 and 2005, he served as an adviser at Vanalinnastuudio/Theatre NO99, becoming the chief executive officer of Theatre NO99 from 2006 to 2007.
Indrek Saar has served as the member of the supervisory boards of the Estonian public broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling, Rakvere Theatre, Theatre NO99, the Estonian National Opera, the Estonian Academy of Arts and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia. He is a member of the Association of Professional Actors of Estonia and of the Estonian Stage Fight Society.
Since 2020, Saar has been a member of the executive board of the Estonian Olympic Committee.
Family
Saar is married to actress Ülle Lichtfeldt. The couple have two daughters and two grandchildren.