Igor Gräzin

Igor Gräzin
Igor Gräzin
	Igor Gräzin in 2011
Member of the Tallinn City Council
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; November 2021
Member of the European Parliament
	In office; 5 September 2018 – 1 July 2019
Member of the Riigikogu
	In office; 12 April 2005 – 5 September 2018
	In office; 11 March 1995 – 13 March 1999
Member of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union
	In office; 1989–1991
Personal details
Born	June 27, 1952 (age 71); Tartu, Estonia
Citizenship	Estonia
Political party	Independent (1990-1991, 2019-2022, 2024-present)
Other political; affiliations	Estonian Communist Party (1975-1990); Republican Party (US) (1991-2002); Reform Party (Estonia) (1994-2019); Centre Party (Estonia) (2022-2024)

Igor Gräzin (born 27 June 1952 in Tartu) is an Estonian politician, long-time member of Riigikogu and former Member of the European Parliament. He was a member of the Reform Party until 2019, and joined the Centre Party in 2022, which he left in 2024.

In addition to his political activities, Gräzin is a senior partner of the Tartu-based law firm Bachman and Partners and lectures in Tallinn School of Economics. Acted as defense attorney in renowned "Hiiu air-crash case" (2004-2011) with K. Bachmann.

Career[edit]

Till 1989, a professor of law at the Tartu State University, then elected to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (was a candidate of the Popular Front of Estonia). After the dissolution of the Soviet Union he taught at the University of Notre Dame in the United States till 2000, after that at the University Nord in Tallinn (as the Dean of the Law School and the Vice President). Served as research fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington D.C. Written academic papers on philosophy of law, theory of legal interpretation, macroeconomics. Latest research: in area of legal semiotics and structural semiotics of visual arts. Written essays legal mythology (especially - on Franz Kafka), political philosophy, political psychiatry ("Politics as Depression and Suicidal Mania").

Political views[edit]

"Gräzin initiative" is his proposal to restore the withdrawn Estonian Maritime border in its post-war configuration (as it stood till 1993) and thus gain to Estonia influence within the Nord Stream 1 project (gas pipeline between Russia and Germany routed through the Gulf of Finland). Politically: strong proponent of unified and integrated energy policy in European Union.

He opposed the decision to sentence Saddam Hussein to death without a jury.^[1]

An Eurosceptic, he was a dissenting voice in the strongly pro-EU Reform Party. He was the only member of Riigikogu to vote against ratifying the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe.^[2]

He supports abolishing the Estonian presidency and replacing it with a bicameral legislature with 80 members in the lower house and 40 in the upper house.^[3]

Personal life[edit]

Gräzin cooperates with the Russian author Viktor Suvorov.

Co-anchor of a weekly political TV-show, freelance political columnist. 1991-2002 he was a member of the Republican Party of the US (he was a lecturer in the US at times). He is functionally trilingual in Estonian, English, and Russian.

References[edit]

^ "Kättemaks Iraagi moodi". www.ohtuleht.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 2024-04-02.
^ Hääletustulemused
^ "IGOR GRÄZIN ⟩ Kaotame presidendi ja loome riigikogusse senati ning alamkoja". Arvamus (in Estonian). 2023-08-08. Retrieved 2024-04-02.

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[1] "Kättemaks Iraagi moodi". www.ohtuleht.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 2024-04-02.

[2] Hääletustulemused

[3] "IGOR GRÄZIN ⟩ Kaotame presidendi ja loome riigikogusse senati ning alamkoja". Arvamus (in Estonian). 2023-08-08. Retrieved 2024-04-02.

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