Ilves sworn in as Estonian president

Toomas Hendrik Ilves was sworn in as Estonia's new president on Monday for a five-year term.

At the inauguration ceremony held in Estonia's parliament, Ilves said that in the next five years, his top priority will be to build the country into one ruled by its people, rather than by a minority.

Ilves, 52, defeated outgoing President Arnold Ruutel in an electoral college vote on Sept. 23. Estonia's president is largely a figurehead post.

Born in Sweden to Estonian parents and raised in the United States, Ilves graduated from Colombia University and Pennsylvania University. He gave up his U.S. citizenship and entered into politics in Estonia in the early 1990s.

Ilves has served as Estonia's foreign minister twice before being elected a member of the European Parliament in 2004.

Source: Xinhua