Karis was born in Tartu on 26 March 1958.[3][4] His father was the botanist Harry Karis (1930–2018)[5] and his mother Virve Karis (1929–2020), an agriculture specialist in animal nutrition.[6] He grew up with his mother and grandmother Vilhelmine after his parents divorced in 1960.[7] He graduated from the Estonian Agricultural Academy in 1981. In 1999, he became a professor at the University of Tartu.[4]
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In August 2021, he was approached by the president of the RiigikoguJüri Ratas with a prospect of nomination for the post of president of Estonia in the upcoming autumn election.[9] He accepted the nomination[10] and his candidacy was subsequently endorsed by both coalition parties, the Reform Party[11] and the Centre Party.[12] On 31 August 2021, Karis was elected as the president of Estonia with a two thirds majority of 72 votes in the Riigikogu.[2][13] He assumed the office on 11 October 2021.[2]
The election received criticism and calls for electoral reform due to the absence of opposing candidates.[14][15][16] In his acceptance speech Karis referenced the "turmoil that surrounded the presidential selection process" and called for changes of the system to be examined by the Riigikogu, such as using an enlarged electoral college, facilitating the nomination of candidates or even using direct election. He promised to be a balancer and a mediator during his presidential term.[17]
Karis on several occasions has used his right not to promulgate laws passed by the parliament. In December 2023 Karis refused to promulgate a law due to finding that the rules of proceedings were violated by the government by tying the bill to confidence vote. Karis found in his decision that all-out obstruction in the Riigikogu, that may render the parliament unable to work, does not give the government the right to keep tying all bills to confidence votes and therefore pushing them through the parliament.[20] The Riigikogu however adopted the bill unchanged, Karis refused to promulgate the second time and sent the bill to the Supreme Court.[21] Supreme Court sided with Karis.[22]
In July 2024 Karis did not proclaim the Vehicle Tax Act finding it to be unconstitutional in violating the principle of equal treatment in the part that deals with persons with disabilities.[23] He approved it when the law was amended by the parliament.[24]
Personal life
He has been married to Sirje Karis (née Jädal) since 1977, with whom he has 3 children and 5 grandchildren.[25] Besides Estonian, Karis is fluent in English and Russian. Although he is fluent in Russian, he has admitted that it needs some practice since he has not had to speak the language in a long time.[26]