Kaarel Robert Pusta

Kaarel Robert Pusta (born February 18 ^July / March 1,  1888 ^greg. In Narva , † May 4, 1964 in Madrid ) was an Estonian lawyer , diplomat and politician . He was Foreign Minister of the Republic of Estonia in 1920 and 1924/25.

Youth and Exile

Kaarel Robert Pusta became involved early on against the rule of Nicholas II in Russia . He belonged to the circle around Mikhail Kalinin . Pusta was arrested in 1903, but then released. In 1904 he fled into exile. Stays in Germany , France and Switzerland followed . He used the time in Paris and Bern for his studies.

In 1906 he went back to his homeland and worked as a journalist. From 1906 to 1908 he was editor of the newspaper Virulane , from 1910 to 1914 he was employed in the editorial office of Päevaleht . From 1915 to 1917 he took part in the First World War as a war officer.

diplomacy

With the proclamation of the Republic of Estonia , the diplomatic career of the polyglot Pusta began. In 1918/19 he was one of the foreign policy pioneers for the recognition of the new state by France and Belgium . In 1919 he took part in the Paris Peace Conference. From 1919 Pusta was the Estonian envoy to France (and Belgium). From 1921 to 1923 he was the Estonian envoy in Rome .

He represented Estonia in the League of Nations Assembly and in the League of Nations Council. In 1923 he was Vice President of the League of Nations Assembly.

Other top diplomatic posts led Pusta as envoy to Spain (1928–1932), Poland (1932–1934, double-accredited for Romania and Czechoslovakia ) and Sweden (1935, double-accredited for Denmark and Norway ).

Kaarel Robert Pusta was the founder of the Pan-European Movement in Estonia. He was one of the most outstanding and internationally recognized international lawyers in his country. Pusta was a founding member of the International Diplomatic Academy and a lifetime member of the Hague Academy of International Law .

politics

In 1920, the non-party Pusta was Estonian foreign minister for three days in the short-lived cabinet of head of state and government, Ado Birk .

From December 1924 to October 1925 there was another term of office as Foreign Minister in the cabinet of Jüri Jaakson .

arrest

After alleged plans to overthrow the banned right-wing extremist " Union of Freedom Fighters ", the Estonian government called Pusta back from his diplomatic post in Sweden in December 1935. She suspected him (arguably wrongly) of having had connections with the alleged putschists.

Pusta was in custody until 1936, but was acquitted in court. Pusta left Estonia and lived in Paris . He was employed as a consultant at the Estonian embassy there.

With the German occupation of Paris on July 14, 1940 and the Soviet occupation of Estonia on June 17, 1940, Pusta decided to live in exile in Spain. He is buried in Madrid.

Publications (selection)

• L'idée de l'union européenne devant les gouvernements et la Société des Nations (1931)
• The problem of the Baltics (1934)
• The Statut juridique de la Mer Baltique à partir de XIX siècle (1936)
• Kehra metsast maailma (memories, 1936)
• Saadiku päevik (Memories, 1964)
• Kirjad kinnisest majast (posthumous, 1966)

literature

• Eesti elulood. Tallinn: Eesti entsüklopeediakirjastus 2000 (= Eesti entsüklopeedia 14) ISBN 9985-70-064-3 , p. 384

Web links

• Välisministeerium (Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs): Kaarel Robert Pusta. Retrieved June 27, 2019 (Estonian, biography).