The US Senate has confirmed the Estonian-born US lawyer, Roman Pipko, as the new ambassador to Estonia; president Donald Trump nominated him in January 2025.
Pipko was confirmed on 8 October when 51 senators voted yea and 47 nay.
“Congratulations to Roman Pipko on his Senate confirmation to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Estonia,” the US embassy said in a Facebook post.
“The U.S. Embassy in Tallinn looks forward to welcoming you and working together on President Donald J. Trump’s agenda to make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous while strengthening our longstanding partnership and alliance with Estonia,” it added.
When Trump nominated the new ambassador in January, he said Pipko had extensive experience in dealing with foreign governments, having represented US interests in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Russian American Enterprise Fund.
Estonia “a megaphone for American requests”
Pipko was born in Estonia in 1960 and lived in the country until 1981 when he emigrated to the United States with his mother. “As a legal immigrant, he has lived the promise of America, and I trust that he will advance American interests in his new role,” Trump wrote in January.
Garry Kasparov, a former world chess champion and an activist, has said that “the next U.S. ambassador to Estonia, Estonian-born Roman Pipko, deserves attention, especially for his remarkable Jewish mother, Simona Pipko, who was a prominent defense attorney in the USSR in political cases and has staunch anti-authoritarian credentials. Remarkable.”
During his nomination hearing in the Senate in June, Pipko said that “Estonia not only committed its own resources to defense spending, but it has also been a clear voice within NATO in supporting the American call for increased spending. In fact, some people have called Estonia a megaphone for American requests. In light of recent demands by Russia, it seems to me that most members of NATO now understand that the very mission of NATO is now being questioned by Russia.”
