Estonia's new government led by Prime Minister Andrus Ansip was sworn in this month in the nation's parliament. The government will consist of Ansip's Reform Party, the IRL union and the Social Democrat party. The three parties plan to continue market-friendly policies in the country of 1.3 million inhabitants. Mr. Tõnis Lukas was appointed Minister of Education, a position he has served before during Prime Minister Mart Laar's cabinet from March 1999 until January 2002. The highlight of his public career are: the transfer of the Ministry of Education from Tallinn to Tartu, justified as a decentralisation of power, fostering regional development and the signature of the Bolognia Process Declaration. New Minister Tõnis Lukas is a member of the Estonian Vocational Education Promotion Union, Society of Friends of Estonian National Museum, Estonian Heritage Society and Learned Estonian Society. He is as well an author of several textbooks on history. Estonian Ministry of Education