The attempts of the past decade to remake people, to prescribe how they should live, think, feel or speak have inevitably undermined mutual trust. We have learned that lesson. Now we must rebuild trust, Ülle Madise said in her first speech as president.

On Wednesday, Estonia's parliament elected 51-year-old lawyer and longtime Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise as the new president of the Republic of Estonia. The public, however, knows relatively little about the new head of state and her views on life in Estonia.