[3] According to Saar, his decision to enter national politics was spurred by the suggestion by the then leader of the People's Union of Estonia party, Villu Reiljan that "people of the arts remain true to their trade" in response to 80 renowned Estonian writers, composers, actors, artists and scientists endorsing Toomas Hendrik Ilves for the office of President of Estonia in 2006.

He also presided the sessions of culture ministers in the Council of the European Union, achieving significant progress in the negotiations over the Audiovisual Media Services Directive.

[9] From 1995 until 2015, Indrek Saar played the role of Raim Raidver on the long-running ETV television drama series Õnne 13.

His father Jüri Saar has served as the County Governor of Saaremaa as well as the mayor of the rural municipalities of Pihtla and Kihelkonna and was a member of the Estonian parliament from 2003 to 2007.

Saar speaks Estonian, English, Danish and Russian, with a limited proficiency in German and French.

[19] As deputy chairman of the Social Democratic Party from 2009, Indrek Saar was involved in merger talks with the People's Union of Estonia.

[23] Social Democrats became mayors in Kuressaare, Paide, Põltsamaa, Valga as well as Võru; after a years-long hiatus, the party became one partner of the governing coalition in Tartu, the second city of Estonia.

[24] At the elections to the European Parliament in 2014, the party received 13.6 per cent of the vote and one of the six seats reserved for Estonia.

According to Saar, the changes were meant to "strengthen the rule of law, the cohesion of the society and the loyalty of the people to the state" without undermining the prior principles of Estonian citizenship policy.

[26] The coalition also passed the Registered Partnership Act[27] allowing civil unions for same-sex couples.

[28][29][30][31] During the Estonian presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2017, Saar presided the meetings of ministers of culture and sports of the EU member states (the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council configuration), achieving notable progress in the negotiations on the draft Audiovisual Media Services Directive (adopted in 2018).