She is wanted by Russian police for “destroying hundreds of monuments to Soviet WWII soldiers” in Estonia. “This is just the beginning. Crimes against the memory of the world’s liberators from Nazism and fascism must be prosecuted”, warns Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
The reason why Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, 47, chosen by the 27 EU leaders as High Commissioner for Foreign Policy, replaced Spaniard Josep Borrell.
Kaya Callas responded that Moscow’s decision to put her on the wanted list is proof that it is “doing the right thing” and added that it will continue to guarantee its “strong support for Ukraine” and fight to “strengthen the defense from Europe”.
Kalla was even mentioned for the post of NATO Secretary General due to his tough stance towards Moscow. However, there was considerable scepticism among some members of the Alliance, who believed the 47-year-old would be too hard-line towards Russia.
“He eats Russians for breakfast”
The website Politico even reported, citing unnamed EU sources, in March that Callas “eats Russians for breakfast.” The Estonian prime minister, in a post on X, jokingly responded to “dear Politico readers, her real breakfast is: muesli with blueberries and a pot of… tea.”
Born in Tallinn, Estonia, in the former Soviet Union, Kaya Kallas grew up in a family linked to Estonian nationalism and deeply marked by the traumas of Stalinism. Her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother were displaced to Siberia in the 1940s. Her great-grandfather was one of the founders of the Republic of Estonia in 1918, and her father, after the collapse of the USSR, was the prime minister she led. Estonia in NATO.
A lawyer specialising in competition and EU law, Kallas joined the liberal Reform Party in 2010. In January 2021, after spending four years as an MEP, she became Estonia’s first female prime minister. A staunch pro-European and anti-Russian figure, Callas has been a heavyweight in Brussels since the start of the war in Ukraine.
“Shadow War”
Callas insists that Russia is fighting a “parallel war” with the West and categorically rejects any negotiated end to the war that involves ceding territory to Moscow in exchange for peace. “If Russia does not suffer a clear defeat in Ukraine, it will attack another Eastern European country in the coming years,” says the new head of European diplomacy.
The 294 kilometers that separate Russia and Estonia on the border largely explain why Kallas is one of the EU’s anti-Putin hawks, emphasize European diplomats in “N”.
After all, under Kallas, despite serious economic problems, Estonia doubled its defense spending, provided – proportionately – the most aid to Ukraine and accepted the largest number of refugees, relative to its population (1.3 million of inhabitants).
“The Iron Lady”
Callas is considered the “Iron Lady” in her homeland. But her reputation has suffered because her husband, an investment banker, continued to do business with Russia after Putin invaded Ukraine. In fact, in the last European elections, Callas’s party lost one of its two seats in the European Parliament. Her reformist party came in third, its worst showing since 2009. And in that respect, her new role in Brussels has come at just the right time.
As Giulio Sapelli, professor emeritus of Economic History at the University of Milan, says, Callas’ emergence as a representative of the Foreign Policy of the 27, “objectively signals a change of pace, we are heading towards an escalation of the conflict with Moscow”. As Kallas states, “to avoid World War III, Russia must lose.” This provoked a negative reaction from some leaders, including Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who asked him for “restraint”, adding: “You cannot talk happily about Third World Wars”.