Kaja Kallas: Able to turn defeats into victories

Former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas: The High Representative's Controversial Past EU on foreign policy.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas to Become New Head of European Diplomacywrites The Bell. Having headed the Estonian government a year before the war, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine she became a fierce supporter of Kyiv and an implacable opponent of Moscow.

Since Russia's annexation of Crimea, Kallas has taken an active pro-Ukrainian stance, and after the full-scale invasion, Estonia has become Ukraine's largest donor in terms of aid to its own GDP, spending just over 1% of its own GDP on military aid.

The question of Kallas' support for Ukraine in the current situation is not accidental and even to some extent personal: in the late 1940s, after the Soviet annexation of Estonia, Callas' mother's family survived deportation to Krasnoyarsk.

However, in the Russian-speaking community, the Estonian Prime Minister is remembered more for her resistance to Russian military aggression than for her calls to ban the issuance of visas to Russians and a corruption scandal.

In August 2022, Kaja Kallas wrote on Twitter:

“Stop issuing tourist visas to Russians. Visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right.”

Estonia has refused to allow Russians into the country on previously issued Schengen visas, and has also stopped issuing study visas to Russians and hiring Russian citizens with residence permits from other Eurozone countries. These actions were widely covered in the Russian media, and in 2023 the scandal erupted with renewed vigor, but even in the face of it, Callas refused to resign.

As it turned out, The Prime Minister's husband, Arvo Hallik, is a co-owner of Stark Logistics, which did not stop doing business with the Russian Federation and earned 1.5 million euros on shipments to Russia during the war. At the same time, Kallas repeatedly called for breaking economic ties with Moscow, primarily meaning the purchase of Russian gas. She said:

“To stop the Kremlin's war machine, cutting off energy revenues is key, as it is the Putin regime's biggest source of income.”

And it’s high time to recall some of the Estonian Prime Minister’s loud statements:

About the Russian-speaking population of Estonia: “I understand, because I have met with the Russian-speaking community, that they hear our statements that the Russians did this and that, as if it concerns them, but it does not. It is about Russia, which is currently committing terrible crimes.”

About war: “It is often forgotten that Russia's war in Ukraine is a war for people, not just land. Russia's goal is to systematically destroy Ukraine's identity and culture.”

On punishment for Russia: “If Russia remains unpunished, its crimes will be repeated. The Russian leadership must be held accountable for the most serious crimes committed in Ukraine, including the crime of aggression. Estonia will continue to seek the establishment of a special tribunal.”

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