As of: March 29, 2024, 2:06 p.m
By: Christiane Kühl
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Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas warned against Russia when hardly anyone wanted to hear it. It is now shaping the debate. But the intrepid politician will not become NATO Secretary General.
Kaja Kallas was briefly considered Jens Stoltenberg's successor at the head of NATO. Estonia's Prime Minister is also frequently discussed as the future EU chief diplomat. But there is great skepticism among some who believe the 46-year-old is too bold and too hostile towards Russia. Kallas at the head of NATO or EU foreign policy is “delicate” for many capitals, the US news platform
Politico Europe
quoted anonymous EU sources as saying. Do you really want someone who “eats Russians for breakfast” for such positions? Kaja Kallas responded promptly and showed the “dear
Politico Europe
readers” on X her real breakfast: muesli with blueberries and a pot of tea.
It has long been clear to Kallas that she won't get the NATO job. Shortly before Easter, in an interview with Estonian television, she diplomatically supported Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as Stoltenberg's successor - but also his competitor, Romania's President Klaus Iohannis, who entered the race late. The candidate must be able to persuade all allies to spend at least two percent of their economic output (GDP) on security, she emphasized. “Someone from a country that actually does this is more credible than someone from a country that doesn’t” – a small swipe at the favorite Rutte: The Netherlands currently only spends around 1.64 percent of GDP on defense . In Estonia this year it is 3.2 percent. In the interview, Kallas also brought top Estonian officials into play for the post of deputy secretary general. Because there must be a geographical balance between East and West.
Kallas as the voice of the Eastern Europeans in NATO
Kallas and other Eastern Europeans don't just want equal presence at the NATO table for reasons of fairness. Due to their geographical proximity to Russia, they also have a different perception of the danger posed by Moscow - and they persistently promote their view. Above all, Kaja Kallas: She wants to admit Ukraine into NATO. In terms of GDP, Estonia is the world's largest civilian and military supporter of Ukraine. The Estonian secret service recently warned in its annual security report of a massive Russian troop buildup along the border with the Baltic states and new NATO member Finland. No other secret service makes such reports public.
Popular interlocutor at the EU summit in Brussels: Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas is not afraid of Putin. © JOHN THYS/AFP
A month ago, Moscow put Kaja Kallas on a wanted list - officially because she had Soviet monuments removed in Estonia. If that scares her, she doesn't show it. “Fear is a trap that Putin has set against all of us in the free world. “Threats from the Russian leadership and images of nuclear explosions on Russian state television are intended to frighten our peoples and influence our decisions,” she said in a much-noticed speech at the Matthiae Mahl in Hamburg, which has been a friend of the Hanseatic people every February 24th since the 14th century Invite powers. For two years now, this has also been the day of the Russian attack on Ukraine.
Kaja Kallas shapes the EU's Ukraine debates
Kallas called on the participants of the elegant traditional dinner, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, to provide quick help for Kiev, such as the delivery of ammunition. Ukraine needs these more urgently than long-term commitments: “Together we can help Ukraine win this war. We have the resources, the economic power, the expertise. Our strength is greater than Russia's. We shouldn’t be afraid of our own power.” She rarely shys away from the clear word. During her recent visit to Scholz in Berlin, in response to a question about SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich's mind games about freezing the war in Ukraine, she said: "In a world full of violence, pacifism would be suicide - to put it simply."
Before the Ukraine war, some Western European politicians found the warning from the northeast too strenuous. Many people ignored their warnings. But now people are listening to her. “As Estonia's warnings about Russian aggression turned out to be correct, Estonia gained credibility in European debates and decision-making processes,” says Kristi Raik, deputy director of the International Center for Defense and Security in Tallinn. “Estonia helped shape the narrative, set the agenda and orchestrated EU policy in response to the war.” Even though Estonia is a tiny country. Kallas himself, in particular, was constantly in the spotlight, said Raik.
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Kallas, for example, came up with the proposal, which has now been specifically discussed, for the EU to jointly procure ammunition for Ukraine. On the sidelines of the EU summit in Brussels in mid-March, she emphasized that the Ramstein coalition - which includes the 31 NATO member states and 23 other allies of Ukraine such as Australia, Japan and South Korea - would be stronger than Russia if every member of Ukraine had 0, provide 25 percent of its GDP as military aid. Chancellor Scholz welcomed the push for the summit.