Kaja Kallas’s mother was just six months old when Soviet Union guards loaded her onto a cattle car and deported her to a prison camp in Siberia. She would not return home to Estonia until she was ten years old.
Today, her daughter is the prime minister of Estonia and Europe’s strongest voice against any appeasement of Vladimir Putin, who she calls a “terrorist” and a “criminal” who must face justice for war crimes in international courts.
She was the first leader to congratulate Ukraine on the destruction of a key bridge linking Russian and the annexed region of Crimea on Saturday and did so even though Kyiv had not claimed responsibility for the strike.
“Ukraine must win this war,” Ms Kallas told The Telegraph in Prague, Czech Republic during a European summit where she renewed her demands for more sanctions on Moscow and more weapons for Kyiv
No other country in the world has sent more military equipment to Ukraine as a proportion of GDP per capita than Estonia – a small Baltic nation of just 1.3m people, that borders Russia and only emerged from behind the Iron Curtain to independence in 1991.
Estonia was also one of the few nations to send arms to Kyiv before Putin’s illegal invasion on February 24.
It is for good reason that Estonia’s first female prime minister, who calls cold warrior Margaret Thatcher “an inspiration”, has been dubbed Europe’s new “iron lady”.
She has warned Russians fleeing Putin’s draft in Ukraine that Estonia will reject their claims for asylum. Instead, they should stay home and topple their president, she says.
She wants the EU to ban Russian tourists and Ukraine to be given Nato membership. She is ploughing investment into Estonia’s army and for more weapons for Kyiv.
Ms Kallas, a 45-year-old mother of three, stood out in her blue dress among the gathering of 44 of Europe’s, mostly male, biggest political beasts for the first-ever European Political Community meeting in Prague on Thursday.
“Russia is terrorising us so that we will back away from our decisions,” she said, referring to Putin’s threats of nuclear war.
“When it comes to Putin then, of course he is a war criminal and must be prosecuted for the crimes of aggression he has committed,” she said in the immaculate gardens of Prague Castle during a break in the talks.
“And you shouldn’t be negotiating with terrorists because it pays off for them. We will pay a higher price in the long term.”
Ms Kallas had criticised France and Germany for pressing for an early peace deal earlier in the conflict.
She admits she is still “worried” that Ukraine could be pushed into “some premature peace that they are not really ready to go into” by Western allies.
The West had a “very different understanding” of what peace can mean to the former Iron Curtain countries, she said.
“For half of Europe, the end of the Second World War meant peace, meant prosperity,” she said, “On the other side of Europe, peace meant atrocities, torture and mass deportations.”
As of August, Estonia has sent €250 million (£220 million) in military aid, including Javelin anti-tank missiles, howitzers, anti-tank mines, grenade launchers, ammunition and vehicles to Kyiv.
Ms Kallas said: “It is clear that Ukraine is dependent on our help. We are here in a small country of 1.3 million and looking to our warehouses – what more can we send?
“I believe that the bigger countries, that have much bigger warehouses, can also find something that they can give because the only way to stop this war is for Ukraine to win.”
“The dictator only understands strength,” she said, “These are the lessons we have learned from our history and what we are seeing unfolding right now.”
Ms Kallas – whose first name means “echo” – is keenly aware of Estonia’s painful past of Russian oppression which lasted until 1991 after it was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940.
The Soviet Union ordered two mass deportations in 1941 and 1949 when Ms Kallas’ mother Kristi was deported with her mother and grandparents. At the same time, Russians were imported to Estonia.
In 1922, the Russian percentage of the population in Estonia was 2.6 per cent. By the end of the occupation in 1991, it was more than 30 per cent.
“Every family in Estonia has a similar history,” Ms Kallas said. “The only unique thing about this story is that all my family members actually survived and were returned to Estonia.”
Ms Kallas has told Russia’s fleeing conscripts not to come to Estonia in case any increase in the Russian population gives Putin a pretext to invade, despite France and Germany arguing the EU should not rule out giving them refuge.
Who? I thought Truss was the new Iron Lady.
I like this woman, a lot. Speaks sense and understands how to deal with low iq cretins like Putin.
Yeah you wouldn’t want a war with Russia or something to happen …
Edit : was the /s really necessary?
From the article:
“Ms Kallas, a 45-year-old mother of three, stood out in her blue dress among the gathering of 44 of Europe’s, mostly male, biggest political beasts for the first-ever European Political Community meeting in Prague on Thursday.
“**Russia is terrorising us so that we will back away from our decisions**,” she said, referring to Putin’s threats of nuclear war.
“**When it comes to Putin then, of course he is a war criminal and must be prosecuted for the crimes of aggression he has committed**,” she said in the immaculate gardens of Prague Castle during a break in the talks.
“**And you all shouldn’t be negotiating with terrorists because it pays off for them. We will pay a higher price in the long term**.”
“**For half of Europe, the end of the Second World War meant peace, meant prosperity**,” she said, “**On the other side of Europe, peace meant atrocities, torture and mass deportations**.”
As of August, **Estonia has sent €250 million (£220 million) in military aid, including Javelin anti-tank missiles, howitzers, anti-tank mines, grenade launchers, ammunition and vehicles to Kyiv.**
“**I believe that the bigger countries, that have much bigger warehouses, can also find something that they can send because the only way to stop this war is for Ukraine to win**.”
“**Dictators only understands strength**,” she said, “These are the lessons we have learned from our history and what we are seeing unfolding right now.”
**Kaja Kallas’s mother was just six months old when Soviet Union guards loaded her onto a cattle car and** **deported her to a prison camp in Siberia**. She would not return home to Estonia until she was ten years old.”
She IS 100% RIGHT. Why are European Countries still scared of going further against Putin? If he is not stopped he will just keep going and commit more deranged actions (we have already seen Bucha and the common mass-graves).
Scared of him using the nuke and starting a huge mess? Come on, get real, as soon as he dares say the word nuke, his Kremlin Inner Circle won’t hesitate killing him, even they have expressed they are sick of the bloated old lunatic.
I’d say we should always have an open channel for negotiations: under the supposition that the only acceptable outcome is a full retreat of Russias troops from Ukraine territory (including Crimea) and Russia paying reparations to Ukraine and pay for everything they destroyed.
This being The Telegraph they had of course to try to make Kaja Kallas’ merit somehow rub some shine in the image of a broadly disliked English Tory.
I somehow suspect that Kaja Kallas isn’t aiming to destroy Estonian Industry and Labour Unions or betting the future of her country on its success as Money Laundering center and I’m pretty sure her hard reaction to a Russian invasion of Ukraine isn’t the same kind of that as how Thatcher went to war to shore-up support at home in the face of electoral defeat.
Man, that is a poor comparison. Telegraph is trolling
Dude if you want to start a war just do it already pls stop being cringe
She is right. Why should the West negotiate with Putin? What problems between the West and Putin would be discussed? Putin should negotiate with Ukraine, and if the negotiations lead to the correct results, then most problems between the West and Putin, if any, would resolve by themselves.
President of a country of less than 1.3 M, no army and 30% of its population is ethically Russian with no passport.
Complaining every 2 weeks because 2 carriers of the US navy are not permanently attached to Talinn harbour. Or because we are not preventively sacrificing London, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, New York, , Washington to nuke St Petersburg and Moscow to save Talinn.
Interesting.
To “be” the iron lady you need to fight for your people in the domestic conflict against terrorists and at sea against invaders who want to take small off shore islands
12 comments
Kaja Kallas’s mother was just six months old when Soviet Union guards loaded her onto a cattle car and deported her to a prison camp in Siberia. She would not return home to Estonia until she was ten years old.
Today, her daughter is the prime minister of Estonia and Europe’s strongest voice against any appeasement of Vladimir Putin, who she calls a “terrorist” and a “criminal” who must face justice for war crimes in international courts.
She was the first leader to congratulate Ukraine on the destruction of a key bridge linking Russian and the annexed region of Crimea on Saturday and did so even though Kyiv had not claimed responsibility for the strike.
“Ukraine must win this war,” Ms Kallas told The Telegraph in Prague, Czech Republic during a European summit where she renewed her demands for more sanctions on Moscow and more weapons for Kyiv
No other country in the world has sent more military equipment to Ukraine as a proportion of GDP per capita than Estonia – a small Baltic nation of just 1.3m people, that borders Russia and only emerged from behind the Iron Curtain to independence in 1991.
Estonia was also one of the few nations to send arms to Kyiv before Putin’s illegal invasion on February 24.
It is for good reason that Estonia’s first female prime minister, who calls cold warrior Margaret Thatcher “an inspiration”, has been dubbed Europe’s new “iron lady”.
She has warned Russians fleeing Putin’s draft in Ukraine that Estonia will reject their claims for asylum. Instead, they should stay home and topple their president, she says.
She wants the EU to ban Russian tourists and Ukraine to be given Nato membership. She is ploughing investment into Estonia’s army and for more weapons for Kyiv.
Ms Kallas, a 45-year-old mother of three, stood out in her blue dress among the gathering of 44 of Europe’s, mostly male, biggest political beasts for the first-ever European Political Community meeting in Prague on Thursday.
“Russia is terrorising us so that we will back away from our decisions,” she said, referring to Putin’s threats of nuclear war.
“When it comes to Putin then, of course he is a war criminal and must be prosecuted for the crimes of aggression he has committed,” she said in the immaculate gardens of Prague Castle during a break in the talks.
“And you shouldn’t be negotiating with terrorists because it pays off for them. We will pay a higher price in the long term.”
Ms Kallas had criticised France and Germany for pressing for an early peace deal earlier in the conflict.
She admits she is still “worried” that Ukraine could be pushed into “some premature peace that they are not really ready to go into” by Western allies.
The West had a “very different understanding” of what peace can mean to the former Iron Curtain countries, she said.
“For half of Europe, the end of the Second World War meant peace, meant prosperity,” she said, “On the other side of Europe, peace meant atrocities, torture and mass deportations.”
As of August, Estonia has sent €250 million (£220 million) in military aid, including Javelin anti-tank missiles, howitzers, anti-tank mines, grenade launchers, ammunition and vehicles to Kyiv.
Ms Kallas said: “It is clear that Ukraine is dependent on our help. We are here in a small country of 1.3 million and looking to our warehouses – what more can we send?
“I believe that the bigger countries, that have much bigger warehouses, can also find something that they can give because the only way to stop this war is for Ukraine to win.”
“The dictator only understands strength,” she said, “These are the lessons we have learned from our history and what we are seeing unfolding right now.”
Ms Kallas – whose first name means “echo” – is keenly aware of Estonia’s painful past of Russian oppression which lasted until 1991 after it was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940.
The Soviet Union ordered two mass deportations in 1941 and 1949 when Ms Kallas’ mother Kristi was deported with her mother and grandparents. At the same time, Russians were imported to Estonia.
In 1922, the Russian percentage of the population in Estonia was 2.6 per cent. By the end of the occupation in 1991, it was more than 30 per cent.
“Every family in Estonia has a similar history,” Ms Kallas said. “The only unique thing about this story is that all my family members actually survived and were returned to Estonia.”
Ms Kallas has told Russia’s fleeing conscripts not to come to Estonia in case any increase in the Russian population gives Putin a pretext to invade, despite France and Germany arguing the EU should not rule out giving them refuge.
Who? I thought Truss was the new Iron Lady.
I like this woman, a lot. Speaks sense and understands how to deal with low iq cretins like Putin.
Yeah you wouldn’t want a war with Russia or something to happen …
Edit : was the /s really necessary?
From the article:
“Ms Kallas, a 45-year-old mother of three, stood out in her blue dress among the gathering of 44 of Europe’s, mostly male, biggest political beasts for the first-ever European Political Community meeting in Prague on Thursday.
“**Russia is terrorising us so that we will back away from our decisions**,” she said, referring to Putin’s threats of nuclear war.
“**When it comes to Putin then, of course he is a war criminal and must be prosecuted for the crimes of aggression he has committed**,” she said in the immaculate gardens of Prague Castle during a break in the talks.
“**And you all shouldn’t be negotiating with terrorists because it pays off for them. We will pay a higher price in the long term**.”
“**For half of Europe, the end of the Second World War meant peace, meant prosperity**,” she said, “**On the other side of Europe, peace meant atrocities, torture and mass deportations**.”
As of August, **Estonia has sent €250 million (£220 million) in military aid, including Javelin anti-tank missiles, howitzers, anti-tank mines, grenade launchers, ammunition and vehicles to Kyiv.**
“**I believe that the bigger countries, that have much bigger warehouses, can also find something that they can send because the only way to stop this war is for Ukraine to win**.”
“**Dictators only understands strength**,” she said, “These are the lessons we have learned from our history and what we are seeing unfolding right now.”
**Kaja Kallas’s mother was just six months old when Soviet Union guards loaded her onto a cattle car and** **deported her to a prison camp in Siberia**. She would not return home to Estonia until she was ten years old.”
She IS 100% RIGHT. Why are European Countries still scared of going further against Putin? If he is not stopped he will just keep going and commit more deranged actions (we have already seen Bucha and the common mass-graves).
Scared of him using the nuke and starting a huge mess? Come on, get real, as soon as he dares say the word nuke, his Kremlin Inner Circle won’t hesitate killing him, even they have expressed they are sick of the bloated old lunatic.
I’d say we should always have an open channel for negotiations: under the supposition that the only acceptable outcome is a full retreat of Russias troops from Ukraine territory (including Crimea) and Russia paying reparations to Ukraine and pay for everything they destroyed.
This being The Telegraph they had of course to try to make Kaja Kallas’ merit somehow rub some shine in the image of a broadly disliked English Tory.
I somehow suspect that Kaja Kallas isn’t aiming to destroy Estonian Industry and Labour Unions or betting the future of her country on its success as Money Laundering center and I’m pretty sure her hard reaction to a Russian invasion of Ukraine isn’t the same kind of that as how Thatcher went to war to shore-up support at home in the face of electoral defeat.
Man, that is a poor comparison. Telegraph is trolling
Dude if you want to start a war just do it already pls stop being cringe
She is right. Why should the West negotiate with Putin? What problems between the West and Putin would be discussed? Putin should negotiate with Ukraine, and if the negotiations lead to the correct results, then most problems between the West and Putin, if any, would resolve by themselves.
President of a country of less than 1.3 M, no army and 30% of its population is ethically Russian with no passport.
Complaining every 2 weeks because 2 carriers of the US navy are not permanently attached to Talinn harbour. Or because we are not preventively sacrificing London, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, New York, , Washington to nuke St Petersburg and Moscow to save Talinn.
Interesting.
To “be” the iron lady you need to fight for your people in the domestic conflict against terrorists and at sea against invaders who want to take small off shore islands