Until February 2022, few people knew the liberal Kaja Kallas outside her country’s borders. The Estonian was then only the prime minister of the smallest of the Baltic states. Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine changed everything. A supporter of unconditional support for Ukraine, she found herself propelled onto the international stage. At the age of 47, she was appointed High Representative of the European Union and Vice-President of the European Commission on Thursday, June 27, at the European Council, a position held until the fall by the Spanish socialist Josep Borrell.
After considering the post of NATO Secretary General – Mark Rutte finally got the job on Wednesday – she ended up leading a diligent campaign, supported by all of Central and Eastern Europe, to become the future head of diplomacy in Brussels, especially as in Tallinn, her star is seriously fading.
In the summer of 2023, a first scandal broke out around him. Estonian media revealed that the logistics company 25% owned by her husband, Arvo Hallik, who was also its financial director, had links with a company still active in Russia. A shame for Kaja Kallas, who became known to the general public for his repeated warnings against Moscow’s incessant threats against kyiv, just a few months before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A mother deported by the Soviets
More recently, his government, which has been campaigning internationally for increased defence spending, has been accused by Estonian Army Chief of Staff General Martin Herem of not funding the country’s defence adequately. In the European elections, his party came third.
The outspoken former lawyer will not be lost in Brussels, where she began her political career. She was an MEP from 2014 to 2018 before returning to Tallinn to lead the centre-right Reform Party, founded by her father, Siim Kallas, in 1994. Kallas is no stranger to Brussels. After serving as prime minister of Estonia, he became his country’s first European Commissioner for ten years in 2004 when it joined the EU.
The history of the Kallas family is also closely linked to that of Estonia. From 1918 to 1920, his paternal great-grandfather commanded the Estonian Defense League during the War of Independence. At the armistice, he became the first police chief of the brand new republic of Estonia.
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