The first woman to lead Estonia, Kaja Kallas was chosen this Thursday, June 27 as head of EU diplomacy by European leaders meeting at a summit. Known for her firm stance against the Kremlin, she will have to find her place alongside Ursula von der Leyen.
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She’s called The “Iron Lady” of the Baltic States : Kaja Kallas will become the new head of European diplomacy. Following the European Council in Brussels, the Twenty-Seven chose her to become the High Representative of theEuropean Union.
The appointment of the Estonian Prime Minister is not a surprise, her name has been circulating for several weeks to succeed the Spaniard Josep BorrellThe Estonian leader was among the favourites, because since the war in Ukraine broke out, it established itself as one of kyiv’s strongest supporters within the Union.
Support for Ukraine
His country,Estonia, has only a reduced demographic and economic weight in Europe. But the determination and very firm positions taken by Kaja Kallas since the Russia invaded Ukraine gave him a stature and fame that goes far beyond that. She says that we must not achieve peace quickly at all costs, but achieve a victory for Ukraine, which is quite different., explained in June 2022 Céline Bayouassociate researcher at the Europe-Eurasia Research Center at Inalco. For Kaja Kallas, if we try to move faster and negotiate too quickly with Russia, we risk leaving the field open for Moscow to start again [une guerre], and so we won’t solve anything. »
” In Brussels, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and I signed an agreement on security cooperation and long-term support between our countries. […] I am grateful to Estonia for its unwavering support to Ukraine. », Declared Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on his X account on June 27.
Another new security agreement that will give Ukraine more strength.
In Brussels, Estonia’s Prime Minister @kajakallas and I signed an agreement on security cooperation and long-term support between our countries.
The agreement covers cooperation in the supply of arms and… pic.twitter.com/0jmfNpS0b1
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 27, 2024
The Baltic country, which has only 1.3 million inhabitants, has thus become, proportionally, one of the most generous donors to Ukraineits aid exceeding 1% of its GDP: ” If such aggression pays off in Ukraine, it may provide an incentive to do the same elsewhere. We must completely discredit the tool of aggression. », she declared during an interview with AFP in December 2023. At the start of the year, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Republic of Estonia also signed a contribution agreement, under of which Estonia contributes 10 million euros to the EU Fund for Ukraine.
His firm position in the face of the aggression unleashed by Russia, but above all his efforts to remove Soviet-era monuments dating from World War II in his country, have earned Kaja Kallas wanted person status in Russia. If I hear this argument that I am a provocation to Russia, then I respond that we are giving Russia too much power to dictate our decisions. “, she lamented at the end of 2023.
“ We are giving too much power to Russia »
Aged 47, Kaja Kallas is a lawyer by profession. She was born into politics since her father, Siim Kallas, was Prime Minister and founded the Liberal Party which she leads today. His family history was also marked by the Russian occupation. Her mother was deported to Siberia, with her grandmother, just after the Second World War : “ I come from a family deported to Siberia by Stalin under the Soviet Union.she testified in March 2022 before the European Parliament. My mother was only six months old when she was forcibly sent with her mother and grandmother in a cattle car to what Estonians call “the cold earth”. »
Having become the first woman to head her country’s government in 2021, she distinguished herself internationally for the first time by standing up to Angela Merkel at a European summit where she opposed a meeting with Vladimir Putin.
It is therefore a strong, determined, but also convincing personality who will take the lead of European diplomacy.
MEP from 2014 to 2018, Kaja Kallas will not be lost in Brussels: “ Europe has always been synonymous for me with hope, future, cooperation, unity, making the impossible possible. ” she explained in an interview given to RFI on May 3.
On the other hand, little is known about other areas where European diplomacy will have a role: relations with China, with Africa or even the conflict in Gaza, with a European Union which has great difficulty in agreeing on a clear position.