Maryna Danyliuk-Yarmolayeva

The Estonian politician has a reputation as a «Russophobe» because she can convincingly explain why Russia should not be trusted on land, in the Baltic Sea or at the negotiating table. It is rare to find someone in Brussels who calls things by their proper names. Kaja Kallas openly states that the war against Ukraine is not a minor regional conflict but rather a piece in a grand game where the ultimate prize is bringing Moscow’s subjects to heel.

The Estonian Prime Minister’s stance is so strong in the Western world that her name was among the finalists for the position of NATO’s new Secretary General

Here, an intriguing detail must be added: the refined blonde with a steely character is the Kremlin’s worst nightmare. She is not merely banned from entering Russia, as is the case with most rational EU politicians, but she is also the first government official whom Moscow has officially placed on a criminal wanted list for «desecration of a historical monument».

The reason - the decommunisation and removal of numerous monuments from the Soviet occupation period, carried out by Kallas’s government. Russia was particularly adamant about preserving a Soviet tank in the border town of Narva, where ethnic Russians significantly outnumber locals.

Previous Estonian governments had raised the issue of relocating the tank, which symbolised not so much the fight against Nazism as it did Russian militarism. However, fears lingered - the mass riots in Tallinn in 2007 (the so-called «Bronze Night»), carried out by local Russians and agitators from Russia in response to the relocation of a monument to a Soviet soldier in the Estonian capital, heightened concerns that another move could trigger a repeat of those events, from street clashes to cyberattacks on government websites. However, in the summer of 2022, after visiting the de-occupied town of Bucha, Kallas took the issue to a new level. In the end, despite the complaints of Russian speakers, the tank was sent to storage.

In 2023, when the politician was already being named among those who could join the new European top elite, she gave an interview to British hard-talker Stephen Sackur. At the time, the journalist asked whether her heart was open to the 25% of Russian speakers who complained of severe oppression - they were not allowed to enter Estonia with Russian car number plates. Interestingly, the loudest outcries came from the so-called Russian opposition. Kallas’s response was firm:

- You are confusing two things. Russians who live here, we call Russian-speaking Estonians. And Russia is a separate matter. I want to point out that, firstly, in the 1920s, Russians in Estonia made up 3%. By the end of the occupation, it was 30%. So it is not as if they had always lived here...

- Are you saying that they are not real Estonians? - Sackur clarified.

- No, no. I am saying that those who want to be part of Estonia, who consider Estonia their home, have applied for citizenship, learned the language and are part of our society - they constitute the majority of our Russian-speaking population. We ask for only one thing: learn our language, because that is who we are, we live here - and it is a way to integrate them. Furthermore, I want to emphasise that even if we have a different history, we share a common future, and we are focused on that.

It felt like a cold shower, as nothing like this had ever been heard on the BBC.

Kallas takes a very sober view of today's threats due to her poignant family history

In March 2022, she wrote a column for the New York Times explaining why Russia’s occupation of Ukraine and its repressive actions reveal its true face.

‍«My mother was just a six-month-old baby when, in 1949, the Soviet authorities deported her along with her mother and grandmother to Siberia. My grandfather was sent to a Siberian labour camp. They were lucky to survive and return to Estonia, but many did not. Today, the Kremlin is reviving methods of outright barbarism», - Kallas admitted.

Her father, Siim Kallas, played a central role in Estonia’s independence movement and was the president of the country’s central bank. When the young Kaja decided to try her hand at politics, many advised her against it. Some doubted that a model-like woman could also be intelligent, while others even called her a «daddy’s girl».

However, by 2014, Kallas, as a Member of the European Parliament, had already proven herself an expert in digitalisation and had become an advocate for Ukraine at the outset of the war with Russia. It is important to clarify - this was at a time when global leaders were reluctant to confront Moscow and saw no major issue with the annexation of Crimea. After all, there had been a referendum, people had chosen Russia. What was the problem?

As Europe's chief diplomat, Kallas has a very clear-eyed assessment of the risks facing Europe

Above all, these include various hybrid threats across the EU - sabotage, cyberattacks, the shadow fleet, GPS disruptions and damage to cables. She is pushing for increased funding for security and defence, as simply relying on Washington’s nuclear umbrella in the Trump era is akin to suicide.

Kaja Kallas is convinced that the European Union must launch its own defence industry, as she stated in an interview with Suspilne in December 2024:

- The defence industry is crucial because a war is raging on European soil, in Ukraine, and Putin shows no signs of abandoning his objectives.

As the rational voice of Brussels, she has subtly explained to the United States why supporting Ukraine is in America's best interests:

- If America is concerned about China, then it must first worry about Russia. We see that Russia, Iran, North Korea and China are working together. We also see what Putin is doing in other countries, actively expanding his influence. So, if the US wants to remain the world’s strongest power, it will ultimately have to deal with Russia. The easiest way to handle this is to support Ukraine so it wins the war.

Ukrainian diplomats who maintain close contact with Brussels all unanimously note that a new generation of competent and determined women has entered European politics. They are professional, steadfast in their positions and fully aware of their identity and purpose. The name Kaja Kallas is mentioned most often. She is not just a self-made woman but also a descendant of Estonians whom Russia deported like cattle to Siberia, hoping that no one would survive the lumber camps.

Yet Kallas’s mother survived and instilled in her daughter an understanding of why Russia is an enemy and why its favourite pastime is killing and looting

The Estonian with an unyielding character has become the loudest voice of Eastern Europe in Brussels, representing the very region that Moscow stubbornly considers its sphere of influence. However, as time and experience show, small nations also have a voice and teeth. They can bite the throat of the predator that pushes in uninvited.

The project is co-financed by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation as part of the «Support Ukraine» programme, implemented by the «Education for Democracy» Foundation

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In late October, nearly all fashionable outlets and media outlets circulated a photo of the famous actress Sarah Jessica Parker. She appeared as the iconic character Carrie Bradshaw from «Sex and the City» - holding in her hands the fresh book «Patriot» - the posthumous memoirs of Alexei Navalny.

Anyone who watched the main hit of the late nineties remembers the on-screen Carrie as a confident character who taught women two things: not to feel ashamed of their love for fine shoes and to carry ultra-thin condoms in their bags. Throughout all six seasons and two full-length films, the New York columnist showed little interest in politics - unless one counts her brief romance with a local politician.

Thus, the fact that the latest propagandistic hit of Russian liberals immediately received native advertising in a popular series is somewhat concerning. Why is that? Opening the official book annotation reveals in black and white: Navalny’s «Patriot» contains a manifesto for transforming Russia, which includes «free elections, constitutional assemblies, decentralisation and a European orientation». Allegedly, this was the last entry in the diary of the Russian oppositionist just weeks before his death this winter.

In other words, the bait for American elites is more than clear - to play on sympathy and once again sell the illusion of a wonderful Russia, one that will certainly repent and westernise after Putin’s death

A few weeks have passed since the release of Sarah Jessica Parker’s photo - and the attempt to appeal to Western intellectuals continued. The press has published a rather interesting story about how the so-called Russian opposition purchased a house near the White House. For two million dollars from the pockets of unnamed sponsors, they created this «headquarters of resistance to the Putin regime».

This centre of Russian liberalism will be just two blocks away from Capitol Hill. Three flags will wave on the lawn in front of the building: white-blue-white (used by some Russian opposition figures since the full-scale war in Ukraine began), the EU flag and the NATO flag - according to the initiators - these are «future partners of Russia after the liberation from Putin’s regime». An interesting scene for White House staff, who will commute by bicycle to work each day.

The plan is to hold regular events of the Russian opposition here - seminars, discussions, fundraising events and meetings with American politicians. The first public event - «debates between representatives of the Democrats and Republicans on the topic of the “new administration’s policy on the war in Ukraine”». No mention of troop withdrawal from another country’s territory, reparations or threats to Poland and Lithuania as the next trophies.

Thus, it can be stated clearly that Russia aims to impose its agenda on the United States regarding the war in Ukraine. It seeks to continue doing what it has managed since the collapse of the USSR - selling itself as the main arbiter of peace, security and trade in Eastern Europe.

Once upon a time, it was Americans who saved Russians from starvation - in the harsh nineties, it was containers of poultry, popularly called «Bush legs», that saved Russians from starvation.

Nowadays Russia is well aware that every day of the war in Ukraine makes it increasingly isolated - even if one is not misled by UN Secretary-General António Guterres bowing over a loaf of bread at the BRICS summit. Therefore, Russia will employ all methods - playing on sympathy, notes of nostalgia and creating the illusion that «never again» truly means never again. Simply forget everything, lift the sanctions and immediately join NATO and the EU.

Russia has never spared money on deception and manipulation, on trinkets and awards for Russian opposition figures abroad, who likely have little understanding of the daily life of the average Russian in rural areas

Yet the problem is evident - Russians are buying their own PR in popular series and purchasing properties for future residencies close to the White House - which raises the thought of what Eastern European countries, often torn apart by Moscow, might offer as an antidote. Perhaps a shack of our own, a block away from Capitol Hill, could host discussions with Polish and Ukrainian intellectuals who live in their homeland, rather than sitting on grants as political exiles.

Clearly, this is a new challenge for Poland and Ukraine, against which the idea of an improved Russia, following the replacement of the current dictator with someone more charming and bearded, will be marketed. The aim of this initiative is simple - to make Western leaders forget about shifting focus to Poland and Ukraine as key pillars of Eastern Europe, and to once again attempt to mould a maniac into an angelic figure with rosy cheeks.

Only childhood photos of Hitler, Stalin and Putin show that all of them were once adorable infants. But this did not prevent them from killing millions and tearing down borders

Project co-financed by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation within the framework of the «Support Ukraine» programme, implemented by the Education for Democracy Foundation.

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