“Looking back at the last 20 years [desde a adesão em 01 de maio de 2004]it almost seems like a short period, but we have gone through a very difficult reform process since we regained our independence [com a dissolução do bloco soviético] in 1991”, said Kaja Kallas, in an interview with the Lusa agency.
The Prime Minister of Estonia revealed that since joining the EU in 2004 “the average salary has increased 45 times, the average pension has increased 60 times and prices, during this period, have increased just over five times”.
“Prosperity has increased for our population, as has our Gross Domestic Product [PIB]. So, in fact, we are an enlargement success story. Being European is in our essence”, added Kaja Kallas.
“We already were [europeus] before the occupation, but we were a little forgotten behind the Iron Curtain”, he argued, rejecting, for this reason, the discourse used by political parties with a tendency towards nationalism that describe what is happening “over there in Europe”, such as the Conservative People’s Party, by Martim Helme.
The prime minister maintained that Estonia “is as much a part of Europe as Spain, Portugal, France or, for example, Germany”.
Kaja Kallas added that two decades after the last major enlargement, the Baltic countries, particularly Estonia, have a voice, which for half a century was silenced, as a result of Moscow’s pretensions.
But the disparate contexts, in his opinion, make a more complete and cohesive European Union.
“All European countries add something valuable. There are different historical and geographic experiences and different forces. But let’s use all of this for the benefit of Europe. For us, being listened to and treated as equals is extremely valuable. We didn’t have a voice for 50 years, so we really value what we have today,” she explained, acknowledging that the country tries “not to abuse” the demands it makes.
The proximity to Russia made the country gain new relevance after the invasion of Ukraine, on February 24, 2022, and Estonia wants to present itself as a “constructive partner to find compromises and solutions”.
Kaja Kallas, 46 years old, has been Prime Minister of Estonia since January 2021 and is the first woman to hold this role. In 2011 she began her political career as a deputy in the Riigikogu (Estonian parliament) and was an MEP in the previous legislature.
The prime minister also heads the Estonian Reform Party and is one of the voices within the EU that has most insisted on the need to do everything possible so that Ukraine can defeat Russia.
The appeals that Zelensky has made since the beginning of the Russian invasion have always received a quick ‘green light’ from Kaja Kallas, who also has a tougher stance than most countries in the community bloc.
Appointed in 2023 as the possible successor to Jens Stoltenberg in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the idea faded, however, with the formalization of the candidacy of the Dutch counterpart, Mark Rutte, which Tallinn endorsed.
But criticism of Moscow and Kaja Kallas’ ‘iron fist’ did not go unnoticed and in February this year the Kremlin placed her on the ‘wanted list’ for the “destruction and damage caused to monuments to Soviet soldiers”.
