Kaja Kallas, Estonia’s ‘Iron Lady’, picked as EU top diplomat
- With her name on Moscow’s list of ‘wanted’ criminals, Estonia’s first woman prime minister is a fierce Russia critic and Ukraine ally
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, named on Thursday by fellow leaders to be the European Union’s next foreign policy chief, is a trenchant Russia critic and a stalwart europhile long touted for top international jobs.
“This is an enormous responsibility at this moment of geopolitical tensions,” Kallas said after the choice, which still needs to be cleared by the EU’s Parliament.
“I will be at the service of our common interests. Europe should be a place where people are free, safe and prosperous.”
The daughter of former premier and EU commissioner Siim Kallas, she was born when Estonia was still a part of the Soviet Union before it regained independence in 1991.
The 47-year-old lawyer was first elected to parliament in the Baltic nation in 2011 for the liberal Reform Party founded by her father. She later won a seat in the European parliament and was repeatedly included on lists of the most influential MEPs.
