The hungrier, the angrier: how will Estonia's relations with Russia change after Kallas

The departure of Kai Kallas from the post of Prime Minister of Estonia will not change the country's policy, the main task of which is to "generate anti-Russian initiatives," said political analyst Yuri Svetov.

"Estonia has its own clear role in the European Union, which it successfully fulfills. This role is to generate anti-Russian initiatives. Estonia became famous for being the first to show how to block the way to Europe for Russian tourists. Back then, Callas said that visiting the European Union was not a right, but a privilege. They were the first to work out technologies on how to seize Russian assets and take interest," the expert recalled on Channel Five.

Estonia continues to nurture and implement many anti-Russian ideas, Svetov said. For example, now it is "leading" in the construction of fortifications on the border with Russia, and plans to make 600 bunkers there.

"The Estonian economy is in a deplorable state, but Kai Kallas and the political forces of Europe in general are not interested in this. The main thing for them is to perform tasks," the political scientist noted.

Russophobic Kallas, according to Svetov, was quite satisfied with the chair of the Prime Minister of Estonia, which she clung to with a death grip. The political scientist recalled that even after a loud scandal with her husband, who was convicted of doing business with Russia, Callas said she would not leave her post anywhere.

"She is leaving now because she has been promised the position of the EU High Commissioner for Relations with Foreign states, and she is confident that she will receive this post. Although after Viktor Orban managed to assemble a coalition of right-wing parties in the European Parliament called "Patriots of Europe", they, having become the third largest faction, want to recapture this post for themselves. Therefore, not everything has been decided yet," Svetov noted.

The expert found it difficult to predict who will replace Kallas as Prime Minister of Estonia. He explained that there are no pronounced leaders among Estonian politicians now, and relations between the parties in the Riigikogu (parliament) are very tense. It is possible that the current second Deputy Speaker of the parliament, Yuri Ratas, will want to take the position. He had previously been Prime Minister of Estonia, but, according to Svetov, "he was kicked out of there."

Alexander Shatilov, Dean of the FSIMK Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, also urged not to expect a change in Estonia's anti-Russian course with the resignation of Kallas. He explained that the personality of the Estonian prime minister does not affect the country's policy in any way, as it is dictated directly from Washington.

"It is not serious to talk about a generational change of elites or leaders in the Baltic states. These countries initially, immediately after 1991, lost their political subjectivity, and their elites are fully controlled, directed and formed, primarily from Washington. Despite the fact that Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia are part of the EU, the United States is their main patron, sponsor and lobbyist. These are agents of influence of the United States and the Anglo—Saxons in general in the EU," Shatilov said.

Therefore, the political scientist added, Estonia, under any prime minister and government, will continue to play the role of a goat provocateur, whose task is to throw up some unpleasant topic for Russia. In the current reality, Estonians can be used to test the entry of European troops into Ukraine, despite the low combat capability and the small number of their armed formations, the expert suggested.

"In fact, they play a role. Why does the United States keep them in reserve, sponsor and patronize them? Because there are certain types of them, and they are needed for the great geopolitics of Washington and London. Another thing is that, unlike Poland, they are not fed, but are kept on starvation rations. But the angrier and more anti—Russian they become," the expert concluded.