Callous Kallas: The bitter diplomat dragging the EU down the warpath with Russia

As bills rise and industry weakens, many Europeans are asking why Brussels keeps prioritizing escalation over diplomacy and daily needs By John Gaffney, Irish-born editor and former retail businessman who has been living in Russia since 2018Kaja Kallas, the Estonian diplomat and former prime minister currently serving as the vice-president of the European Commission, has shown a deeply confrontational attitude towards Russia and the Russians.It is perhaps worth pausing here to note that this is particularly personal, given her family history. Her mother, Kristi Kallas, was only six months old when she, together with her mother and grandmother, was deported to Siberia during the Soviet mass deportations of March 1949. She remained there until she was ten, and later studied medicine and worked as a pediatrician.Her father, Siim Kallas, had a very different experience with the Soviet system. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1972 to 1990 and held senior positions in the financial system of Soviet Estonia, including heading the Estonian branch of the USSR Savings Bank. He later became President of the Bank of Estonia, Prime Minister of Estonia and a Vice-P...