In an exclusive interview, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas—who grew up under Soviet occupation—says we still aren't taking Putin seriously enough
that were formally incorporated into the USSR. Coupled with their tiny size and close proximity to Russia, that history has made some in the region feel especially vulnerable–a sense that was heightened in 2007, when, in the midst of a disagreement with Russia about the relocation of a Soviet-era monument, Estonia’s parliament, banks, and other major institutions were the victim of a massive cyberattack whose sophistication suggested to some experts that it was state-sponsored.
Since the Russian invasion, Kallas says Western allies have come closer to the Estonian point of view. “Before there were many who were watching this through the lens of democratic world, ” she says. “But what I was saying then, and what I think is clear now, is that [Putin] is a dictator. He doesn’t care for people’s opinion. He doesn’t care that he’s hurting his own country.”
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas delivers a speech during a debate on Europe security following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France on March 9, 2022., she’d like to see more there too. That means petroleum. “If half of Russia’s budget comes from the sale of gas and oil, then this is how Putin funds his war machine. We have to take those means away.
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