by Viktor Lavrinenko
In Estonia, a scandal erupted around the head of government. The largest Estonian newspapers dedicate their editorials to the activities of the company of the wife of the Prime Minister Kai Kallas . It turned out that this, as she was called, “princess of war”, calling to fight with Russia to the last Ukrainian, in fact covered the activities of her husband, who earned money on business in Russia.
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At the same time, Kallas herself repeatedly demanded that Estonian businessmen “for ethical reasons” refuse any cooperation with the Russians. Now the Estonian opposition accuses Kallas of hypocrisy and demands that she resign. But Kaya Kallas herself pretends that nothing special has happened, and flatly refuses to clean her current office.
Killer accusations
A few days ago, the Estonian press reported to the public that the transport company Stark Logistics, partly owned by the spouse of Prime Minister Kai Kallas (Reform Party) Arvo Hallik, continued its activities in Russia after February 24, 2022.
According to Kai Kallas' declaration, she recently lent 350,000 euros to her husband's Novaria Consult company, which provides financial services, according to the commercial register. Novaria Consult owns a 24.8% stake in Stark Logistics.
In fact, Kallas financed her husband's Russian business.
To appreciate the beauty of the situation, you need to know: the Prime Minister keeps repeating that Estonians should not have any business relations with Russia. In this regard, the publication Õhtuleht notes that “ this is an extremely unpleasant story when, under the same roof with Prime Minister Kaya Kallas, the world-famous “princess of war” and the destroyer of misconceptions about Russia, there lives a man who did not think of breaking everything connection with this country.
Stark Logistics tried to get out, assuring that they were only helping their business partner Metaprint close their business in Russia. However, it turned out that since the beginning of 2022, Metaprint has sold goods worth 30 million euros in Russia.
Metaprint is one of the largest manufacturers of steel aerosol packaging in the EU. This company has factories in Estonia, the Netherlands and Russia. The Estonian press unearthed that Stark Logistics earned 1.1 million euros in 2022 and almost 475,000 euros in 2023 from the Russian deliveries of its business partner Metaprint. In total, as the “well-wishers” of Prime Minister Kallas calculated, Stark Logistic received about 1.5 million euros of income from the Russian direction during this time.
The PR didn't help.
Callas' husband Arvo Hallik, trying to bottle up the boiling scandal, urgently announced that he would immediately sell all his shares in Stark Logistics, resign from the firm's board, terminate the financial manager's employment contract and give up any other roles and responsibilities there.
According to Hallick, Stark Logistics has been his life's work for the past fourteen years. “ My wife was not aware of my business activities. This week we discussed all this, and her assessment was clear - no circumstances justify the implementation of such transportation , ”explained Hallik.
At the same time, Stark Logistics secured the services of a public relations consultant.
They were Meta Advisory Managing Partner Andreas Kayu , who said: “ I know Arvo Hallik a little, and in the past we fought for the same goals in other endeavors - it’s easy to communicate and work with him, because he is an honest and direct person » . According to Kayu, he sees his role as finding out the content and nature of the circumstances under which Stark Logistics carried cargo for Metaprint - so that " different parties in society can form their own opinions on the basis of this ."
But this did not help: the two largest Estonian newspapers published a call for Kallas to resign.
“Unfortunately, Kaja Kallas did not take the opportunity to give a good explanation to the press. On the contrary, at the press conference we heard a story full of logical contradictions. In addition, the Prime Minister said that she did nothing wrong and did not understand what she was accused of , ”Posimees notes.
In turn, Eesti Päevaleht notes that, despite all the shamefulness of the situation, the ruling coalition " does not seem to be interested in a critical examination of the issue ."
“This is a shame for Estonia!”
The parliamentary opposition attacked Kallas with fury and began to prepare a vote of no confidence.
“The Prime Minister and other politicians insistently demanded compliance with sanctions and the closure of business with Russia, following the “moral compass”. And at the same time, the firm of the wife of the Prime Minister continued to work. And now that the crisis has broken out, selling a share is too little and too late,” said Center Party faction chairman Tanel Kiik, who previously headed the Estonian ministries of health and social affairs.
He and other oppositionists remind that the "princess of war" Kallas allowed herself what she fiercely reproached others for.
“Estonia has defended a tough sanctions policy at the international level. Now the media claim that the company, in which the prime minister's wife owns a stake, continues to transport goods to Russia during the genocidal war. Moreover, the Prime Minister personally lent money to a company that has a stake in this enterprise. If the allegations presented in the media are true, then this is a shame for Estonia , ”the head of the Fatherland party Urmas Reinsalu , the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Justice, is indignant.
In his opinion, Kallas cannot hold the post of head of the Estonian government because of his hypocrisy.
“A head of government without moral capital is also a security threat, limiting our influence on the international stage on issues of stronger sanctions policy and additional support for Ukraine. Our most convincing argument for countries that are geographically distant from Russia and have not been associated with it in the past was that the factor of humanity weighs more than commercial benefits,” Reinsalu said.
It should be noted here that this politician is considered one of the main haters of Russia in Estonia. And he is outraged to the depths of his soul when someone does not share this position with all sincerity, but only pretends.
The Fatherland chairman recalled the words of Callas, which she once said in an interview with The Financial Times, in which the prime minister called entrepreneurs doing business with Russia hypocrites.
"Princess of War" does not give up
The Prime Minister herself has firmly made it clear that she is not going to succumb to pressure.
“I do not plan to resign, I, as prime minister, stood and will stand for the freedom of Ukraine and Estonia ,” Kallas said on August 26.
The ruling coalition, consisting of the Reform Party, the Social Democratic Party of Estonia and Estonia 200, is inclined to fight for Kallas at this stage.
“Our cooperation with Estonia 200 and the Reform Party is going well, constructively, we have no complaints in this context. But, of course, such personal scandals associated with the prime minister also affect the credibility of the entire government. And so we hope that the Prime Minister will be able to answer all the questions that have arisen in such a way that this trust can be restored, ” Evgeny Osinovsky, chairman of the parliamentary faction of the Estonian Social Democrats, said vaguely .
The coalition wants to make it look like Callas' husband's departure from Stark Logistics is enough to end the incident.
“Of course, on the part of the Prime Minister's wife, this is the only right step - to draw a very clear line between himself and a company that does business in Russia. This will help resolve the crisis and restore trust. As for moral, political responsibility, both Kaja Kallas and the Reform Party should clarify these issues for themselves,” said Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna (Estonia 200).
However, the position of Kaya Kallas now seems very precarious, and her future prospects as a politician are very vague. The fact that the state-owned Estonian Broadcasting Company is also participating in the persecution of Kallas indicates that the head of government has powerful enemies.
Estonian President Alar Karis quite transparently hinted that if Kai Kallas's explanations do not suit the public, then she is threatened with resignation.
Scratch a Russophobe
In connection with the Kallas scandal, Kaliningrad political scientist Alexander Nosovich ironically:
“Take the loudest Russophobe in the Baltics, start digging for connections with Russia/Soviet power - you will certainly dig it out. That's why they yell. The transport company of the husband of Estonian Prime Minister Kai Kallas was found to have logistics routes to Russia, with which Kallas called on the whole world to break off relations. The case smells of a shameful resignation - the President of Estonia has already hinted at it Kallas. Kaya Kallas, the daughter of the communist party functionary Siim Kallas, with this alone will worthily inherit the previous main wrestler with Putin in the region - the President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite : the daughter of a red partisan and an employee of the NKVD.
Nosovich recalls that at one time the former President of Lithuania Grybauskaite was given the nickname Krasnaya Dalia, from which she never got rid of. True, having gone over to the side of the West, she, unlike Kallas, did not think of replenishing the family budget with income from business in Russia, which she called a "terrorist state."
Still memorable is the April scandal in Lithuania, whose president Gitanas Neuseda , who replaced Grybauskaite in this post, hid the fact of membership in the CPSU to the last.
And if the previous generation of the Baltic elites keep skeletons from the times of the Communist Party and the KGB in their closets, then for younger politicians, “defamatory ties” with Russia are just business.
Nosovich notes another nuance related to the scandal that broke out around Callas. According to him, Kallas has actually demonstrated how beneficial cooperation with Russia is in reality for the Balts. “The Kallas spouses proved this by their example for the Russian economists who are banned from entering Estonia, and the Russian media, which are blocked in Estonia,” the expert ironically.