Russia is looking for the Estonian Prime Minister

Russia has added Estonian Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, his Secretary of State, Tamer Peterkopf, and dozens of other European politicians to its list of people wanted by its Interior Ministry for destroying monuments installed by the Soviet Union on its territories. This was announced on Tuesday, February 13, by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zazarova in a message on Telegram. “Destroying monuments to Soviet soldiers is a crime against the memory of those who fought for world freedom against Nazism and fascism. “This is just the beginning,” warned Zazarova.

For his part, Kallas attributed the Kremlin’s decision to Estonia’s support for Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian aggression, as have other bordering countries. “Russia’s move is not at all surprising,” the Prime Minister wrote. in a thread of, He said, “This is proof that I am doing the right thing: the EU’s strong support for Ukraine is a success and hurts Russia.”

• Context, Despite its small size (45,226 square kilometers, slightly larger than the autonomous community of Extremadura), Estonia is one of the EU countries most committed to Ukraine. According to figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), it has provided shelter to more than 38,000 Ukrainians fleeing the war. Moreover, it is one of those that has provided the most military aid to Kiev according to Ukraine War data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Although the United States is the one that has given the most military aid to Ukraine – more than 43 billion euros – Estonia is the country that has invested the largest amount of GDP, 1.22%, in supporting Kiev with arms and ammunition. Have done.

• Last, Calais announced last month that it would allocate 0.25% of its GDP to Ukraine’s defense over the next four years. Moreover, as José Ángel López, professor of public international law and international relations at the University of Comillas, tells Neutral.es, in anticipation of the end of the war in Ukraine and to protect themselves from Russian attacks, the Baltic countries are building There is a line of general defense: hundreds of air raid shelters to protect Russia’s border with the Baltic republics. “This could be part of the Kremlin’s animosity against the Estonian prime minister,” he says.

The Estonian leader accused the Russian government of “hiding its repression behind law enforcement agencies.” According to Kailash, a common practice. “I knew it from my family history,” he recalled. “When my grandmother and mother were deported to Siberia, the KGB issued an arrest warrant,” Callas continued. “The Kremlin now hopes that this measure will help silence me and others, but it will not. Quite the opposite. I will continue to strongly support Ukraine. “I will continue to defend the increase in Europe’s defence,” the Estonian politician warned.

• Who is Kaja Kailas?, This is the first time that the Kremlin has added the name of a head of state to its wanted list. Leader of the Reform Party, a centre-right group, Kallas (Tallinn, 1977) is the first woman to hold the post of Prime Minister of Estonia, a position she has held since January 2021, when she won the election. Callas has been dubbed the “Iron Lady of Europe” by the international press for her frequent attacks on Russian President Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine.

search order lEstonian PM held by Russia has symbolic weight, but no influence

According to experts consulted by Neutral.es, for the arrest order to take effect, Callas and the rest of the European politicians on the Kremlin’s list would have to enter Russian territory. Something highly unlikely.

“There is not much effectiveness of the police in issuing search and arrest warrants against the head of state, as has happened in Russia, there is no real scope for this as the Estonian Prime Minister has not set foot on Russian soil while Putin is in power. Going to keep.” ,” he points out. Antonio Alonso, Professor of International Relations at CEU San Pablo University. “This decision is purely political, it is very unlikely that this order will go into effect,” says Alonso. Therefore, it is about sending a message to NATO in response to the sanctions of the invasion of Ukraine: Russia is at war not only with Ukraine, but also with the countries of the Atlantic alliance. Lopez, for his part, agrees with Alonso. “This ban is a symbolic gesture to counter the system,” he says.

Lopez points out that it is necessary to distinguish between Russian domestic law and international law. “None of these politicians on Putin’s list for destroying Soviet monuments are violating any norms of international law,” the Comillas professor explains. He insists, “These countries have the right to do whatever they want with the monuments that tell their history.”

On the other hand, there is Russia’s internal law, which the Kremlin has used to find and arrest the Estonian Prime Minister. Lopez’s analysis is, “With Russia’s domestic law hijacked by the Kremlin, Putin can decide to include any crime or penalty in his penal code, in this case a situation in which the removal of Soviet statues is particularly A serious crime could be committed.” An extreme which “makes no sense” from the point of view of international law. “There is no rule that prevents monuments from being removed on the basis of their sovereignty.”

• Arrest warrant against Putin. The one who violated international law and against whom the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for one year is the Russian President herself and the Russian Government’s Children’s Rights Commissioner for the alleged war, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova. Crime.

An investigation by Russian independent media central area Which analyzed the Interior Ministry’s database of arrest warrants, finding that the majority (98%) of those on the Kremlin’s list are Russian citizens or citizens of the countries of the former USSR.

Specifically, according to their investigation, more than 700 of the total 95,994 people wanted by the Russian government are foreign citizens. Of these, 396 are accused of acting as “mercenaries” in the Ukrainian war. Regarding their nationality, the majority are from Georgia (a former Soviet republic in conflict with Russia over the pro-Russian separatist region of South Ossetia), Belarus (a country allied to Russia) and the United Kingdom.

The Kremlin has also included on its wanted list Eastern European politicians who, like Kallas, have been accused of destroying Soviet monuments. The Estonian Prime Minister is followed by Lithuania’s Minister of Culture, Simons Kyris, dozens of representatives of the Latvian and Lithuanian parliaments, a handful of Riga councilors, the Polish Deputy Minister of State Property, Karol Rabenda, and several mayors. These countries and Ukraine which have supported the demolition of Soviet statues.