In mid-February last year, Russian authorities placed then-Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas — now EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy — and several others on a wanted list. The list included government officials, members of parliament and local councilors from three Baltic states, and a history professor. The reason was they supported the removal of Soviet-era monuments in their respective countries.
For the Baltic states, removing symbols of Soviet authoritarianism is part of an ongoing process of transitional justice — bidding farewell to the dark years of Soviet occupation and cleaning up the historical traces of oppression and massacres committed by past invaders. Yet Moscow, claiming that it “rescued” those countries from the Nazis, portrays this as a hostile action against Russia, labeling it as “rehabilitating Nazism” and equating dismantling the removal of Soviet soldiers’ monuments with insulting the Russian military. Russian President Vladimir Putin made similar baseless accusations prior to his invasion of Ukraine.
Kallas was Estonia’s first female prime minister since it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. After the outbreak of the Ukraine war, she became one of Putin’s strongest and most outspoken critics. Under her leadership, Estonia became a staunch supporter of Ukraine. As Russia’s military threats became increasingly brazen, Kallas said that Estonia would accelerate the removal of more than 400 Soviet-era monuments, earning her a reputation as “Europe’s New Iron Lady.”
Kallas is the first foreign head of state to be placed on a wanted list by Russia — but to her, the list is worth nothing more than the paper it is printed on. If anything, it serves as a badge of honor representing her democratic achievements.
After the Soviet Union occupied Estonia in 1940, many members of Kallas’ family, including her mother and grandmother, were deported to Siberia. She is therefore viscerally aware of the nature of authoritarian oppression, and she firmly believes that Russia has not changed one bit since that time. She dismissed the list as a veiled repression tactic, saying that it only proves that she was “doing the right thing” by supporting Ukraine, that it is, in fact, hurting authorities in Moscow, which is why the Kremlin is making such a dramatic show of silencing her. Kallas stressed that Putin would not succeed: She would continue her strong support for Ukraine and advocate bolstering Europe’s defense capabilities.
The wanted list instead highlighted Kallas’ strong opposition to Russia and boosted her political clout, propelling her into the ranks of top contenders for senior positions within the EU. On Dec. 1 last year, after narrowly missing the role of NATO secretary-general, Kallas assumed office as EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, and vice president of the European Commission. Breaking free from the limitations associated with leading a small, sparsely populated state, she now plays an active role on the broader international political stage as the EU’s chief diplomat.
Global authoritarianism operates in a transnational network, supporting one another with information and imitating techniques for control. Russia placed Kallas on its wanted list for “hostile actions” and “desecration of historical memory,” while China has declared it would pursue Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) worldwide for “secession-related criminal activities.”
Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) are following the same script, repeatedly exporting the same arguments — it is in no way unjust to label them as an alliance of dictators.
Chen Yung-chang is a freelance writer based in Taipei.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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