Eastern Europe’s Margaret Thatcher speaks out on the war in Ukraine - WP (54)
Eestlased Eestis | 28 Jun 2023  | EWR OnlineEWR
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas at a news conference in Tallinn, Estonia, on May 26. (Ints Kalnins/Reuters)
Estonia’s 46-year-old prime minister, Kaja Kallas, has been dubbed the new Margaret Thatcher for her tough stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This week, Kallas spoke with The Post’s Lally Weymouth on the war and her thoughts on the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, where Ukraine’s potential membership will be discussed. Excerpts:

Weymouth: I am impressed by your passionate support for Ukraine. I wondered if you could explain to people in the West why you, the leader of a small Baltic country, find it so important to give so much military aid to Ukraine?

Kallas: We see in the events in Ukraine our own history unfolding — history that our grandmothers and grandfathers actually suffered. Therefore, it is our duty to spare the people of Ukraine from those atrocities that our own people went through. My own mother was deported to Siberia when she was 6 months old.

Your grandmother went with her?

My grandmother, great-grandmother and my mother were sent to Siberia, and my grandfather was sent to a prison camp. This is not a unique story. Every family in Estonia has a story like this. One-fifth of our population was either killed or deported to Siberia during the occupation by the Russians.

Do you see a solution to the Ukraine war?

If someone talks about Russia and Ukraine agreeing on a peace settlement and giving away some territory, I explain that after World War II, your side of the Iron Curtain had peace, which meant that you built up your countries and the prosperity of your peoples. On our side of the Iron Curtain, we had mass deportations, killings, and our culture and language were suppressed. So even if there is some kind of an agreement, without accountability it doesn’t mean that the human suffering will stop.

https://www.washingtonpost.com...

 

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Kommentaarid on kirjutatud EWR lugejate poolt. Nende sisu ei pruugi ühtida EWR toimetuse seisukohtadega.
e m rootsis12 Jul 2023 03:34
Kindlasti lisab ta natuke elevust kohvijoomisel...

" Vilniuse kohvijoomine oli selline sõjanohikute kohvijoomine. Räägiti mingite dokumentide heakskiitmisest, mida otsustati juba aasta tagasi...:

https://www.err.ee/1609032140/...
lugeja09 Jul 2023 03:24
Hannole06 Jul 2023 04:25
Sa ei tunne ajalugu jàlle. Peale ww2 elas Eestis 30 tuhat soomlast. Olen Eestis sùndinud. Venelased okupeerisid ja vòtsid veerand Soomet endale vàevòimuga.

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Eestlased Eestis