Russia Puts Estonia's Prime Minister on Wanted List

Facts

• Russian police have reportedly issued arrest warrants for Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and State Secretary Taimar Peterkop for dismantling Soviet-era monuments in the Baltic nation.¹
• According to the Russian foreign ministry, Kallas and Peterkop committed 'crimes against the memory of the world's liberators from nazism and fascism,' a reference to the removal of WWII memorials of Soviet soldiers.²
• On Tuesday, Lithuanian Culture Minister Simonas Kairys was also added to the Ministry of Internal Affairs' wanted database. Meanwhile, the Kremlin accused pro-Ukraine Kallas of taking hostile action against Moscow.³
• Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Kallas announced that Estonia — a former Soviet republic that joined the EU and NATO in 2004 — would remove all of its Soviet memorials from public spaces.⁴
• Kallas, Peterkop, and Kairys — as well as at least 60 members of Latvia's previous parliament — are among 170 citizens from the Baltic states, Poland, and Ukraine which Russia has placed on a wanted list for desecration of 'war graves, monuments and memorials to Soviet soldiers.'⁵
• Meanwhile, Estonia's Foreign Intelligence Service has claimed that Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin plans to double the number of Russian soldiers along Russia's border with the Baltic states and Finland, allegedly to prepare for potential military conflict with NATO.⁶

Sources: ¹Reuters, ²Guardian, ³Al Jazeera, ⁴CNN, ⁵Forbes and ⁶USA Today.

Narratives

• Anti-Russia narrative, as provided by ERR. The fact that the Kremlin has put Kallas and many other Western politicians and officials on its wanted list is anything but surprising. This move is a classic scare tactic, all too familiar to anyone who has lived under Russian rule. While Moscow intended to quell criticism, this has only exposed that Estonia is doing the right thing in supporting Ukraine and strengthening European defenses.
• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by TASS. Despite playing the Ukraine card, the fact is that Kallas is among more than 170 foreign citizens under investigation for acts of desecration, destruction or damage to war graves, monuments, and memorials to Soviet soldiers who liberated the world from Nazism and fascism. Given the outrageousness of these crimes, those responsible must be brought to justice regardless of their position.

Predictions