Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas does not believe that she could be chosen as the next head of NATO, as she represents the eastern flank of the alliance, writes ERR News.
Kallas’ name has been mentioned alongside other potential candidates, such as British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, who could replace current NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg when his term ends in a few months.
Broadcasting organization BBC asked Kallas if she would be ready to take on this job, to which the Prime Minister of Estonia replied that it is unlikely that she could be offered this position. She said: “It is highly unlikely, I would say. There are many reasons and one of them is that I have been very vocal about these issues [Russia, Ukraine, defense spending] and I come from the eastern flank and
although we have been in NATO for 20 years I think there are still some countries that are considered to be more… eligible.”
NATO’s eastern flank consists of Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria, all of which joined the alliance after 1999. Last year, only seven out of 30 countries – Greece, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Great Britain, and the USA – reached the defense funding set by NATO (2% of GDP).
Speaking to British media, Kallas also mentioned Russia’s terrorist tactics in Ukraine and drone attacks on Moscow. The Prime Minister stated that the Ukrainian army has enough to do, and the attacks in Moscow could also have been carried out by the Kremlin.
Kallas said that NATO’s collective defense works and maintains the security of member states: “I think if we weren’t part of NATO we would be living through some really dark times right now, but we are.”
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