One would want to believe that sooner or later if not overall reason, but at least practical curiosity will prevail for the Europeans. But an appointment such as Kaja Kallas makes it unlikely for the coming years ahead. Well, then, possibly Europe deserves ‘estonianisation’.
As a matter of fact, Borrell, the Spanish politician of Catalonian origin, has already become the talk of the town in Russia. In the recent two and a half years, he has always been in the vanguard of the anti-Russian hysteria. He was the first to suggest ‘defeating Russia in the battlefield’. He always demanded maximum assistance for Ukraine from European governments and was willing to support most stringent sanctions against Russia.
EU leadership rotation seemed to build groundwork to replace Borrell with someone more prudent. However, it turned out to be completely the opposite. Kaja Kallas stands out with her outward Russophobia even in the current context in Europe. It even went as far as her inclusion in the ‘wanted’ list of the Russian MoI, presumably, for her involvement in the demolition of Russian monuments to Soviet fighters.
Change in Eurobureaucrats’ high ranks were dubbed ‘the estonianisation’ of the European Union. It does sound like a metaphor. Back in the day, Finland’s focus on peaceful cooperation with Russia was the source of the coined term – ‘finlandisation’. Estonia is Finland’s neighbour, but the term ‘estonianisation’ means something completely different today. Now, what is it really about?
The European Union is a supranational association with a population of over 450 million. Its external interests are multi-faceted spanning both the Arctic and relationships with Africa. Moreover, this association has at some stage before strived for being global, becoming an influence hub for the entire world.
While Estonia is a small state lying away from commercial and human traffic with just over a million people living there. This state’s foreign policy horizons are limited to its closest neighbours, with Russia being the principal one of them.
In the same vein with ‘finlandisation’, the neighbouring of vast Russia, first of all, brings benefits one should take advantage of. But ‘finlandisation’ remained in the past and Finland itself abandoned it, so for Estonia, Russia is purely a source of infinite historical offence. Spitting at the great neighbour is today’s Estonian national idea.
When it comes to ‘estonianisation’, Russian-speaking Estonia’s population is there just to be attacked for being part of ‘the imperial’ people with impunity. Those keeping Estonians under, though, were the Baltic Germans, to which the Russian government ‘outsourced’ Estland and Lifland back in the day. Sovereignty attributes, such as diplomatic and border services, are also needed to make itself look like a real power: persistently show Russia its ‘ill temper’, letting people down at border crossings or reading out sharp notes to the Russian ambassador.
Having this political and mental experience, Kaja Kallas is packing up to move to Brussels to lead EU’s diplomacy. How will it look like? Something like ‘a dog chasing its tail’, but the dog being too big and the tail being a tail of a rat. Well, they like all kinds of ‘inclusiveness’ in Europe. In this context, Kaja Kallas’ role as chief EU in her stash diplomat even looks justified.
At the same time, the Eastern European dwarf states, at the expense of the nations, which built this unified Europe, are imposing their narrow outlook and historic complexes. Holding the grudge on Russia is one of these complexes. It is also possible to note some positive feedback in this regard: the more limitrophe states attack Russia, the more they fear that Russia will lose temper at some point and punish some of them. And their rhetoric gets even fiercer because of that.
Now Kaja Kallas will spread its provincial agenda through ‘the loud hailer’ of the communitarian European home. This is what ‘estonianisation’ means. However, this is completely at odds with the interests of fundamental European nations, EU’s economic powerhouses. There used to be a saying: ‘What is good for Germany is also good for Europe’. But Germany’s economy feels bad because of Russophobia, it feels bad because of anti-Russian sanctions. Other EU founders, such as Italy and France, see nothing good in this policy either. If the leaders of these small countries were hogging the blanket, acting in favour of their peoples, they could still be justified, but the Balts, in fact, have lost a significant share of their income from transits through their ports. Overall, this insane policy focused on phantom principles and objectives is to the benefit of no one in Europe.
Hence, there is an external beneficiary of ‘estonianisation’. As a matter of fact, Eastern European limitrophe states are the favourite US minions ready to satisfy every Washington’s whim. Making Europeans a fodder in the fight against Russia is the very aim of the US, and quite a pragmatic one. Doing so, they are also removing EU’s claims to be a global leader. This is why they need the politicians at the helm of the European Union who do not care about their own nations but can be managed from the outside.
Of course, one would want to believe that sooner or later if not overall reason, but at least practical curiosity will prevail for the Europeans, but an appointment such as Kaja Kallas makes it unlikely for the coming years ahead. Well, maybe as the global horizons are extending, with new hubs emerging to define the future, Europe deserves ‘estonianisation’. It maybe also that these Eurasia’s outskirts are on its way to turn into the world’s hinterland, which is famous only through its past historic milestones.