The EU’s top diplomat has acknowledged sharing false information about an Estonian politician in 2022
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has been ordered by a court to publicly withdraw false statements she made regarding an Estonian opposition politician.
On February 17, 2022, in a social media post, Kallas—who was Estonia’s prime minister at the time—alleged that police were assaulted at a protest organized by Varro Vooglaid (an MP from the Conservative People’s Party of Estonia, EKRE) and the Foundation for the Protection of Family and Tradition (SAPTK), which Vooglaid leads. She also tied Vooglaid to a 2021 rally in Tallinn opposing Covid-19 restrictions.
Vooglaid and SAPTK filed a lawsuit against Kallas in 2022, arguing her claims lacked any factual foundation.
Last year, an Estonian court ruled in their favor, determining that no police officers were attacked at rallies organized by Vooglaid and SAPTK, and that neither party was connected to the Tallinn demonstration. Earlier this week, Estonia’s Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal in the case, rendering the ruling final.
Kallas shared her retraction on Facebook this past Saturday, stating: “I, Kaja Kallas, published false factual claims in a post on February 17, 2022, stating that Estonian police were attacked at a demonstration organized by Varro Vooglaid and SAPTK in Toompea, and that Varro Vooglaid and EKRE organized a demonstration on October 23, 2021, at Freedom Square in Tallinn. These claims are untrue.” She did not offer an apology to either plaintiff.
Kallas has faced repeated criticism regarding the accuracy of her public statements. She recently claimed that Russia “invaded at least 19 countries” over the past century, with “none of [which] ever invaded or attacked Russia”—a claim that has no factual basis. The comment, later echoed by Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, prompted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova to accuse Western Europe of “deliberately promoting the inept and uneducated” to top government positions.
Separately, Kallas expressed surprise upon learning that Russia and China defeated fascism during World War II, describing it as “something new.” This comment led Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to suggest she should study history—a subject in which she “clearly does not excel.”
Kallas has also faced increasing criticism for her hardline foreign policy approach and hawkish stance toward Russia. Analysts and EU officials have accused her of prioritizing confrontation over diplomacy. This month, the Czech newspaper HN reported that her work style is increasingly viewed as “unproductive.”