(AFP) Russia issued an arrest warrant against the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas, according to a news article published on Tuesday on the Interior Ministry's website. This move reflects the escalating tensions with the Baltic countries since the Kremlin attacked Ukraine.
According to the information, Kallas, who has been in office since 2021, is wanted in a "criminal case" although the specific allegations against her remain unspecified.
Estonian Secretary of State, Taimar Peterkop, is also wanted, as well as Lithuania's Minister of Culture, Simonas Kairys.
A Russian law enforcement source, cited by the state news agency TASS, stated that the two Estonian officials and the Lithuanian minister were accused of causing "destruction and damage of monuments to Soviet soldiers" from World War II.
In recent years, several of these monuments, remnants of the USSR's legacy following World War II, have been taken down in the Baltic countries, symbolizing their rejection of the Soviet era.
There is a Russian minority living in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. These three former Soviet republics are currently members of the European Union and NATO and have tense relations with Moscow.
