Estonia’s Commission nominee defends communist past

Date: 18/03/04

ESTONIA'S controversial nominee to the European Commission has claimed he never subscribed to communist ideology, even though he spent 18 years in the Soviet Communist Party.

Speaking to European Voice, Siim Kallas, former prime minister of Estonia, said he is ready to "answer all questions" about his past when he appears before a European Parliament 'confirmation hearing' next month.

Although a motion passed at the congress of the centre-right European People's Party in February, seeking that former communists refrain from taking top posts in the EU institutions, was widely perceived as directed at Kallas, he believes it could not be.

Kallas, a member of the Soviet Communist Party in 1972-90, pointed out that the resolution called on individuals not to take up such jobs if they had been part of "repressive Communist enforcement agencies or were involved in crimes against humanity". He stressed that he participated in neither.

The former premier referred to Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, founder of the Pan-Europa movement, who stated that under a totalitarian regime, members of a political party did not necessarily espouse its ideology.

"I was always in favour of the market economy," Kallas, a trained economist, said. "I even gave lectures that promoted the market economy."

He said that he originally joined the Communist Party in the belief "the system could be changed from inside".

Since Estonia achieved independence from the Soviet Union in 1992, Kallas has held the posts of prime minister, foreign minister and finance minister.

But his most controversial assignment was as governor of the Bank of Estonia in 1991-95. While he earned much kudos for ditching the rouble and replacing it with the kroon as the national currency, Kallas also faced a two-year probe into allegations he misappropriated the equivalent of $10 million (€8m).

Even though he was exonerated at the time, it is expected the accusations will resurface when he is quizzed by MEPs.

Siim Kallas, former prime minister of Estonia, and the country's nominee to the European Commission, is playing down his communist past.

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