Following the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, Kallas’ father, Siim Kallas, became foreign minister in 1995, then prime minister in 2002 before being named Tallinn’s first-ever European commissioner in 2004 when Estonia joined the EU. He held the post for a decade.

Kallas’ initial instinct was to stay far from politics. In an interview with POLITICO, Ülo Kallas, her older brother, recalled: “What was a crucial point for both Kaja and me is that we both wanted to establish our own career, not on the back of our father.”

Kallas specialized in competition law, a field that at the time, like many others, was dominated by men. But “she always blended in and felt like an equal,” said Sten Luiga, a lawyer who first met Kallas when she joined his firm as a trainee in the 1990s. The two were later partners at a different firm. “She was very energetic. I don’t remember ever seeing her tired or exhausted.”

Despite her success as a lawyer, it was clear to those who knew her that Kallas wanted something else. “I remember her being at the peak of her career and saying, ‘I’m not feeling satisfied and I want to do something completely different,’” her brother said. “She was big on golf at the time, and one of the things she was thinking [was], ‘Maybe I want to go and become a golf caddie for some time in Australia.’”

However, the lure of politics proved more attractive than Bondi Beach. Kallas was elected first to the Estonian parliament in 2011 and then to the European Parliament in 2014. 

“The life of a partner at a law firm is: You earn money, time becomes billable hours,” said Luiga, the former legal colleague. “I think these types of things didn’t motivate her that much. She wanted to have a bigger impact.”