Kallas, who will have been three years in office later this month, told EPL that: "Perhaps it is human nature coming into play again, where you forget the bad things and remember the good."

"There have been many such moments at work where it has been very, very difficult," she continued.

"This job is one where you are alone a lot, and you have to take steps or make decisions which are not popular, you have to defend them, you attract a lot of criticism while the difficult moments are when criticism or attacks come from your supporters as well," Kallas added.

The prime minister also denied that her spouse, Arvo Hallik, had been involved in doing business in or with Russia as such, saying that: " My husband had a stake in a company that helped another Estonian company, but it was not a Russian business," adding that after giving her "moral assessment" of the situation the following day, Hallik divested himself of his share in the company (Stark Logistics – ed.).

Kallas also rejected claims that she had not listened to her advisers as the saga unfolded, though qualified this by saying that following an adviser's recommendation that she speak to a journalist in the immediate aftermath of the story breaking had been a mistake, on the grounds is was "clearly an emotional matter for me," and that she had not had time to prepare for the grilling.

Kallas side-stepped the issue of whether this current administration, her third since first becoming prime minister nearly three years ago, would be her last, though said that she had a "Plan B."

"Plan B is to go back to being a lawyer, I always have that and I'm happy to do it," she told the daily, adding that she has had invites to lecture at various universities worldwide."

"I have a fairly good reputation and a fairly strong reputation, so I will definitely not be unemployed when the current job comes to an end."

The head of government also spoke of her primary critic from within the Reform Party, MEP and former prime minister Andrus Ansip, whom she said would "definitely not" be suited to a return to the European Commission (which he held 2014-2019) as he had not performed that role well the last time.

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