"For me, what happened at the hearing was to be expected. I expected nothing less. Overall, the mood in the room was good natured, which is always a plus, and I don't think any of the questions that could have been answered were left hanging in the air or spoiled," said Paet, who is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Renew Europe Group in the European Parliament.

Riho Terras (Isamaa), who is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European People's Party (EPP), echoed Paet's sentiments. "Well, I have to say that I am not ashamed to be an Estonian. I think Kaja Kallas did very well. The topics were clear and the answers were understandable, clear and simple. It was also clear to see that there was clear support in the audience right up until the end."

Marina Kaljurand (SDE), who is a member of the Socialists & Democrats group in the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), also said she thought Kallas did very well. Kaljurand said she became convinced Kallas was ready for the hearing a few weeks ago, when she appeared before the Socialist Group.

"There, she was more open and direct and it was already clear that she was well prepared and had a good command of the relevant issues," Kaljurand said.

Commenting on Kallas' hearing on Tuesday, Kaljurand said the former Estonian PM was confident and answered the questions in a substantive way. "It has to be pointed out that it is not easy to be in a position like that," Kaljurand stressed, referring to the fact that Kallas had to answer MEPs' questions for three straight hours without any outside assistance.

Paet said that if there were to be any criticism leveled by those asking questions during the hearing, it was bound to come from the political extremists. In this case the topic most affected was Russia's war in Ukraine, with a number of views expressed rather than any substantive criticism offered. "So I think the result in that sense is as good as could have been expected," Paet said.

Terras pointed out that while Kallas' answers were generally convincing, she did not appear to feel very confident on the issue of allocating 0.25 percent of GDP to support Ukraine. Nor did she touch on the two percent issue, whereby European countries should also allocate two percent for military defense, he said.

"And there was too much talk for my taste grassroots issues. But at the same time, I am very pleased that she was very clear regarding her opinion on the European army, by saying that we have NATO and we don't need alternative actions. I think that is one of the very important and key points that I liked very much from what she said," Terras said.

Asked to what extent the future High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy will be able to pursue different policies than before, Paet replied that the limits they will be asked to set are quite strong. In addition, the positions of all 27 member states and other members of the European Commission involved in external affairs will also have to be taken into account.

"However, it is still possible to do something different. The High Representative for Foreign Affairs will still be a well-known face in the world by virtue of their position. Their words will be listened to and there will always be something else that goes with that. It is precisely due to this kind of personal attitude and stance that it is possible to be different," Paet said.

"If you also consider that the current High Representative for Foreign Affairs is from a previous generation and a different geographical region, with different experience – so there are actually quite a lot of differences on a personal level too. But of course, if someone were to imagine that the High Representative for Foreign Affairs in the European Union can shape the foreign policy of the European Union on their own and that everything depends on her, then that is unfortunately not the case," Paet explained.

Although Kallas' hearing was held on Tuesday, there has not yet been a vote on her suitability for the role. That is expected to happen on Wednesday.

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