Kallas, who initiated the Rail Baltic project while serving as the European commissioner for transport, said he still remembers the disapproval with which the Estonian public received the creation of Rail Baltic.

"A public movement against Rail Baltic was formed, which has since quieted down. Governments have consistently carried out the Estonian section of Rail Baltic, even though all kinds of obstacles have been thrown at it with full force," Kallas said at an international mobility conference held in Tallinn on Thursday.

"Public movements under the collective banner of 'against' move from one large-scale project to another. Nursipalu, the pulp mill, wind farms, chicken farms," he added.

The former commissioner said politicians take advantage of this, using public opposition to serve their own political agendas.

"A large development project changes life and often affects a great many people. And it's possible to mobilize a certain number of people and a certain amount of media against it, it is a kind of marketable cause. Then others, like the Rail Baltic developers, must be strong," he said.

Euroscepticism 'us vs them'

Kallas posed the question: whose project is Rail Baltic? He said that in Estonia, skeptics often speak about Europe in the third person. "Europe is not 'us.' Europe is 'them,' who don't do things quite the way we'd like. So Rail Baltic is apparently their project," Kallas told the audience.

The former prime minister blamed delays in the project, which is expected to miss its 2030 deadline, on these attitudes.

Kallas noted that Russia still wants to subjugate Estonia, and Estonia's current broad-gauge railway network is part of Russia's integrated railway system, which extends Russian influence.

"For them, the Russian railway is one of the symbolic elements of the Russian state. Therefore, this is not merely a question of economics or infrastructure. It's clear that Russia is doing everything it can to obstruct or delay the construction of this railway," Kallas said.

He acknowledged that Rail Baltic is an expensive megaproject that is not meant to be a social initiative supporting the poor, where everyone gets a small piece.

"There are people in the Estonian public who want the railway to be cheap, preferably free, to zigzag through Estonia and stop at every village," Kallas said.

"Many people have the illusion that opposing pan-European megaprojects, our own defense bases, or our new factories is somehow in the national interest."

Strong leadership needed

The former politician said the construction of Rail Baltic in the Baltic states is hindered by so-called national interests, which place their own priorities above all and seek benefit at others' expense.

Kallas stressed that Rail Baltic is a European project whose implementation requires strong leadership from the European Union.

"A fist is needed, something that, when slammed down, forces every country to do what they have themselves agreed to," he said.

"Many of Estonia's leaders have dreamed of an Estonia beyond its borders. Rail Baltic is exactly the kind of project through which Estonia reaches beyond its borders and connects us not only by rail but also symbolically to Europe," said Kallas.

"Estonia is closed off. Getting some kind of 'wires' out of Estonia is of the utmost strategic importance," the former commissioner stressed.

Rail Baltic, when completed, will run from Tallinn to the Polish border. This week Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania requested additional funding from the EU to complete the project.

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