Berliner Boersenzeitung - EU unity in a 'world on fire': Kallas makes top diplomat pitch

EUR -
AED 3.84909
AFN 70.983076
ALL 98.168084
AMD 408.033489
ANG 1.877746
AOA 956.772304
ARS 1045.934567
AUD 1.608014
AWG 1.888917
AZN 1.780997
BAM 1.956142
BBD 2.103608
BDT 124.501747
BGN 1.96788
BHD 0.392672
BIF 3077.56693
BMD 1.047943
BND 1.404259
BOB 7.239401
BRL 6.098928
BSD 1.041892
BTN 88.430422
BWP 14.233758
BYN 3.409661
BYR 20539.683689
BZD 2.100107
CAD 1.461529
CDF 3008.644792
CHF 0.933707
CLF 0.036935
CLP 1019.137039
CNY 7.592031
CNH 7.595984
COP 4600.207983
CRC 530.697762
CUC 1.047943
CUP 27.770491
CVE 110.899218
CZK 25.334232
DJF 185.535949
DKK 7.457456
DOP 62.791567
DZD 139.877767
EGP 51.749446
ERN 15.719146
ETB 127.546696
FJD 2.385066
FKP 0.827159
GBP 0.83215
GEL 2.871065
GGP 0.827159
GHS 16.552662
GIP 0.827159
GMD 74.404001
GNF 8980.654359
GTQ 8.08725
GYD 219.183481
HKD 8.154967
HNL 26.32885
HRK 7.475249
HTG 136.765194
HUF 411.595345
IDR 16624.306486
ILS 3.879155
IMP 0.827159
INR 88.307488
IQD 1364.864451
IRR 44092.203499
ISK 146.344923
JEP 0.827159
JMD 165.980576
JOD 0.743093
JPY 161.794551
KES 135.676997
KGS 90.649326
KHR 4194.772734
KMF 495.143365
KPW 943.148344
KRW 1467.769713
KWD 0.322609
KYD 0.868268
KZT 520.220796
LAK 22885.434193
LBP 93300.07746
LKR 303.238754
LRD 189.101446
LSL 18.801143
LTL 3.094303
LVL 0.63389
LYD 5.087986
MAD 10.539574
MDL 19.003682
MGA 4862.942225
MKD 61.540749
MMK 3403.678134
MNT 3560.910412
MOP 8.353519
MRU 41.455637
MUR 49.074871
MVR 16.201526
MWK 1806.650049
MXN 21.359806
MYR 4.668554
MZN 66.973635
NAD 18.801143
NGN 1769.410365
NIO 38.337062
NOK 11.559514
NPR 140.70592
NZD 1.790636
OMR 0.401068
PAB 1.047692
PEN 3.95069
PGK 4.194773
PHP 61.7584
PKR 289.326398
PLN 4.334357
PYG 8133.57593
QAR 3.820851
RON 4.978251
RSD 117.724856
RUB 108.694151
RWF 1422.262
SAR 3.934395
SBD 8.785488
SCR 14.270629
SDG 630.340687
SEK 11.508746
SGD 1.410154
SHP 0.827159
SLE 23.819809
SLL 21974.846653
SOS 595.409683
SRD 37.195668
STD 21690.30525
SVC 9.116766
SYP 2632.988191
SZL 18.794642
THB 36.22582
TJS 11.157609
TMT 3.667801
TND 3.328435
TOP 2.454385
TRY 36.218374
TTD 7.076236
TWD 34.002924
TZS 2777.049042
UAH 43.103352
UGX 3871.138521
USD 1.047943
UYU 44.554803
UZS 13366.334712
VES 48.817231
VND 26630.85264
VUV 124.413904
WST 2.925428
XAF 656.077858
XAG 0.034259
XAU 0.000393
XCD 2.832119
XDR 0.792554
XOF 656.077858
XPF 119.331742
YER 261.90718
ZAR 18.9268
ZMK 9432.745885
ZMW 28.781577
ZWL 337.437233
  • SCS

    0.2300

    13.27

    +1.73%

  • BCC

    3.4200

    143.78

    +2.38%

  • GSK

    0.2600

    33.96

    +0.77%

  • RBGPF

    59.2400

    59.24

    +100%

  • AZN

    1.3700

    65.63

    +2.09%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    6.79

    -0.15%

  • CMSC

    0.0320

    24.672

    +0.13%

  • RIO

    -0.2200

    62.35

    -0.35%

  • NGG

    1.0296

    63.11

    +1.63%

  • CMSD

    0.0150

    24.46

    +0.06%

  • BCE

    0.0900

    26.77

    +0.34%

  • RELX

    0.9900

    46.75

    +2.12%

  • VOD

    0.1323

    8.73

    +1.52%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.21

    -0.15%

  • BTI

    0.4000

    37.38

    +1.07%

  • BP

    0.2000

    29.72

    +0.67%

EU unity in a 'world on fire': Kallas makes top diplomat pitch
EU unity in a 'world on fire': Kallas makes top diplomat pitch / Photo: Nicolas TUCAT - AFP

EU unity in a 'world on fire': Kallas makes top diplomat pitch

Backing Ukraine "as long as it takes", building bridges with Donald Trump and standing firm towards China -- the EU's designated foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas made her pitch to lawmakers at a confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

Text size:

A hawkish Russia critic, the 47-year-old Kallas needs parliament's green light to succeed Josep Borrell as the bloc's top diplomat, though her approval is in little doubt since she was tapped directly by European Union leaders back in June.

If confirmed, she faces the daunting task of uniting the EU's diplomacy -- and the often-competing stances of 27 nation states -- as it navigates the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, Trump's return to the White House and a rising threat from China.

Throughout her three-hour hearing, the former Estonian prime minister emphasised the need for the EU to pull its weight as a "geopolitical player" -- by leveraging the voices of its members.

"The world is on fire, so we have to stick together," she said.

Most urgently, Trump's re-election has set nerves jangling in Europe that he could end support for Kyiv's fight against Russia. Kallas said she was already looking to engage with the Republican and his team on Ukraine and broader security challenges.

"The EU and the United States are stronger and safer when we work together," she said, highlighting the threat to the "rules-based world order" posed by Russia, Iran, China and North Korea -- with Pyongyang accused of sending troops to fight alongside the Russians.

She warned that "China needs to also feel a higher cost" for keeping Moscow supplied with technology needed for the invasion of Ukraine, arguing that "without China's support, Russia would not be able to continue its war with the same force."

Likewise, "we should have a new approach to Iran," she said -- vowing to take up with EU foreign ministers the need for a "stronger plan" towards Tehran, accused of providing Russia with missiles and drones.

- 'Clear path' -

Kallas was one of six designated vice presidents in EU chief Ursula von der Leyen's new European Commission facing lawmakers' scrutiny on the final day of a week-long hearings process.

A fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, she has punched well above Estonia's weight since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, championing plans to ramp up artillery shell supplies and bolster Europe's defences.

"The situation on the battlefield is difficult. And that's why we must keep working every day," she told lawmakers.

"Today, tomorrow and for as long as it takes and with as much military, financial and humanitarian help as needed."

EU members have provided Ukraine with more than $130 billion in military, humanitarian and financial aid since Russia's invasion, and opened accession negotiations with Kyiv in June, setting the war-torn country on a long path towards membership.

Kallas stressed support "must be underpinned by a clear path for Ukraine to join the EU."

While Kallas's hearing was largely dominated by the threat from Russia -- and to a lesser degree China -- she was pressed to deliver substance on other topics as well, from the promotion of human rights to relations with Africa or Latin America.

"I've heard you committed on Ukraine, on values against Russia, and I'm happy about that -- but on many other subjects, I didn't hear the same conviction," said the Green lawmaker Mounir Satouri.

On the Middle East -- a fraught topic for EU diplomacy, with member states starkly divided -- Kallas did not go beyond reiterating that "the security of Israel has to go together with the existence of Palestine."

Pivoting back to Beijing, she voiced support for a controversial trade deal between the EU and South America's Mercosur bloc, warning that unless it goes ahead "this void will be really filled by China."

(K.Lüdke--BBZ)