In an interview with Delfi, Estonia’s online news outlet, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas reflects on a global landscape in which long-standing assumptions about security, borders and power are breaking down – and on Europe’s difficulty in responding at the necessary scale and speed.
“The world order has already changed or is changing,” Kallas said. “The rules we agreed on no longer apply.” What follows from that, she suggested, is a fundamental question for Europe: which rules will replace them, and who will enforce them.
Her comments centre on Europe’s position in an increasingly transactional world. The European Union, Kallas argues, is strongest when it acts as a single political actor – yet increasingly, both adversaries and partners attempt to engage with member states individually rather than collectively. “They want to deal with member states separately,” she said. “Because we are strong when we are together.”
That logic also underpins her remarks on the United States and on Donald Trump. Trump’s claim that the EU was created to undermine American interests is not dismissed as mere rhetoric. Instead, Kallas treats it as symptomatic of a broader discomfort with European unity. “Both our opponents and, as it turns out, our allies want the European Union to fall apart,” she said, arguing that a cohesive Europe constrains the unilateral power of larger states.
Ukraine remains the clearest test of this reality. Kallas rejects any suggestion that territorial concessions could be recognised without consequences far beyond the current war. “Territorial integrity has always been a principle that must be defended,” she said. “If it isn’t, then all borders are at risk.” Recognition of occupied territory, she warned, would be watched closely by countries around the world with ambitions of their own.
She is openly critical of Europe’s caution in dealing with frozen Russian assets. The current approach, she said, amounted to “the absolute minimum”. While acknowledging the need for consensus among 27 member states, she insists the issue has not been settled. “Sooner or later we will come back to it,” she said, “because it is simply the right thing to do.”
Questions about Europe’s capacity to act also extend inward. Asked about institutional dynamics in Brussels, Kallas notes that the European External Action Service has faced constraints since its creation under the Lisbon treaty, particularly in relation to the European Commission. She frames this not as a personal conflict but as a structural issue that has limited Europe’s ability to respond decisively at a time of growing geopolitical pressure.
On Estonian domestic politics, Kallas avoids direct judgement. She declines to assess the performance of the current prime minister, Kristen Michal, or to comment on the strategic direction of the governing Reform party, saying she has chosen not to intervene after leaving national office. Yet when asked what defines effective leadership in the current environment, her answer is unambiguous. “Fighting spirit,” she said. Pressed further, she added: “The ability to fight.”
