Experts: Kaja Kallas pledges support for Ukraine, but EU27 actions unclear
Kaja Kallas, the European Union's new High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, at the weekend pledged support from the union for Ukraine, all the way to victory in the ongoing war being waged on it by the Russian Federation.
However, some international experts have found that strong words are all well and good, but these need to be backed by concrete actions by the EU27.
During her first working day as the EU's foreign policy chief Sunday, Kallas visited Kyiv, along with new European Council President António Costa, and stood out for this statement: "Ukraine will win, and we are here with you." Kallas made her remarks while in an official meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in the Ukrainian capital.
However, it is not yet clear whether this marks a turning point for a new, bolder EU foreign policy on Ukraine and other parts of the world, or whether member states are genuinely ready to back Kallas' words via their actions.
Speaking to "Aktuaalne kaamera," POLITICO journalist Sarah Wheaton said: "It's really been a bit up in the air whether this EU foreign policy chief is more kind of talking about their own aspirations, which is what we would have said about her predecessor, Josep Borrell, or if they are really able to get the rest of Europe on board. So, of course, the big question for Kallas is if she on Ukraine is just talking about her own aspirations, or if she actually reflects a change in European opinion."
Despite that, the entire point of the Kyiv visit was to show support for Ukraine; in any case, the primary tool of Europe's top diplomat is, indeed, words.
Jamie Shea, a researcher at the think tank Friends of Europe, said: "[What's important is] coming up with language that Ukraine can win, will win; despite this less optimistic scenario, the EU is staying very much side-by-side with Ukraine. I think that at a difficult time for Ukrainians, this was an important political message to send."
Yet while Brussels has a tendency to deconstruct the meaning of every word, it is clear that stronger messages of support alone are not enough for Ukraine.
Amanda Paul, a researcher at the European Policy Center, a Brussels-based not-for-profit think tank on EU affairs, told "Aktuaalne kaamera": "What matters now is that it is actually followed up by concrete actions, weapons deliveries and whatnot, and this is what's been missing so far. I mean there's no clear strategy from the side of the EU, and until there's a clear strategy to support Ukraine to victory, not much is actually going to change, with Kallas or no Kallas."
Kallas, Estonian prime minister from January 2021 to July this year, had also said while in Kyiv that it is becoming increasingly difficult to convince the EU27 to up their support for Ukraine, possibly in part due to war-weariness. "This war has been going on for some time, and it is increasingly hard to explain it to our people," she said. "But I see no other option."
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Aleksander Krjukov