Neil Hall; POOL / EPA
Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs
“We are equivalent powers, we are strong.” Trump’s strategy consists of “knocking the heads” of his rivals and imposing peace on them.
The head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallastated this Sunday that the administration of North American President Donald Trump clearly “does not like” the European Union (EU), as it fears that the 27 member states together could become an equivalent power.
“They clearly don’t like the EU”declared Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, in an interview held as part of the Lennart Meri Conference on foreign policy and security, which takes place this weekend in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.
Kallas compared this attitude to that of Russia and China.
“It is because, if we remain united and act together, then we are equivalent powers, we are strong”, he stated, warning that these powers “want to dismantle” the community bloc.
In this context, she said she was “very concerned” about the response of some EU countries, which send the message to Washington that the relationship is good.
“If you don’t like the EU, talk to us [individualmente]”, thus allowing the US division strategy to take effect.
On the other hand, the head of European diplomacy also expressed concern about the trend revealed by pollsaccording to which European public perception is becoming increasingly critical of Washington, to the point where only 14% consider the United States an ally.
“We shouldn’t get carried away by this, we need each other. Our economies are interconnected and so is our security”, he stressed.
Kallas also criticized the North American position within the scope of peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, which have been stalled for several monthsconsidering that this involved “pressuring Ukraine to cede territories that it did not even lose militarily”.
In general, added the high representative, Trump’s strategy – also used in other regions of the world – consists of “knocking the heads” of rivals and imposing peace on them, but, she argued, “a conflict does not end without social acceptance”.
Kallas considered that, in this sense, it is necessary to deal with the roots of the problem and ensure that justice exists because, otherwise, a part of the population “will seek revenge and the cycle will continue”.
“In fact, there are also studies that show that, when women participate in negotiations, peace agreements are more lasting. And… the image we saw of the talks between the United States and China… there was a lot of masculinity in the room, wasn’t there?”, he commented.
Regarding the appropriate strategy in the face of the war in Ukraine, the high representative insisted on the need to “continue to put pressure on Russia”, so that Moscow realizes that the tactic of turning to the United States to achieve its objectives has not worked and that it has to truly sit down at the negotiating table with Kiev and the Europeans.
