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The war in Ukraine has exposed many of Europe’s vulnerabilities, including inadequate ammunition production and gaps in satellite-based surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.
Kallas has suggested joint borrowing by the EU to fund the expansion of defense capabilities. While France’s President Emmanuel Macron has backed the idea, it will be harder for her to convince fiscally prudent states like Germany. Reports suggest she may have raised it in February in Hamburg with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
However, there are already concerns over potential turf wars within the bloc and whether Kallas’ focus on Russia might steal the thunder of incoming NATO chief Rutte.
Though Kaja Kallas had been considered for the post of NATO secretary general, it will be outgoing Dutch PM Mark Rutte who takes the jobImage: Yves Herman/Reuters
“In terms of a military crisis, it is important who gives orders to whom and how the chain of command really works. That is NATO, militarily,” she said in March in a bid to clarify. “But boosting the defense industry is where the European Union also has a say.”
Kallas’ bigger challenge will be defining her foreign policy vision in other areas, such as dealing with Iran, China, and the Middle East.
No particular foreign policy?
Kristi Raik, deputy director at the ICDS, the Estonian think tank, said Kallas will have a critical view of China and Iran but will also judge them based on their ties with Moscow.
“I think China will be an issue where the EU is kind of developing its approach regarding transatlantic relations,” said Raik. “Iran, I don’t think she will strongly formulate a view. But with Iran now being a close partner of Russia and being an authoritarian regime, that will be the basic starting point.”
Raik added that Kallas will take great care in pushing for a multilateral, rules-based world order.
“She comes from a small state, so it’s very natural for her to lay strong emphasis on a rules-based order where international agreements are valid and norms respected.”
Others, however, have said that while that approach may work in the context of the threat Russia poses to smaller Baltic states, it could be controversial when it comes to conflicts in the Middle East.
In May, Estonia voted in favor of a United Nations General Assembly resolution upgrading Palestinian status from that of an observer to full membership. An Israeli source told DW that while little was known about Kallas in Tel Aviv, Estonia’s vote had been noted.
“Kallas personally hasn’t been vocal about foreign policy questions other than Russia,” Merili Arjakas of the ICDS added. “In any case, it will come down to what the EU decides as a whole on major foreign policy questions.”
It remains to be seen whether Kallas will pursue ‘feminist foreign policy’ at the EU level Image: Sergei Grits/AP/picture alliance
Will Kallas pursue a ‘feminist foreign policy’?
And then there is the question of whether she will pursue a so-called feminist foreign policy.
Even among feminists, there is a debate about whether a feminist foreign policy merely encourages the inclusion of women in positions of power, fights for their rights through diplomatic tools and pushes for allocation of more resources or goes beyond that to fundamentally prioritize human security over national security.
Ann Towns, professor of political science at Sweden’s University of Gothenburg, said many feminists reject the idea that “there is inherent tension between feminist foreign policy and security policy,” adding: “Kallas would fall in that same tradition.”
Edited by: Jon Shelton Jr.
Source link : https://www.dw.com/en/whats-kaja-kallas-eu-diplomacy-priority/a-69607734
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Publish date : 2024-07-15 07:00:00
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