Europe's leaders are "dusting off" their caps, the EU foreign policy chief said on Sunday, in a pointed message to Washington and its push for a new world order that has unsettled its allies across the Atlantic.
Kaja Kallas was speaking on the last day of this year’s Munich Security Conference, a day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told European leaders that Washington demands the survival of the continent as part of what he described as a new western century based on hard power.
"We're getting there, dusting off our caps, pulling up our boots, revving up our engines," she told a panel titled 'Europeans Assemble! Reclaiming Agency in a Rougher World'. "Europeans also know what this fight is for."
Her remarks come as concern is growing among European leaders that the continent must assume greater responsibility for its own defence and security, especially as geopolitical tensions rise and uncertainty persists over long-term US engagement.
Ms Kallas, from Estonia, pushed back forcefully against US criticism of the continent, saying the EU should no longer accept being portrayed as weak.
"Every time I hear this European bashing – it's very in fashion right now – I'm thinking of what the alternative is," she said. "I mean, all the best or good things that we have got from Europe and all the good things that Europe actually presents.
"It's very hard for me to believe these accusations, coming from a country that is number two in the press freedom index and hearing criticism regarding press freedom from a country that is 58 on this list."
Ms Kallas rejected the notion that Europe is in decline, dismissing criticism that portrays the continent as weak or irrelevant.
“Contrary to what some may say, Europe is not facing civilisational erasure,” she said. “In fact, people still want to join our club – and not just fellow Europeans.”
At the same time, Ms Kallas acknowledged longs-tanding frustrations with slow decision-making and the burden of bureaucracy in Europe’s high chambers, echoing French President Emmanuel Macron's comments that reform is needed.
“Europe is sometimes too slow, for sure, and needs to be reformed, for sure, but we absolutely know what we are and what we stand for,” she told the panel in Munich.
She stressed there is now “an urgent need to reclaim European agency”. Central to that effort is strengthening Europe’s defence posture, she added.
