‘We need to put the EU flag up more,” Kaja Kallas tells ambassadors.
BRUSSELS — The European Union must become transactional in its foreign policy and demand more respect for its own interests in exchange for its economic offerings around the world, the bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said.
“The question is whether the EU should become transactional too. In many ways it is time we should,” the European commissioner told the bloc’s 145 ambassadors at a conference in Brussels Monday.
“At this historical juncture we need to be honest and accept we can’t that we cannot expect the same from others as we do with our member states or allies. Every country’s historical and cultural background is different.”
As U.S. President Donald Trump threatens the EU with a trade war, Brussels has been accelerating efforts to strengthen ties with other parts of the world, such as the South American trade bloc Mercosur, Mexico, and India — where all 27 commissioners will travel this month.
“We need to put the European flag up more,” Kallas said. “We are the predictable partner, we are the reliable partner, but we are often taken for granted. And we shouldn’t [be],” she added.
The former Estonian prime minister said that an unnamed prime minister from an Asian country told her: “‘We have a lot of attention for you but you never have attention for us.’”
She suggested the EU should up diplomatic engagement in Africa, where countries like Turkey, Russia and China are exploiting European “loopholes.”
