EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas pushes back against US criticism, urging Europe to assert its own defence and ensure Russia makes no gains from Ukraine war talks.

MUNICH: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas rejected what she termed “Europe bashing” by the United States on the final day of the Munich Security Conference.

She insisted that a “woke, decadent Europe is not facing civilisational erasure,” directly countering recent US rhetoric.

Kallas acknowledged the enduring transatlantic bond, referencing US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s reassurance that Washington and Europe “belong together”.

“It is also clear that we don’t see eye to eye in all the issues, and this will remain the case,” she added.

The conference highlighted European urgency to lead its own defence amid an aggressive Russia and doubts over US reliability under President Donald Trump.

“There is an urgent need to reclaim European agency,” Kallas stated.

She argued that European defence “starts in Ukraine” and depends on the war’s outcome, as the US pushes for negotiations.

Kallas dismissed Russian power, stating “Russia is no superpower” and was “broken”.

“The greatest threat Russia presents right now is that it gains more at the negotiation table than it has achieved on the battlefield,” she warned.

She called for caps on Russia’s military size, reparations for damages, and accountability for war crimes.

France’s Europe minister, Benjamin Haddad, supported the call for Europe to focus on its own capabilities rather than US opinions.

“I think the worst lesson we could draw from this weekend is to say, well, I can cling to some love words that I heard in part of his speech and push the snooze button,” Haddad said of Rubio’s address.

He urged leaders to “focus on our rearmament, on the support for Ukraine and the threat that Russia poses”.

 The Sun Malaysia