"This will not be an easy five years." On Tuesday, November 12, speaking before members of the European Parliament in Brussels, Kaja Kallas, the European Union's new high representative for foreign affairs, made no secret of the difficulty of her future duties, which she will begin on December 1. "I see autocratic coalitions forming around us and menacing geopolitical shifts taking place all across the world," she warned. In short, for her, "the world is on fire, so we have to stick together."

Kallas laid out her priorities for the next five years before the MEPs, and showed a certain break with the line held by Josep Borrell, her Spanish predecessor. However, there was no question of changing European policy toward Ukraine: "Victory for Ukraine is a priority for us all," she said. "The situation on the battlefield is very difficult, and that is why we must keep on working every day – today, tomorrow and for as long as it takes – and with as much military, financial and humanitarian aid as needed."

After being repeatedly questioned by far-right members, who accused her of supporting war at the expense of efforts to achieve peace, Kallas replied that she doesn't "know anybody who is for war. I don't know any Ukrainians who are for war. They are for peace." She warned, however, that it was important to understand what kind of peace was being discussed: "We have seen that if we have agreements that bring short-term peace, it's not lasting, but actually it brings more wars."

For her, the war in Ukraine will end "when Russia realizes it made a mistake, like it did in Afghanistan, when it withdraws the troops because it realized it can't win in Ukraine." While Donald Trump, who was elected as president of the United States, has promised to settle the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, Kallas said she didn't "think that anybody really knows what is the new president-elect doing."

For the Estonian leader, a staunch Atlanticist, the EU relationship with the new US administration will nevertheless be a key factor in a number of international issues: "The EU and the United States are stronger and safer when we work together," she insisted. On every trip she had made to the US during her term as head of the Estonian government (2021-2024), she systematically met with elected representatives from both the Democratic and Republican parties, and had particularly been in contact with Trump's vice president-elect, JD Vance.

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