Kallas calls US accusations ‘ridiculous’, defends EU freedom

BRUSSELS, December 9 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The European Union’s top foreign policy representative, Kaja Kallas, on Tuesday called the US’s accusations against Europe in its national security strategy “ridiculous”, in which it accuses the EU of being part of the continent’s “problems” by “undermining political freedom and sovereignty”.

“We know it’s ridiculous. What they say about the European Union is not true. I come from a country which did not have a free press, there were no freedoms. I know what I am talking about. I know the difference and I can say that Europe is very free and very liberal”, defended the head of European diplomacy in a speech before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament.

Before the deputies, Kallas insisted on not entering into hand-to-hand combat with Washington, insisting that the controversial document which marks the general lines of North American foreign policy in the world seeks to confront Europe and make news.

“I think we have to be sure of ourselves. We know that these things are not true. The problems that appear in the national security strategy are not worse in Europe than in the United States,” he said, defending that the EU must be confident, “stay calm” and work on its own path.

The former Estonian prime minister regretted that reactions to controversies generated by Washington generate divisions, both between Euro-Atlantic partners and within the EU itself, which is why she avoided delving into American foreign strategy so as not to give more “entity” to the document.

The US State Department’s vision sums up US President Donald Trump’s ideology, saying Europe must “regain its self-esteem as a civilization” and calling on him to “abandon its failed approach of regulatory choking”.

Washington criticizes the fact that some “European officials” have “unrealistic expectations about war” and accuses them of divorced from European society, by being “perched in minority governments, many of which trample fundamental principles of democracy to suppress opposition.”

Only European Council President António Costa responded directly to the hostile North American document, warning that the allies do not threaten to interfere in each other’s democratic lives. In his speech, he called for the European Union to begin accepting that alliances “are no longer the same” as they were in the past and to defend Europe’s strength.

WITHOUT EUROPE, A PEACE PLAN WILL NOT WORK

In the midst of negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, the High Representative insisted on maintaining pressure on Russia, knowing that Ukraine already accepts important “concessions” while Moscow is not predisposed to peace.

“From this starting point, the situation can only get worse. That is why we have maintained this very clear position that we must not fall into these traps,” he said, reiterating that the EU must have confidence in itself and become strong in a process based on the idea that “for any peace plan to work, you need Europeans.”

According to Kallas, “we can agree on everything”, but if the Europeans and Ukrainians do not accept the peace agreement aimed at ending the Russian invasion, “it simply will not work”. This is why he considers that the EU has an “influence” in the process and is able to “formulate demands on Russia”.