A cancelled defence initiative exposes the struggle over who directs Europe’s external action.
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is facing mounting political pressure after member states forced her diplomatic service to abandon a proposed advisory group on European defence. The initiative was cancelled only days after its announcement, turning what was intended as a demonstration of strategic urgency into a visible institutional setback.
The panel was expected to bring together former political and military leaders to identify investment gaps and recommend ways to strengthen Europe’s defence capabilities. Italy led the opposition after objecting to the inclusion of former defence minister Roberta Pinotti, a political rival of the current Italian government. France and several other countries also complained that the initiative had not been discussed at ministerial level and that national governments had been surprised by both its composition and timing.
The dispute was not primarily about whether Europe needs stronger defence capabilities. Member states broadly recognise the urgency created by Russia’s war against Ukraine, uncertainty over the future American military presence and persistent gaps in European weapons production. Their objection concerned authority: national capitals do not want the European External Action Service to establish politically influential structures without prior consultation, even when those bodies hold no formal decision-making power.
The episode is especially damaging because Kallas depends on smaller member states to defend the institutional independence of her office. She simultaneously serves as a European Commission vice-president and as the representative of national governments on foreign policy. Smaller countries generally support this arrangement because it preserves their influence, but several now fear that her diplomatic service is acting as an autonomous political institution rather than as an instrument of collective European policy.
Her difficulties extend beyond the abandoned panel. Kallas has clashed with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen over control of the EU’s international agenda, particularly regarding Israel. Her proposed €40 billion military-support package for Ukraine was previously rejected, while comments involving China, Russia and the United States have generated diplomatic controversy. France and Germany are meanwhile promoting reforms that could place the European External Action Service more directly under the Commission, potentially reducing the independence of Kallas’s position.
No formal process currently threatens her removal, and many governments continue to support her firm approach toward Russia. The deeper problem is structural. The EU expects its foreign policy chief to project unity abroad while withholding the authority needed to create that unity at home. Kallas may have misjudged the political preparation required for her initiative, but the controversy also reveals a European system in which urgency, sovereignty and institutional competition repeatedly obstruct one another.
Ambition wins attention, but coalitions decide power.