Politico: Estonian Prime Minister Kallas may become the EU diplomacy chief
Kyiv • UNN
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas may become the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy after the European Parliament elections in June. A scenario in which four leading EU institutions are headed by women is currently being discussed, but no final decisions have been made.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas is running for the post of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy after the EU elections in June, Politico reports, UNN writes.
Details
"There is a scenario in which women can become presidents of the main EU institutions," the newspaper writes.
After the EU elections in June, the top positions in the European Council, European Commission, and European Parliament, as well as the head of the European External Action Service, will be distributed among the main political groups.
The publication points to a lot of talk about four names (all women) in connection with the positions: Ursula von der Leyen remains as President of the European Commission; Roberta Mecola remains in her position in the European Parliament; Mette Frederiksen, the current Prime Minister of Denmark, becomes President of the European Council; and Kaja Kallas, the Prime Minister of Estonia, who will move to the position of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (in short, the EU's top foreign policy representative).
"This is my dream team," said one of the diplomats. "This will send a very strong signal.
Of course, no decisions have been made, the newspaper notes. "There are often surprises in the job giveaway (last time von der Leyen was not on many people's radar); and many male candidates' names are still being discussed. In addition, the decision on the president of the European Parliament is more in the hands of political parties and MEPs than the leaders of the member states," the publication points out.
"But there is much in this combination that could make sense - in a scenario where EU leaders, most of whom are men, decided to go for an all-female option - including a division between political groups," the article says.
According to the expectations cited by the publication, the European Commission and the European Parliament will remain in the hands of the European People's Party (the latter at least for the first two and a half years of the mandate, when the EPP can transfer the presidency to another party). The Socialists will get the European Council, and the Liberals will run the Foreign Affairs Service, the EU's diplomatic arm. This is in line with the EPP and the Social Democratic Party taking first and second place in the elections, with the Liberals likely to take fourth place, according to the poll.
