The European Union's foreign policy and security chief, Kaja Kallas, has said she is working on a "new European security strategy" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The strategy will address "all dimensions of European security" to better deal with the threat of Russia and a more hostile geopolitical era.
Defense is a key priority. "This starts in Ukraine, but we know Russia's endgame is not the Donbas," she said, pointing to Russia's alleged hybrid warfare and sabotage of critical European infrastructure.
"Russia's maximalist demands cannot be met with a minimalist response," Kallas said.
Opening a panel entitled "Europeans Assemble! Reclaiming Agency in a Rougher World," Kallas hailed the bloc's identity, achievements and appeal in a pointed response to recent remarks from the US about the state of European civilization.
"Contrary to what some people say, woke, decadent Europe is not facing civilizational erasure," she said, before acknowledging that the EU "can be too slow" and "needs reform."
She also identified EU enlargement as "the antidote to Russian imperialism." Nine countries in Eastern Europe that were under the former Soviet Union's sphere of influence, including Ukraine, are candidates to join the bloc.
Courtesy: DW
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
