Kallas launches high-level group of ex-leaders to bolster EU defence

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Kaja Kallas, the EU’s chief diplomat, announced Tuesday a high-level group made of former political and military leaders who will reflect on how the bloc can defend itself amid a changing U.S. presence.

The new body, which will be launched next week, will include prominent figures from the European Union as well as the United Kingdom and Ukraine, she announced at the start of an informal defense ministers’ meeting in Ireland.

“Of course NATO remains the cornerstone of our European security. At the same time, the United States is also calling on European allies to assume greater responsibility for our own defense,” said Kallas, who coordinates foreign and security policy on behalf of the EU’s 27 member countries.

“Why have these political and military leaders? They can also say things that we, as institutions, cannot,” she added. A spokesperson for Kallas did not specify who will join the group.

The former Estonian prime minister added that the aim of the group was not to work on replicating U.S. defense capabilities but to focus on defending European territory by using “unique strengths” while also using the “extensive operational experience of Ukraine” to “challenge conventional thinking.”