POLITICO: Kallas drops bid to establish high-level EU defence group

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has abandoned plans to establish a High-Level Group on Defence comprising former political and military leaders amid pressure from EU member states, particularly Germany and Italy, POLITICO reports.

According to the outlet, Brussels’ decision to shelve the initiative, which Kallas proposed on September 1, 2026, at a meeting of defence ministers in Ireland, could deal another blow to the former Estonian prime minister’s position. Kallas has been engaged in behind-the-scenes efforts to oppose Franco-German plans to reform the European External Action Service, while diplomats viewed the defence initiative as an attempt to resist such moves.

Opponents of the proposal feared that the new group’s mandate would duplicate the work of the European Commission and overlap with the responsibilities of EU Commissioner for Defence Andrius Kubilius. “Some member states felt this was not the right path to pursue at this moment,” one EU official said. “After some discussion with ministers, we have decided not to proceed with the initiative, we are looking at new ways of engaging with member states,” he added.

The High-Level Group on Defence was due to be presented on the morning of September 7 in Brussels at the Bibliothèque Solvay, with around 150 representatives from EU institutions, think tanks, academia and NATO expected to attend.

Kallas’ office had kept the names of the group’s members confidential. However, according to three diplomats, it was expected to be chaired by former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. The group was also expected to include former defence ministers such as Estonia’s Jüri Luik and France’s Florence Parly, as well as representatives from non-EU countries including the United Kingdom and Ukraine.

By Jeyhun Aghazada