Russia’s Zakharova сriticises EU Foreign Policy chief Kallas, questions her mandate

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova has sharply criticised Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, questioning her authority to speak on behalf of all EU member states.

Zakharova said it was unclear within the EU itself what role Kallas plays and why she presents positions as representing the entire bloc, Caliber.Az reports per Russian media.

“No one, not even within the European Union, can formulate an answer to the question of who Kaia Kallas is. In other words, she is the ‘Greta Thunberg’ of EU politics, who didn’t even roll up a podium, but some kind of rusty barrel; she was hoisted up there by ‘nobodies,’ completely nameless people, without authority, technocrats, because she fit the ‘profile’—not a professional one, but an utterly inglorious one. And then she speaks on behalf of the entire European Union,” the diplomat noted.

She further argued that Kallas lacks the legal and political mandate to make statements on behalf of EU countries without their explicit consent.

Zakharova added that, in her view, “Kallas has no right to speak on behalf of countries without their decision to do so; she has no right to speak about how one, several, or all European Union countries will develop in the future if they have not even discussed this yet.”

The Russian spokesperson also urged Kallas to act strictly within her official mandate, describing her as a “manager” with defined responsibilities.

“She is a manager, a hired bureaucrat who has her own competencies, mandate, and authority, and has no right to exceed them—not because it is unethical, but because she has no right to do so, as it violates everything: ethics, the law, norms, rules, and morality. [...] Who is Kaya Kallas to tell the people of Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Germany how they should live? Who is she? [...] If she’s Baba Vanga, she should just say so. If she’s involved in politics, then she shouldn’t be in the European Union’s executive branch, but in the European Parliament,” Zakharova concluded.

By Sabina Mammadli