Morning opening: EU needs to step up or risk its future in this new dangerous world that is emerging, EU’s Kallas warns
Jakub Krupa
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has just been speaking at the European Defence Agency’s annual conference this morning, and the picture she painted is pretty bleak.
In summary:
“We need to prepare ourselves for the future. Indeed, the crisis we face has deepened dramatically, during the past year.”
Who could she possibly mean here?
She spoke the continuing impact of Russia’s aggressive behaviour on Ukraine, the growing global uncertainty, but also, yes, the dramatically shifting nature of the EU-US relations that underpinned the transatlantic system over the last eight decades.
Kallas has warned that “Europe needs to adapt to new realities” as it is “no longer Washington’s primary centre of gravity.”
In a stark warning, she said:
“The shift has been ongoing for a while. It is structural, not temporary.
It means that Europe must step up. No great power in history has ever outsourced its survival and survived.”
She raised alarm that “the risk of full-blown return to coercive power, politics, spheres of influence and world where might makes right is very real.”
Kallas says that Europe – and the EU more specifically – needs to respond by raising its defence spending, and getting clarity on what role it wants to play in tomorrow’s world.
Drawing on her personal story, she said:
“When I was a schoolgirl in Estonia, before anyone had mobile phones in their pocket, many schools used the bell system to tell you the time.
The first bell was the signal to go to the class. The second bell was a warning, and the third bell meant that you were late and there would be consequences.
We are now dangerously close to the third bell.”
Gulp. Who needs coffee, eh?
I will bring you more lines from the EU as Kallas and the bloc’s defence commissioner Andrius Kubilius speak at this conference, but also get you all the latest updates from Ukraine, the battle for Greenland’s future, and other key topics of the day.
It’s Wednesday, 28 January 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
Key events
‘Russia does not want peace with Europe,’ Frederiksen warns, as she urges EU, US unity
Speaking with students at SciencesPo, Frederiksen has also warned that “Russia does not want peace with Europe,” as she urged Europe and the US to “stick together.”
Commenting on recent tensions with the US over Greenland, she said that both sides shared concerns on Arctic security, and they “will try to find a way forward with US.”
Greenland’s Nielsen also spoke about the impact the confrontation with the US had on the local population.
“What we are dealing with as a government is trying to push back from outside and handle our people who are afraid and scared,” he said.
I will keep an eye on more lines coming out from that meeting, and the pair is also later expected to meet Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace in Paris.
‘World order as we know it is over’ and not coming back, Denmark’s Frederiksen says
We are also getting first lines from a public event with Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic’s prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen at Sciences Po university in Paris.
Picking up the theme of the morning so far, Frederiksen has warned that “the world order as we know it is over and I don’t think it will return”.
Ugh. It’s not even 10am.
I will bring you more on this as soon as we have it.
EU needs to ‘rapidly’ build its defence ‘independence’ and strengthen European Nato arm, says defence chief
EU defence commissioner Andrius Kubilius follows Kallas and he strikes very much the same tone of urgency as he outlines the bloc’s defence policies.
He says the EU needs to prepare for diminished US presence in Europe, and rapidly build up its “independence” in defence “without delays” or excuses.
He stresses that “independence” doesn’t mean going alone, but building on what is already there, strengthening the European arm of Nato.
Again, that’s clearly a response to Rutte’s comments earlier this week.
He also says that Europe needs to “develop pan-European capabilities, not only national ones,” as “some gaps are so big they can only be filled together”.
Kubilius also calls for a new European Security Council – an idea first floated by Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel in the late-2010s – to enhance political coordination on defence.
‘It cannot be that one country’s veto defines policy for others,’ EU’s Kallas says
Kallas also sent a warning shot to EU countries trying to occasionally obstruct the bloc’s policies, particularly on Russia, saying this must not be tolerated.
“Let’s face it, Europe can be slow. Unanimity means we can not always act at the speed of relevance. Of course, there are policy differences among member states. This is all natural, but unanimity is also used by some as a bargaining tool. And it cannot be that one country’s veto defines the policy for others.”
Yes, she probably means Hungary’s Viktor Orbán in particular.
Expect to see more comments along these lines as we get closer to the high-stakes parliamentary election in the country in April, which could see the end of Orbán’s time in power after 16 years.
Nato ‘needs to become more European to maintain strength,’ EU’s Kallas says
In comments that will likely be seen as a challenge to Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte and his recent insistence that Europe cannot defend itself without the US (Europe Live, Monday), EU’s Kallas specifically called for more work to be done on te European side of Nato.
“Nato needs to become more European to maintain its strength, and for that Europe must act. For example, we need to ensure that our security and defence initiatives remain complementary to Nato.”
In comments that will likely raise eyebrows at Nato HQ across Brussels, she said:
“For this, the ball is also in Nato’s court. If you want to use EU instruments such as our budgetary and regulatory power to support and enable Nato, we have to know what these needs and targets are. The more information Nato provides, the better we can align here.”
She concluded:
“In short, we need to sync our efforts together with Nato so as to complement each other and to demonstrate how distinct European pillar adds to value through more burden sharing and military strength on our continent.”
Morning opening: EU needs to step up or risk its future in this new dangerous world that is emerging, EU’s Kallas warns
Jakub Krupa
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has just been speaking at the European Defence Agency’s annual conference this morning, and the picture she painted is pretty bleak.
In summary:
“We need to prepare ourselves for the future. Indeed, the crisis we face has deepened dramatically, during the past year.”
Who could she possibly mean here?
She spoke the continuing impact of Russia’s aggressive behaviour on Ukraine, the growing global uncertainty, but also, yes, the dramatically shifting nature of the EU-US relations that underpinned the transatlantic system over the last eight decades.
Kallas has warned that “Europe needs to adapt to new realities” as it is “no longer Washington’s primary centre of gravity.”
In a stark warning, she said:
“The shift has been ongoing for a while. It is structural, not temporary.
It means that Europe must step up. No great power in history has ever outsourced its survival and survived.”
She raised alarm that “the risk of full-blown return to coercive power, politics, spheres of influence and world where might makes right is very real.”
Kallas says that Europe – and the EU more specifically – needs to respond by raising its defence spending, and getting clarity on what role it wants to play in tomorrow’s world.
Drawing on her personal story, she said:
“When I was a schoolgirl in Estonia, before anyone had mobile phones in their pocket, many schools used the bell system to tell you the time.
The first bell was the signal to go to the class. The second bell was a warning, and the third bell meant that you were late and there would be consequences.
We are now dangerously close to the third bell.”
Gulp. Who needs coffee, eh?
I will bring you more lines from the EU as Kallas and the bloc’s defence commissioner Andrius Kubilius speak at this conference, but also get you all the latest updates from Ukraine, the battle for Greenland’s future, and other key topics of the day.
It’s Wednesday, 28 January 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
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