During a visit to Copenhagen this week, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called on Europe to take up the mantle as leader of the free world, a title traditionally reserved for the United States. Her remarks, made on DR’s foreign affairs podcast Stjerner og striber and at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, highlight a growing conviction within European institutions: that the continent must embrace its geopolitical responsibilities in a time of global instability.
Kaja Kallas: Europe has strength and values to lead
“We have economic power, a high standard of living, and prosperity. We must hold on to the values that brought us here,” said Kallas during the podcast interview. “If we stand together, we are strong. We are a strong power.”
The former Estonian prime minister, who became EU foreign affairs chief on December 1, emphasized that Europeans often underestimate their own strength while overestimating the strength of adversaries. Her words reflect both a personal conviction shaped by her upbringing behind the Iron Curtain and a strategic vision for the European Union as a global actor.
US leadership questioned after Zelensky-Trump clash
Kallas’s argument gained attention following a public fallout between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyj, which ended in a heated argument during a high-profile meeting. In a post on social media platform X, she wrote: “Today it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It is up to us Europeans to take on this challenge.”
The directness of her statement sparked international reactions. Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen cautiously commented that “sometimes you need to count to ten before posting.”
Responding to JD Vance and far-right tensions
Kallas also addressed recent criticisms from US Vice President JD Vance, who claimed at the Munich Security Conference that Europe’s main threat came not from Russia or China, but from within, due to the political isolation of far-right parties.
“It sounds like they are trying to start a quarrel with us, and we do not want to start a quarrel with our friends,” Kallas responded at the conference, underscoring her diplomatic resolve.
A personal history of lost and regained freedom
Kallas’s worldview is deeply shaped by her youth in Soviet-occupied Estonia. “One can only understand what freedom is when it has been taken away,” she said. “My generation had no freedoms. When I was a teenager, freedom came back. So I truly value democracy and the freedom to make one’s own choices – what Europe is all about – because I also know the opposite.”
As geopolitical tensions escalate and transatlantic unity faces new tests, Kallas’s message is clear: Europe must stop looking elsewhere for leadership and instead recognize its own capacity to lead based on shared values, resilience, and a commitment to international law.
