June 19 () –
The Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas, confessed this Wednesday “extremely skeptical” about her options to be the next High Representative for Foreign Policy of the EU, after the informal leaders’ dinner on Monday concluded without agreement on the distribution of the main positions at the community level.
The next key event will be the European Council on June 27 and 28, where the heads of State and Government will once again test candidates to fill the main vacancies, by virtue of a delicate balance that takes into account territorial, political and of genre.
Kallas acknowledged his skepticism after a meeting of his Reform Party, although he wanted to highlight that the fact that Estonia even has options is in itself a success, according to the public broadcaster ERR. Likewise, he has said that anything can happen during the next week.
Kallas belongs to the liberal political spectrum and would mean incorporating someone from Eastern Europe for one of the ‘top jobs’. Her name is being heard to replace Josep Borrell at the head of EU diplomacy and, if confirmed, she would be forced to leave the Estonian Government, at the latest when she takes office in Brussels.
It would therefore open a race for succession within her own party and, among the candidates to replace her, are the Minister of Defense, Hanno Pevkur, and the Minister of Climate, Kristen Michal. However, the latter has stressed that “Kaja Kallas is still prime minister”, in an attempt to postpone the budding debate.
Along with Kallas, the other names being considered for the ‘top jobs’ are Ursula Von der Leyen, who would repeat as head of the European Commission, the former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, as the new president of the European Council, and the Maltese Roberta Metsola, who aspires to continue commanding the European Parliament.
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