Kallas: US Withdrawal from Europe Is a Long-Term Process that We Need to Adapt to

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned of the end of the familiar world order and noted that Europe must adapt to new realities, not only with an aggressive Russia, but also with the rapidly changing nature of its alliance with the United States. According to European Pravda, Kallas made this statement at a security conference in Oslo, as reported by The Guardian. As the chief European diplomat noted, the US withdrawal from Europe is a “long-term” process to which the EU must urgently adapt. “In fact, if we look at transatlantic policy or what the US administration is doing... it didn’t start with President Trump. I think there is a lot of commonality in the policies of different administrations. So... it can be very easy to think that one person comes along, elections happen, then another person comes along, but I think we really need to look at the long term,” she said. According to Kallas, in October more than 40% of Americans considered Europeans to be their closest allies, while only 14% of Europeans shared this opinion. She added that since then, “a lot has happened, so I think that percentage may be even lower”.