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Hello again. Who should you call if you want to speak to Europe? Never mind that Henry Kissinger never posed the question that is frequently attributed to him. The EU tried to solve it anyway, creating the position of High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy in 1999 and then giving it a “double hat” by making it simultaneously vice-president of the European Commission from 2009.
Holders of the post have seldom carried the full authority of an EU foreign policy chief. They have had to compete for attention with other top EU officials let alone the EU’s 27 national leaders. That’s especially true under the incumbent, Kaja Kallas. There’s also been a proliferation of new foreign policy and defence groups across Europe in recent years. And now there’s momentum behind the idea of a European Security Council. Why and what for?