Kallas Names New Security Chiefs amid NATO Shift

Kaja Kallas, the European Union's foreign policy chief, announced key personnel appointments to top positions in the European External Action Service (EEAS) on Wednesday. Effective 1 September, Kajsa Ollongren will become the new secretary-general and the EEAS's top civil servant. She served as the Dutch minister of defense from 2022 to 2024 and currently holds the position of the EU's high representative for human rights.

David Cvach, the current French ambassador to NATO, will at the same time assume the role of high representative for foreign affairs and security policy.

The need to boost defense policy was prompted by Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, as well as US President Donald Trump's recent decision to scale back Washington's commitments to NATO. According to senior EU officials, these appointments will significantly facilitate and intensify cooperation between the Union and the Alliance.

The new secretary-general, Ollongren, has close ties to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who was the Dutch prime minister at the time she headed the Dutch Ministry of Defense.

The changes in the diplomatic corps come amid an internal debate over the need to overhaul foreign policy. Brussels faces long-standing criticism that its responses to international crises, including the war in the Gaza Strip, are too slow, inconsistent and paralyzed by deep disagreements not only among individual member states but also within the European institutions themselves.

(Reuters, Max)