EU foreign policy chief Kallas cancels formation of defense expert group

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has canceled the establishment of an expert group to strengthen European defense policy due to resistance from government representatives. This was originally planned for this Monday. "Some member states were of the opinion that this was not the right approach at this point in time," said an EU official. After discussions with ministers, it was decided not to pursue the initiative any further.

As the dpa news agency and Spiegel report, the German and Italian governments, among others, had previously positioned themselves against the expert group. Under the auspices of Kallas, this should actually develop proposals on how gaps in Europe's conventional military capabilities can be closed more quickly and effectively. The result should be a report with concrete recommendations.

Leading political and military representatives from several EU states as well as Great Britain and Ukraine were planned to be members. They were originally supposed to be presented in the morning.