EU’s Kallas Faces Backlash Over Israel ‘Apartheid’ Claims
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas faces criticism for allegedly comparing Israeli policies to apartheid during private diplomatic meetings in Mexico, diverging from the bloc's established stance.
Kaja Kallas, the former Estonian prime minister now serving as the EU’s top diplomat, reportedly drew parallels between Israeli policies toward Palestinians and the racial segregation system that governed South Africa until the early 1990s. The remarks were allegedly made during confidential meetings with Mexican officials in Mexico City in late May, where Kallas was attending a summit as part of a senior EU delegation.
Diplomats and officials with knowledge of the discussions confirmed to The European Conservative that Kallas specifically compared Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank to the apartheid regime. The characterization has triggered alarm among EU diplomatic circles because it represents a significant departure from the bloc’s established stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
While the European Union has long criticized Israeli settlement expansion and consistently advocated for a two-state solution, Brussels has carefully avoided endorsing accusations that Israel operates an apartheid system. Several major EU member states, notably Germany and France, have explicitly rejected such comparisons as inaccurate and inflammatory.
The controversy surrounding Kallas’s alleged remarks emerges at a particularly sensitive moment for European-Israeli relations and raises questions about whether the EU’s foreign policy leadership is diverging from the consensus positions of key member states on Middle Eastern affairs.
With information from The European Conservative
