EU's foreign policy chief warns US, China, Russia seek to weaken united Europe

EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has warned that the US, China, and Russia all prefer a fragmented Europe because a united EU represents a geopolitical force capable of challenging major powers.

Speaking at the Lennart Meri Conference in Tallinn, the Estonian capital, on Sunday, Kallas said the EU's collective strength is precisely why external powers have sought to undermine it.

"They don't like the European Union; that's very clear," she said. "If we stick together, if we operate together, then we are equal powers; we are strong."

Her remarks come as European leaders grapple with uncertainty over Washington's long-term commitment to European security.

She argued that dealing with individual European countries is easier for global powers than negotiating with the bloc as a whole, describing efforts to cultivate bilateral ties as part of a wider "divide-and-conquer strategy."

Kallas also urged EU governments to resist pressures that could weaken European unity, warning that internal divisions risked diminishing the bloc's global influence at a time of mounting geopolitical instability.

"Why these powers want to dismantle the European Union is because we are much stronger when we are together," she said.