Foreign Affairs Council (Development): Press remarks by High Representative Kaja Kallas upon arrival

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Good morning, everybody. 

 So, today we have the FAC Development, and we are discussing first the future of external action, especially since development aid is really on decline, but we see that Europe is still the largest donor in the world of humanitarian aid and development aid. But if we want to be a geopolitical actor, we have to be more strategic about this. Which means that we have to match our tools – humanitarian aid, trade to security and defence partnerships – with the needs of our partners. But also to take into consideration our own interests, because to be a geopolitical actor it has to work that way.

Then, the second point that we will discuss is the Global Gateway. And of course, there as well, the resources are limited, which means that we have to be more strategic about this, where our input has the most impact, and also where it aligns with our interests. And also, if we have projects to support the countries, and actually it goes to our competitors, then we also have to see how we can look into this, that it does not work that way. And plus, if a partner supports Russia or Iran, then it has to be flexible, so that we can realign our engagement in this case. 

And then finally we will discuss the impact of the Iran war. It is clear that it has an impact on the most vulnerable, and of course we also have to see what can we do about this. We are deepening our cooperation with the regional actors; Gulf countries, for example. But we are also supporting the UN in terms of really supporting those that are most vulnerable, because we see the energy prices rising, we see the inflation, we see also the crisis of fertilisers that impact many countries in the world and also might bring about famine. So, a lot of topics today for the FAC Development.

Q&A

Q. I would have a question regarding the next budget, and how would you respond to criticism that EU development aid is increasingly tied to migration control objectives and conditions in the next long-term budget proposal?

Considering that we are the largest donor of humanitarian aid in the world and we have been always doing that. We see that major players are withdrawing their humanitarian aid in the world. We also need to be more strategic and more geopolitical about this, which means that we also have interests, and that is why we need to align tools we have in our hands also with our interests that are there. So, that is why it is a very careful balance that we need to do, not withdrawing at all, but also keeping in mind that Europe also has interests.

Q. Can you put the negotiations in China [inaudible]? What consequences do we see this negotiation [inaudible] ready to negotiate with Putin. How do you see this negotiation? Do you see some results? Regarding Iran, how is it going?

What was positive was that the US and China agreed that the Strait of Hormuz has to be opened. Of course, that was a question: what can be done. China has influence over Iran, so hopefully they will do the reach out to Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, because also considering the topics that we have today, it has a huge impact on the most vulnerable in the world. When it comes to Ukraine, we see that the peace talks are being stalled. There is nothing really happening there, but at the same time, we see that Russia is not in the strongest position, and we need to push so that they come to the negotiation table. And all - also China, that has a close relationship with Russia - has a role there to really convince them to stop this war.

Q. I heard some dates on the loan for Ukraine. I know you did it last week but maybe some fresh information when it will be delivered?

Well the first tranche of this loan should be delivered in the first part of June. So, we are working on that, the conditions are already in place and should be imbursed.

Q. On the humanitarian initiative in the Strait of Hormuz, we saw that this kind of stopped or left behind. Is there no political willing for that? Why it has not been developed to a real initiative concerning the fertilisers and the humanitarian corridor in the Strait of Hormuz?

That is the complicated part, because on one side everybody is saying that freedom of navigation is non-negotiable, which means that it has to be free and open the international waterways for everybody. Now, if you set conditions that something has to pass, then you are already going into this agreement that limiting this passage is somehow legitimate, and that is why that is the difficult part. So, we are really trying to push and convince all the players that freedom of navigation must be honoured, because we see other straits in the world that could be weaponised the similar way, and this is not in the benefit of anybody in the world.

Q. We see that these negotiations [are] in a deadlock between the US and Iran threatening all the time and accusations. Are you presenting any exit strategy, while some accused the United States of not having one?

The problem is that this is between the US and Iran, and they do not really take in any kind of mediation or help in this regard. So, we do not have much leverage over both of them. Of course, we are in constant contact, and saying that, we should at least agree on the first phase: stop the attacks and open the Strait of Hormuz, and then, we can go from there to negotiate actually the hard topics. But it is very difficult, and eventually the US has to agree with Iran.

Thank you.

Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/media/video/I-289604