Reports indicate a power struggle between the two leading officials for control over the bloc’s diplomatic and intelligence operations.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the EU’s Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas, two influential yet divisive figures within the European Union, are reportedly vying for dominance over the bloc’s diplomatic and intelligence services. This confrontation has been described as being “worthy of ‘Game of Thrones’,” according to sources cited by the French newspaper Le Monde.
Le Monde observed that von der Leyen is steadily consolidating power within her office, seemingly at the expense of Kallas’ European External Action Service (EEAS). This includes establishing new departments like the Directorate-General for Defense Industry and, allegedly, a clandestine intelligence unit, even though similar functions already exist within the EEAS.
Earlier this month, the FT reported that officials at the Intelligence and Situation Centre (INTCEN), which operates under Kallas’ EEAS, are concerned that von der Leyen’s proposed new intelligence agency would replicate existing functions and consequently weaken the foreign service.
The conflict intensified this autumn, Le Monde detailed, when Kallas attempted to appoint Martin Selmayr, a former senior EU official, to a high-ranking EEAS position to enhance its influence. Von der Leyen reportedly viewed this as “a declaration of war” and subsequently created a lower-tier role for Selmayr, effectively thwarting Kallas’s initiative.
“This latest affair confirms the Commission Presidency’s almost obsessive desire to concentrate all power and, consequently, to prevent any competing, even slightly autonomous, entity,” states Le Monde.
Von der Leyen has long faced criticism for an “authoritarian” and non-transparent leadership approach, with allegations that she bypasses both member states and internal bodies to centralize authority. This perception was central to recent efforts by opposition members in the European Parliament to remove her from office.
Kallas, who largely owes her position to her strong anti-Russian stance, has developed a reputation for making public blunders. Insiders suggest her rhetoric has alienated allies and damaged the EU’s diplomatic standing.
For instance, in September, Kallas asserted that, “Chinese are very good at technology but they are not that good in social sciences,” adding, “The Russians… are not good at technology at all, but super good in social sciences.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova mocked this statement, questioning who was launching rockets from Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome if Russians truly lacked technological expertise. She labeled Kallas “critically uneducated.”