‘A lot of masculinity in the room’: Kallas argues for greater female participation in diplomacy

Published on 18/05/2026 - 15:31 GMT+2

The bloc’s overseas argumentation main Kaja Kallas has criticised the overwhelmingly antheral quality of bid dialog teams, linking it to modern diplomacy's inclination toward short-term results.

"This is simply a bigger occupation we spot astir the satellite with antithetic bid talks erstwhile we spot that they don’t really code the issues of long-standing peace," she said astatine a property league successful Tallinn, Estonia connected Sunday.

The ceasefires galore talks yield, she said, excessively often simply state hostilities implicit without resolving the "underlying issues" that perpetuate aboriginal violence.

Another problem, she said, is the deficiency of pistillate input.

“There are besides studies that amusement that erstwhile women are portion of the negotiations, these bid (efforts) past longer," Kallas expanded, adding that "the representation that we saw from the US China talks, (was) a batch of masculinity successful the room".

"Women person a role," she said.

Various studies and planetary bodies, including the UN Security Council, reason that women’s information successful struggle solution improves outcomes, but mediators and negotiating parties often permission women retired of their teams.

According to information compiled by the Council connected Foreign Relations, women represented lone 16 percent of negotiators successful progressive bid processes led oregon co-led by the United Nations successful 2022.

A spot astatine the table

Kallas’ comments came amid wider chatter successful the Belgian superior regarding whether the EU should person a spot astatine the array for negotiations betwixt Russia and Ukraine – and who should correspond the bloc if so.

Putin precocious floated appointing erstwhile German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder arsenic the EU's pb negotiator successful imaginable bid talks connected Ukraine. This conception was wide dismissed by European heads of state, and the treatment of who Europe's mouthpiece should beryllium continues.

Diplomatic sources successful Ukraine person said that Russia would “never” judge a pistillate arsenic pb negotiator.

A diplomatic root successful Brussels reiterated this, saying determination is nary anticipation a pistillate fig is being considered arsenic portion of the discussions. But different root successful the Belgian superior told Euronews that “equality is an important factor”.

Regardless of their differences connected the sex issue, astir EU officials reason that appointing immoderate envoy earlier a large European Council (EUCO) acme successful June could beryllium unrealistic.

European Commission spokesperson for overseas affairs Anitta Hipper said successful effect to a question by Euronews connected Monday that Kallas is simply a “feminist” and “has a batch of signifier backmost home”. She was the archetypal pistillate premier curate of Estonia from 2021 to 2024.

Hipper said the Commission could not remark connected whether Russia would privation a pistillate astatine the table, but reiterated that European heads of authorities volition conscionable successful Limassol successful Cyprus successful the coming weeks to sermon what signifier immoderate aboriginal talks with Ukraine, Russia and Europe mightiness instrumentality earlier June's EUCO.

“What volition beryllium discussed is what our presumption is successful presumption of the demands and the inquire and what unity we person successful demanding our lists of asks from Russia,” Hipper said.

“This is thing that we volition beryllium looking into – into the what, and not into the who.”