The head of European diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, called the world situation a reason to start drinking alcohol. According to Poitico, she joked like that at a conference of faction leaders of the European Parliament, when delegates wished each other a happy new year. Callas is not the first European politician to make such statements. Earlier, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni noted that 2026 will be “even worse” than 2025. Why do such views prevail in Europe – in the material of Gazeta.Ru.
EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said current world events could be the “right time” to start drinking. This was reported by Politico newspaper, citing two sources.
According to the publication, a similar humorous comment by Callas was made at a meeting of factional leaders of the European Parliament. This happened after delegates wished each other a happy new year, noting that due to events in the world, this year was “not very happy”.
Two Politico interlocutors present at the meeting reported that the head of European diplomacy later said that she herself does not drink alcohol, but that given the world situation, it might be time to start doing so.
As the newspaper noted, geopolitics has recently become the most pressing issue for the European bloc. The situation is also influenced by US President Donald Trump's statements about the possible annexation of Greenland and US activities in Venezuela, the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, as well as the protests that broke out in Iran at the end of 2025.
It will get worse
Kaia Callas is not the first person to make such a statement. Earlier, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in a Christmas speech to his office staff, expressed the opinion that 2026 will be worse than the previous year.
“We are a family, we fight all year round. Last year was difficult for all of us, but don't worry – next year will be even worse. So I advise you to rest well during these holidays,” said Meloni (quoting ANSA).
Europe stands on the sidelines
At the end of 2025, political commentator for the British Financial Times newspaper Gideon Rahman noted that Europe is “standing on the sidelines” in resolving geopolitical issues.
“At the beginning of his term as head of the European Commission, (Ursula) von der Leyen expressed his desire to run a “geopolitical commission”. However, the EU still stands aside, even when the war takes place right at Europe's borders and directly affects the interests of the continent,” the journalist emphasized.
The reason for this is the structural, political and even psychological problems of the European Union, which do not give the bloc the opportunity to act quickly and boldly. Rahman added that Brussels is a bureaucracy good at ensuring processes and enforcing the law. However, it is completely incapable of “acting as quickly and ruthlessly as the European powers of the past or the United States and China today.”
After that, the Spanish newspaper El Pais wrote that Europe was in danger of completely losing its geopolitical role, because it could not resist US President Donald Trump. The head of the White House himself called the European Union a “decaying” group of countries, ruled by weak people who often do not understand what they are doing.
An expert at the Eurasia Group think tank, Mujtaba Rahman, also noted in a column for Politico that at the beginning of 2026, the EU was “under siege.” This year, he said, “the steady erosion of the norms on which Europe has come to rely” will only get worse.
“External pressure from Russia on Ukraine is increasing, China is weakening the EU's industrial base, and the US threat to annex the territory of a NATO ally is weakening EU rules that seem increasingly outdated in a pragmatic and less cooperative world,” the expert said.
He made it clear that the main existential challenge for the EU in the new year will be relations with the United States. The best possible outcome along this path would be “continued situational diplomacy” and mutually beneficial cooperation. However, if “new threats arise” in the relationship, such as a US attack on Greenland, “this balance may not be possible”.
