EU Foreign Policy Chief Sparks Outrage Over Alleged Apartheid Comparison

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is facing backlash after reportedly comparing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank to apartheid-era South Africa during closed-door meetings in Mexico City from May 20 to 22. The comments, reported by Euractiv, angered Israel and upset some of her European colleagues, even though Kallas is supposed to represent the official policy of the EU’s 27 member states.

Diplomats who attended the meetings said Kallas also spoke about how moved she had been by a visit last year to the apartheid museum in Johannesburg. Several European governments, including Germany and France, strongly reject such comparisons, and one senior EU diplomat called the remarks “unacceptable,” saying, “This is not EU policy.”

The same diplomat warned that it is a serious problem if she makes such statements while formally representing the bloc on the world stage. Another diplomat said the episode reflects growing frustration in Brussels and that such mistakes are “not acceptable” for the EU’s foreign policy chief.

The criticism comes after another recent embarrassment for Kallas. At the end of May, she incorrectly suggested that American diplomats had left Kyiv because of Russian threats while Europeans stayed, a claim that later proved false. A senior European Commission official said her “unwise words” on several occasions have only strengthened criticism from governments including Germany, France, Sweden and Finland.