New Leaders of the European Union Determined; Kaja Kallas Takes Over Foreign Policy Leadership from Josep Borrell

On July 7, EU members introduced the political leaders of this bloc for the next five years in Brussels. Kaja Kallas, the Prime Minister of Estonia, will take over the leadership of the EU's foreign policy from Spanish Josep Borrell. According to the decision made on Thursday by the 27 member states of the EU, Ursula von der Leyen has been nominated for another five-year term as President of the European Commission, and former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa will be the new President of the European Council, alongside Ms. Kallas, forming the core leadership of the Union for the next five years. The selections of von der Leyen and Kallas are not yet final and require approval from the European Parliament, but Costa, who was automatically chosen by his former peers, will directly take office. These selections faced opposition from Giorgia Meloni, the Prime Minister of Italy, and Viktor Orban from Hungary. In contrast, officials from Germany and France supported this process. European media believe that the selection of von der Leyen, Costa, and Kallas reflects the political and geographical diversity of the Union and maintains gender balance. Additionally, Costa will become the first non-white person to hold a senior EU position. The new EU elections were held from June 6 to 20 in member countries, ultimately resulting in 720 representatives from predominantly right-wing parties entering the European Parliament. One of the challenges faced by previous EU leaders regarding Iran was the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a 'terrorist' organization. While Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, supported this designation during the nationwide protests in Iran in winter 2023, Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, opposed this approach. On January 23, 2023, upon entering the European Council of Ministers meeting, where one of the agenda items was to discuss new sanctions against the Islamic Republic due to the bloody suppression of protesters in Iran, Borrell stated that to list the IRGC as a terrorist group, a court ruling from one of the member countries must be obtained first for the Union to take action. According to Reuters, the EU's foreign policy chief at that time said, 'You cannot say that just because I don't like you, you are a terrorist.'