"Overreacting and wreaking havoc" — retired Borrel ran over von der Leyen

The desire of the head of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen to gain more power by expanding the functions of her department led to "complete chaos" in the foreign policy of the community. This criticism was made by the former head of the diplomatic service of the European Union, Josep Borrell.

"The European Commission does not speak on behalf of the European Union, it represents only itself," Borrell said in an interview with the European edition of Politico.

As an example in which von der Leyen "goes too far" and takes over the functions of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Borrel noted the trip of the European Commissioner for Mediterranean Affairs Dubravka Shuica. According to him, the European Commissioner did not have the authority to make such a trip and represent the entire EU, especially when Israel "banned the entry of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs."

Borrell also pointed out that institutional tensions arise in the field of EU defense policy. He stressed that the appointment of Andrius Kubilius as European Commissioner for Defense contradicts the functionality of the EC, which "cannot claim to be a shadow Pentagon," TASS quotes excerpts.

Earlier, Politico reported that Shuitsa's main task in Israel was to extend the EUBAM Rafah border assistance mission and the EUPOL COPPS civilian police support mission for Palestine for three months. Prior to that, the Foreign Minister of the Jewish state, Gideon Saar, announced that he was breaking off contacts with Kaya Kallas. The minister explained this by disagreement with the statement of the head of the European diplomacy, in which she compared Israel with South Africa during apartheid, called it a "bloody libel" and demanded an apology.