00:00EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaya Callas has scrapped a new defence advisory group days after unveiling it, following pushback from
00:08member states.
00:09Last week, Callas announced the new group bringing together political and military leaders to help design a new approach to
00:17European defence,
00:18but the initiative was scrapped following strong opposition from member states.
00:23According to reports, invitees to the launch event, which was due to take place on Monday in Brussels, received a
00:30cancellation notice on Sunday afternoon.
00:32The abrupt decision came after several member states viewed it as the wrong path to pursue,
00:38despite the group having been intended solely as an advisory buddy rather than one empowered to make decisions on behalf
00:46of member states.
00:47It also comes as the EU's diplomatic service, the European External Action Service, EES, faces pressure amid how Commission President
00:56Ursula von der Leyen has steadily sought more say over the bloc's foreign policy.
01:02Analysts believe the pressure to scrap the initiative before it was even launched, before the names of its participants had
01:08even been announced,
01:09is a significant political defeat for Callas, who had only recently put in place a new EAS leadership to shore
01:17up her position.
