Kallas Spins World War II History in Light of Xi's Beijing Commemoration

Speaking Sept. 3 at the European Union Institute for Security Studies Annual Conference, the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas made a blundering comment about the victors and principal actors in World War II. “This is the battle of narratives,” Kallas began, “for the Global South and all the rest of the world.” She then spoke of an event she attended where Russian and Chinese officials were addressing each other. “Russia turned to China,” she recalled, “and said: ‘Russia and China fought in World War II, we won World War II, we defeated Nazism.’ And I thought: ‘Okay, that’s something new.’” Kallas went on, “If you know history, it raises a lot of questions. Nowadays, people don’t read much and don’t remember history. It’s clear that they believe these narratives.”