Kaja Kallas Calls for a Global Defense of International Law at College of Europe Opening in Bruges
In Bruges, Belgium, European Union High Representative and Commission Vice-President Kaja Kallas delivered a stirring address to open the academic year at the College of Europe and its European Diplomatic Academy, calling for a renewed global commitment to international law amid what she described as a “broad assault” on global legal norms.
Speaking before students, diplomats, and officials — including Rector Federica Mogherini and President Herman Van Rompuy — Kallas paid tribute to Victoria Amelina, the Ukrainian writer and war crimes documentarian who was killed in a Russian missile strike in 2023. The College’s new academic promotion bears Amelina’s name.
Kallas praised Amelina’s transformation “from novelist to documentalist” and quoted her reflection on justice during wartime: “What weapon do we choose to pursue justice? A laptop, a camera, international law, storytelling power?” The Estonian leader said Amelina’s life embodied the principle that “the key to lasting peace is law.”
She outlined five key observations on the current state of international law and accountability, warning that aggression and impunity — from Ukraine to Syria and Gaza — threaten the credibility of the entire global legal order. “Accountability cannot be selective,” she declared. “If the system is applied unequally, the system itself is in question.”
Kallas stressed that international law must evolve, noting that “it is not a principle of physics but a human construct” capable of adaptation. She cited the creation of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine as an example of this evolution, confirming that the EU has provided €10 million to make the tribunal operational.
She also reaffirmed EU support for the International Criminal Court, describing it as “a cornerstone of international justice.” She warned, however, of a “dangerous paradox” in which legal institutions face political backlash even as their importance grows.
The High Representative urged Europe’s next generation of diplomats to “stand up for international law and for the ICC,” to “develop the law further,” and to “be creative and innovative” in seeking justice. Quoting Amelina and even pop icon Taylor Swift, Kallas ended on a poetic note: “You still have your punctuation — so use your question marks and exclamation points.”
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