EU unity in a 'world on fire': Kallas makes top diplomat pitch

Brussels, Belgium: Backing Ukraine as long as it takes , building bridges with Donald Trump and standing firm towards China the EU s designated fo...

Brussels, Belgium: Backing Ukraine "as long as it takes", building bridges with Donald Trump and standing firm towards China -- the EU's designated foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas made her pitch to lawmakers at a confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

A hawkish Russia critic, the 47-year-old Kallas needs parliament's green light to succeed Josep Borrell as the bloc's top diplomat, though her approval is in little doubt since she was tapped directly by European Union leaders back in June.

If confirmed, she faces the daunting task of uniting the EU's diplomacy -- and the often-competing stances of 27 nation states -- as it navigates the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, Trump's return to the White House and a rising threat from China.

Throughout her three-hour hearing, the former Estonian prime minister emphasised the need for the EU to pull its weight as a "geopolitical player" -- by leveraging the voices of its members.

"The world is on fire, so we have to stick together," she said.