{"id":468588,"date":"2026-10-20T12:40:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T10:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/10\/20\/kallas-con-guerre-e-siccita-il-sistema-alimentare-globale-e-davanti-a-una-tempesta-perfetta\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T14:33:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T12:33:59","slug":"kallas-with-wars-and-droughts-the-global-food-system-is-facing-a-perfect-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/10\/20\/kallas-with-wars-and-droughts-the-global-food-system-is-facing-a-perfect-storm\/","title":{"rendered":"Kallas: \u201cWith wars and droughts, the global food system is facing a perfect storm\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 The global food system is facing a perfect storm, according to the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas<\/strong>, who today (20 October) held<\/a> a debate at the European Parliament\u2019s plenary session in Strasbourg dedicated to the latest developments in the region. In response to Russia\u2019s actions in the Black Sea, which \u201cmake it harder to put food on people\u2019s plates across the world,\u201d the European Union is called upon to respond with \u201ca strong and united European response on three fronts\u201d, the former Estonian prime minister now at the helm of the EU\u2019s foreign policy explained.<\/p>\n

The debate<\/a> follows attacks carried out by the Kremlin using drones against several merchant ships \u2013 mainly carrying wheat and other cereals \u2013 off the coasts of Bulgaria and Romania, where, in recent months, Russian aircraft and drones have also repeatedly violated the airspace of several EU Member States. \u201cThere have been six attacks in the last ten days\u201d and, at present, \u201crescuers are still searching for the seven sailors missing after the drone attack on two tankers near Romania\u2019s Black Sea \u2060coast,” explains the High Representative, who believes that the EU’s response to counter the Russian Federation must be on three fronts. <\/p>\n

“First, we work to keep Ukraine connected to global markets and protect food security,<\/strong>” she said, stressing the role of the EU initiative Solidarity Lanes to help Ukraine<\/a> “find alternative routes.” According to estimates provided by the High Representative, since mid-July \u201cRussian attacks have resulted in a loss of around 60 million euros a day in export revenue.<\/strong>\u201d Often regarded as the \u201cbreadbasket of Europe\u201d, Ukraine \u201csupplies 15 per cent of global maize exports, 10 per cent of wheat, 15 to 20 per cent of barley and 50 per cent of global sunflower oil exports. Around 90 per cent of these goods move through the Black Sea corridor,\u201d she pointed out. Now, \u201cglobal grain prices are at their highest level since February 2023\u201d, and although \u201cglobal grain stockpiles are higher than in 2022,  when Russia blockaded twenty million tonnes of Ukrainian grain. But the global food system is now facing a perfect storm<\/strong>: a super El Ni\u00f1o, droughts in both hemispheres and conflicts in the Middle East straining fertiliser exports,\u201d she added. Although cereal exports have \u201cincreased by almost 2 million tonnes since July,\u201d Russia is now \u201calso targeting border crossings with Moldova, Romania, and Poland.\u201d <\/p>\n

For this reason, we must also work on a second front, namely strengthening \u201csecurity along the Black Sea and the Danube.<\/strong>\u201d In practical terms, this means promoting \u201cearly detection and real-time information sharing through the European Defence Agency’s MARSUR network\u201d and \u201cthe Black Sea Maritime Security Hub, which Romania and Bulgaria are jointly establishing\u201d, says Kallas. The MARSUR network is a federated network promoted by the European Defence Agency (EDA) that enables the navies and command centres of EU countries to exchange real-time information on the maritime situation. The Hub is an initiative designed to protect critical infrastructure, ensure freedom of commercial navigation, neutralise naval mines, combat hostile activities and respond to environmental risks in the region. However, according to Kallas, these initiatives are meaningless unless there is \u201cfaster collective decision-making when serious incidents occur.” Therefore, the EU must take action to implement \u201ca proposed emergency protocol, meaning immediate political consultations, and better coordination in major hybrid crises, including coordination with NATO.\u201d <\/p>\n

The final front: focusing on diplomacy<\/strong>. \u201cWe are now working with international partners, with T\u00fcrkiye, India and others, including food-importing countries in Africa and more broadly the Global South, to push for a freedom of navigation arrangement in the Black Sea,\u201d Kallas said. The aim is to reach \u201ca Black Sea arrangement (that) would protect lives and vital supplies.\u201d However, the Kremlin \u201chas rejected it. This is why, again, diplomatic engagement must go hand in hand with sustained pressure on Moscow and support for Ukraine,\u201d the High Representative said.<\/p>\n

Finally, the High Representative issued an appeal: \u201cWe must raise awareness among African countries so that they push for a security agreement in the Black Sea.<\/strong>\u201d Meanwhile, in response to MEPs who, during the debate, accused the European Commission of not doing enough to end Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine or to propose a strategy for peace, Kallas reiterated that, as things stand, the EU has no intention of \u201cgiving in to a peace that is neither just nor lasting.\u201d We must \u201censure that Russia does not repeat these attacks\u201d, she noted, stressing that \u201csanctions are working\u201d; otherwise, \u201cPutin would not be calling for them to be lifted.\u201d Moreover, according to Kallas, \u201cit is precisely thanks to European support that Ukraine has not given in to Putin\u2019s terms, even though American negotiators have been trying for a year and a half, almost two, to push it toward surrender.”<\/p>\n

 Today\u2019s debate will be followed by a vote on a resolution \u201con the escalation of Russian attacks in the EU, in particular against maritime transport in the Black Sea\u201d, scheduled for Thursday (22 October).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the plenary session in Strasbourg, the High Representative stressed that the EU must respond \u201cstrongly and in a united manner on three fronts\u201d to Russia\u2019s actions in the Black Sea<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7908,"featured_media":468513,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25707],"tags":[34605,30791,1486,21291,35212,537,28987,36288,36287],"class_list":["post-468588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-politics","tag-basi-nato","tag-mar-nero-en","tag-bulgaria","tag-kaja-kallas","tag-palazzo-berlaymont","tag-romania","tag-war-di-russia-in-ukraine-en","tag-sistema-alimentare-globale","tag-tempesta-perfetta"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7908"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468588"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":468589,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468588\/revisions\/468589"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}