Eastern Europe's Russia hawks flex muscles in top EU team

After claiming key posts, including EU foreign policy and defense in Ursula von der Leyen's new commission, eastern European countries most wary of Russia look set to carry more sway.

As Moscow's war on Ukraine grinds on through a third year, some of Kyiv's staunchest supporters have risen up the pecking order as Brussels has reshuffled its deck.

Most prominent is Estonia's ex-prime minister Kaja Kallas, who was tapped by EU leaders to be the bloc's new top diplomat for the next five years.

Set to work closely alongside her, von der Leyen on Sept. 17 named another Baltic former premier, Lithuania's Andrius Kubilius, to a new post aimed at bolstering the EU's defense industry.

On top of that, Finland's candidate scooped a broad role handling security, while Latvia's pick got an economy role and Poland laid its hands on the budget, all subject to EU parliament confirmation in weeks ahead.

"I would say it's not a power shift, rather more power balanced," a diplomat from eastern Europe told AFP.

Placing representatives from countries that view Russia as an existential threat in weighty roles is seen as an acceptance in Brussels of the new reality.

"It shows that there is a broad understanding in the EU of what kind of threats we're facing, that the biggest threats for the time being, unfortunately, are coming from the east, from Russia," Kubilius told journalists after his nomination.

"It's good that the EU is ready to use our knowledge, our expertise, for the common good, for really resolving challenges to our security."

One of the winners of the new shake-up looks like it could be Ukraine.

As Russia's invasion rumbles on, fatigue has grown among some allies and there are major question marks over...