High Representative/Vice-President Kaja Kallas, speaking at the EU-ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference in Manila on 22 July 2026, called for elevating the EU-ASEAN relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP), with a commemorative summit hosted by Singapore in 2027 marking 50 years of ties. Kallas urged ASEAN partners to help shape concrete deliverables by mid-November 2026, building on a Concept Note shared after her April visit to Brunei.
She highlighted recent bilateral upgrades with Vietnam and upcoming ones with the Philippines and Indonesia as signals of intent, and framed the partnership as essential amid global crises including the Middle East conflict and Russia's war in Ukraine, which she described as an existential threat to Europe.