EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas attends a press conference with Moldova’s President Maia Sandu following their meeting in Chisinau, Moldova, April 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Vladislav Culiomza

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday the leaders of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea – who appeared together at a military parade in Beijing this week – represented an “autocratic alliance” challenging the rules–based international order.

“While Western leaders gather in diplomacy, an autocratic alliance is seeking a fast track to a new world order,” Kallas, the European Union’s high representative for foreign and security policy, told reporters in Brussels.

“Looking at President Xi standing alongside the leaders of Russia, Iran, [and] North Korea in Beijing today, these aren’t just anti-Western optics: This is a direct challenge to the international system built on rules.”