Recognise sailor hugging upper-class European (6)
I believe the answer is:
salute
'recognise' is the definition.
(saluting is a kind of recognizing)
'sailor hugging upper-class european' is the wordplay.
'sailor' becomes 'salt' (salt is a kind of sailor**).
'hugging' is an insertion indicator.
'upper-class' becomes 'u' ('u' can be similar in meaning to 'upper-class').
'european' becomes 'e' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'salt' enclosing 'u' is 'salut'.
'salut'+'e'='SALUTE'
(Other definitions for salute that I've seen before include "Acknowledge (superior)" , "Honour" , "Greet in military fashion" , "Greet in a friendly way" , "Gesture of greeting" .)