State of the Union: Rutte new NATO chief, EU accession talks with Ukraine

euronews (in English)

This edition of State of the Union focuses on Mark Rutte's appointment as the next NATO secretary general and the opening of EU accession talks with Ukraine

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to State of the Union, I'm Stephan Grube in Brussels.

00:09Mark Rutte has made it.

00:12NATO finally appointed the outgoing Dutch Prime Minister as its next boss.

00:17This move became a formality after his only rival for the post, Romania's President Klaus

00:22Johannes, had quit the race, having failed to gain traction.

00:27NATO leaders will officially welcome Rutte to their table at a summit in Washington in

00:31a little over a week.

00:33Once at the helm of the world's most powerful military organization, it is questionable

00:38whether the bike-loving Rutte will still be able to give casual interviews to the local

00:43press.

00:44For Ukraine, the appointment of Rutte, a fierce critic of Vladimir Putin, was great news.

01:09After all, Rutte had described the so-called Russian peace plan as absolutely crazy.

01:17This is the language that Ukraine likes to hear.

01:21And there was more good news for Kiev the week President Zelensky came to town.

01:26The EU formally opened talks on Ukraine's accession to the European Union, a development

01:31hailed historic.

01:33But the reality is, it's going to be a long way with no end in sight.

01:39Nonetheless, the outgoing Belgian EU presidency saw the talks as morale booster.

02:04Well, whether the incoming Hungarian EU presidency will support Ukraine is doubtful.

02:10Budapest has been blocking support for Ukraine whenever it could.

02:15Will that change?

02:16Joining me now is Teona Lavarelasvili, political scientist at Catholic University in Leuven

02:22and a visiting fellow at the Wilfrid Martin Center for European Studies.

02:26Welcome to the program.

02:27Thank you for having me.

02:29Hello.

02:30The EU started the accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova just days before Hungary takes

02:35over the rotating council presidency.

02:38Is this a coincidence?

02:39Well, I would argue that this is not a coincidence, because we know that Hungary's priority is

02:47mainly on the Western Balkans, especially on Serbia.

02:51Therefore, I think that the EU leaders were, let's say, constructive and smart enough to

02:59start the accession talks with Moldova and Ukraine before Hungary's presidency.

03:06As the opening of negotiations is only a small step in a long journey towards membership,

03:14can Hungary still derail the process?

03:17Well, Stefan, I think you indeed noticed and remarked very well about the longevity of

03:24this step.

03:25And when it comes to Hungary's role, well, we need to see the overall situation.

03:31Of course, also, we will need to observe who will take up the portfolio of enlargement.

03:37But I would say that, yes, Hungary still will have certain tools to influence enlargement

03:43process in the upcoming months to come.

03:46Next to Hungary, there is another obstacle to enlargement, and that is a certain Ukraine

03:51fatigue in some countries.

03:54How dangerous is that for Kiev?

03:57This is, to a certain extent, dangerous in the long term, but in the short term, I would

04:01say that enlargement negotiations and opening and closing chapters, let's say, bureaucratic

04:06and technical process, will continue.

04:08And I think this is a huge opportunity for Ukraine, but also for Moldova, because this

04:13will give and grant these countries immense window of opportunity for their rapprochement

04:20with the European Union.

04:22Of course, we know that expertise is missing.

04:25I think we should be clear in this respect, especially when it comes to environment, agriculture.

04:31And I think that Brussels will need to also help a lot these countries.

04:35Yeah, we all agree it's going to be a long process.

04:38When can we realistically expect to have Ukraine as an EU member state?

04:44This is a tricky question.

04:45And I think that we cannot have a deadline or a timeframe in this respect, because it

04:52depends on many factors.

04:54On the one hand, we have the political willingness of the European Union.

04:57And on the other hand, also the role is in the hands and in the court of Ukraine.

05:04It depends on the pace of reforms, but also on the security situation, I would say, how

05:10this will evolve.

05:12We have not discussed, but one of the important, let's say, hurdles and obstacles to EU integration

05:19enlargement as such also will be security considerations next to the budgetary considerations

05:25from the EU side.

05:27So challenges are there.

05:29Therefore, I would say that naming the concrete deadline is tricky.

05:35But again, the most important thing is to benefit as much as possible from the process

05:39of enlargement of negotiations itself and make the enlargement a transformative experience

05:45for Ukraine, but also for other enlargement countries.

05:48All right, political scientist Teona Lavrilashvili, thanks for coming on the show today.

05:54Thank you for having me.

05:56Before we go, let's talk about the extreme weather that we're seeing in these early summer

06:01days.

06:02While the southern half of Europe kept struggling with a sweltering heat wave, heavy rains and

06:07cool temperatures were the weather default mode in much of the north.

06:12In southeastern Switzerland, massive thunderstorms and rainfall caused severe flooding and triggered

06:18a landslide that killed several people.

06:21A key north-south motorway towards Italy was submerged and destroyed.

06:27In the meantime, in towns and villages, the cleanup has begun.

06:32The waters of many rivers and streams have receded, but the situation remained tense.

06:37The damage assessment was ongoing.

06:40The repair of major roads will take at least three to four weeks, according to the authorities.

06:48So wherever you travel in Europe this summer, be careful.

06:53That's it for this edition.

06:54I'm Stefan Grobe.

06:55Thank you for watching.

06:57Have an excellent week.

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