- 6 months ago
Brussels, my love? Von der Leyen vouches to 'fight for Europe'
In this edition of our weekly European politics show, we pick apart the Commission Presidents' State of the EU speech, her strong words against Israel and the future of Moldova.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/09/13/brussels-my-love-von-der-leyen-vouches-to-fight-for-europe
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
In this edition of our weekly European politics show, we pick apart the Commission Presidents' State of the EU speech, her strong words against Israel and the future of Moldova.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/09/13/brussels-my-love-von-der-leyen-vouches-to-fight-for-europe
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello there and welcome to Brussels, my love, our weekly European politics show.
00:17I'm Maeve McMahan, broadcasting this week from Strasbourg, where MEPs met for their first session since the summer recess.
00:25Thank you so much for tuning in.
00:26Coming up this week, it's the Commission President's favourite time of the year.
00:30On Wednesday, Ursula von der Leyen enjoyed over one hour in the spotlight here in Strasbourg, delivering her annual State of the European Union speech.
00:39From the trade deal with Trump to the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, MEPs were stirred with both what she said and what she left out.
00:47We take a closer look and hear what it means for her future and the EU's.
00:52And, dressed in red, thousands of people took to the streets of Brussels last Sunday to call for EU member states to take a tougher stance against Israel.
01:01Since the Hamas attacks back on October 7th, 2023, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu has been hammering Gaza in a bid to annihilate Hamas.
01:10But two years on, even Israelis have had enough, and they're calling for their Prime Minister to stop the killing or endanger the lives of the hostages.
01:19So we're asking, yet again, why the EU is just a payer in this complex conflict and not a player.
01:26A warm welcome to our guests this weekend.
01:29German MEP, Andaya Wexler, from the Conservatives of the European People's Party.
01:32Welcome, Barry Andrews, Irish MEP from the Liberals Renew Europe.
01:37And Robert Biedran, Polish MEP from the Socialists.
01:40Lovely to have you all with us, thank you.
01:42But before we bring in your views, let's just hear some snippets from the European Commission President's lengthy speech.
01:49Just today we have seen a reckless and unprecedented violation of Poland and Europe's airspace.
01:56We need to work urgently on a new solution to finance Ukraine's war response and effort on the basis of the immobilized Russian assets.
02:08I believe Europe should have its own e-car.
02:11The future of cars and the cars of the future must be made here in Europe.
02:17Home has become a source of anxiety.
02:20This is more than a housing crisis.
02:23This is a social crisis.
02:25We will present the first ever European affordable housing plan.
02:31Algorithms that prey on children's vulnerabilities with the explicit purpose of creating addictions.
02:39Parents, not algorithms, should be raising our children.
02:43This must be Europe's independence moment.
02:47This is a fight for our future.
02:49So the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, speaking on Wednesday here in Strasbourg.
02:53We tried to squash one hour there into just one minute.
02:56But was it a bold speech, Robert?
02:58What was your takeaway?
02:59Well, I could see again that Ursula von der Leyen is ready to fight for Europe.
03:04But I want to ask when she will start fighting for Europe, because it was already quite a while since this commission was elected.
03:14And I really want this commission to start delivering.
03:18We are really living in a very difficult time.
03:20This week, Poland experienced this first after the Second World War, massive attack of drones from the Russian Federation.
03:29There is massive austerity.
03:31There are housing issues.
03:32And of course, you can make nice speeches, as Ursula von der Leyen did.
03:36And I support almost everything she said, including this Icar where EPP was booing on her when she was doing that.
03:43But I need her to deliver.
03:46So you support the words, but you feel that action is lacking.
03:48Less words, more action.
03:50And we're hearing a lot from sources in the commission that the processes as well around the EU now, they're just not kind of fit for purpose.
03:55We can't keep up with the world today as it's going.
03:58What about you, Barry?
03:58Were you booing in the hemicycle or were you cheering?
04:00No, no, I was impressed with the speech.
04:03I have to say it was very, very long.
04:05There were an awful lot of empty seats in the chamber when she started to speak, mostly on the right of the chamber.
04:13But I thought she struck the right balance.
04:15And I thought the overall framing of it was she was trying to rebuild the central coalition within the hemicycle with EPP, S&D and Renew.
04:25And she also committed, recommitted to the Green Deal, eliciting a lot of boos from the right.
04:31So I think she recognizes that the EPP flirting with the right and the far right has not worked.
04:38It has created an awful lot of backlash.
04:40And she, I felt it was a centrist speech.
04:43It was a speech that was directed at rebuilding that coalition in the center of the parliament.
04:48Andrea, what are your thoughts?
04:49You're, of course, on her political group, the European People's Party.
04:51Well, first of all, what we've seen is, and that's the response also to the mourning of the speech and the tragedies we've seen in Poland,
04:59which is an historical event, that she struck the right tone because she seized the opportunity to call for unity in Europe,
05:08not only in Europe, but also in the parliament.
05:09And I think it was a very balanced speech that addresses the main concerns in Europe,
05:14which is security on the one hand side and a clear commitment by the commission to secure security for its people.
05:21But on the other hand, sign also competitiveness.
05:23And what has already been mentioned as well, the things that are really dear to the people,
05:28which is employment opportunities, which is housing, which is affordable mobility.
05:32So I think that speech was very balanced.
05:36What about unity?
05:37She mentioned the need for unity and your party is not united behind her.
05:41Well, we are united behind her.
05:43We were all there.
05:43We are supporting the politics.
05:45We have and have a very different view from my Polish colleague and a social democratic colleague on this.
05:50And we are delivering.
05:52The last year has been a year of intense reflection on a new pathway, the clean industrial deal,
05:59on security, on the omnibuses, on deregulation, whilst continuing to deliver on the goals and objectives of the Green Deal.
06:07And I do think that we are delivering.
06:09And this is clearly why the EPP is still united behind her.
06:13Well, the EPP might be united, but Ursula von der Leyen made a plea for unity, as you quite rightly said, in her speech.
06:21But the first thing that happened immediately after the speech is that Manfred Weber got up and attacked the other part of the coalition, the S&D.
06:29And Manfred Weber, just for our viewers, is the head of the European Communist Party, so the German politician.
06:34He attacked the S&D, the other side of that coalition.
06:37And then the head of the S&D, Erachie, got up and she attacked him.
06:43So they called for unity within the parliament.
06:45So what signal is that sending to voters, to our viewers?
06:47It was appalling.
06:48It was absolutely appalling, frankly, Maeve.
06:50And what should have happened is that that should have been responded to.
06:53They were not listening to what Ursula von der Leyen had to say.
06:55And it actually took my group leader, Valerie Hare, to get up and to say, this is pathetic stuff.
07:01If we are serious about the serious threats that we have as a continent, as a union, then we have to start right here to rebuild the central coalition, the pro-European coalition.
07:12And what we saw on display immediately after Ursula von der Leyen's speech was really appalling.
07:17It's what you'd expect from a kindergarten, perhaps.
07:19Was it pathetic in your view, Robert?
07:20It was a pathetic situation because we are to rule within the coalition in this parliament.
07:28This is an agreement.
07:30EPP, Renew, and Social Democrats made an agreement that we will deliver for people.
07:36And when one of the parties is playing the tricky games with extreme right, it all ruins.
07:41Because we are not busy on delivering the issues, the people's issues, like on housing, like on climate issues, like on austerity.
07:50Then people are frustrated and then they start to think, this is a kindergarten and who is happy with that?
07:56People are frustrated.
07:57But Putin, of course, opens the champagne because he sees us divided in the situation when we have a war in Ukraine, when there are drone attacks on Poland, where all this multilateral world is being dismantled.
08:12This is really not a time where we should afford ourselves to be split as democratic forces, as respecting human rights and rule of law.
08:22Because those guys from the right wing, they may be populist, but we will never stand on the side of democracy, rule of law and human rights.
08:31And this lesson from today's debate should be learned.
08:34And from tomorrow, we should be united like we agreed on this agreement of coalition.
08:38Well, as EPP, we are absolutely committed to the Sarazola front-of-line majority and to the platform, which is, by the way, not a formal coalition.
08:46That's always also very important to say to the citizens.
08:48But what we are also committed to is what was promised in last year's Commission's work program, which is deregulation, which is delivering for the people.
08:58And what we are constantly seeing in the European Parliament, and that is the nitty-gritties that we are seeing,
09:03that is that in the committees we see, like last week in the ample, that the Social Democrats are not going along the way of simplification that we've agreed to go upon.
09:12So this is the nitty-gritties.
09:14But I think what this week shows us, what is at stake in Europe right now, is not only the nitty-gritties, but it's the unity of the continent, it's democracy, it's the rule of law.
09:24And I can clearly say that EPP is committed on these broad lines to lead and deliver on the security and competitiveness for the people.
09:31But meanwhile, voters are turning away from mainstream parties.
09:34They're not putting their trust in mainstream parties because mainstream parties are not delivering.
09:37Because as we can see here, they're squabbling together.
09:40Now, just back on this simplification point, Barry-Anders, will that make life easier for Irish businesses?
09:45There's an awful lot in the omnibuses, which are the collective legislation that has been brought forward by the Commission, that is very positive.
09:54However, there is quite a lot of examples where simplification has gone beyond just trying to de-bureaucratize the legislation.
10:03In some cases, it's actual deregulation.
10:06So, for example, the due diligence directive that I worked on in the last mandate, that has been absolutely gutted.
10:13Taken apart.
10:13And this is supposed to ensure that we have clean supply chains so that consumers who are out and about shopping on a Saturday afternoon can be assured that they're not contributing to human rights abuses, that they're not contributing to environmental damage, that they're not contributing to labor infractions.
10:32And the EPP, I'm sorry to say, a lot of it is simplification, but some of it is deregulation.
10:37And we have to own up to that situation.
10:40And businesses weren't getting ready for that.
10:41They were preparing because they were getting those signals.
10:44So, definitely very confusing times.
10:45I think the good thing from this week's debate on the State of the Union is that we have a vision.
10:52We have a statement on the things the president, Ursula von der Leyen, wants to deliver.
10:58And we should keep her accountable and support her on these issues because those are the issues where we, in great majority, we agree.
11:06And we are able to push it forward because we still have majority, even though there are some tricky games in this house.
11:13We are able to deliver to people on housing, on climate, on austerity, on education, on defense, which is a very important issue, and on the next budget, which is very important for people.
11:29They really want to, and they are asking already us, what this budget will be.
11:34Will it be for people or will it be for elites?
11:38Well, you mentioned something that people do care about, and that is housing.
11:41And we did see Ursula von der Leyen this week say that we have a social crisis in Europe, the housing crisis, and she's planning to do a lot to address this issue.
11:48Will she be able to fix this problem?
11:50Well, first of all, I think what was very important in relation to housing is that this really addresses the core concerns of people all over Europe.
11:58And this is a very good sign, because what this speech was not meant to be is a speech towards the groups in Parliament.
12:05But what this speech was also meant to do is to address the real issues of the people, and that's what it did, by also addressing housing.
12:12However, and we need to be very careful, housing is not the core competence of the European Union.
12:17So we need to be very careful in what we promise to the people and what the European Union can actually deliver upon.
12:23But I trust that the Commission will be very responsible, and she has full support of EPP and also the Parliament, that we will tackle this issue for the benefit of the people.
12:32So could we see clashes here with governments as she starts to go after short-term rentals?
12:35No, no, I think it'll be quite the opposite.
12:37I think, you know, you and I are Irish.
12:40We think the housing problem is only in Ireland, it's only in Dublin, but it's all the way through the 27 member states.
12:46And she rightly framed it in terms of not just competitiveness, that we have housing available for workers, et cetera, but also in social coherence, social cohesion, I should say.
12:56And so I think that was really sensible.
12:58And there are things that Europe can do.
12:59You're absolutely right.
13:00Of course, it's a national competence, but there are things that Europe can do, and they can really help member states, particularly in the area of state aid, which you really focused on.
13:08I launched the European Housing Association's manifesto before the last election.
13:13There's a whole range of things in terms of funding, in terms of research, in terms of state aid that the European Union can do to help member states in this area.
13:22Well, on this, we are socialists.
13:24We were fighting for long that the housing will be a priority in this house and in this commission.
13:29And I'm very happy that we have also a committee dedicated to housing.
13:33And there were plans, she mentioned as well, to eradicate poverty.
13:35Do you trust in those plans?
13:36Yes, that's very important on poverty, but on housing, 30 million people in the European Union cannot afford for affordable housing.
13:47This is a serious issue.
13:48It's like more than whole Belgium would not be able to have affordable housing.
13:54So this is a serious issue, and I agree with my colleagues in every single country.
13:59So besides the statements, there must be money following this and a real plan to deliver on housing, because this is a Polish problem, German problem, Irish problem, and all the 27 problem.
14:12And another pan-European problem, if you like, is the social media addiction we're seeing among our young people.
14:18She spoke about that topic as well in the speech this week, saying that parents should bring their children up and not algorithms.
14:25What about this idea of a ban on social media for the under-16s?
14:28Well, she said she's going to set up a special panel that's going to report by November very quickly as to whether the Australian example to ban social media for the under-16s would work across the European Union.
14:41I think this is brilliant, and I think, you know, I've got kids at that age, and we're really trying to find the right balance, and parents need help.
14:51Because the kids would hate it.
14:51I mean, come on.
14:52Teenagers don't want to be banned from social media.
14:54I know they don't want to be banned, but I think parents need help, you know, and I think there are various things the European Union has done over the years, small things that have made big differences to people's lives.
15:04And I think if we went down into this area, into social media, and tried to protect our young people, they can still have WhatsApp.
15:10They can still keep in touch with their friends.
15:12They can still have a mobile phone to play music, but they won't be exposed to these algorithms.
15:17I absolutely agree.
15:17I think when we look in the larger lines of democracy about false information, about the influence on our children, and that's our future, we need to be very careful on the approach that the commission is taking.
15:29By taking this on a factual analysis, trying to get experts on, and then to hopefully act very courageously on this is going to protect our young people.
15:39And I can only support this approach.
15:40And when she made this comment in the hemicycle, I noticed that most of the MEPs were looking at their phones.
15:46Checking if they were already banned.
15:48Maybe she could ban phones from the hemicycle, too.
15:51Yes, but on this, I think what's important, we need to protect children.
15:55And everything that is forbidden offline should be banned online.
16:02This should be the rule.
16:03I don't understand why we are allowing children to be exposed to this violent, drastic content on social media,
16:12while offline, in real life, we are not allowing people to do that.
16:17But online, you find everything.
16:19You cannot imagine, probably, what children are exposed to.
16:23So I fully agree on that.
16:24But again, we need to see the results on that.
16:28And you need the tech companies to work with you.
16:29Because there are lots of words and little action on that.
16:32Well, look, back in Brussels as well, EU watchers have been carefully following this State of the European Union speech
16:38because it sets the policy agenda for the coming months and gauges the political appetite.
16:42For another view, we had a chat with Rebecca Christie.
16:45She's a senior fellow at the think tank Bruegel.
16:47Take a listen.
16:48She is really in a tough spot right now because the Commission is under a lot of criticism
16:54for not being ambitious enough, not working hard enough to lead through the moment.
16:58At the same time as it faces criticism for not being democratic enough and not listening to what voters want
17:04and not being responsible to the member states, who have a lot of control over the agenda.
17:09From the member states, which I think is her most important constituency,
17:13there hasn't been a lot of encouragement to be bold to lead to take strong action.
17:18If you look at the leaders in Germany and France in particular, they have very large domestic worries.
17:24So there's not a lot of momentum behind her to take action with the backing of the member states.
17:30That said, if she doesn't take some sort of step forward, she is going to face even more criticism
17:35for paralysis and for failing to step up.
17:38The State of the Union speech is a chance to put herself on show before the lawmakers
17:43to give the European Parliament a chance to feel heard, to voice their frustration.
17:49That was Rebecca Christie there because Ursula von der Leyen was coming into this speech quite weak.
17:54Did she come out of it that little bit stronger perhaps, Andrea, do you think?
17:57Well, what we can definitely see is that Europe is getting stronger also with the changes in the governments
18:03that we are seeing.
18:04So the alignment with Germany and the German Chancellor has certainly also supported her position in Europe.
18:10And yes, I think she can go out of the speech rather strong.
18:14She now has to deliver and she must manage to reunite the platform in the European Parliament.
18:20I think it was a clear call on us to do that.
18:23And I think we can clearly say that this was a moment to go forward into the fall and it's going to be a fall of deliveries.
18:30Did you vent your frustration?
18:32No, but I was very impressed with the speech.
18:34I thought the way it was constructed was very good, this story about the...
18:38But to turn Ruth into action, Barry, she needs member states on board.
18:40And we have France, for example, this week, a country that's been grinded to a halt with Wednesday being the block everything day.
18:46Yeah, well, look, that's the nature of the European Union.
18:48You know, we always look at these crises that we've had with it, whether it was Brexit, whether it was migration, whether it was COVID.
18:54And the union has always actually got stronger, even through the austerity.
18:58So we're going through a very difficult period.
19:00Because now we face irrelevance, right?
19:02No, no, no, I don't think so.
19:03I think I was impressed with it, with her reasserting her leadership or central leadership in the European Union.
19:10It is now down to the member states to agree on so many different things.
19:14So you're absolutely right.
19:16That's the frustration.
19:19And I have to say again, I just thought Manfred Weber really didn't read the room when he made his opening remarks after the president's speech today.
19:30Back to her plans for the future.
19:32I agree.
19:34Ursula von der Leyen is very good doing the show.
19:37And she did a really very good show.
19:38And as I said...
19:39What about her plans on defense?
19:40Her plan for a drone alliance with Ukraine?
19:42Excellent.
19:42But the most important is, besides doing the show, what she will do after she goes out from the stage, when there will not be a spotlight.
19:51And she will sit with FITSO, with Orbán, with the new prime minister of France, and how she will be able to talk to them to persuade to these issues.
20:02And this is more difficult than addressing us, where we, in great majority, we are united on these issues.
20:09We are on the same light with Ursula von der Leyen.
20:11This will be the difficulty.
20:13And it's very interesting.
20:14On defense, I mean, look, we're a neutral country.
20:16People understand that.
20:18They respect our constitutional position.
20:20Ireland's not in NATO.
20:21We're not in NATO.
20:21Hardly spends a penny on defense.
20:22We have been in the lead in supporting financially Ukraine.
20:28We've supported accession for Ukraine.
20:30We've supported the temporary protection directive in an extreme way and humanitarian support for Ukraine.
20:35So it is true.
20:36But we are also one of the highest net contributors to the European Union budget.
20:39So when you take all of that in the whole, and you respect our constitutional right to be neutral like three other European countries are, I think that's fair.
20:49But I think, you know, what was very striking about the speech was she never mentioned Donald Trump throughout her speech, which would have aggravated him very, very much.
20:59I think she was slightly trolling him a little bit.
21:01She was talking about getting some tech leaders from Europe in and making a declaration.
21:05It sounded like she was...
21:06Maybe because she did not deliver well on tax.
21:08I mean, just final thoughts with Andrea just on cars.
21:11She spoke about the future of the European cars, small electric cars.
21:15Did she settle the worries of the car industry with her comments?
21:18Certainly not.
21:19Like, that's one of the criticisms and points of criticism we definitely have.
21:22You know, we went into the election campaign clearly saying that one of our objectives is the stop of the combustion engine ban.
21:29That she has not clearly delivered upon.
21:31We have, again, the automotive summit.
21:34And we will see what this is going to bring.
21:37We will indeed keep an eye on that, Andrea.
21:39Certainly.
21:39But on that point, we can bring this conversation to an end.
21:43Stay with us, though, here on Euronews, because shortly we will be back to hear why the EU just cannot speak with one voice on the Hamas-Israel war.
21:51See you soon.
21:51Welcome back to Brussels, my love, our weekly European politics show here on Euronews, coming to you this weekend from Strasbourg.
22:06Well, this week, among other topics, MEPs discussed and voted on a resolution on the ongoing war in Gaza that began after the October 7th Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel.
22:17Now, the commission president, for the first time ever, took a rather hard line against Israel, calling for sanctions on extremist Israeli ministers and violent settlers.
22:26She said she would put bilateral support to Israel on hold and stop payments to Israel without affecting, of course, the ongoing work with Israeli civil society.
22:36She also calls for a partial suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which, of course, regulates trade.
22:43So it's quite a change of tone, really, from the commission president here.
22:46How do you feel, Barry Andrews, about her intervention?
22:49It was a massive change of tone.
22:51I mean, it was more than I expected.
22:53She mentioned she made reference to a man-made famine.
22:56That's a controversial thing.
22:58And it will have really hurt the Israelis to, the Israeli government, I should say, to hear that language coming from Ursula von der Leyen, including all the points that you said.
23:08So it was a massive change.
23:11The tone she struck was more the tone she uses when she's alluding to the Ukraine-rich war.
23:15Correct, yeah.
23:15Did she upset a lot of people, though, in her own party with those comments?
23:19There's certainly not a unified position on this.
23:22And we're still in debate in Europe on how we react to the Gaza dramatics that we're seeing.
23:28And certainly there are countries and there are people like us in Germany that are very cautious about our reactions to this very clear change in lines.
23:36But as with our history and our clear commitment to Israel, but our clear commitment to human rights as well, this is certainly a massive change, as has already been said, in the communication.
23:47And there are certainly points that we do not support.
23:50Okay, what about you, did your party dress in red this morning in protest outside the hemicycle this week?
23:57Yes, because we are dealing with unimaginable tragedy and I think culturally right genocide.
24:05I cannot imagine that we cannot take more action on the situation where almost 70,000 people were killed.
24:13I was a mayor once and my city was more or less this amount of people.
24:19And it's out of my mind to imagine that all these people would be killed.
24:24And this is the situation in Gaza today.
24:27And I welcome the words of Ursula von der Leyen because they were very much awaited.
24:33And European citizens were expecting that from her.
24:35You've probably seen the protests on the streets all across Europe and, in fact, in Israel itself.
24:40There is protests and there is expectations that Europe acts and does act.
24:45But again, I would like to remind of the fact that Hamas could end this war any moment in time.
24:50He could release the hostages.
24:53There is also still European hostages.
24:56But that's not the reason to kill people.
24:58That's not the reason.
24:58That's certainly not the reason.
24:59We need to keep the proportionality.
25:00You know, I come from Poland and I could also use these historical issues and so on.
25:06We really, really, in this moment where people are being killed only because they live in this territory.
25:13This is really nothing.
25:16Nothing justifies this strategy and this situation.
25:19And even Qatar got dragged into it this week.
25:22Yeah, I mean, Israel has bombed six of its neighbors over the last two years.
25:27Eighty-three percent of the casualties in Gaza are civilians.
25:32You know, I made the point yesterday during the week in the speech that Israel used to agonize about harming civilians, particularly children.
25:42And now we have 50,000 children killed or injured, at least in Gaza over the last two years.
25:49So finally...
25:50And should EU countries be welcoming children from Gaza?
25:53We don't see a lot of...
25:54Interestingly, that is a process that's going on.
25:56It depends on Israel releasing children from Gaza into either Jordan or Egypt.
26:02And it also depends on European countries accepting.
26:05Now, mostly there's children who are requiring treatment for cancer.
26:09And there are carers that come.
26:11And Ireland has done it.
26:12Greece has done it.
26:13Romania, Italy have taken in the Gaza and children.
26:17But I just want to make the point about the speech.
26:19I think it is a really big change.
26:22It sends a very clear message to Israel.
26:24You know, Israel really care about their reputation internationally.
26:27They care about their reputation in Europe.
26:29But they especially care about their reputation in Germany.
26:33And together with what Mertz had to say about export controls, now von der Leyen's speech,
26:38I think it really makes Israelis sit up straight.
26:40And I think it's well beyond time that it should have been done.
26:44And I think they also care about trade with Europe.
26:46We must remember that EU is the largest trading partner of Israel.
26:50It's 30% last year.
26:52So if we implement the issues, which was mentioned by the Commission's president,
26:59it will really hit Israel much.
27:02So they really should reconsider if they want to continue this situation.
27:07Because it brings harm to everyone and not solution to anything.
27:11And that's why EU member states are so divided on the topic due to this trade relationship.
27:14And of course, close relationship that Ursula von der Leyen herself in her speech
27:18also alluded to the close relationship she has with Israel.
27:20But she said she cannot look either at the horrific killings.
27:23Clearly.
27:23And what we should be worrying about is, of course, trade relationships on the one hand side.
27:27But clearly what it is about is it about the humanitarian crisis
27:30and the question of proportionality of the action Israel has taken.
27:34But at the same time, we should never forget that a ceasefire and a stop by Hamas
27:41could solve this issue on a short-term notice and the release of the hostages could as well.
27:46And this is a clear demand and this has just been a very small demand in that speech.
27:50And are you giving a guarantee that Netanyahu will start this action when this happened?
27:55We never had these promises.
27:57And you know that the radicalism of today's Israeli government goes beyond these expectations.
28:05Who is giving the guarantee that this will stop if there will be a release?
28:09Of course, we are all calling for this release.
28:11This is also a terrible strategy what happened, what Hamas did.
28:14This is a terrible organization which should be banned for and not supported by anyone.
28:20It's not just a terrible organization.
28:20It's a terrorist organization.
28:21It is.
28:22It is.
28:22We are all agreeing.
28:23And where is the guarantee to tell us that Netanyahu is using this excuse?
28:27The Europeans are not there.
28:28As I said, they're paying.
28:29Netanyahu facilitated the growth of Hamas in order to divide the Palestinian people.
28:34The New York Times was able to disclose before October 7th, obviously, that the Netanyahu government
28:40were very happy to see funding to go from Qatar into Hamas because it divides the Palestinian
28:46people and it makes a Palestinian state much less likely.
28:49That's what happened.
28:50So it's fine and correct to say that Hamas is a terrorist organization.
28:54That's all correct.
28:55And we want a future without Hamas.
28:57But let's not try and justify what's been going on for the last two years.
29:00And the question has to be asked, why did it take Ursula von der Leyen two years to finally
29:05conclude what the vast social majority in Europe had concluded an awful long time ago?
29:09And it may be to do with the framing of what's happening in this parliament.
29:13The background to this is the largest Holocaust this world has ever seen since World War II.
29:18And the victim, the original victim, is certainly Israel.
29:22And that's why it has taken her two years.
29:24OK, well, on that conclusion, we can bring this conversation to an end.
29:27For more on that story, please do visit our website, euronews.com.
29:31Thank you so much to our panel, Barry Andrews, Robert Biedron and Andrea Vexer for being our guests.
29:35And thank you so much for tuning in.
29:37See you soon on Euronews.
29:38Hello there and welcome to Brussels, my love, our European politics show here on Euronews.
29:52I'm Maeve McMahon and I'm in Strasbourg for this edition, sitting down with the MEPs Barry Andrews from Ireland, from a new Europe,
29:59Robert Biedron from Poland, from the Socialists, and Andrea Vexer from Germany, from the European People's Party.
30:04Well, this week, a big focus of the plenary was on how to stop the war in Ukraine and the ongoing hybrid threats from Russia.
30:12Maya Sandu, that's the president of Moldova, was here calling on MEPs to open their eyes to the reality.
30:18She said EU accession was a, quote, matter of survival for her country and that there's a lot at stake in the upcoming parliamentary elections taking place at the end of the month.
30:27Its outcome will decide whether we consolidate as a stable democracy on the path to EU membership, a safe neighbor to Ukraine, and a security provider to the Union,
30:40or whether Russia destabilizes us, pulls us away from Europe, and turns us into a threat.
30:48The Kremlin's goal is clear, to capture Moldova through the ballot box, to use it against Ukraine, and to turn us into a launch pad for hybrid attacks in the European Union.
31:03Moldova may be the testing ground, but Europe is the target.
31:09Maya Sandu there, that's the president of Moldova speaking here in Strasbourg earlier in the week.
31:14Robert Piedron, did you watch her speech? Are you concerned about Moldova? Are Polish, are your voters, are they worried about the situation there?
31:21Very much concerned, because this reminds me where Poland was negotiating entrance to EU, and we had same concerns,
31:29whether we will be part of this democratic world of European Union, or we will be in the sphere of influence of Russia.
31:37And I really closely watch the situation in Moldova, in the context where we see so much disinformation, cyber attacks, and attacks on the president.
31:47And her speech is worth a watch, because she alluded to all those sinister attacks.
31:51But really, her speech was a pitch for EU membership.
31:53Of course, Moldova applied for membership right after the invasion, the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
31:59Would you like to see Moldova join, and by when?
32:01Absolutely. I mean, this is not in my hands and in my wish list, but when this is going to happen, but Moldova is doing a wonderful job,
32:10and Maya Sandu is a great president working in the country towards the European Union.
32:14We are supporting Moldova in many ways, so that they have a growth plan, et cetera, to really speed up the accession to the European Union.
32:23Of course, you know, the criteria must be fulfilled. That's important also towards our European citizens.
32:28But we want Moldova to be part of the European family. They're part of our values, and that's a country that belongs to Europe.
32:35Barry, what's your view on that? And we did hear Ursula von der Leyen, the Commission president, in her speech alluding to more reunification or enlargement.
32:41She wants to see it happen in the next couple of years. What is your view?
32:44Yeah, I mean, Moldova is in a very difficult geographic location, and, you know, we all know that Russia expands by invasion and infiltration,
32:53whereas the European Union expands by invitation. And Moldova has expressed through referendums and presidential elections,
32:59and hopefully in the general election that will happen at the end of this month, its desire for a European future.
33:05And I think we in the European Union have become a little bit, you know, accession fatigue because of what's happened with Hungary,
33:12with other member states. And when Ireland joined in 1973, we were a very poor country.
33:20There was a terrible conflict going on on the island of Ireland at that time.
33:23But Ireland and Britain came into the European Union, and it has been a miraculous transformation for Ireland in particular.
33:30Obviously, the UK took a slightly different path.
33:33So I think we would be able to show the pathway to accession for countries like Moldova,
33:37divided, you know, and infiltrated as it is, that the European path is the only true path for Moldovans in the future.
33:45Andrea, these elections that are upcoming, what's at stake in these elections?
33:48And we did see the German Chancellor, Mertz, he was there a few weeks ago, accompanied by Emmanuel Macron,
33:52and your head of state, Donald Tusk, as well.
33:55Well, at stake is for Moldovia, first of all, whether it will be under Russian influence,
33:59with the majority going against the European Union, or whether it will continue its pathway to Europe.
34:04But there is more at stake for the European Union, because this is a very central country
34:09for the security of Europe, defending our values.
34:13And I do think that this is really worthwhile supporting, and this is very crucial,
34:17because as Maya Sandu has set out, this is a ground to attack Europe,
34:22and this is really serious for the entire continent.
34:25But is there anything that Brussels can do, the institutions here, to counter this disinformation
34:29and all this interference in the elections that will take place at the end of the month,
34:32and therefore determine the future of the country?
34:34Of course we can do it, and I think Ursula von der Leyen has gave an example,
34:38and one of the ideas this week on this so-called drone wall,
34:42which we were calling for a long time to strengthen our eastern border resilience.
34:50And this week's example from Poland with this drone attack from Russian Federation
34:55is one of the examples of what may happen.
34:57And that's why we should really rethink our financial contribution to security.
35:04Poland is a great donator on that, and we are on the lead, but other countries are staying behind.
35:09They think maybe this will happen in Ukraine, maybe Poland will be attacked with drones,
35:16but appetite of Putin is larger than this.
35:18He will not stop in Donetsk or Odessa.
35:22He will really continue his attacks, annexation, not only in Moldova, but other countries.
35:28So we should stay united also on that.
35:31And when we discuss the next engagements, financial engagements,
35:35we should really have in mind that what is on stake is our own security,
35:41not Polish, not Moldavian, not Ukrainian, by European security.
35:46And do you think in Ireland people have those similar concerns?
35:49It's rather far away.
35:51Yeah, look, I mean, clearly Andrea and Robert have a much better insight.
35:55And I think the further west you go, you have a more diminished sense of the reality of what life must be like for Moldova
36:00to be exposed to so much disinformation.
36:03So I think Europe has to do whatever it can to help Moldova on that pathway.
36:09You know, I'm the chair of the Democracy and Elections Group with David McAllister here in the European Parliament,
36:15and we will be sending an observation team to the elections that are taking place on September the 28th.
36:20And we're going to do everything we can to make sure that those elections can take place in a free, fair and transparent way.
36:27So these are things that we can do to try and help those Moldovans who are not to be influenced by their Russian neighbor.
36:34I think we also have to understand as Europeans, as you've said, this doesn't stop in Moldova.
36:39So we need to really be on guard in Europe and how we can stop disinformation campaigns, influence operations from Russia, hybrid warfare.
36:48And this is a wake-up call for Europe to defend itself.
36:51It's democracy on the one hand side.
36:53And on the other hand side, to become so attractive for enlarging candidates that they stick on a European pathway.
37:00Well, on that point, we can bring this conversation to an end.
37:03Thank you so much to our MEPs, our guests, Andrea Vexler, Barry Andrews and Robert Biedron for being with us.
37:09And thank you so much for watching.
37:11If you'd like to make a comment on any topic that we've been discussing here on Brussels My Love, do reach out.
37:16Our email address is BrusselsMyLove at Euronews.com.
37:20You can also reach out to us on social media and we will get back to you.
37:23Thanks again for watching. See you soon. Take care.
37:30See you soon.
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