00:00But not to worry because of course the EU leaders debated deep into the night on all the challenges facing the Union and in fact coming up to find out exactly what was discussed in the room will be joined by one of them.
00:10The Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Paris since 2019.
00:15He's also the president of the centre-right New Democracy Party since January 2016.
00:20Affiliated with the European People's Party since coming into office he's been focusing on economic forums and attracting FDI.
00:26Good morning.
00:26Good morning. I'm happy to take Shona's place.
00:29I mean it's wonderful to have you because as our viewers are probably wondering what goes on at those EU summits, what do you talk about until the early hours of the morning?
00:37And last night was rather tense. We see EU leaders visibly exhausted, Prime Minister. Is this because of their workload or is this because of Donald Trump?
00:46Well first of all I can tell you that these summits are complicated.
00:50You know 27 of us and if you also include the High Commissioner, the President of the Commission, the President of the Council.
00:54It takes a lot of time to go around the table. But I think yesterday was a very good discussion.
01:00There is, in spite of the sense of restlessness, a real sense of purpose about Europe getting its act together.
01:09The transatlantic relationship is becoming more complicated. It needs to be managed in a different way.
01:14And was Donald Trump the elephant in the room?
01:16Europe needs to stand up for its own interests. Of course, the US President was mentioned.
01:22I think it is good that he made comments to clearly indicate that he wants to de-escalate the situation in Greenland.
01:28I think it is very positive that Europe stood up with one voice, maybe with one exception, to defend Denmark and Greenland.
01:36Can you tell us about the exception?
01:38Well, the exception is Hungary. This has been the case over the past year.
01:43So this should come as no surprise. But I think we've found a way to work around this problem.
01:48What about the other exception? I mean, I watched that video clip from FITO, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, who I believe was sitting right beside you.
01:55He was criticising the summit, saying it was a waste of time. He was very critical of EU leadership as well.
02:00What did you say to him?
02:01Well, we can look at the glass half empty or we can look at the glass half full. What I can tell you is that the whole strategic autonomy debate is picking up steam.
02:09I was one of the first proponents that we need to invest more in our common defence and we need to sort out our competitiveness issues.
02:15But what did you say to him? What do you say to disruptive leaders who sit with you in that room for five hours?
02:20Well, I think we all have to be cordial and respectful. And this is also true when it comes to the, I would say, to the US-European relationship.
02:27It was also reflected in the statements made by Antoine Acosta. I think we're all very frank in these discussions.
02:33People need to understand we're by ourselves. There are no advisers.
02:36No phones.
02:37No phones. In this case, also no conclusions, which makes it easier to be very open and occasionally quite blunt in expressing our views.
02:45And did you discuss Donald Trump's Board of Peace? We know that Hungary has joined. Bulgaria also joined. What was the consensus on it last night?
02:51Well, I think the consensus is that what has been announced by Donald Trump goes way beyond the UN Security Council mandate.
02:58I think it is important that the US is involved in the reconstruction of Gaza.
03:02I don't think that we would have had a choice without the involvement of Donald Trump.
03:07But I think we also need to recognise that moving forward, what has been established is something in which most European countries cannot join.
03:16However, we would like to be part of an arrangement to address the Gaza issue.
03:21So if there's a way where we can work with the US, but only for Gaza and only for a limited amount of time,
03:29Greece certainly would be very, very happy to take a lead in finding a consensus to do that.
03:35But you don't want to join up?
03:36I don't think we can join what has been currently presented.
03:39But we need to work towards ensuring that there is a European presence when it comes to the future of Gaza.
03:45What about Mercosur? Of course, the Greek farmers are thrilled this week because of that vote in the European Parliament to send it to the Court of Justice.
03:52What is your view there?
03:53My view is very clear.
03:55I mean, there are more benefits than drawbacks when it comes to these big international trade agreements.
04:02The Commission President and the President of the Council are going to India.
04:06I'll be going to India in a couple of weeks.
04:09We need to establish trading relationships with other countries or other groups of countries.
04:16We are a medium-sized, open economy.
04:19We're the leaders in global shipping.
04:21We have every interest in ensuring a rules-based international order that favours free trade.
04:27I wanted to ask you also about Ukraine, of course,
04:30and President Zelensky's speech in Davos being very critical.
04:32But we will have to leave it there.
04:33Thank you so much, Prime Minister, for being with us here live.
04:35Thanks for having me.
04:36On Euronews, on Europe Today.
04:37Do come back very soon.
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