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00:30Trump is set to host his first official Board of Peace gathering in Washington today.
00:35Ahead of the meeting, which will take place at the U.S. Institute of Peace,
00:39Trump, who will chair the board, described it as potentially the most consequential international body in history.
00:45The initiative has already, though, sparked strong reactions.
00:49Critics warn it reflects an imperial agenda and could sideline the UN,
00:54but supporters argue it could serve as a practical mechanism focused on reconstruction efforts,
01:00particularly in Gaza.
01:01We can take a listen now to the White House Press Secretary, Caroline Leavitt.
01:04I don't think that peace should be partisan or political or controversial.
01:09And, of course, the administration wants all those who were invited to join the Board of Peace to join.
01:15And this president has a very bold and ambitious plan and vision to rebuild and reconstruct Gaza,
01:21which is well underway because of the Board of Peace.
01:24This is a legitimate organization.
01:27And your news correspondent, Maya de la Bum, is following the story for us and joins me now in the
01:32studio.
01:32Good morning, Maya.
01:33Good morning, Maeve.
01:34So, look, a big day for this Board of Peace.
01:37Brussels has sent the EU commissioner for the Mediterranean, Suiza.
01:41But so many ambassadors are furious about this.
01:43That's what you've been reporting.
01:44Tell us more.
01:45Yes.
01:45Diplomats told us that there was a very tense meeting in Brussels yesterday with many countries,
01:51including and especially France and Spain, saying that they were not consulted.
01:56So they are sending Suiza in Washington, D.C.
01:59But, you know, member states should validate the mandate of Mrs. Suiza.
02:04And this is what they have been saying in this meeting where other countries also were furious
02:09because, you know, this is a foreign policy matter.
02:12And you need a mandate validated by the 27 EU countries to be able to send a commissioner to Washington,
02:20D.C.
02:20and participate in a very controversial entity, which is the Board of Peace.
02:24And on top of that, I think that, you know, most diplomats say that Mrs. Suiza has a very political
02:30figure.
02:31This is a commissioner.
02:32Commissioners are political figures.
02:34And so why would you send a political figure to D.C.?
02:38I mean, the idea for many member states and many diplomats who we spoke to said,
02:42we need a lower level person.
02:44We need a civil servant.
02:46We need a diplomat, not a political figure.
02:48And on top of all of this, I think what we've gathered in our reporting is that diplomats are also
02:54furious
02:55because they think this participation of Mrs. Suiza sends the wrong signal
03:00because it means that, in a way, it means that Europe is validating the Board of Peace.
03:04And we know that the Board of Peace is a very controversial entity.
03:08Most member countries, and again, I'm talking about France, Spain, and I'm excluding Hungary and, you know, Bulgaria,
03:15which have said that they would participate in this Board of Peace.
03:18But the reasoning behind this is that it sends the wrong signal that Europe is validating the Board of Peace,
03:25which most countries aren't.
03:27Yes, so I'd say there's some awkward phone calls now between the Commission and the Capitals.
03:31But meanwhile, the Commission is standing by this decision.
03:34Yeah, the Commission is standing by this decision because they want to have a voice on this issue,
03:40on the issue of Gaza.
03:41You know that the European Union is the largest donor of aid in Palestine.
03:47It supports the Palestinian Authority.
03:50It has supported the Palestinian Authority for decades.
03:52And it thinks that, you know, it should participate because this is an issue.
03:57This is a reconstruction of Gaza.
03:59And Europe should be involved in this reconstruction of Gaza.
04:02So what we hear from the Commission is we stand by because we are not joining the Board of Peace,
04:08but we need to have a voice.
04:10Otherwise, we will be excluded.
04:12And, you know, our role in this region is crucial, as they tell us.
04:18OK, Maida Le Boon, thank you so much for that live update.
04:20And, of course, to find out who else will be in Washington, D.C. for those talks,
04:24do check out yournews.com.
04:26But now, coming up, we'll be joined by Saloma Souris-Bishvili,
04:30a Georgian politician who served as the President of Georgia from 2018 to 2024.
04:36She was the first female to take on this role.
04:40Located between Eastern Europe and Western Asia,
04:42Georgia was plunged into a political and constitutional crisis
04:46after disputed elections that triggered mass anti-government protests.
04:51For its part, the European Parliament refuses to recognise the current authorities
04:54of the Georgian Dream Party
04:56and continue to see Saloma Souris-Bishvili as the legitimate President.
05:00So good morning.
05:01Good morning.
05:01Welcome to Europe Today.
05:02Lovely to have you with us.
05:03Thank you.
05:04So the big story for us, of course, here today is Trump's Board of Peace.
05:08If you were still in office as President, would you sign up?
05:11I think that I know that our neighbours have signed up
05:16and I think that it's very important that the region, the Caucasus,
05:20stays united and stays present in all the formats where it can be.
05:26And especially for Georgia, it's very important to be a subject of international relations
05:31and not only an object, which, unfortunately, we have become in the past period.
05:37And what should the EU do?
05:38Forgotten.
05:39You can see this big dispute now in the EU about who should go and who should not?
05:42Well, that's their own subject, which I'm not here to comment upon.
05:47But I think that for a small country like Georgia, which is faced with one enemy, Russia,
05:54that we know how it behaves, it's very important to be present in all the formats where it can have
06:00its voice heard.
06:01And you were at the Munich Security Conference.
06:04Marco Rubio was also there and he was describing the fact that the EU faces or Europe faces civilisation erasure.
06:10How do you interpret that?
06:13Well, I think that it has been a consequence.
06:16First of all, I was not at the Munich Conference this year, but I think that it is not true.
06:22It's not what happens in one day that suddenly Europe and this civilisation is erased.
06:30And on the contrary, I think that what is happening is a wake-up of Europe,
06:36which is discovering that together with its huge economic power, its huge civilisational power,
06:45it also needs force, strength and military power.
06:51In part, that's also thanks to the wake-up call from the United States.
06:56So I think that all of that coming together is very good news for the Europeans and for the to
07:02-be Europeans.
07:03And you mentioned the threat of Russia earlier.
07:05We know that the talks took place yesterday in Geneva for two days trying to end that war in Ukraine.
07:10Do you think they will ever come to an end?
07:13I think, of course, it will come to an end one day.
07:16What is important is how it comes to an end, because as neighbours of Russia,
07:21all the neighbours of Russia know that Russia has been a constant invader,
07:26a constant aggressor and a constant imperialist power that doesn't know where its borders stop.
07:32So what is very important out of these peace negotiations is the, of course, sovereignty of Ukraine,
07:40territorial integrity of Ukraine, and also the fact that Russia recognises elsewhere that it cannot occupy the territory of its
07:50neighbours.
07:50That's true for Abkhazia and Ossetia.
07:53That's true for North Dnepstria, Transbistria.
07:57But is Putin interested in peace, do you think, at these talks?
07:59He's never interested in peace.
08:00He has to be brought to peace by constraint.
08:06And I think that in that sense, probably, the uncertainty that Putin is probably experiencing with Trump and Trump's actions
08:15is the best ally for forcing him down to peace agreement.
08:21Maybe it's the best time that we have to see Russia having to recognise that somebody is both impredictable and
08:31stronger than he is.
08:33Meanwhile, in Georgia, what about the path towards EU membership?
08:35It's on ice now.
08:36Talks are on board.
08:37It's a very thick ice at this time, because everything that is happening within Georgia today is distancing us from
08:47the European past, from the European reforms.
08:50We have a capture of the state by Russia.
08:54We have a Russian model, in fact, being put into place at a very rapid pace, and that's costless for
09:01Russia.
09:01It's much more costless than, of course, the military intervention in Ukraine.
09:07With us, it's taking over institutions, democratic old principles.
09:14But there is a civil society, unlike in Russia or unlike in Belarus, a civil society that is fighting, that
09:23is resilient.
09:24And what more can you do here?
09:26What more can you do here?
09:27What more can you do?
09:29Be heard here.
09:30But I'm in Georgia.
09:31I'm not here.
09:32I'm going out just to have the voice of the Georgian people heard.
09:37More attention to Georgia, which is not easy at a time when there are so important and many crises around
09:44us.
09:45But it's still very important that we have the moral support, because the people that are fighting are fighting for
09:52a European democratic Georgia.
09:53And we think that it's important not only for Georgians, but it's important for the future of a strong Europe,
10:02very present in the Caucasus, and also American partners.
10:07Okay.
10:07Salome, Serge Boshfali.
10:08Thank you so much for being our guest this morning here on Europe Today.
10:12But now, moving on.
10:13Speaking on Europe Today, just yesterday, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Andrew Puzzer, said that Europe has
10:18a major problem with mass migration.
10:20This is after Marco Rubio warned that Europe faces civilisation erasure.
10:25Our Jakobianus takes a look at the data.
10:30You might be wondering, is the EU experiencing mass migration?
10:34And you see, there isn't a simple yes or no answer, because the numbers are actually falling.
10:40Last year, Frontex saw the EU border and Coast Guard agency reported over 25% drop in irregular crossings to
10:49around 180,000.
10:52And this is less than a half the total recorded in 2023.
10:56But public perception tells a completely different story.
11:00And for clarity, let's narrow it down strictly to irregular migration, so people crossing EU borders without official permission.
11:09Because the feeling of a crisis is so strong, mainstream politicians are adapting policies that used to be considered taboo.
11:16And take Denmark as an example, led by a centre-left government.
11:22They are pushing a zero-refugee policy and advocating for asylum processing outside of Europe.
11:28And as this Denmark model spreads, the European Commission and major players like Germany are now officially backing the idea
11:35of return hubs in third countries.
11:37But this new approach is tearing the EU apart.
11:41And while the European Parliament just voted to allow deportations to unrelated third countries, Spain is going the opposite way.
11:49Madrid recently announced it will grant legal status to half a million undocumented migrants.
11:55And that raised strong reservations in Brussels.
11:58Because papers in Spain might mean free travel across the Schengen zone, directly threatening the EU's strict new crackdown on
12:05irregular migration.
12:07Meanwhile, over four million Ukrainian war refugees live in the EU legally.
12:12Fleeing Russia's invasion, they did not come by choice.
12:15And, what's important, they did receive official EU protection.
12:19But when you walk down the street, perception doesn't care about visas or paperwork.
12:24And that is why this clash is no longer about policies and numbers.
12:29Or even the migrants themselves.
12:36Yeah, could be honest there.
12:37Well, moving on, Real Madrid's 1-0 victory over Benfica in the UEFA Champions League in Portugal has been overshadowed
12:44this week by fresh allegations of racist abuse.
12:47The 25-year-old Brazilian professional footballer, Vinicius Jr., was allegedly verbally abused, prompting the referee to hold up the
12:54match and trigger an anti-racism protocol.
12:57For more on the impact of this, we can now cross over to Lisbon, where Euronews' correspondent, Joao Azevedo, is
13:03standing by for us, outside the very football stadium where the incident occurred.
13:08Good morning, Joao.
13:09Just tell us what happened and what's next.
13:15Yeah, good morning, Maeve.
13:16Good morning to you and the team over there in Brussels.
13:19It did happen at the stadium right behind me, as you said.
13:24You know, Vinicius Jr., he had just scored the goal.
13:27It was a monumental goal, curled in a shot into the top corner.
13:33But that masterpiece triggered some ugly scenes over there on the pitch.
13:40You know, Vinicius Jr., he also had a somehow provocative celebration.
13:44But still, he can celebrate as he wants.
13:47And actually, that celebration, it did put off the fans in the stands.
13:55And also, some Benfica players on the pitch, especially Prestiani, who confronted Vinicius Jr.
14:03He actually pulled his shirt up over his mouth.
14:10And he did tell him something.
14:12Actually, Vinicius Jr. spotted it to the referee, reported it to the referee, saying that he had been racially abused.
14:20Madrid's French striker, Kylian Mbappé, confirming that version at the end of the match,
14:26telling reporters in the mix zone that he heard Prestiani call Vinicius Jr. a monkey five times.
14:36Prestiani denied those allegations, with Benfica, as expected, siding with their player.
14:46And I'm going to quote a part of the statement the club put out.
14:50I think we can put it up on the screen now.
14:53Benfica reiterates that he fully supports and believes in the version presented by the player Gianluca Prestiani.
15:00Prestiani, the club, now regrets the defamation campaign to which the player has been subjected.
15:08However, some football legends, including Thierry Henry, also Mika Richard, they did hit out at Prestiani's behavior.
15:21And there was also some sharp criticism coming from within Benfica's circles.
15:27Take Luizão, for example, a former captain of the club.
15:31It's someone who made over 500 appearances for the club.
15:36He didn't pull any punches, he wrote on social media.
15:40I think we can also see that statement.
15:44This is what he had to say.
15:45I love Benfica.
15:46It's my second skin.
15:48This message makes it worse.
15:50He's obviously referring to Benfica's statement, saying that that message makes it worse because it's a lie.
15:55It was a racist act, yes, and I am ashamed of that.
16:01So pretty strong words there from Luizão.
16:06Now, UEFA has appointed an ethics and disciplinary agent who will be charged with investigating the incident.
16:15Of course, a judicial battle is now going to start.
16:21You have Madrid players saying that if Prestiani was not going to say anything wrong, then why did he feel
16:29the need to cover his mouth?
16:31But then on the other hand, Benfica saying that it's not possible for any Madrid players really to say that
16:38they heard any racial slur coming from Prestiani because there was a rowdy atmosphere in the stadium with a lot
16:44of noise.
16:45And the distance between the players, that just makes it impossible for any player to hear any racial slur from
16:56the opponent.
16:57So now, as I said, a judicial battle will be happening.
17:03And we do know that, of course, if Prestiani is found guilty of racial abuse, he lands in hot water.
17:15Of course, he risks a pretty heavy sanction, potentially a 10-match ban.
17:23Andrao, just tell us, is this an isolated case and what does it say about racism in football?
17:30Yeah, it's not an isolated case, actually.
17:34And especially as for Vinicius.
17:36Vinicius Jr. is certainly not a stranger in this kind of episodes.
17:42For example, since 2022, he's filed 18 legal complaints for alleged racist abuse.
17:54So this is a player who's been involved in this kind of incident quite often.
18:01The most high-profile one may be dating back to May 2023.
18:08It happened at Mestalla Stadium in Valencia when Vinicius Jr. confronted some spectators in the stands.
18:18And ultimately, three Valencia fans were sentenced to eight months in prison.
18:25And they also got banned from stadiums for two years.
18:31They even apologized to Vinicius Jr.
18:35So that was the very first conviction for hate crimes in Spain.
18:40And obviously a big win for Vinicius Jr.
18:43You know, some Valladolid fans, five Valladolid fans also got sentenced to some time in jail
18:52following some racist abuse directed at Vinicius Jr.
18:58And this recently, as January 2026, like some weeks ago, a group of Alba City fans,
19:04fans, they were heard outside of the stadium ahead of a Copa del Rey match against Real Madrid
19:11singing racist chants towards Vinicius Jr.
19:15Now, that said, UEFA does not have a really strong track record when it comes to punishing racism.
19:23There was a 2021 Europa League match with Slavia Prague's centre-back found guilty of racially
19:36abusing Glasgow Rangers midfielder.
19:39But other than that, it's been a very light fun here and then.
19:42So we'll see how things shake out.
19:43Joao Azevedo, thank you so much for that very comprehensive live update there from Lisbon.
19:48And thank you so much for watching.
19:50That does bring this edition of Europe Today to an end.
19:53For any more news and analysis, any of the stories we're covering for you here on Euronews,
19:58do visit Euronews.com.
20:00Take care and see you very soon here on Euronews.
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