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00:14Bom dia, é Wednesday 25 de Feb. Eu sou Mave MacMahane e esse é Europe Today.
00:21É a sua dose de europeia e análise, live aqui no Euronews.
00:27Coming up, while you were sleeping, US President Donald Trump delivered his annual State of
00:33the Union speech. Heavily focused on the economy, it also touched on immigration, Iran, tariffs
00:39and NATO defence spending. It comes as a fresh CNN poll says 32% of Americans do not think
00:47Trump has his priorities right, and 68% say he has not addressed the country's most important
00:54problems. For more, we're joined here on set by our EU news editor, Maria Tadeo. Good morning.
00:59Good morning.
01:00Look, this is a real American tradition, right? The State of the Union, but Europeans are keeping
01:04a very close eye.
01:05Well, Mave, they have to. And yes, you're right. This is a very American politics event. Of course,
01:11this is really about the President of the United States setting out his vision. And of course,
01:15the timing matters too, because we're halfway through the Trump presidency, the midterms are
01:19coming up. And obviously, the President, President Trump, he has to sell his project
01:24to the American people and also hope for a sort of a reset too, because as you alluded to with
01:29polls
01:30and his approval rate, you can really see that the cost of living in the US, the idea of grocery
01:35prices, all of this is really biting into the popularity of the US president. There's perception
01:40that perhaps he spent too much time focused on external politics and the geopolitics for a
01:45president who promised to put America first. But nonetheless, yes, Europeans obviously follow and
01:51they monitor pretty much every speech because, and I think on this we can agree, this is a president
01:56who is unpredictable. So when you look at the speech yesterday, a lot of that focused on the US. He
02:02talked about migration, the idea that illegal arrivals now into the US through the southern border
02:08with Mexico have dramatically collapsed. And of course, that is factual because of this very
02:12hardline policy that he's pursued. He talked about a border in a country that is now sealed. He also
02:18talked about the economy, the stock market, which is an index that he really likes to track and monitor.
02:24The question is whether that reflects to the economy of everyday Americans. But from a European
02:28perspective, this was really a policy speech in which they did not get a lot of clues in terms of
02:34where the foreign policy of the US is going, because there was barely no mention of Ukraine. There was
02:40only a very brief but also in passing when it comes to NATO, which he said now our allies pay
02:45for that
02:45protection and they got to pay. He also said everything that we sent to Ukraine, we now do
02:50through NATO. And that is through a mechanism in which the Europeans pay. So the US is no longer
02:55paying for this. And then he mentioned Iran. And that is relevant, of course, in the context of this
03:01military ramp up that we've seen from the US in the region saying, quote, the preference is to find
03:07a diplomatic solution. But Iran has to pronounce the magic words, and that is they will never get
03:13a nuclear weapon. In any case, he said the US will not allow it. Interestingly, of course,
03:18there was a lot of concern, perhaps the Greenland may come up or could come up. And it was not
03:22the
03:23case. So overall, yes, a speech dedicated to US policy that mostly centered on US policy.
03:29But what about tariffs? Well, that's a very good question, because he did mention the tariffs,
03:33he said and vindicated the tariff policy. We know that this is a sort of doctrine that Donald Trump
03:38has pursued, certainly on an intellectual level, this idea that tariffs are needed,
03:43and the US should have implemented that for decades now. He did say the tariffs are working. And this is
03:48a policy that is going to stay. It is relevant, of course, because the US Supreme Court struck down
03:53the tariffs that were approved last year connected to Liberation Day, saying they were designed in a way
03:58that was illegal. Nonetheless, Donald Trump insisted tariffs one way or another will stay in place.
04:04Let's take a look. One of the primary reasons for our country's stunning economic turnaround
04:10were tariffs. They were ripping us so badly. You all know that. Everybody knows it. Even the
04:16Democrats know it. They just don't want to say it. Then just four days ago, an unfortunate ruling from
04:21the United States Supreme Court. It just came down. It came down. Very unfortunate ruling.
04:27So despite the disappointing ruling, these powerful country saving will remain in place under fully
04:35approved and tested alternative legal statutes. And that's, of course, Donald Trump. Maeve, the catch,
04:42however, he talks about totally saved, totally tested and totally legal tariffs. The issue, of course,
04:47is last year when he implemented the Liberation Day tariffs, the reciprocal, quote unquote, tariffs.
04:52He also said they were illegal. The Supreme Court had a very different opinion for the Europeans. However,
04:57this is critical because a deal was agreed last year, a bad deal tilted in favor of the U.S.
05:03Of course, 15 percent tariff rate. The Europeans say that in this chaos around global trade,
05:08they do not want to end up in a situation in which they pay more. They agree that a deal
05:12is a deal
05:13and that 15 percent really is the top, the ceiling. The concern, of course, is that the U.S. will
05:19now
05:19implement other tariffs. When you add up the tally, European companies could end up having to pay
05:23more. And that is something that both the commission and also the trade commissioner who
05:27had a call with the G7 too and has been in contact with the U.S. had said the EU
05:31simply cannot accept
05:32a deal. It's a deal that 15 percent was already high and bad enough. Tariffs tripled. It cannot go
05:38beyond that.
05:38As you say, tariffs causing a lot of stress here in Brussels. Maria Taddeo, your news is EU editor.
05:42Thank you so much for all those details. And to dive a little deeper, coming up,
05:46we'll be joined by the Irish politician and MEP Barry Andrews, a member of the centre-right
05:53Fianna Fáil party, the party of the Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Barry Andrews is
05:57a former government minister and a barrister by trade. Barry Andrews, welcome to Europe
06:03today. Thank you so much for joining us. Did you manage to watch the State of the Union
06:07speech? What did you think of it from a European lens?
06:09Well, it was two hours long. Apparently it was the longest in recent history. So no is the answer.
06:15I didn't see all of it, but I obviously watched extracts. I mean, I think the one that, part
06:19of it that everybody's very concerned about is Iran. And while he didn't really disengage
06:26or de-escalate, he did say that they are in negotiations. So that's positive. That's
06:31something we're all very pleased to hear about. But he rambled a lot and there was a lot of
06:35fact checkers kept very busy during the two hours about his claims about the economy and
06:41how tariffs are impacting the economy. And I think there's a lot of dispute about the actual
06:47impact of tariffs on the US economy.
06:48Well, tariffs is a very sensitive issue also for lawmakers here in Brussels. And we know
06:52the EU-US trade deal, it's on hold for now. But the European Commission is putting a lot
06:57of pressure on you, on the Parliament to pass it through. What's your view here?
07:01Well, we're not the only ones that are not proceeding with trade agreements with the US.
07:06India was supposed to be in Washington this week to finalise a trade agreement. Japan,
07:12Taiwan, there are many others that are now slow walking effectively the trade agreements
07:17that they had with the United States. So I think it's impossible for us to do this in
07:21circumstances where nobody is sure whether the new tariffs themselves are legal. They are
07:28going to be subject to legal scrutiny. I've no doubt about that. And we're not even sure
07:34whether or not there will be refunds for the former tariffs. So there's so much uncertainty.
07:39And ultimately, it's consumers and businesses that pay the cost for this uncertainty. So it's
07:44much more prudent, in my view, for us to wait until that legal certainty is provided.
07:49And just moving on to Ukraine, we saw yesterday Ursula von der Leyen showing up a little bit
07:53empty-handed because that €90 billion loan is on hold. She said there's other options,
07:58though. What other options?
08:00Look, there are multiple options available. There's intergovernmental approaches that could
08:03be an enhanced cooperation approach. There could be something around a coalition of the willing.
08:09But ultimately, the sensitivity here, of course, as everybody knows, is that there's an election
08:13in Hungary in April. And the last thing the European Commission wants to do is to walk into
08:19the trap set by Orban. Orban would love to fight this election with Europe breathing down
08:24his neck, with forcing him, strong-arming Orban to do something he really doesn't want to do.
08:28We can't get into that. So we have to find a way that excludes Hungary.
08:32I'm not exactly sure what those options are going to be. But ultimately, we have to provide this €90
08:37billion loan to Ukraine. By April, they will run out of money. So it is absolutely existential for
08:43the future of Ukraine.
08:44Another issue, of course, EU membership for Ukraine. President Zelensky pushing for a date,
08:48but Commission President saying we cannot give a date. What's your view here? Should they join
08:52by 2027? Absolutely. I think it's one of the key motivations for Ukrainians to maintain their
08:58resilience. I was there in November. We went over to Kharkiv with a demining charity,
09:03Halo Trust. And, you know, everybody that visits is just blown away by how amazing they are,
09:09how resilient they are, how tough they are. But one of the things that really motivates,
09:12I find, is that there is a road, a pathway to accession in the near term. And so long as
09:18that
09:18is still there and very much a reality for Ukrainians, I think they will be able to continue
09:23to pursue the war against Russia.
09:25Okay. Barry Andrews, thank you so much for coming into us this morning and being our guest here on
09:30Europe Today. And just yesterday, speaking in Kyiv, the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen,
09:35as I said, said it would not be possible to put a date on Ukraine's EU membership. Speaking alongside
09:41President Zelensky on the anniversary of the four years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by
09:46Russia, the Commission President also promised a solution would be found to bridge the country's
09:51financing needs. For more, we can dive a little deeper with our Ukraine correspondent, Sasha Vakilina,
09:56who joins us here on set. Good morning. So look, this idea of, you know, there's no date we can
10:02put
10:02on the table. That's what the Commission President said. But, you know, Ukraine wants to join by 2027.
10:07Now, that statement was indeed a cold shower also because, of course, that happened on the fourth
10:13anniversary when the EU leaders were there to show and prove their support for Ukraine. Now,
10:18let's take a little step back. Now, for Ukraine, the EU membership is something that Ukrainians have
10:24been seeking not now since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but since 2014, since Russia's first
10:29invasion, these were the demonstrations over the revolution of dignity. So this is something
10:33important. Now, Kiev feels like, on one hand, first of all, this is something that the European
10:37Union promised Ukraine and committed to it with the beginning of the full-scale invasion. But also,
10:42Ukraine sees this, and this is what's being negotiated here, as part of the EU security
10:47guarantees. And should there be a chance to put an end to Russia's all-out war against Ukraine
10:53this year? How can we proceed in this case for Ukrainians towards the end of the war with the
10:59EU guarantees for Ukraine, which include EU membership? Let's take a listen to what happened
11:04yesterday in Kiev.
11:06For Ukraine's accession to the EU, the year 2027, is very important for us. And I hope doable. I hope
11:17so that Putin cannot block our membership for decades.
11:21I understand very well that for you, a clear date is also important. The date you set is your
11:27benchmark that you want to match. You know that from our side, dates by themselves are not possible.
11:35Commissioner President Ursula von der Leyen and President Zelensky there. And meanwhile, of course,
11:38Sasha, the 90 billion euro loan is also on hold for Ukraine. Another awkward point in that meeting.
11:44Absolutely. So no timeline, no commitment to the timeline. And also now the loan being blocked.
11:50Also, given the fact that the loan was already agreed upon in December, and there was such an
11:54important decision. Now, Brussels said that they're going to try to find the plan B, but this is not
11:59even the plan B made. Now, at this stage, we're much further than that. And this is when the president
12:03of the commission said that the word cannot be broken, but looks like it can be blocked. Let's take a
12:08listen to what you had to say. We call it the steel porcupine loan, because it should give Ukraine
12:17the strength of a steel porcupine indigestible potential invaders. We will deliver on the loan
12:24one way or the other. Let me be very clear. We have different options and we will use them.
12:30What are those options? Now, this is indeed 90 billion euros question, because the EU seem to have
12:37discussed and to explore it all of those options in December. And that was the only one that they
12:44managed to agree upon, the one that is now blocked.
12:47Indeed, Sasha Vakilina. Thank you so much for that update, as always. And now, as we have been
12:52reporting here all week on Euronews, Ukraine, Hungary and Slovakia are in the midst of a serious
12:57spat over a key pipeline that supplies Russian crude to Central Europe. In case you hadn't heard
13:03of the Druzhba pipeline before this week, here's our Jakub Yanis with a refresher.
13:08In the 1960s, the Soviet Union built one of the longest oil pipelines in the world
13:14to supply its satellite states. It was called Druzhba, which translates to friendship. And right now,
13:21that friendship pipeline is tearing Europe apart. Let's look at it from the start, shall we?
13:28A month ago, an incident was reported on the pipeline, impacting flows of cheap Russian
13:34oil going to Hungary and Slovakia through Ukraine. Kiev blamed ongoing Russian strikes for the
13:40blaze, saying the constant pounding from the air is delaying repair works. But Budapest and
13:46Bratislava accused Ukraine of lying. And last Wednesday, they retaliated by halting their own
13:52diesel exports to Ukraine until the pipeline is restored. Two days later, Viktor Orban said it would
13:59block a crucial 90 billion euro emergency loan for Ukraine. And with Russian attacks devastating its
14:06internal power generation, Kiev relies heavily on imported electricity to survive the winter. And almost
14:13half of these imports come directly from Hungary. And Slovakia is another important supplier.
14:20Then, on Monday, Ukrainian forces struck a Kyrussian pumping station feeding that Druzhba pipeline,
14:26aiming to bleed Moscow off petrodollars. In response, Slovakia and Hungary demanded the EU investigate
14:33if Kiev lied about original damage and completely halted an urgency electricity to Ukraine, which finally
14:41brings us to today. The European Commission is holding an emergency meeting with Hungary,
14:46Slovakia and Croatia to try to find alternative oil routes. But with Croatia refusing to transport
14:53Russian oil, it seems the EU diplomatic pipeline is completely blocked.
15:02Jakob Yanis reporting there. And for more analysis, we're now joined once again here on
15:07set by our Maria Tadeo to tell us why, Maria, is this pipeline sending politics ablaze?
15:12Well, Maeve, this is now a mess. Really, this is a very messy situation. It is almost approaching what
15:18I would say is an institutional crisis when it comes to the EU, because obviously there's now a full on
15:23clash between Hungary to a lesser extent Slovakia, but also the rest of member states who want to
15:30facilitate help to Ukraine. At the same time, this is a question that goes beyond the politics. It is
15:36also very technical because, as you saw there, there is a question of a pipeline, this Druzhba pipeline,
15:41which connects, just to set the scene for our viewers, Russia with Hungary. It transports cheap
15:48Russian oil, but it goes through Ukraine. This pipeline was, and this is objective, it's a fact,
15:53it was damaged at the end of January. There was an issue, of course, and this is a matter of
15:58the crux
15:59of this story, which is, was it a Russian strike, or this is just a case in which Ukraine has
16:05neglected
16:05the reparations so that oil doesn't transit. And this is the line that the Hungarian government
16:11is pushing. And I reported extensively on this this week. On Monday, there was a meeting of
16:15foreign ministers and it got very heated. I was told by a number of sources that the Hungarian
16:20minister told his Ukrainian counterpart, who was connected in this meeting through a conference
16:26call, that he was, quote, a liar. He also snapped at Kayakalas, who is a top European diplomat,
16:31saying, you give a non-EU member state more time than you are giving me to reply. I cannot talk
16:38to him
16:38directly. And also, I will not allow at this point that Ukraine criticizes Hungary. Obviously,
16:44this is also very political because there is a very brutal, aggressive election campaign
16:48going on in Hungary. And this question now has become, for Prime Minister Viktor Orban,
16:53not just a talking point on the campaign, but really a matter of national sovereignty.
16:58At this point, however, and this is a critical question, is who damaged the pipeline and who's
17:03going to fix it? And that was a question that was put yesterday to President Zelensky in a press
17:07conference in Kyiv. And he doubled down. This is not about Ukraine. It was Russia. Let's take a look.
17:13Pipeline was destroyed by Russia. We have images. We have everything by satellites of partners. So
17:22he destroyed, I mean, Russia destroyed these pipelines several times.
17:27And that was a Ukrainian, of course, president saying this is not the first time and this pipeline
17:31has been damaged by Russia. Now, at this stage, what are the solutions? What does a possible compromise
17:38look like? Well, there's the idea that an inspection could be carried out externally. But of course,
17:43for Ukraine, that is delicate because you're talking about a war zone. A different number of
17:47pipelines have been floated, perhaps as providing another way to flow the Russian oil into Hungary.
17:53But of course, the rest of European countries say they do not want to transit Russian oil because
17:57they want to unplug from Russian energy. And of course, at this stage, the Hungarians really control
18:02whether the money gets to Ukraine and whether the sanctions package goes ahead. This is a great
18:07talking port for their campaign. I was told at this stage they have no incentive to back down.
18:12But the repercussions are severe because the EU at this point is divided. And Ukraine,
18:16as you saw yesterday, doesn't have the sanctions and they don't have the money.
18:19So what does that mean for these emergency talks taking place today, Maria?
18:22There are emergency talks happening today. This is at a technical level. Of course,
18:26there's this idea that ultimately this is going to be resolved as a political
18:29level if it can be resolved because it's become such a political issue too. You saw the Ukrainians saying
18:35we have the satellite images to prove that it was Russia. The Hungarians, I'm told they insist
18:40the damage was not caused in the strike. The pipeline is operational and there was a fire.
18:45Yes, but it affected a container, not really the pipeline. So the oil can flow at this stage.
18:50The question is whether other countries like Croatia has been floated to could step in.
18:54But obviously, that's a big question mark. And it's an if. And then, of course,
18:57there's this idea that until the oil flow resumes, right, and it's got to be Russian oil because the
19:02Hungarians insist they do not want to pay for other crude because it's a cheaper one. But again,
19:06this is a technical question at the stage. And as it stands, it's very unclear to see what the fix
19:11can be. The Hungarians have no incentive to back down. And the Ukrainians say this is not a priority
19:16at the stage because we didn't break it. OK, whatever happens. We, of course, reported here
19:20on your news, Maria Tadeo, our EU news editor. Thank you so much for keeping across that story for us.
19:25And you can read more about that story about how Hungary hijacked Brussels
19:28with their double veto leaving Ukraine in limbo on your news.com. But that does bring this edition
19:33of Europe Today to an end. Thank you so much for your company. As always, take care and see you
19:37very
19:37soon here on your own news.
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