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00:30The Hungarian Prime Minister has told EU Council President António Costa that he understands he caused, quote,
00:37political difficulties this week when he vetoed a €90 billion loan for Ukraine.
00:42He says he's open to, quote, finding practical solutions.
00:46Hungary wants the EU to send a fact-finding mission to the Druskva pipeline at the centre of a political
00:51storm.
00:52For more on this moving story, I'm joined here in the studio by our EU news editor, Maria Tadeo.
00:57So tell us about this letter.
00:58Good morning, yes.
01:00It's a letter that adds some nuance now to the spat, of course, which is now escalating in European politics.
01:07Yesterday, in public, Prime Minister Orban, in the context, of course, of an election,
01:11it's important to remember the Hungarians were head to the polls in April.
01:15Once again attacked President Zelensky, saying that he is flat-out lying, that the pipeline is not broken,
01:20that as a result of the halt in transit, that means that energy prices could go up and the Hungarian
01:26people will be punished for it.
01:29Of course, he also said that he is going to reinforce security around strategic assets.
01:33We should note that Ukraine has not attacked Hungary directly or indirectly, even during the war.
01:39But of course, all of this is being played up in the context of this election.
01:42Having said that, behind the scenes, Orban did send a letter to Antonio Costa, which we have here,
01:48in which he acknowledges, as you said, that this Hungarian double veto has created political difficulties for the EU.
01:56Remember, there is a sanctions package against Russia at play, but also a loan to which Hungary will not participate
02:04and has no financial obligation to that is being blocked by Budapest too.
02:09So in this letter, he says Hungary is ready to constructively engage in all efforts to return the transfer of
02:16oil to Budapest.
02:18He also says that Hungary supports the idea of a fact-finding mission.
02:22This is not surprising because, of course, Euronews this week, we reported that this was an idea floated already on
02:28the Monday,
02:29that inspectors could go on site just to check out and figure out what's going on with this pipeline.
02:36The Hungarians suggest that experts that are delegated, so vetoed in some way by Slovakia and Hungary,
02:43could go and see exactly what is the status of the Durspa pipeline.
02:47It seems like a possible solution, but I should note that the Ukrainians were not very keen at the start
02:54of this week.
02:55They said they needed to ask for permission.
02:57Certainly, the Ukrainian foreign minister told that in a meeting on Monday.
03:01And, of course, this is an active war zone.
03:03It's not clear that Ukraine would allow this immediately,
03:06considering, obviously, the complexities and the complications on the ground.
03:10So, OK, but then what, Maria?
03:12Well, that's a very good question.
03:13Well, there's two focus points at this point.
03:15One is to look at the alternatives, and Croatia is emerging as a big player.
03:20Obviously, it's a big business opportunity for the country, the transport of oil.
03:25The Croatian operator, Jana, have said this week that it has capacity to supply both Hungary and Slovakia.
03:31They also say that seven tankers will get to Hungary by the end of April.
03:36But there is a catch.
03:37All of this is non-Russian oil.
03:40And for the Hungarians, that's a problem because they won't pay the price.
03:43They pay for Russian oil, which is cheaper to some of the alternatives in the market.
03:48At this point, the Croatians, they say they need to figure out whether or not they can carry even Russian
03:53oil
03:54because there are sanctions in place from both the EU and the U.S.
03:57The other point, perhaps, is money.
03:59The Hungarians have applied for a loan for defense to the EU.
04:03Most of the funding is frozen, of course, because of the issues over rule of law.
04:06So perhaps if they get an indication that money could flow, they could step back from this maximalist position.
04:12Okay, Maria, you mentioned as well Croatia.
04:14You have an exclusive interview with the Prime Minister Plankovic right here on your play on Monday.
04:18So stay tuned for that, Maria.
04:19Thank you so much for those details.
04:21Well, this Hungarian veto and, of course, the ongoing war in Ukraine is making EU leaders nervous this week,
04:26especially given the full-scale war has now entered its fifth year.
04:30For the view from Estonia, a country that borders Russia, I sat down with Prime Minister Christian Mihail,
04:35a fluent Russian speaker, I started by asking him why Vladimir Putin was agreeing to peace talks
04:40while bombing civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
04:43It's like riding a bike, being a dictator, that when you stop, you will fall away.
04:48That is the same with Vladimir Putin.
04:51For example, everybody in Europe, and I always remind my colleagues that right now,
04:56Putin has more men under the arms than at the start of the war.
04:59So, if we would stop right now, and he would stop right now killing women and children in Ukraine,
05:06then what to do with those guys?
05:08They need medical assistance, but they have to glorify this hero in Russia.
05:11And they will come all over the Europe and so on.
05:14So we will have everybody problems in Russia and also domestic security problems.
05:18And the Americans, of course, are leading these peace talks.
05:21Do you think they're mindful of the fact that Ukraine cannot budge on their red lines?
05:26It used to be like a 28 points plan to the Thanksgiving.
05:30Right now, it's something all different already.
05:33Europe stepping up, having 90 billions, funding Ukraine, changed the game.
05:39But we don't have 90 billions. It's frozen.
05:41We will have.
05:42Because meeting Ursula von der Leyen and Antonia Kosta,
05:46they have different plans how to deliver the money.
05:48And just in Kiev, they also said that they have plans.
05:52What are these plans?
05:53They will tell.
05:53Are they going to work?
05:55I hope so.
05:56Because to be honest, if Europe cannot make this kind of big decisions,
06:00which affect our security,
06:03then probably there will be many discussions about how Europe will decide things altogether.
06:08Will there be some kind of enhanced cooperation, how it will go?
06:11But are we on plan C now?
06:12Because, of course, we spent months talking as well about the frozen Russian assets.
06:15They're off the table now.
06:16The Belgians have said so.
06:17So and so, because they are not off the table.
06:20Well, they are still frozen, which is a good thing, because I can remember back to each six months we
06:27had to roll over the sanctions,
06:29say, keep them frozen.
06:30But right now they are frozen permanently, which is a good thing.
06:33But we need to deliver this 90 billion.
06:36And we decided, and to be honest, we decided everybody was in this room.
06:41Orbán was in this room.
06:42Fico was in this room.
06:43Babish was in this room.
06:46They decided to opt out, but we still decided.
06:49So do you feel they're tracers, Hungary's tracers, for doing this?
06:51For a long time, I don't understand Viktor Orbán's position,
06:54but he exactly knows that nobody understands his position to have this kind of idea
06:59that we should ask for European security from a dictator from Russia.
07:04And are you being tough enough on him in these meetings?
07:07Everybody's been tough enough on him in this meeting and outside these meetings.
07:11But going forward, how do you deal with these vetoes in the future?
07:14We'll see how it goes, because I have the feeling there's probably a couple of lines
07:18everybody's right now waiting in Europe.
07:20The first one is how Hungarian elections will go.
07:24Everybody knows that that can be a game changer.
07:27And the second thing is that there's also different kind of talks
07:32of how to change the designing mechanisms.
07:35Because, for example, on the economic side, Mario Draghi and his report said
07:39that we need more central designing, more federalization.
07:42But on the security side, maybe some kind of enhanced cooperation to pull in Norway,
07:47UK, Canada, Iceland, these kind of countries, which we need.
07:51One final question on the transatlantic bond, which is, of course, very important
07:55for both Brussels and DC, but it's going through a bit of a rift.
07:58How bad is it?
07:59Tough to say, because on the one side, which Trump had the message that Europe should
08:08invest more in security, because Europe is very free and wealthy neighborhood.
08:14And that's to my liking, to be honest, not the wording, but also the message that we
08:18should be able to keep ourselves the way we like it.
08:21Estonia is behaving accordingly, because we have this year, we have our defense expenditure
08:26of 5.4% of GDP.
08:28This is a very tough thing to achieve.
08:31This is not easy.
08:32But at the same time, I know that my grandchildren will live in peace, because our neighbor knows
08:38that we take ourselves also seriously.
08:39So if whole Europe would behave this way, I would say that we are better off in 5, 7,
08:45and 10 years, but at the same time, the rhetorics that Europe is decaying gold and so and so,
08:53and not free, this is not serious, because if you look at different indexes, we are among
08:58the freest nations in the world.
09:03Estonian Prime Minister Christian Mihal there.
09:05And the ongoing war in Ukraine and the spat over the Drozba pipeline is also under discussion
09:10over at NATO this week.
09:11Secretary General Mark Lutte has welcomed a number of leaders, including the Lithuania
09:15and the Lithuanian Prime Minister Inge Rúganina.
09:17Our correspondent Shona Moore, Murray, reports from NATO.
09:20Well, Maeve, just as the dust has been relatively settling here at NATO in relation to Donald
09:25Trump's claims last month that he was going to take over Greenland, a new fissure has emerged.
09:31As we've seen, Viktor Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister, saying he's going to block
09:35a 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine, a considerable amount of which was going to be spent on military
09:40support.
09:41And I caught up with Lithuania's Prime Minister.
09:43Lithuania, of course, a frontline stage in all of this war.
09:46Inge Rúganina.
09:47And I asked her about this situation.
09:49When you live, you know, in the border of the European Union, when you face off every
09:55day with the threats, different kind of threats from balloons and other things, when you're
10:02fighting for the security, not just for Lithuania, but for whole Europe, to hear such words and
10:10decisions, it's nonsense.
10:12So we are worrying about it.
10:16And I am speaking about that in different levels in the European Union, that it is unacceptable.
10:24And the European Union can be strong if we can have a strong one voice.
10:30So we have to be we have to have ability to have common decision in very strategic questions.
10:39When you say it's nonsense, are you saying the whole point that Orban is making that Ukraine is blocking
10:46Hungary's access to the Drozhba pipeline?
10:49We know that Russia bombs the pipeline.
10:51Are you saying it's nonsense, his claims that Ukraine isn't fixing it, isn't bothered to
10:56fix it?
10:58It's almost yes.
10:59And, you know, for me, I don't understand that the person thinks that if the war will start
11:05in NATO area in European Union, he thinks that it will not come to Hungary.
11:14I think it is, again, it is it is quite silly, silly thinking.
11:23So you think basically, you know, Hungary is being naive here if he if the Hungarian government
11:28believes that this war can't go to Hungary because it can?
11:31If Russia will put a step into European Union, they will go further.
11:39And we as Lithuania, we have a big experience about Soviet Union times.
11:46We know how it's how you feel when Russia comes to your land.
11:51We know how the life's life is going on.
11:55That's why for us, it's very sensitive questions.
11:58That's why we as Lithuania invest a lot of into defense.
12:02So this year we have 5.38% of GDP investments into defense.
12:09It is a huge amount.
12:11It is almost 25% of whole our budget because we understand that we don't want to come back
12:18to that times, to that experience which we had in the past.
12:22Given the context of, let's say, slow Europe and non unified Europe blockages by Hungary and
12:29the United States no longer supporting Ukraine militarily.
12:33Does Europe have the capabilities to defend itself for a few years until it rebuilds that?
12:40I think we have to work for the situation that we have a very strong NATO alliance and we have
12:52to do everything to build a very strong relationship between America and European Union.
13:01This is our top priority.
13:04Of course, we can speak about the worst plan, what it should be, but the first top priority
13:15should be strength relationship between transatlantic relationship.
13:21But by the same time, we have to work within the European Union and strong unity.
13:32One voice is crucial today.
13:35So it should be working in both ways.
13:42Shona Murray reporting for us there.
13:45Moving on, in other news, the European Commission has endorsed a citizens initiative that aspires
13:49to guarantee access to safe abortion for every woman in Europe.
13:53Brussels says EU members may use EU funds voluntarily to finance safe abortions,
13:58but fell short of ensuring access across the EU.
14:01The campaign did manage, though, to clinch over one million endorsements
14:04and the nod from the European Parliament.
14:07Jakob Janis fills us in.
14:09Over a million signatures are quite a number.
14:12And the My Voice, My Choice campaign recently collected them
14:16to ask the European Commission for EU money for accessing safe abortions in other member states.
14:22And responding to this European Citizens Initiative yesterday,
14:26the European Commission noted that health policy is a national matter
14:30and there will be no extra money allocated.
14:33However, and that's new,
14:34the member states can voluntarily use existing EU money to cover the costs.
14:39But wait a second.
14:40What is this European Initiative about?
14:43Let's take a look.
14:44This democratic tool allows everyday citizens to formally ask the EU to propose new laws,
14:51no matter where they stand politically.
14:54However, to succeed, an initiative needs at least one million valid signatures
14:59from a minimum of seven member states.
15:02And for the My Voice, My Choice campaign,
15:05organizers got over a million verified signatures from 19 different countries.
15:09And among them were Hungary, Malta and Poland,
15:12so countries with highly restrictive abortion policies.
15:16Then, the European Parliament must discuss the proposal.
15:19And following that debate, the European Commission is illegally bound to respond.
15:24And it has then two choices.
15:26Either propose a new law,
15:28or publicly explain why it will not do it.
15:31So, is that initiative actually useful?
15:34The answer is yes, but it's not a magic wand.
15:38Campaigns like Right to Water have genuinely resulted in revised EU laws,
15:43improving drinking water standards.
15:46Yet, only 14 campaigns, or about one in 10,
15:50have ever guarded the required signatures.
15:53And even then, success isn't guaranteed,
15:57as the Commission always retains the right to refuse new legislation.
16:01So, my dear viewers,
16:03if you are passionate about an issue,
16:05start collecting your million signatures.
16:08And maybe set up your own lobbying group, just in case.
16:16And for more on this story that has gained huge traction on and offline,
16:20we're joined now here in the studio by Austria's Minister for Women,
16:23Science and Research, Eva-Maria Hulstleidner.
16:26Good morning.
16:26Welcome to Europe Today.
16:28Quite an achievement there.
16:30One million signatures.
16:32What's the view from Austria here?
16:331.2 citizens signed the initiative,
16:36and it's a very important one,
16:37my voice, my choice,
16:38because, in my point of view,
16:41women's rights are a unique selling point of the European Union.
16:45It's one of our huge differences to other global parts of the world.
16:52And so, to strengthen women's rights is very important for us,
16:57for our democracy within the European Union.
16:59And this campaign argued that 20 million women
17:01currently do not have access to funding for a safe abortion.
17:05Do you think a more harmonized look at this in the 27 EU states
17:08could be a good idea?
17:10We know that health issues are always very important for European citizens
17:15when we look at surveys, for example.
17:17So, it is a first step, the answer of the Commission.
17:22But in the future, maybe we can take a lot more steps
17:26towards saving and supporting women's rights in the European Union.
17:31And yes, the access to abortion is one of the most fundamental women's rights.
17:38And in Austria, you've declared war on violence against women and girls.
17:41How are you implementing your plan in a world run by men?
17:44We have a national action plan against violence against women and girls.
17:50And every ministry in Austria supports this national action plan.
17:54And we worked together.
17:55So, also the Ministry for Interior, for example, the Ministry for Education.
18:00Also, the male colleagues support this national action plan.
18:04And I think this is very important because we also need men's support for women's rights.
18:11And, of course, Women's Day coming up very soon.
18:12And just a final point on attracting scientists to the European Union and to Austria,
18:16this Choose Europe slogan.
18:18Is it working?
18:19Because, of course, a lot of scientists are leaving Trump's America currently.
18:22On the one hand, it's a very sad issue that researchers have to leave their research institutions, for example.
18:30But on the other hand, as Europe, we need to be attractive.
18:34We need to still be a safe haven for science and research.
18:38And so Austria supported the Choose Europe for Science initiative.
18:42We started at a very early stage, a joint attractivity effort.
18:46And already 50 researchers came or are actually at the moment coming to Austria.
18:52Because we know that free science and research is a fundamental base of our democracy.
19:01And when researchers are threatened, democracy erodes.
19:05So it's very important to support also free science and research.
19:10And, of course, then to get from the lab to the market.
19:14Minister, thank you so much for being our guest this morning here on Europe Today.
19:17Thank you.
19:18And thank you so much for watching.
19:20That does bring this edition of Europe Today to an end.
19:23Thank you so much for tuning in.
19:24We'll be back on Monday morning with an exclusive interview with the Croatian Prime Minister Plankovic.
19:28So do tune in for that.
19:30For now, though, take care and see you very soon on Euro News.
19:33Thank you so much for joining us.
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