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Is the EU being dragged into war? MEPs debate Middle East crisis on The Ring
In this episode of The Ring, MEPs Hana Jalloul and Reinhold Lopatka go head to head to debate the escalating conflict in the Middle East, and its implications for the European Union.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/03/04/is-the-eu-being-dragged-into-war-meps-debate-middle-east-crisis-on-the-ring
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In this episode of The Ring, MEPs Hana Jalloul and Reinhold Lopatka go head to head to debate the escalating conflict in the Middle East, and its implications for the European Union.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/03/04/is-the-eu-being-dragged-into-war-meps-debate-middle-east-crisis-on-the-ring
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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00:08Hello and welcome to The Ring, Euronews' debating show broadcast from the European Parliament here in Brussels.
00:17Once a week, two elected members of the European Parliament go head-to-head to debate the most pressing issues
00:24facing the European Union.
00:26Today, we hone in on the escalating conflict that's gripping the Middle East.
00:32As EU nations risk getting dragged in, where does this leave Europe's economy and security?
00:39Luis Albertos and Amaya Echevarria report.
00:44The US and Israel's attacks on Iran and the ensuing Iranian retaliation marks one of the most serious escalations in
00:51the Middle East in years.
00:54Tehran's targeting of Western military bases in the region and the involvement of Iran-backed militias in Yemen and Lebanon
01:01have heightened fears of a spiraling conflict.
01:04For Europe, the crisis is not a faraway problem.
01:07It touches directly on the bloc's energy security, migration flows, inflationary pressures and the safety of European nationals in the
01:14region.
01:17Yet, the EU is struggling to exert any diplomatic leverage on the conflict, which has exposed the fault lines dividing
01:24its leaders.
01:25Spain has openly condemned the US-Israeli intervention and questioned its legality.
01:31Yet, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, after initially distancing themselves, have fallen in line with the US and expressed
01:37readiness to defend their allies' interests.
01:40Can the EU act as a credible diplomatic intermediary, providing space for de-escalation?
01:46Or will it remain politically aligned with Washington, while operationally sidelined and economically exposed to shocks it cannot control?
01:53Once again, Europe's long-standing preference for rules, trade and negotiation is being tested by hard-power realities.
02:03Just some of the pressing questions we have for our contenders today. Let's meet them.
02:11Hanna Yalul, a Spanish MEP from the Socialists and Democrats Group.
02:15A political scientist and former Secretary of State for Migration in Spain, she is the Vice Chair of the Committee
02:21on Foreign Affairs at the European Parliament.
02:23In the context of the war in Iran, she said,
02:26Unilateral military actions should be avoided and rejected.
02:30Diplomacy and respect for international law should be the path to follow.
02:34Wars in security and uncertainty only make the world a worse place.
02:38The EU cannot have double standards. De-escalation is a must.
02:43Reinhold Lopatka, an Austrian MEP from the Central-Right European People's Party.
02:47A long-standing foreign policy specialist, he focuses on security and defense and is the Chair of the Delegation for
02:54Relations with the Arab Peninsula in the European Parliament.
02:57The totalitarian regime in Tehran poses a grave threat to the Gulf region, to the Middle East, to Israel and
03:03to Europe as a whole.
03:04At a moment when the Middle East can least withstand further turmoil, Iran strikes on several Gulf countries, risk widening
03:11divisions and undermining hard-won efforts towards stability, he said.
03:17Hanna Yaloul, Reinhold Lopatka, welcome to The Ring.
03:22So the idea here is to give our viewers at home a glimpse into the debates that happen here in
03:27the European Parliament.
03:28So I'm hoping that you'll feel right at home here in The Ring.
03:32So my first question is to you, MEP Yaloul.
03:36Were the initial attacks by the US and Israel on Iran over the weekend, in your view, justified?
03:43I mean, as you know, and as my Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, have stated, we think that any unilateral military
03:50intervention that has not passed through the Security Council of the United Nations is not in compliance with international law.
03:57So we condemn any unilateral attack.
04:01This is not to say that we are supporting the Iranian regime in any case, you know, because we have
04:06been against the Iranian regime criticizing the killing of Masha Amini and, you know, the protesters, you know, in the
04:12streets that were fighting for human rights and their liberties.
04:15And we have always condemned the relation of the Iranian regime with the militias such as Hezbollah or the Houthis
04:23or Hamas.
04:24So very critical with them always.
04:27And we fought to include the Revolutionary Guard in the EU terrorist list.
04:31So a condemnation of the Iranian regime, but also of the US-Israeli intervention.
04:37Mr. Lopatka, do you think that this military intervention from the US and Israel was justified?
04:42I can't agree. Why? Because if we would wait until the Security Council of the United Nations is acting, we
04:51would never have a result.
04:53You know, it is blocked by Russia and China. They always support Iran. Whatever is ongoing there.
05:00So don't forget, this regime in Iran, the Mullah regime, is a terrorist regime.
05:06What did they do? They killed thousands of their own people.
05:11There was state oppression to the Kurds. There are 8 million Kurds.
05:16Have in mind how they killed Masha Amini some years ago.
05:21They are founding terrorist groups in the region. Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis.
05:29And they are a big danger also for Europe. We should not forget it.
05:33It was a diplomat. He was in Vienna, in our embassy.
05:37Then he was sentenced here in Belgium for 20 years because he was supporting terrorism here on European soil.
05:45So what I want to say is we can speak about international law.
05:51And here you can say maybe it was illegal. But I think the United States and Israel were legitimized to
06:01start with these strikes.
06:03So let me put that argument to you, MEP.
06:05He's saying, well, maybe the legality is questionable.
06:08But isn't Europe letting the U.S. and Israel do its dirty work in the Middle East by going after
06:15the proxies,
06:15going after the nuclear and missile programs of Tehran, for example? Do you agree with that?
06:19Well, what I do think is that we have diplomacy for something.
06:23First of all, we cannot use double standards.
06:25We cannot criticize other aggressions, you know, for other countries and then say that this is something we can.
06:31But this is about international law, the system that we gave to ourselves after 45.
06:36So either we believe in international law or we don't believe in that.
06:39And we have means like diplomacy.
06:40Let's remember that one day before the conflict, even the Iranians sitting in a table of negotiations with the Omanis
06:49said that it will work not to enrich themselves.
06:52We know that and we have investigating and we send inspectors in order to see that it were enriching.
06:57And even if the director of the nuclear agency said a few days ago that they were not sure that
07:04they were building nuclear weapons,
07:06but they had more than 60 percent of the allowed enrichment of uranium.
07:10So we have been very critical of that.
07:12We were under control.
07:13But don't forget that we have also a deal in 2015 between Iran and six other countries where the U
07:17.S. were within that country, even Russia and China.
07:20And then the U.S. unilaterally deployed afterwards, which had as a consequence Iran enriching much more and restricting more
07:29of the inspections.
07:30So either we have a consensus against Iran on diplomacy, fighting the enrichment on uranium and targeting any other kind
07:40of activities they can have.
07:41Or, I mean, it cannot be unilateral.
07:44We need to go all together and based on international based rule system.
07:47You bring up this question of double standards because the EU does pride itself on upholding the rules-based order,
07:53international law.
07:54You said yourself that you question the legality of this.
07:57Yet the EU always is talking about international law in places like Ukraine.
08:01Isn't this double standards from the EU?
08:02No, not at all.
08:04Why?
08:04There's a big difference between the invasion in Ukraine of Russia to take the country, not respecting the sovereignty, not
08:13at all.
08:14And the situation here.
08:16The UN charter, and I'm absolutely sure that the purpose of it is to protect human life and not to
08:23shield terrorist regimes like in Iran.
08:26The Security Council is not working.
08:29So we are in a very difficult situation because I think the bigger threat is when the Security Council is
08:38misused by regimes like Iran, by dictators like Putin.
08:46And on the other side, we have to do everything to protect the interests of our people and fighting terrorism.
08:57And Iran is the biggest sponsor of terrorism.
09:01Giving Israel the chance to survive as a nation.
09:05I think this is our duty.
09:07And it's absolutely in the interest of Europe.
09:10So there's a big difference and no double standards.
09:13It's not at all.
09:13Your reaction?
09:14But, Mr. Lopatka, we are not talking about the right of existence of Israel.
09:18We all do believe in the right of existence of the State of Israel.
09:21We have supported that.
09:22And we support Israelis.
09:23We don't support this government, certainly, of extreme right, but we do support Israel.
09:27This is not about this.
09:28Let's not going to mix things.
09:29And then you talk about the UN charter to defend human rights, but then you are against the Security Council
09:35because it is inefficient.
09:36So there is a contradiction there.
09:38This is one.
09:39And second, what we are talking about here is that we need at least to talk between us, to have
09:44some resolution in our Council and, you know, with our member states.
09:49You saw yesterday night that even France was saying that against this invasion, Starmer, Prime Minister Starmer, is not even
09:57supporting that.
09:58So there is a huge division, even if Starmer is not part of the European Union, but Europeans as a
10:03whole.
10:03So we need to have at least some base, you know, of unity between our member states and us, as
10:10a European Union, in order to conduct this.
10:12And it's not to say that we will support certain things.
10:15For example, the French also deployed some, you know, some defense system now in Cyprus.
10:20So when it comes to certain things, we are going to be united, but we need to have a talk
10:24between us.
10:25This is not about unity, and please, let's not mix this with the issue of Israel being a state, because
10:31we do believe in Israel.
10:33We don't mix this.
10:34But sorry, in the ideology of Iran, Israel is in the center.
10:38And Ahmadinejad, when he was a president in Iran, and his slogan, from the river to the sea, it is
10:47in the constitution of Iran to destroy the state of Israel.
10:51Don't forget it.
10:53Don't forget it.
10:54And you have to understand here, Israel and, of course, the United States are very close with Israel.
11:02And now, what did they do?
11:03Yes, on the one hand, we had the negotiations.
11:06When I was state secretary in Austria, in the foreign ministry, I traveled to Iran to start these negotiations.
11:12And then we had the negotiations in Vienna, but they used it, on the one hand, having the negotiations, on
11:20the other hand, to enrich uranium.
11:23And they were very close to the atomic bomb.
11:26They were very close.
11:27And then, when they are on this stage, it's too late.
11:30Okay, I'll have to stop you there.
11:32This brings this round to an end.
11:34There's plenty more time for debate.
11:36Do not worry.
11:37So, let's move on.
11:42It's now time for our contenders to challenge each other by firing their own questions.
11:48So, let's get started.
11:50I'll start with you, MEP Lopatka.
11:52Your first question for MEP Yalul.
11:53As we mentioned already, the government of Spain has been one of the very few in Europe to condemn the
12:02United States and Israel's military action.
12:06And you didn't allow U.S. bases in Rota and in Moron for operations against Iran.
12:15Do you think that it was okay how Spain acted?
12:20Was it solidarity or was it the opposite?
12:25Thank you for your question, Mr. Lopatka.
12:27Well, I will say that there is, from date, a U.S. defense cooperation agreement between Spain and the U
12:33.S.
12:34And the use of the bases are something that is a prerogative of the government of Spain.
12:40So, they have the right to let this be in use.
12:43If it is in compliance with international law, we do think it is not in compliance with international law.
12:48The message of the president was very clear today in the morning.
12:51He said, no to the war.
12:52We don't know what is the outcome of this war yet.
12:55But we do really certainly know that what the wars bring is much more immigration, terrorism, uncertainty.
13:05You know, the rise of prices there.
13:06And this affects European citizens too.
13:08And this affects European security too.
13:10So, this is why we are really worried about that.
13:12And another thing you said before.
13:14We have defended the Gulf countries, of course.
13:16We have listed statements, even my prime minister and the, you know, the European Union.
13:20Because we do believe that Iran should not have attacked any Gulf countries.
13:25We are supporting of all of them.
13:27This solidarity.
13:27This is solidarity.
13:28Because they have been attacked and they have also the right to defend themselves.
13:32And then when you were saying about the European Union and supporting the prime minister, we are very grateful because
13:39the commission said, stated yesterday, very clear, they will support the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, in trade issues because of
13:46that act of president Trump.
13:47Because, of course, we know last night that president Trump said he would halt all trade with Spain because of
13:52its position.
13:52Now, I want to give you the opportunity to ask your first questions, please, to Mr. Lopatska.
13:57Yeah, it's, you know, that the Secretary General, also, Guterres, has explicitly stated that U.S.-Israeli strike on Iran launched
14:05February 28th, violate UN charter, the one you were mentioned also before.
14:10And there was no security case authorization.
14:13How do you justify military actions to Iran?
14:19First of all, I have to say the Secretary General is correct on the letter of the law.
14:25But we have to see a broader picture.
14:28You know, we cannot end with a legal paragraph.
14:32And it was a commission, an independent commission, initiated by the Swedish prime minister, a social democrat, in the year
14:412000, after the United States have bombed Serbia.
14:46And this commission, Kofi Annan was the Secretary General of the United Nations, they said at that time, yes, it
14:54was illegal, but legitimate.
14:57And I see it now in Iran.
15:01Yes, you can say it is illegal, but it was legitimated.
15:06And you gave the answer.
15:08What did Iran?
15:09They bombed the Gulf countries, all the Gulf countries.
15:13They are a big threat.
15:14They sent thrones to Cyprus.
15:17So we have not to forget how big the danger was coming from Iran.
15:25And they proved it.
15:26And they proved it today again because they bombed today again Qatar, the United Arab Emirates.
15:33And even they bombed Saudi Arabia.
15:35Let me stop you there.
15:36This brings this round to an end.
15:38We've heard the views from our two MEPs.
15:40I will still be quizzing you on this issue.
15:43But it's time to bring another voice into the debate.
15:50And I'd like to bring in a voice from across the Atlantic.
15:54General David Petros, the former CIA chief and U.S. Army general, spoke to Euronews earlier this week.
16:01And he said it would have been good for Europeans to join for defense purposes.
16:08Iran is not going to limit its targets to just U.S. bases and Israel.
16:14My understanding is that the possibility of European nations taking part in a more offensive capacity has been discussed.
16:23The fact that it is being discussed indicates that it is certainly a possibility.
16:29What's your reaction to that?
16:30I have certain doubts on it because, as I just said, France deploy some of their capacities and even the
16:37UK because of the bombing of near airbase strikes in Cyprus by the Iranians.
16:43So, yes, they are deploying some teams and equipment and everything.
16:47But that's not implied that they are fully involved in that.
16:51As far as I know, because of the, you know, statements of Prime Minister Starmer yesterday, Starmer, and then also
16:59Macron and certainly Prime Minister Repa de Sanchez.
17:02If I may ask you, if the assets and allies of the West in the Gulf, for example, are being
17:08now targeted relentlessly by Iran,
17:11doesn't that mean that Europe has now a responsibility to step in and help its allies in the U.S.?
17:17That depends if we are asked for.
17:19We have not been asked for, as far as I know, by the GCC countries.
17:22They have big capacities.
17:24They have big teams.
17:25We are super in solidarity, supporting the right to defense themselves against Iran,
17:29as well as we criticize also Iran attacks also to Israel that killed also nine people the other day in
17:38Israel.
17:38You know, and also criticizing the fact that more than 52 kids were killed also in Iran.
17:46But we have not been asked by now, as far as I know, by any GCC countries.
17:50Do you think it's a danger now that Europe is going to be dragged in in a more offensive way
17:54in this conflict?
17:55How I see it, Europe should be active.
17:59Sorry, we should not only look at what Israel and the United States are doing.
18:02Also, it is in our interest, for example, to support the United States to open this trade of Hormuz again.
18:11And here we were active in the Red Sea.
18:16By the way, also a proxy supported by Iran, the Houthis.
18:19We haven't discussed, if I may, because I do want to bring this aspect in, is the regime in Iran.
18:24It's unclear whether Trump is pursuing regime change.
18:28The EU has made statements in recent days, von der Leyen, for example, supporting the idea of regime change.
18:33Should the EU be intervening here and calling for the toppling of the regime?
18:37You know, our strength in Europe is not in military operations.
18:42But we are very strong in institution building, in supporting civil society,
18:47in building up institutions for a free and democratic Iran.
18:52And here, of course, we should be very active to support the people and also to support the Kurds.
18:59And rumors that Reza Pallavi, the son of the last Shah, could be invited to the European Parliament, perhaps, in
19:04the next weeks.
19:05What do you make of that?
19:06I will refuse completely his intervention in this parliament.
19:10Everybody has the right to talk.
19:11But, of course, I think we cannot be supporting this person.
19:14Even Trump was saying yesterday, by the way, he will not be supportive of him.
19:19We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past.
19:21Who is this man?
19:22It's not representing the majority of Iranians.
19:24Sorry, it's a decision of the Iranian people.
19:26This is why we are going to do elections.
19:29We should not judge.
19:29We should not judge them.
19:31It's their decision.
19:32And we should invite not only one person.
19:35We should invite a group of activists.
19:38And if he is one in this group, I don't have a problem.
19:44Focus not only in him, but in other people.
19:46We're all warmed up here.
19:47It's time, I think, to take a short break here on the ring.
19:50But do stay with us.
19:52We will be back very soon.
20:02Welcome back to The Ring, Euronews' new weekly debate show,
20:07where I'm joined this week by MEPs Hanna Yaloul and Reinold Lopatka
20:12to discuss the escalating war in the Middle East
20:14and its implications for the European Union.
20:17The conflict has now caused the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz,
20:22where 20% of the world's oil supplies and seaborne gas tankers pass each year.
20:27We took a look at fresh data showing the impact of this on the price of natural gas in the
20:33EU.
20:33And as you can see there, there has been a dramatic spike since the conflict broke out on Saturday,
20:40with EU gas prices almost doubling to more than 60 euro per megawatt hour,
20:46the highest in more than three years.
20:49So, okay, it's clear that we have an energy shock here in Europe.
20:54Is it true to say, MEP Yaloul, that Europe is always the one suffering the economic brunt of these conflicts
21:01in the Middle East
21:02and it's going to affect European citizens and their pockets?
21:04Yes, of course. Not only European citizens, but the rest of the world, you know,
21:08because as you just said, 20%, you know, of gas is passing through Hormuz.
21:13So I think this is affecting our pockets, our economies.
21:17Prime Minister Sánchez was stating today in the morning
21:19that our country is prepared in order to confirm that reality,
21:23but certainly that kind of words always bring in uncertainty.
21:26We saw it with Ukraine. We're seeing it again.
21:29The vulnerabilities of the EU energy infrastructure system.
21:36How worried are you about the impact of this on citizens,
21:40but also on industries as the EU tries to make itself more competitive?
21:43Yeah. I don't want to minimize it.
21:46Yes, there is an economic fallout, but it's for the moment.
21:52And yesterday already President Trump promised to send navels there
22:00that they can reopen this Strait of Hormuz.
22:03But Trump said that, but he didn't say anything about European tankers.
22:06It was about US tankers.
22:07Yes, but it affects us.
22:10And not only Europe is affected.
22:12Asia is more affected. Asia is more affected.
22:15You see it at the stock markets.
22:17So what I want to say is, yes, for the moment, it is a bad situation.
22:23But on the long run, for me, the situation would be worse
22:27if Iran had got the chance to develop an atomic bomb.
22:34You have to see it.
22:36For the moment, yes, it is a bad situation.
22:39But on the long run, I think we must be willing to pay this price for the moment.
22:47We heard earlier, though, that the, you know, the argument here that the International Atomic Energy Agency
22:52even saying, well, there was no real evidence that this bomb was imminent.
22:56Is that something that you would give back to Mr. Lombardo?
22:58Well, I just want to say that this is not my statement, but the director of the Atomic Energy Agency,
23:04he was saying there was no any indication about the beating of any nuclear weapon.
23:10But still, they were reaching more than 60%, which was more than civil use purpose that was said by Iranian
23:16government.
23:17So we need to criticize this.
23:18And they have restricted also inspection.
23:20I might say, though, let's see what's happened if there's a resolution by the U.S. Congress.
23:25It's being thought in order to stop the strikes.
23:27So many Americans also are against this war, especially Democrats.
23:30Let's see what's happening in the Congress with that.
23:32Okay, well, now it's time to move on to our fifth and final round.
23:38Are you ready?
23:42Now it's time for something a little bit different.
23:45I will ask you a set of very short questions and I require very short answer yes or no.
23:54So let's get started.
23:55I will start here with you, Mr. Lovatka.
23:57Should the EU help trigger regime change in Iran, yes or no?
24:02Yes, it's necessary.
24:07Yes, but democratically.
24:10Is Reza Pahlavi a legitimate opposition figure?
24:13Is Reza Pahlavi a legitimate?
24:15One of many figures.
24:17Have EU sanctions on Iran worked?
24:20No.
24:21Not as much as we wanted.
24:23Is de-escalation in the Middle East now feasible?
24:27If we want to, yeah.
24:29Very, very complicated.
24:31Has Europa lost its diplomatic clout in the Middle East?
24:34No.
24:36No, but we need to improve it.
24:38Does the EU have double standards?
24:40Yes.
24:41No, I don't see it.
24:43Should the EU now publicly condemn the initial US-Israeli intervention?
24:48No.
24:50Yes, condemning also what Iran is doing with the GCC and the rest of the countries in the region.
24:55Was Spain right in denying support to the US in terms of using its basis?
25:00Yes, of course, based on our prerogative to do that.
25:02No.
25:03Has Wanda Lion overstepped her mandate on foreign policy?
25:07No.
25:07She's a member of your group.
25:11Yes, because he needs to act with the council too.
25:14So it's nice, but he needs the council too.
25:16And what about Kaya Kalas?
25:17Is she now relevant in foreign policy?
25:19Can she have an influence?
25:20She could be better.
25:22Kaya Kalas?
25:22I agree.
25:24Should the EU continue to observe Trump's Board of Peace?
25:28Yeah.
25:31Yes, if that let us be part of negotiations.
25:34Is Europe too dependent on US security guarantees to act independently?
25:40Yes, but we are working in order to be independent and by ourselves.
25:43Broadly speaking, yes.
25:45And they need to become more independent?
25:47Yeah.
25:48Is the EU now just a payer, but not a player in the Middle East?
25:53More and more we are a payer and not a player.
25:56Yes.
25:57Is Trump's America still an ally of Europe?
26:01Always.
26:02Even after what Trump said about Spain last night?
26:04Yeah.
26:05I mean, we have signed these deals of 50% on trade issues and he is confronting us on
26:11that things.
26:12But we need to keep our transatlantic relationship, but not submissively.
26:15Not submissively.
26:16Is Trump still an ally?
26:17He is an ally.
26:18Even the situation is sometimes very complicated for Europe.
26:22Does the EU need to rethink its relationship with Israel?
26:26Well, no, no, but that does not mean that we need to criticize what they are doing in
26:32Gaza, because they keep more than 70,000 civilians.
26:35This government keeps more than 70,000 civilians.
26:37Okay.
26:37And my last question to you both.
26:39Has anything that your opponent has said today made you change your mind or your viewpoint in
26:45any way?
26:45Let's start with you.
26:46Yeah, that we should also have in mind, after this time of war, to find a diplomatic, a
26:54political situation.
26:55And what about you, MEP, Jaloul?
26:57Well, I like to hear my comrade Lopatka.
27:02And I think it's very important that we concentrate.
27:05This is part of diplomacy in what we believe, that we need to talk, hear each other, and
27:09we always learn some of the other.
27:11Yes, I'm positive on always dialogue.
27:13Okay, and that brings this edition of The Ring to an end.
27:18Thank you so much to MEP's Reynald Lopatka and Hannah Jaloul for joining us today.
27:23And thank you to everyone at home for watching.
27:26Remember, get in touch with your thoughts by emailing us on thering at euronews.com.
27:32And see you very soon here on Euronews.
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