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Belgian Defence Minister, actor Coster-Waldau speak to Euronews as Iran war enters sixth day
Watch Europe Today as we bring you the latest developments and reactions to the US-Israeli war on Iran. Live from 8 am Brussels time.
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Watch Europe Today as we bring you the latest developments and reactions to the US-Israeli war on Iran. Live from 8 am Brussels time.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/03/05/belgian-defence-minister-actor-coster-waldau-speak-to-euronews-as-iran-war-enters-sixth-da
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NewsTranscript
00:14Good morning, it is Thursday the 5th of March. I'm Maeve McMahan and this is Europe Today,
00:20your daily dose of European news and analysis live here on Euronews.
00:25Coming up, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegzat says the Iranian regime is, quote,
00:30toast and they know it as the war on Iran enters a sixth day. Senior US officials are warning the
00:38conflict is far from over and could spiral into a prolonged war. The Pentagon has released a video
00:45it says shows US submarines sinking an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka and Tehran now says the
00:51death toll has climbed above 1000. Across the Gulf, drones and missiles have struck oil facilities
00:57and US embassies as Iran retaliates. And Israel has pushed troops deeper into Lebanon targeting
01:04the Tehran-backed Hezbollah. And air raid sirens could also be heard this morning in Tel Aviv,
01:10Jerusalem, Erbil and there were several explosions across Tehran. Following the story,
01:15your news has correspondents all across the globe. For the view, though, this morning from Qatar,
01:21we can cross first over to Doha and get the latest from our correspondent, Adel Khalim. Good morning,
01:27Adel. Look, the longer the war goes on, the worse it seems to be getting. What is the situation across
01:33the Middle East this morning? Maeve, there's been significant developments in the last 24 hours. Just
01:39this morning, the Ministry of Interior announced that authorities are evacuating residents from the
01:44vicinity of the US embassy here in Doha, just six kilometers from where I'm standing. Now, this
01:49comes obviously after recent attacks on US embassies and consulates across the region in Kuwait,
01:55Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Also, the Qatar News Agency announced that Qatar's Prime Minister,
02:00Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Sani, received a phone call from Iran's foreign minister,
02:05Abbas Araqshi, just yesterday. And now, this is significant because this is the first time the two
02:10leaders have spoken since the start of this war. Now, during that call, Qatar's Prime Minister,
02:15Sheikh Mohammed, categorically rejected Iran's claims that it was not attacking Qatar and just
02:21US interests alone. Sheikh Mohammed reportedly pointed to recent strike attempts at Doha's airport,
02:26as well as the two LNG production facilities, and called for an immediate halt to the attacks.
02:35So, while this doesn't sound like the leaders had a lot of an agreement, they didn't see eye to eye
02:41on
02:41a lot, it's significant that they're having this conversation at all. Just 24 hours previously,
02:46Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said there were no open lines of communication between the two
02:50countries. Maeve? And Adele, what about travelers stranded in the airports there? What is the latest
02:54on that front? That's a very complicated situation as well. Some flights are operating in the US
03:00State Department says 17,500 Americans have now returned back to US soil, have left the Middle
03:06East. In fact, nearly half of them, 8,500, touched down just on Tuesday alone. Now, both Qatar and the
03:13UA have said they will cover hotel and food costs for all stranded passengers. But here in Qatar,
03:18the airspace remains closed, and there are 8,000 stranded passengers here. I spoke to one,
03:23a reality TV star who says that he was returning home from India to a touchdown in Doha and then
03:31going back to Texas when the plane was diverted and you turned back to Doha. It was at this moment
03:37that Oliver Sims noticed something was wrong and started to feel scared. Let's hear from him himself.
03:43I would say that this is definitely a scary situation because, you know, being here right now,
03:47I'm very concerned still. What, like, should I leave the country? Should I go to Saudi Arabia and
03:55fly out of there? Should I go to Oman and fly out of there? But, you know, a lot of
03:59Qatari citizens
04:00have told me, they were like, you know what, just stay put. It's fine because Doha and Qatar are pretty
04:06safe, which I do believe as well. But it is just nice and reassuring having a local say that.
04:13Reality TV star Oliver Sims there speaking to our correspondent Adele Khalim. Now, European
04:18governments are getting worried about the impact the Middle East crisis is having on them. Energy,
04:22gas, food prices have all spiked, and capitals are also jittery about citizens stranded in the
04:27region. For the view from Belgium, Euronews' Lauren Walker spoke exclusively to Belgium's Defence
04:32Minister, Theo Franken. Minister, thank you for joining us. Firstly, what is your reaction to this war?
04:39And in your eyes, is it legal? It's a big discussion, of course. And I think that when you see
04:46international law and the interpretation of the last few decades, that it can be problematic.
04:52But it's a righteous cause to try to decapitate the Ayatollah regime. That's something all totally,
05:00it's rightful. So I think that there's, there's a lot of discussion about it. I fully understand
05:06this. But I cannot support the Ayatollah regime, not for a second. It is most, the most cruel regime
05:14of the world. And they're supporting Hamas, they're supporting and financing Hezbollah and Houthi and
05:22all those terrorist actors in the Middle East, but also in Europe, also here in Brussels, also in Belgium.
05:28So I think that this is, this may be problematic concerning international law. But I think that
05:38it can be defended as well, that they take, they take, they try to take out all those dictators and
05:45and Mullahs and Ayatollahs.
05:46So you think the means justify the end here?
05:50For me, I think it is. Yeah, I think that also the same thing has been said by our Minister
05:54of Foreign Affairs
05:55yesterday in the Parliament. So yes, we are totally on the same line.
05:59And yesterday, you said that Belgium is preparing to provide military support should this be requested
06:05in the region. What could this support look like? And if Belgium does provide support, does this mean
06:11Belgium is at war as well?
06:14No. So it's, it will be defensive actions. So for example, a country like Jordan, asking for aid,
06:23and then we can help them to protect their territory. It's not to, to, to start a war or to,
06:31to continue
06:32or to participate with, with Israel and United States. It's more to help people and countries in the Middle East.
06:40And obviously, as we've just said, Belgium is providing support. Do you think the EU as a whole
06:45should also be doing more to support allies in the region?
06:50Yeah, of course. But like military decisions, it is the sovereignty of every and each country.
06:55So that's not easy. I think that Europe needs to really, to be very clear on the support for Cyprus.
07:02But on the Middle East, it's more like bilateral.
07:05And lastly, Belgium recently seized a suspected Russian shadow fleet tanker.
07:11What will happen with this tanker now? And does this signify a ramping up of the targeting of Moscow's fleet
07:18of vessels?
07:20Yes, we need to really increase pressure on the Putin regime to really get peace negotiations
07:27who are true and who are well meant. We don't have that for the moment.
07:34And I think that the only way we can increase pressure is to work on their income,
07:40to work on their oil and gas revenues. And that means that we need to also tackle on the logistic
07:45lines.
07:45And that means that we need to tackle the shadow fleet. So, yes, we will continue on that pathway.
07:52And do you think that now this conflict in the Middle East,
07:55that it threatens taking the attention away from what is happening in Russia and Ukraine,
08:00which was obviously until about two or three weeks ago the main topic on the EU agenda?
08:06No, I think that the east part of our continent keeps on being number one priority.
08:12Thank you, Minister.
08:17Euronews' Lauren Walker there speaking to the Belgian Minister for Defence, Theo Franken.
08:21And now, the Spanish government has doubled down on President Donald Trump's threat to cut trade off with Spain.
08:28Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez insists his country will not be complicit in the conflict in the Middle East,
08:34saying it was like playing, quote, Russian roulette with the destiny of millions.
08:38Our Jacob Yanis takes a closer look at this diplomatic dispute.
08:43It all started with a geopolitical earthquake.
08:46Following the US and Israeli strikes on Iran, Israel's foreign minister called out Europe's deep divisions.
08:53The Spanish government, which is standing with all the tyrants of the world, like it stood with Venezuela.
09:00They are standing now with Iran.
09:03And Madrid fired back.
09:05Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared a firm no to war and blocked the US from using Spanish soil for its
09:13Iran operations.
09:14And in response, Donald Trump threatened to cut off all trade with Spain.
09:19So let's break down what is at stake.
09:22First, the military footprint.
09:25Spain vetoed US access to its Rota and Morón military bases.
09:29And these two strategically vital hubs for Washington in Europe sit near the Strait of Gibraltar,
09:35acting as a primary gateway for projecting American power into the Middle East.
09:40And without them, US logistics gets significantly more complicated.
09:47And second, there is the economic fallout.
09:49Because as one of Spain's largest non-EU trading partners,
09:54the US accounts for tens of billions of euros in annual trade.
09:58And if Washington pulls the plug, it could devastate Spanish exporters,
10:03hitting everything from heavy machinery and pharmaceuticals to wine and olive oil.
10:08However, Madrid insists it is standing on the side of international law.
10:14And pointing to the Iraq war that took place around 20 years ago,
10:18Sánchez warned against repeating the same mistakes of the past.
10:21And he argued that Spain, backing US military action back then,
10:26only unleashed massive insecurity across Europe.
10:29But with Washington using trade as a weapon against yet another NATO ally,
10:35only one question remains, who will blink first this time?
10:43And to hear how Spaniards feel about the stance of their prime minister,
10:47Euronews Madrid correspondents David Artiles and Isidro Montero
10:50took to the streets of the Spanish capital to ask them.
10:55I think military bases can't be used to whatever Trump feels like.
10:58So Sánchez took that decision.
11:01It's true that we hope it doesn't have consequences because it is how Trump operates,
11:06but I think the decision Sánchez has made is very good.
11:13Trump is illegal in his actions and in his very being.
11:17What he does is illegal.
11:19He is a pseudo-dictator, an undesirable character for me.
11:26Of course, Sánchez's response has been that he doesn't want war, and that's normal.
11:30We don't want war.
11:32We want them to stop now.
11:34Sánchez has done the right thing, because the more they avoid this, the better.
11:38And for more on this, we're joined here on set by Euronews' EU editor,
11:42Maria Tadeo, who covered Spanish politics for years.
11:44Maria, what does this fight mean now for the U.S. government?
11:47Who's going to blink first?
11:48Well, Bevereux Sánchez is certainly not going to blink at this point
11:52because, yes, this is a story with many ramifications.
11:54The politics, but also the security aspect of it.
11:58Both, of course, are NATO countries.
12:00There's the intelligence share, and then, of course, the business ties
12:02between Spain and the U.S.
12:04But at this stage, and yesterday, I reported extensively on Euronews about this.
12:09I was on the phone really trying to get a sense of the thinking of the Spanish president
12:13and the Spanish prime minister at this stage.
12:15And the idea is that he has a strategy that is twofold.
12:18One, he believes and detects that a big part of the Spanish population
12:22is against this war and does not want a war.
12:27He also detects that President Trump is someone who's incredibly polarizing
12:30for Spanish voters, so he needs to activate his own base back in Spain.
12:34And that means progressive voters.
12:36It means, of course, militant voters.
12:39It means, of course, left-leaning voters.
12:42So he wants to really mobilize his core.
12:44Of course, there's an election in Spain in 2027.
12:46And then the other part of this is that they really want to replicate
12:50this sort of Dominique de Villepin moment.
12:52Of course, if we go back to 2003, remember,
12:54that was a U.S. intervention in Iran or Iraq, I should note.
12:59At the time, Dominique de Villepin said that the war would lead to disastrous consequences.
13:03The Spanish prime minister is essentially replicating now that speech,
13:06believing that it can also propel his international image.
13:10And just finally, the Spanish government is preparing to put together,
13:14according to sources that spoke to Euronews,
13:16a big gathering of progressive voices in Barcelona in April.
13:19That was confirmed yesterday by the Brazilian president,
13:21who says he will attempt.
13:23And we can read more about that, of course, on Euronews.com.
13:25But were you just on another register?
13:27Yesterday, you were in Luxembourg at the European Investment Bank talks.
13:30And you had the opportunity to speak to an actor that we all know and love.
13:33Indeed. So Nikolai Kosterwald, of course,
13:36he's part of this group of Scandinavian actors
13:38that have really managed to be successful in Hollywood.
13:40Of course, we all remember him as Jamie Lannister in Game of Thrones.
13:44But he also is an ambassador for the United Nations,
13:47the development program of the UN too.
13:49And I was struck really, A, by how willingly open he is to talk about politics,
13:54but two, how much he defended the UN,
13:56obviously in the context of a very contentious Board of Peace
14:00led by President Trump.
14:01Let's take a look.
14:03Nikolai Kosterwalder, thank you so much for joining us.
14:05Of course, you've had a very successful television and film career.
14:09You don't need an introduction.
14:10But there's another side of you,
14:11which is the many years that you've dedicated to humanitarian causes and also climate.
14:17And the obvious question, certainly to me, is why?
14:21Well, because I think it's important,
14:23because it's something that's always, I've had an interest in this.
14:27I think it affects all of us.
14:29And that's why when, I was asked by the UNDP,
14:32if I wanted to be a goodwill ambassador in 2016,
14:34I instantly said, yes, because I believe in the UN.
14:37I believe in the international, you know, coming together.
14:41But the thing is, I wasn't quite sure about the DP.
14:44And the United Nations Development Programme
14:46is the biggest aid agency in the world.
14:49And I didn't know enough about them.
14:50So I had to also educate myself.
14:52I'm happy you mentioned, you said yes, immediately.
14:54You've been doing this work for now almost 10 years.
14:56Yes.
14:56But you said, I believe in the work that the UN does.
14:59Yes.
15:00Why?
15:01And there's a political reality behind this.
15:02I don't want to get too quickly into the politics,
15:04but you know for a year now,
15:05the Trump administration has been very vocal,
15:07saying we consider that this is basically now a woke club.
15:11The Secretary General is not doing a good job.
15:12I don't understand how you can call it a woke club.
15:14It was built on the ruins of the Second World War.
15:17And it's the whole idea behind it.
15:19Look at the charter of the UN.
15:20It's about let's come together.
15:22Let's not fight.
15:24Let's talk it out.
15:25Let's use diplomacy.
15:26And of course, is the UN perfect?
15:29No.
15:29Does it need reform?
15:31Absolutely.
15:31Is it a good idea to have a Security Council
15:33with five members that are just stuck there
15:36and can always veto?
15:37No.
15:38It's a terrible idea.
15:39But the alternative where we just go out
15:41and all try to fight for ourselves,
15:44we've done that before, before the UN.
15:47It's not a good idea.
15:48And I think we have to insist on communication.
15:51So you feel very strongly about this.
15:52That's what I'm picking up from you.
15:54You're going deeply into it.
15:56You don't believe in the UN?
15:57But the question may be bad.
15:58No, no, no.
15:59I can ask you a question.
16:00But just before we start, you asked me something
16:02which I thought was really interesting.
16:03I think that could be it.
16:04Because you said at the Berlinale
16:06there was artists being asked these questions.
16:08And some of them struggle to answer.
16:09And you're like, how can they not answer this?
16:13But you do this for a living.
16:15And you don't want to answer this.
16:17You don't believe in the UN?
16:17In a way, I have to stay impartial.
16:19But I can't say there is a big debate about the UN.
16:22There's a board of peace now that has come up.
16:24It seems the world is split as to what is the functionality.
16:27But in your experience...
16:28Do you think there's a...
16:30That he's been...
16:31What do you call that thing
16:31when people make fun on the Internet?
16:34When they're trolling?
16:35Do you think...
16:35Yes.
16:35The choice of words to call it the board of peace,
16:38do you think that's trolling?
16:41Just hear it out loud.
16:42Board of peace.
16:43We're done with peace.
16:44We just want to get rich quick.
16:47Is that it?
16:48So is a world now where you look at it...
16:51It is about money now.
16:52Well, I guess if you're cynical,
16:54you say it's always been about money somehow, right?
16:57The power grab.
16:58But that's also why we say let's get together.
17:00We have to find a way
17:02where it's not just the strongest and the biggest
17:04that control the world,
17:05where we actually all have a seat at the table.
17:08And that's why the UN is important.
17:09And in your experience, would you go...
17:11It's been a force for good in specific cases
17:14that you've seen yourself.
17:15That you can go back and say,
17:17I saw a difference specifically with my own eyes
17:19in multiple occasions.
17:21Yes, of course.
17:22If you look at recent history,
17:24like the Paris Agreement,
17:25the Paris Agreement,
17:25the whole world coming together to say,
17:27listen, we have to deal with climate change.
17:29We have to do something about this.
17:30Now, yes, the U.S. have left
17:32and have rejoined and then they left again.
17:34But the whole world is moving in this direction
17:36and standing up.
17:38And I think that is very positive.
17:39In 2019, there was a big green wave.
17:42Every politician was jumping on...
17:46It sort of has disappeared.
17:47Nobody talks about a green planet.
17:49It's a green industry.
17:49Why do you think that is?
17:50I can ask you that without you being...
17:51There's been huge social pushback, of course.
17:53Yes.
17:53Connected to what people perceive
17:55as a sort of a very expensive energy.
17:57The world has changed because of the war in Ukraine.
18:00But I just think if you speak to young people today,
18:02I think a lot of young people are very concerned about...
18:04It's a huge topic for them, Spencer.
18:05...but for some reason,
18:06it stopped being discussed in news outlets.
18:11So maybe the media also lost interest.
18:13Well, I think there's a lot of financial incentives involved with this.
18:18I think when the U.S. go out as aggressive as they have
18:21and say, listen, you cannot use the word climate change anymore
18:24in any official documents in the U.S.
18:26If you have these SDGs in your companies,
18:29we will not do business with you.
18:31Yeah, that is going to have huge effects on also the media companies.
18:35And we've seen that in the U.S. but also in Europe.
18:37And then now as a final question, of course, you travel the world.
18:40And when you look at Europe, how do you see Europe evolving?
18:43I know it's a very difficult question, but I've got to ask you.
18:45Listen, it's funny this thing because we're talking about...
18:50I think that discussion is very important.
18:52I think that it's a beautiful thing.
18:54Europe is so many countries.
18:57It's not like we can't just go like they do in the U.S.
19:00where one guy says, well, this is how we're going to do it.
19:02Now we're going to do this.
19:03No, we have to talk it out.
19:05We have to discuss.
19:05Then we find a way.
19:07But I think that that is a quality.
19:10That is the insisting on democracy, insisting on discussion.
19:14And I think that if you look at the numbers of people living in the EU,
19:18in Europe, if you look at the economics,
19:21we are incredibly powerful.
19:26Well, that brings this edition of Europe Today to an end.
19:29Tune in again tomorrow.
19:30We'll have a very special focus on Women's Day
19:32with the EU Commissioner for Women's Rights,
19:34Hadjah Labib, right here in the studio.
19:36Take care and see you soon on Euro News.
19:38Here we go.
19:41.
19:42In
19:42.
19:57.
20:00.
20:02.
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