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Europe Today: Iran war enters day 12 as European leaders voice frustration over lack of strategy
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00:14Good morning. It is Wednesday, the 11th of March. I'm Maeve McMahon and you're watching
00:19Europe Today, your daily dose of European news and analysis live here on Euronews.
00:25Coming up, as the war in Iran enters its 12th day, European leaders are growing increasingly
00:32exasperated. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says he's becoming deeply concerned about what
00:37he calls an apparent lack of strategy from the United States and Israel. He said that
00:42they have no interest in, he has said he's no interest in a quote endless war. And while
00:47you were sleeping, tensions in the Middle East escalated with heavy strikes hitting Iran,
00:51Lebanon and the Gulf states, civilian casualties are rising and in Lebanon, thousands of people
00:57have already been displaced. The US says it's destroyed 16 Iranian mine laying vessels after
01:03Pentagon Chief Pete Heggs had warned that the most intense day of US strikes on Iran was
01:08yet to come. For more on the ongoing war and Europe's reactions, we're joined here in the
01:12studio by our EU news editor, Maria Tadeo. Good morning, Maria. So a lot to process this
01:17morning. Well, a lot to process because this is still a story, obviously, about war in the
01:23region and energy, which is critical, of course, for the global economy. And once again, is the
01:30spotlight on the Strait of Hormuz and oil. And of course, there are now concerns, increasing
01:36concerns that this is an area that now Iran will target with mines. And obviously, that means
01:41that that transportation and the flows of oil, which need to come out of the Strait also coming
01:47out of the Gulf of Persia to could be impacted even more severely. And this is one of the most
01:53critical locations when it comes to the global energy market. This is why we're seeing this
01:57whiplash and energy prices up and down on any news related to the ability to get oil out of the
02:05region. Now, on that note, yesterday, President Trump issued a warning in a post on social media in
02:11which he said, if the mines, you know, for some reason are placed, and they are not removed for
02:16with so immediately, the military consequences to Iran will be quote, at a level never seen before.
02:24So obviously, that's the US responding again, to reports that this is the next stage for Iran when
02:30it comes to the strategy of now escalation, but also chaos with no signs that the regime or the
02:36Ayatollah is willing to engage for the time being with the US. And the story, as I say,
02:42is critical. And it really matters, not just because of the energy market, the implications
02:46for the economy, but also because it really speaks to the US strategy. You alluded to the German
02:52Chancellor saying, we are confused. Is there a goalpost? Is there a goal? What is the goal? What
02:58is the strategy from the US? And the thing about the energy market is that it never lies. You're either
03:03able to get the flow of oil up and running, or you're not. And if you're not, and the escalation
03:08in the Strait of Hormuz continues to go up, and you do see that tankers become blocked. Not only this
03:14is going to have major repercussions in the market, but it also could show, and this is a fundamental
03:19point, that the US alongside Israel, of course, has gone into a major military operation without all
03:25the details figured out. So this is a critical point at this stage. And that's why Emmanuel Macron,
03:30he's hosting a G7 call today. Yes, precisely. Of course, we've seen the G7 meet on the finance
03:37sphere with the ministers of finance, then of course, the energy ministers who met yesterday.
03:42But today, this is a meeting that is going to take place at 3pm Paris time. It is hosted by
03:46the
03:47French and Emmanuel Macron because the French hold the presidency. And of course, President Trump is
03:51going to participate. Now, sources close to the lease say that the goal of this meeting is to take stock
03:57of the geo-economic repercussions of this war, and in particular, when it comes to energy. Obviously,
04:03there's been a lot of debate around the idea of releasing strategic oil reserves to really
04:08deal with the issues in the energy market. Although I speak to many analysts who say the issue is not
04:12the stocking, really. The oil is there. The issue is the transportation and the impact on prices.
04:18And then to that extent, however, we also have to keep an eye today on the International Energy
04:24Agency because overnight reports that they could also release and make the biggest single day release
04:30of oil even surpassing the 182 million barrels that they put out in 2022 when the war in Ukraine
04:36broke out to deal with the implications and the ramifications in the energy market. But again,
04:41one of the fundamental questions beyond pricing and just logistics, is there a plan really to get oil
04:46coming out? And does the U.S. really have a strategy? And to more confusion, just briefly,
04:50yesterday, the U.S. Secretary for Energy said that they had managed to escort tankers out. Then he deleted
04:56it. And it was obvious that no tanker had been escorted out. So again, there's a lot of confusion,
05:01not just in the logistics, but really, is there a plan? And of course, you had the opportunity to speak
05:05to the European Commissioner for Energy, Dan Jorgensen. He was in Strasbourg yesterday. We can take a look
05:09now at that interview, Maria. This is, of course, a very serious situation. It is not as bad as in
05:15February
05:1522 when Russia attacked Ukraine. At that time, we were more dependent on one single source of our
05:23energy. And it was fossil. It was gas from Russia. Now we are better situated to deal with the
05:27situation. But still, when the world market prices go up, it is a problem for us, which shows us one
05:35thing very clearly. That is, let's get rid of the dependency of fossil fuels. Let's have more
05:41homegrown, clean energy. And of course, the G7 has been holding meetings. There's a lot of speculation
05:46about a release of strategic reserves. Is that something that you think would be helpful at this
05:51stage? It is something that can become relevant. It would help keep the prices down. We are not in a
05:56situation where we have security of supply issues in Europe right now. But of course, the question of the
06:04prices are extremely important for our citizens and our industries. And we also need to be working in
06:11solidarity with our partners in the International Energy Agency Network. So is there going to be a release of
06:17these assets? Or is it something that at this point, there's consensus is a good idea, but not a date?
06:22What would
06:22trigger it? That is too early to say we are in the process of analyzing this. But of course, it
06:28can
06:28happen. And of course, your job is to ensure energy security for the European Union. You say this is
06:33different to the Russian invasion. But there is a question of pricing. What measures in the short term
06:38can you put forward to deal with the escalation in prices? Of course, there is a very clear concern for
06:43us that the prices are too high for our citizens and our industry. That's also why today we've put
06:49forward several different measures, both some that has the aim to help our long term transition,
06:56but also some that can work short term. For instance, we've sent a very clear signal to the
07:00member states of the union. And we recommend that you lower the taxes on electricity. That would make
07:07it easier for your industry to compete. It'll make it easier for your citizens to pay their bills. And
07:13it'll be good for the green transition. And you can do that tomorrow. It's not something where you have
07:17to wait for a new legislative proposal to be put forward for long negotiations and so forth.
07:22It can be done short term. And is that the maximum that you contemplate? Or is there more things that
07:27you could put on the table if the situation deteriorates? There's definitely more things
07:31that can be put on the table. It's also very clear that there's a big difference between being in a
07:37serious situation like the one we're in now and being in an emergency like the one we had in 22.
07:43And since we're not there yet, we are not applying some of the emergency measures that we did in 22.
07:48There has been calls now that leaders could ask, certainly next week when they meet and they talk
07:53about competitiveness for another review of the ETS. Is that something that you would say,
07:58yes, everything can be reviewed?
08:01We are, of course, continuously discussing what to do with regards to our long term transition
08:07in the European Union, whilst at the same time addressing immediate needs. What's important
08:12for me to say is that our fundamental direction is the right one. We need to move away from fossiles.
08:19We need to have a green transition. Why? Because it lowers prices, because it helps us decarbonize,
08:25but also because it gives us the energy security that we so clearly do not have right now. That's the
08:30lesson we learned from the situation in Ukraine when Russia attacked. But it's actually also a lesson
08:36that we are reminded now that other geopolitical events are affecting our price levels in Europe.
08:43Of course, you hear the industry saying the issue is that Europe does not have energy security. You
08:48cannot be competitive if you do not have energy security. Is that an exaggeration or do you look
08:52at it and you say it's a fair point at this point? Europe does not have that level of security.
08:57No, unfortunately, it's very clear that we are not independent. We import for more than 370 billion
09:03euros fossiles every year. That's not sustainable for our climate, certainly, but not for our economy
09:11either. We need to use more homegrown energy. The good news is that that homegrown energy will also
09:17be cheaper than the fossil alternative. So not only will it help us to become more independent and
09:21therefore be good for our security, it'll also be good for our economy. Now, this is not something
09:27that might happen in the future and that we're waiting for. This is something that we are already
09:32doing. So last year, we deployed a record of 89 gigawatts of new renewables that saved us more than
09:3830 billion euros. Just this newly deployed renewables. And this year, we will do the same. So we are
09:45moving in the right direction.
09:47But when are you going to see that manifested in prices, however, especially given this volatility,
09:51because the direction of prices has been up, certainly for the past week.
09:54The deployment of new renewables brings the prices down. This means that had we not had
09:58the renewables that we have, the prices would have been much higher. That's one of the reasons
10:02why we don't see the same effects now as we did in 2022. So when prices are set for electricity,
10:08for instance, the most cheap energy bids first, and that's the renewables. Then sometimes if you
10:14don't have enough renewables in the system and it's the fossils that set the price, the gas that
10:19sets the price, that's when the prices go up. Also on the renewables. And the less hours,
10:26the better we can become at having less hours of the fossil setting the price, the better,
10:32of course, it is. So that's one of the reasons. I know it's a bit complicated, but that's one of
10:35the reasons why we are in a better situation now than we were in 2022.
10:39The Russian president has said that Russia is ready to intervene in this market to stabilize
10:43prices. When you hear that, what does that make you think? What does that allude to you?
10:48We absolutely do not want Russian energy. Russia is conducting a terrible war on our friends in
10:55Ukraine, and we do not want to help indirectly finance that war by buying Russian energy.
11:01Russia's weaponized energy against us. Russia's blackmailed member states of the European Union
11:06using energy. So for us, we've said no more to this. And that is a standpoint that we will stick
11:13to.
11:16Now, the war in Iran has spread to Lebanon, where Israel has vowed to root out the Iran-backed Shia
11:22militia Hezbollah. Thousands of people are on the move, mostly from South Lebanon, from a war that
11:27has already caused almost 600 deaths in the country. In a last-ditch effort to stop the violence,
11:34the Lebanese government asked for direct talks with Israel through a US intermediary. So far,
11:38the US and Israel have rebuffed the proposal, albeit not officially saying the government
11:43should focus on disarming Hezbollah. Eurion News' senior editor and Middle East expert,
11:47Sophie Claudet, spoke to Lebanon's energy minister, Joe Sadi. Here's what he had to say.
11:52This was indeed a very courageous initiative by our president. But as of
12:01this time, I am not aware of any response. But don't you think it's a little too late?
12:08As per the 2024 ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel, the Lebanese government is
12:15supposed to disarm Hezbollah. This hasn't happened. And we've seen now what's happening.
12:19Obviously, I think everybody would wish that the implementation of this would happen much quicker.
12:28But this has to do on one side with, you know, the availability of the capabilities of the Lebanese
12:38army. It has to do with also, you know, the behavior of Israel during that whole period.
12:48But does the army have even the capabilities of disarming Hezbollah, which is a state within
12:53the states? Based on what the, I'm not, I'm no military expert, but based on what the army
12:57says, they do not have all the capabilities they need to do this by their own account,
13:07which is why in fear in anger, there was a plan to do it in multiple phases.
13:12Prime Minister Netanyahu has been very clear in his will to completely root out Hezbollah.
13:18And I may remind our viewers that Hezbollah is not only a military faction, it's also a
13:24political and social movement that is deeply rooted in Lebanon. Do you think that Israel
13:28can root out Hezbollah?
13:30The military side of Hezbollah has now been declared illegal by our government. The political
13:37and prime minister did say that if Hezbollah was to date of that purely as a political
13:46party, then he would have no problem with it.
13:52But I understand the Lebanese authorities can live with Hezbollah being a political social
13:59movement. But Israel is increasingly showing signs that it cannot. And Hezbollah is an ideology.
14:05How can you defeat an ideology?
14:07The way forward is to show what the state can do, deliver basic goods and services on all
14:17fronts, health, social, education, etc. But for the state to be able to deliver this, it
14:24needs financial, it needs political willingness, which I think it has, but it also needs financial
14:29means. And unfortunately, Hezbollah dragging us again back into the war, it makes the availability
14:39of international funding that much more difficult and distant in time.
14:46Do you think if the Iranian regime was completely defeated, that would significantly weaken Hezbollah
14:51as a movement, as an ideology, as a popular movement in Lebanon?
14:56The lifeline, there is a financial lifeline for Hezbollah coming from Iran. They've said
15:01it so publicly. There is a military one probably that has severely decreased since the regime
15:07chain in Syria, but certainly on the financial front as well. And so any reduction, any major reduction
15:17in both on the military side and the financial side, in terms of lifeline to Hezbollah, certainly
15:23would weaken it.
15:29And with the situation in the Middle East getting worse, and thousands now internally displaced,
15:34with some stadiums even turned into shelters, the EU Agency for Asylum is preparing for potential
15:39humanitarian crisis. Our Jakubianus reports.
15:44War. War never changes. But while the news cycle obsesses over tactical maps, your reporter
15:51is looking at the people. President Trump has called the conflict a short-term excursion.
15:57But if he's wrong, Europe could deal with a refugee crisis of an unprecedented magnitude.
16:03And history shows that when a home becomes a battlefield, people move towards safety and
16:08existing ties. So where could they go?
16:12Currently, roughly four million Iranians live abroad, and most of them migrated during or
16:18after the 1979 revolution. In Europe, Germany leads with over 300,000 people, followed by the UK
16:26and Sweden, with each hosting around 100,000. In 2025, only 8,000 Iranians sought asylum in Europe,
16:35which is less than 1% of all applications. But with a population of 90 million, the EU Asylum
16:42agency warns that even partial instability could trigger a massive refugee crisis. However,
16:49the agency also calls this scenario highly speculative, stressing it is too early for
16:55firm predictions. But you should know this isn't only about Iran. It is about the whole region.
17:01Iran is already one of the world's largest refugee hosts. A home to over one and a half million of
17:08them,
17:09and many more, with an undocumented status. Most of refugees come from Afghanistan and Iraq,
17:15and are now caught in just another war zone. And the ripple effect is spreading. According to the
17:22International Organization for Migration, over 660,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon because of
17:29the conflict. And right now, no one knows yet how, or when, the war will end. But for Europe,
17:37it seems that the consequences are no longer distant.
17:45And it is in this very context that MEPs are gathering in Strasbourg this week. European
17:50Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is set to address the Parliament this morning. For more on
17:55that, we can now cross over to the European Parliament in Strasbourg and bring in your news,
17:59as Mairead Gwynne-Jones. Good morning, Mairead. So Ursula von der Leyen will take centre stage today
18:03at a very tense time for the European Union and also for inter-institutional relations. Tell us more.
18:11Yes, Maeve. Expect a fiery debate when the Commission President joins the hemicycle
18:17later this morning. For two reasons, really. Because firstly, members of this Parliament have been telling me
18:24in recent days that they feel that von der Leyen has been really overstepping her mandate in response
18:30to the conflict in the Middle East, that she's been wading into foreign policy when she shouldn't,
18:35encroaching on the role of the EU foreign policy chief, Kaya Callas. I remember that von der Leyen
18:40was the compromise candidate back in 2019. But her critics say that since then, she's been using
18:45crises like this one to accumulate power and to expand her mandate into a more geopolitical one.
18:51And in fact, von der Leyen did deliver a speech earlier this week where she essentially laid out
18:55a new vision for the way that EU conducts its foreign policy, saying it has to stop being a
19:01custodian of the old world order, she said, and that it essentially faces two choices. It either clings on,
19:08she said, to what used to make it strong, or it adapts to a more power politics world by pursuing
19:14a more
19:14interest-based foreign policy. We've had quite a harsh response from socialist voices. The European
19:20Council President Antonio Costa saying yesterday that EU still needs to be a standard bearer. Also,
19:26the Vice President of the Commission, Teresa Ribeira, another socialist voice saying yesterday
19:31in response to von der Leyen's speech, she said, it was not the most adequate manner to express herself.
19:38But yes, she is fully committed, of course, to the international order. We've also seen a response
19:44from the Spanish government saying that the EU has to uphold the rules-based order. So maybe I think
19:49we can expect these tensions to really play out when von der Leyen addresses the hemicycle this morning.
19:55Indeed. Marit Gwynne-Jones, thank you so much for that live update there from Strasbourg. But that does
20:00bring this edition of Europe Today to an end. For more news analysis, do visit Euronews.com.
20:05Thank you so much, though, for tuning in. As always, take care and see you very soon on Euronews.
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