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NewsTranscript
00:14Good morning, it is Wednesday the 25th 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, Iran has fired a new wave of missiles towards Israel and Israel has been responding
00:31in a sharp escalation of the Middle East conflict. This comes just hours after President Donald
00:37Trump said U.S.-Iran talks were on the table. He sent a 15-point plan. With Lebanon descending
00:43further into chaos, we'll be speaking to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. And the
00:47Commission has called on Budapest to clarify reports suggesting Foreign Minister Peter
00:52Certo was in close contact with his Russian counterpart before and after EU summit meetings.
00:57But first, Denmark, the EU member state known for Lego, Higge and its opt-out from the Euro,
01:04held snap elections just yesterday. Incumbent centre-left Prime Minister Meta Friedrichsen
01:09is set to hold on to the reins. But her social democratic party had a bruising night and failed
01:15to secure a majority. Meta Friedrichsen called the vote earlier than expected due to her surge
01:21in popularity over her handling of the U.S. President's threat to annex Greenland, an autonomous
01:26Danish territory. But Denmark now faces weeks of coalition talks on elections that, as I said,
01:32saw voters called earlier to the polls. For the latest, we can bring in Benny Engelbrecht,
01:37Danish politician and a member of the Prime Minister's Social Democratic Party. Good morning,
01:41Benny. Thank you so much for joining us. Let's just first together take a look at the actual results
01:47of that election. We saw the Socialists coming out with 21.9%, the Green left with 11.6% and
01:55the
01:55Liberals at 10.1%. So we see the Socialists there. You're holding on to power just a bit,
02:00but this was not the outcome that you wanted. No, definitely not. Everyone, of course,
02:06would like to see a better result than we got. On the other hand, the three parties in the broad
02:11-based
02:12coalition, a government that has been ruling for the past three and a half years, well, all suffered.
02:19So I think this is a general concept that you see all across, especially in Europe at these times,
02:26that the parties that take responsibility in government also lose a bit of a vote on voting days.
02:37And well, in Denmark, we have almost a Netherlands type of parliament now with 12 parties and only the
02:47Social Democratic Party as a broad-based party with more than 20%. So it will be really difficult for
02:55for the future. And I can see that written all over your face this morning. Do you expect now
02:59months of tough talks? When could a coalition be formed? Well, the broad-based coalition that has
03:07ruled up until now took six weeks to set in place. That was a record-setting negotiation for the past
03:15government. And I expect that we'll see probably something similar to that, probably not before,
03:21after Easter. We'll see actual talks. So it's a bit difficult. And setting the task that there's
03:31a war in the Middle East and Donald Trump still wants Greenland. It will, well, of course,
03:37we will need to sort this out quite soon.
03:41But voters, of course, had bread and butter issues on their minds, not really Greenland. Did you
03:45underestimate that? No, I think the domestic discussions are, has been, of course, the
03:54majority of the discussions, but it has been more to do with clean water, for example.
04:02Okay, Benny and Mabrecht, thank you so much for joining us here this morning, live on Europe Today,
04:07here on Euronews. We'll keep a very close eye on the next couple of weeks there. But moving on,
04:11from one crucial election to another, Hungarians will be heading to the polls on the 12th of April.
04:18But ahead of the key votes, a major scandal has hit the Hungarian government regarding alleged leaks
04:23of private information to Russia. Jakub Janis takes a look.
04:28A political bomb exploded in Brussels.
04:31The reports regarding the Hungarian foreign minister allegedly disclosing to his Russian counterpart
04:39the closed-door ministerial level discussions in the Council are greatly concerning.
04:45And we expect the Hungarian government to provide the clarifications.
04:49So what's going on here?
04:52A Washington Post investigation claims Hungarian foreign minister Peter Sjarto spent years stepping
04:58out of confidential EU meetings to directly phone Russian officials. And one security official
05:05stated that Moscow has basically been behind the table of every EU meeting for years. The European
05:12Commission wants answers, but others are not so shocked. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk admitted
05:19long-standing suspicions, revealing he strictly limits what he says out loud during these talks. And
05:25Budapest is not hiding their connections. Sjarto has visited Moscow 16 times since Russia's full-scale
05:33invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, Hungary is actively blocking a 90 billion EU loan for Kyiv. In an unexpected
05:41burst of honesty, Sjarto admitted calling Russian officials before and after key EU meetings. He claims
05:48he also speaks to American, Turkish and Israeli officials, arguing this is just diplomacy. However,
05:55this is the same minister who was awarded Russia's order of friendship a year before Russia's full-scale
06:02invasion of Ukraine. And the Americans, Turks and Israelis have not handed him any similar medal.
06:09Perhaps the only thing left to add here is a quote from a movie Naked Gun.
06:18It's quite funny, but it's just a pity. All of that is about the future of European security,
06:24especially since over 70% of Europeans are now highly worried about nearby conflicts,
06:31according to the latest Eurobarometer survey. So who's laughing now?
06:40And for more on this story, we're joined here on set by Euronews' EU editor, Maria Tadeo. Good
06:45morning, Maria. So just fill us in. What is the latest now?
06:47Well, look, Maeve, this is a scandal that continues. And of course, at the core of it is allegations,
06:53very serious allegations that Hungary shared private EU information with Russia. But we need to get the
07:00timeline right. Because of course, over the weekend, this all started with a newspaper report,
07:04the Washington Post, which cited a European security source that suggested that the Hungarian
07:09foreign minister in particular would share information almost in real time with his Russian
07:14counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. This report also said that in some situations, he even spoke to him
07:20during breaks of meetings. So as I say, the allegations are extremely serious. Now, initially,
07:26the Hungarian foreign minister, Ciarto, said that this was all fake. He said it is fake news,
07:31and that this was not true. Then, of course, on the Monday, a transcript of a call, allegedly,
07:37between the Hungarian foreign minister and the Russian foreign minister began to do the rounds.
07:41And then Ciarto changed the tune to say, well, this is normal because we speak to many countries,
07:49and that is a part of diplomacy. Yesterday, in comments to Euronews, which I want to read out
07:54to you, and hopefully we can put up on the board, the Hungarian foreign ministry said that they talked
08:00to Russia, the Americans, the Turks, Serbia, and therefore it is completely normal that we consult
08:05with these countries, if necessary, before and after the meetings. So now he is talking about before
08:10and after EU meetings, about the consequences of those decisions. So you see how the timeline has
08:16now changed from his total fake news to this is part of normal diplomacy. Having said that,
08:21we should note that Russia is not just any country for the EU. Russia is heavily sanctioned by the EU
08:27because of the invasion of Ukraine. Increasingly, a number of EU countries consider it a hostile
08:32country to the EU, certainly a security risk for the European Union. And none of the countries
08:38represented across the board in EU meetings have given their consent. So the private information,
08:44which is supposed to be confidential under the principle of sincere cooperation,
08:48be shared with Russia. So this is far from normal. If anything, the position of the Hungarians is a
08:53total anomaly.
08:55And that's why we've seen Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland. He's furious, right?
08:58Well, the Polish are really pushing into this line. Yesterday, the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk,
09:04the behavior of the Hungarian foreign minister is, quote, a disgrace. He also repeated a line that he said
09:10over the weekend. He is the first, and at this point, only EU leader to have commented on this,
09:15but he did say over the weekend that for many years he suspected this. And therefore,
09:19that's why Poland is very cautious about the information it shares, and also introduced a
09:23new element that goes beyond the EU to now focus on NATO, saying that there were concerns going all
09:29the way back to 2019 that Hungary is also providing information related to NATO. And this is delicate,
09:35because of course you're talking about core security. Let's take a look.
09:42As early as 2019, as I recall correctly, Lithuania requested that the Hungarian delegation should be
09:49excluded from meetings at NATO. They informed that they suspect the Hungarian delegation to pass highly
09:55confidential information to Moscow.
10:01So that is, of course, the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who said, again, the behavior from
10:07Hungary is, quote, a disgrace. NATO matters because here you're talking about core security capabilities,
10:13incredibly sensitive. I should also note just very briefly, the Polish government is also using this
10:18to tackle the Polish President, Nawrowski, who went to Hungary this week to celebrate the Polish-Hungarian
10:25friendship. What the Polish government says, of course, is that this shows poor judgment on behalf
10:30of the Polish President, who yesterday is getting a lot of heat on this, repeated that nothing has
10:35changed the position of Poland remains that Vladimir Putin is, quote, a war criminal.
10:40And meanwhile, what can Brussels do? What can the Commission do?
10:42Well, that's a very good question. It's a question that I put to sources yesterday. Some of them told me,
10:46look, this is a scandal. It's outrageous. It's unacceptable, but also said, color me shocked,
10:53color me surprised. There's been concerns for years now that when you talk to the Hungarians,
10:57you're not just talking to the Hungarian authorities. A diplomat told me, this is why we've switched
11:02the way that we work. Increasingly, there's a coalition of the winning. So countries that get
11:06together that do not include Hungary to talk about security. There's also now a question about,
11:11should the format of meetings be changed? Sometimes phones do get taken in. There is
11:16restrictive format, but this is not always applied into every meeting. And we've seen that the head
11:22of the European diplomacy, Kayakalas, is now demanding an answer from the Hungarians saying,
11:27did you share or not information? Whether it was before or after, the point we need to stress is that
11:32none of
11:33the EU 26 countries around the table consented to this information being shared with Russia in any
11:39way, shape or form. And this is certainly going to now prompt a conversation around how do you deal
11:44with a country like Hungary? And is there a different way in which sensitive information
11:48should be shared across the EU institutions? As I said, it doesn't come as a surprise,
11:53but it now highlights what many member states have now said has become a core problem,
11:57which is the use and the sharing of confidential information related to EU fundamental matters
12:03like foreign policy and security. Okay, Marisa, thank you so much for that very comprehensive
12:07update. We'll keep an eye on yournews.com for your reporting. But now moving on, the war in Iran is
12:13still escalating despite claims from President Trump that peace talks were imminent. On the one hand,
12:19the Pentagon has ordered about 2000 soldiers to be deployed to the Middle East. But on the other hand,
12:24the US has sent Iran a 15 point plan to end the war in the region. Meanwhile, Pakistan has offered
12:29to host talks between the US, Israel and Iran to try to end the war. For more, we can cross
12:35now to Dubai,
12:36where our regional correspondent Jane Witherspoon is standing by for us this morning. Jane, any hope
12:41of diplomacy here? We heard Iran says the US only wants to talk on its terms.
12:47Well, yes, President Trump has said that those talks are happening that the US are talking to the
12:53right people. He's also alluded very cryptically to a very big present in the way of oil and gas
13:02being gifted from Tehran. Now, as you mentioned, several media agencies are reporting on that 15
13:07point plan that has apparently been given to Iran from the US via Pakistan. However, Iranian officials
13:14are still denying that these talks are even taking place. Now, in Doha yesterday, there was a Ministry of
13:21Foreign Affairs briefing where the authorities said they will not be mediating these talks as they're
13:26too busy protecting and defending their country. They did say, however, Iran has been here for
13:33millennia. Countries need to live and work together. And it's now really up to Iran to reinforce that
13:39trust across the region. And meanwhile, Jade, what is the general mood there? Is still daily life very much
13:45disrupted? Well, yes, I must say that the attacks are still continuing. However, they have dropped
13:53a little bit. It feels a little bit calmer. However, overnight, we are having the military jets
13:57patrolling through the night. It feels like every five minutes now across the wider region. Of course,
14:03Lebanon is...
14:12Okay, apologies to our viewers there for that technical difficulty. But as you heard there,
14:16Jane Witherspoon reporting for us there from Dubai, alluding to the atrocities in Lebanon. Well,
14:21on that point of Lebanon coming up, we'll be joined by Barham Saleh, the UN High Commissioner for
14:27Refugees. A refugee himself who fled as a young Kurd from repression in Iraq. He spent years and years
14:34in exile, but then one day actually became the president of Iraq back in 2018, a position he held
14:41until 2022. Welcome, sir. Pleasure to have you here with us. Thank you for having me. So just describe
14:47the situation on the ground in Lebanon. It's a very dire situation. More than a million people have
14:53already been displaced. And it's in very, very harsh conditions. Our teams are working to deliver
14:59assistance. And in that regard, I have to say, EU has been generous to providing two jets of
15:07supplies, also the government of Italy, as well as Irish aid. But we need more. Indeed, the European
15:13Union has been sending millions in aid. But whereas the European Union has no say here in how this war
15:18will play out, how bad will the situation get in Lebanon, in your view?
15:21I hope this thing will be put behind us before long because we need peace. This conflict has gone
15:28on already for far too long. It's highly destabilizing. It is escalating. And I have to say also human
15:35lives are at stake. The impact on civilians across the region is phenomenal, is profound. We already,
15:43as I said, about a million people have been internally displaced in Lebanon. Nearly 600,000
15:49to a million households in Iran have been displaced. Of course, there has been significant population
15:56movements in the Gulf. Not to mention Iraq that has been subject to terrible attacks, including
16:03yesterday in the Kurdistan region. And the civilians across the region in Israel, in Lebanon, in the Gulf,
16:10in Iran are being affected in a profound way. And in that context also, this conflict is spilling
16:17beyond the region, immediate region. We are seeing a lot of Afghan refugees in Iran and in Pakistan are
16:24being forced to go back under adverse conditions to Afghanistan. All of this combined is really
16:30presenting us with a terrible humanitarian challenge. Pakistan have offered to mediate here. Any hope
16:37in those? Let's hope that this will lead to some useful, tangible peace arrangement. This region needs
16:44peace. This conflict cannot go on like this, destabilizing and impacting human lives across the
16:51region. And I hope that we need a durable and just peace that will not put us in a place
16:57where six
16:57months from now, over a year from now, we will have another recurrence of this type of things. This
17:02region cannot afford these cycles of violence. And you describe so many people on the move in
17:06the region. Should Europe prepare for potential waves coming here? At the moment, most of the displacement
17:11is within the countries. Our teams at UNSCR are already monitoring the situation very closely. There is no
17:18significant movements across the borders. Beyond that, what I spoke about in Afghanistan, that people from
17:23Iran, Afghani refugees in Iran, and Pakistan to a degree, are being sent back or encouraged to go back
17:30or push back. But across the borders, we do not see that. We are also seeing, in order to put
17:36things in
17:37proper context, a large number, nearly 130,000 Syrian refugees who were resident in Lebanon have gone back
17:44into Syria. I would not call that voluntary returns per se. They are returning under adverse conditions,
17:51but in order to put the picture complete. Our teams are looking at that situation. And I hope the
17:56world as a whole, we will be paying enough attention to bring this situation under control, to leave to a
18:03peace that will be lasting and basically rooted in the protection of interests of the peoples of the
18:08region, respectful of the dignity and the rights of the peoples across that region. This region has seen
18:14too many wars and too many cycles of conflict. So what would your message then be to President Trump,
18:19who doesn't really seem to have a plan here? Well, the message is peace. The message is
18:23de-escalation and dialogue. We have to be emphatic about this. And what about his Board of Peace?
18:29The Board of Peace has already been very active in Gaza, and thank God the active conflict in
18:36Gaza has been brought to an end at least for a while. And let's hope that it will deliver something
18:41tangible for the people of Gaza and the region as a whole.
18:44Okay, Barham Salih. Thank you so much, UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Thank you so much
18:48for coming in to us here on Euronews. And thank you so much for watching. That brings this edition of
18:54Europe Today to an end. Stay with us here on Euronews for more news coming up, and visit Euronews.com
18:59for more comprehensive details on all the stories we're covering for you. Take care and see you soon on Euronews.
19:13Thanks, everyone.
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