- 9 hours ago
Europe Today: Frederiksen on track to remain Danish PM as tensions mount over Hungary alleged leaks
Tune in to Euronews' new flagship morning programme at 8 am Brussels time. In just 20 minutes, we bring you up to speed on the biggest news of the day.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/03/25/europe-today-frederiksen-on-track-to-remain-danish-pm-as-tensions-mount-over-hungary-leaks
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
Tune in to Euronews' new flagship morning programme at 8 am Brussels time. In just 20 minutes, we bring you up to speed on the biggest news of the day.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/03/25/europe-today-frederiksen-on-track-to-remain-danish-pm-as-tensions-mount-over-hungary-leaks
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
Category
🗞
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 US-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 UN 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.
00:58But first, Denmark, the EU member state known for Lego, Higge and its opt-out from the Euro
01:03held snap elections just yesterday. Incumbent centre-left Prime Minister Meza 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. Meza Friedrichsen called the vote earlier than expected due to her surge
01:21in popularity over her handling of the US President's threat to annex Greenland, an autonomous Danish
01:27territory. But Denmark now faces weeks of coalition talks on elections that, as I said, saw voters
01:32called earlier to the polls. For the latest, we can bring in Benny Engelbrecht, Danish politician
01:37and a member of the Prime Minister's Social Democratic Party. Good morning, Benny. Thank you so much
01:42for joining us. Let's just first together take a look at the actual results of that election. We
01:49saw the Socialists coming out with 21.9 percent, the Green left with 11.6 percent and the Liberals
01:56at 10.1 percent. So we see the Socialists there. You're holding on to power just a bit, but this
02:00was not the outcome that you wanted. No, definitely not. Everyone, of course, would like to see a
02:07better result than we got. On the other hand, the three parties in the broad-based coalition,
02:12a government that has been ruling for the past three and a half years, well, all suffered. So I
02:19think this is a general concept that you see all across, especially in Europe at these times, that
02:26the parties that take responsibility in government also lose a bit of a vote on voting days. And
02:37well, 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 percent. So it will be really difficult
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 or
03:22after Easter. We'll see actual talks. So it's a bit difficult. And setting the test that there's a
03:31war in the Middle East and Donald Trump still wants Greenland, it will, well, of course, there will,
03:38we 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, has been, of course,
03:54the majority of the discussions, but it has been more to do with clean water, for example.
04:02Okay, Benny and Vibret, 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.
04:17But ahead of the key votes, a major scandal has hit the Hungarian government regarding alleged
04:22leaks of 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,
04:44and 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 Siarto,
04:57spent years stepping out of confidential EU meetings to directly phone Russian officials.
05:03And one security official stated that Moscow has basically been behind the table of every EU meeting for years.
05:11The European Commission wants answers, but orders are not so shocked.
05:16Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk admitted long-standing suspicions,
05:20revealing he strictly limits what he says out loud during these talks.
05:25And Budapest is not hiding their connections.
05:27Syarto has visited Moscow 16 times since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
05:35Meanwhile, Hungary is actively blocking a 90 billion EU loan for Kiev.
05:39In an unexpected burst of honesty,
05:42Syarto admitted calling Russian officials before and after key EU meetings.
05:47He claims he also speaks to American, Turkish and Israeli officials,
05:52arguing this is just diplomacy.
05:55However, this is the same minister who was awarded Russia's order of friendship
05:59a year before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
06:03And 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.
06:14Please disperse!
06:16Nothing to see here!
06:18Huh, it's quite funny, but it's just a pity.
06:21All 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.
06:34So who is laughing now?
06:40And for more on this story, we're joined here on set by Euronews' EU editor, Maria Tadeo.
06:44Good morning, Maria.
06:45So just fill us in.
06:46What is the latest now?
06:47Well, look, Maeve, this is a scandal that continues.
06:50And of course, at the core of it is allegations, very serious allegations that Hungary shared private EU information with
06:57Russia.
06:58But we need to get the timeline right.
07:00Because of course, over the weekend, this all started with a newspaper report, the Washington Post,
07:05which cited a European security source that suggested that the Hungarian foreign minister in particular would share information almost in
07:13real time with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.
07:16This report also said that in some situations, he even spoke to him during breaks of meetings.
07:22So as I say, the allegations are extremely serious.
07:25Now, initially, the Hungarian foreign minister, Ciarto, said that this was all fake.
07:30He said it is fake news and that this was not true.
07:33Then, of course, on the Monday, a transcript of a call allegedly between the Hungarian foreign minister and the Russian
07:39foreign 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 and that
07:49is a part of diplomacy.
07:51Yesterday in comments to Euronews, which I want to read out to you and hopefully we can put up on
07:56the board,
07:57the Hungarian foreign ministry said that they talked to Russia, the Americans, the Turks, Serbia,
08:02and therefore it is completely normal that we consult with these countries if necessary before and after the meetings.
08:08So now he is talking about before and after EU meetings, about the consequences of those decisions.
08:14So you see how the timeline has now changed from his total fake news to this is part of normal
08:19diplomacy.
08:20Having said that, we should know that Russia is not just any country for the EU.
08:25Russia is heavily sanctioned by the EU because of the invasion of Ukraine.
08:29Increasingly, a number of EU countries consider it a hostile country to the EU, certainly a security risk for the
08:36European Union.
08:37And none of the countries represented across the board in EU meetings have given their consent.
08:43So the private information, which is supposed to be confidential under the principle of sincere cooperation, be shared with Russia.
08:50So this is far from normal. If anything, the position of the Hungarians is a total anomaly.
08:54And 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.
09:01Yesterday, the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the behavior of the Hungarian foreign minister is, quote, a disgrace.
09:08He also repeated a line that he said over the weekend.
09:11He 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.
09:18And therefore, that's why Poland is very cautious about the information it shares.
09:22And also introduced a new element that goes beyond the EU to now focus on NATO, saying that there were
09:28concerns going all the way back to 2019 that Hungary is also providing information related to NATO.
09:34And this is delegate because, of course, you're talking about core security.
09:38Let's take a look.
09:41As early as 2019, as I recall correctly, Lithuania requested that the Hungarian delegation should be excluded from meetings at
09:51NATO.
09:51They informed that they suspect the Hungarian delegation to pass highly confidential information to Moscow.
10:01So that is, of course, the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who said, again, the behavior from Hungary is, quote,
10:08a disgrace.
10:09NATO matters because here you're talking about core security capabilities, incredibly sensitive.
10:13I should also note just very briefly, the Polish government is also using this to tackle the Polish president, Nawrowski,
10:21who went to Hungary this week to celebrate the Polish-Hungarian friendship.
10:26What the Polish government says, of course, is that this shows poor judgment on behalf of the Polish president, who
10:32yesterday is getting a lot of heat on this, repeated that nothing has changed.
10:35The position of Poland remains that Vladimir Putin is, quote, a war criminal.
10:40And meanwhile, what can Brussels do?
10:41What can Commission do?
10:42Well, that's a very good question.
10:44It's a question that I put to sources yesterday.
10:46Some of them told me, look, this is a scandal.
10:48It's outrageous.
10:49It's unacceptable.
10:50But also said, color me shocked, color me surprised.
10:54There's been concerns for years now that when you talk to the Hungarians, you're not just talking to the Hungarian
10:59authorities.
11:00A diplomat told me, this is why we've switched to the way that we work.
11:03Increasingly, there's a coalition of the winnings.
11:05So countries that get together that do not include Hungary to talk about security.
11:10There's also now a question about should the format of meetings be changed?
11:14Sometimes phones do get taken in.
11:16There is restrictive format.
11:17But this is not always applied into every meeting.
11:20And we've seen that the head of the European diplomacy, Kaya Kalis, is now demanding an answer from the Hungarians,
11:26saying, did you share or not information, whether it was before or after?
11:30The point we need to stress is that none of the EU 26 countries around the table consented to this
11:36information being shared with Russia in any way, shape or form.
11:40And this is certainly going to now prompt a conversation around how do you deal with a country like Hungary?
11:45And is there a different way in which sensitive information should be shared across the EU institutions?
11:51As I said, it doesn't come as a surprise, but it now highlights what many member states have now said
11:56has become a core problem,
11:57which is the use and the sharing of confidential information related to EU fundamental matters like foreign policy and security.
12:04OK, Maria Stale, thank you so much for that very comprehensive update.
12:08We'll keep an eye on yournews.com for your reporting.
12:10But now moving on, the war in Iran is still escalating, despite claims from President Trump that peace talks were
12:17imminent.
12:18On the one hand, the Pentagon has ordered about 2,000 soldiers to be deployed to the Middle East.
12:23But on the other hand, the US has sent Iran a 15 point plan to end the war in the
12:27region.
12:28Meanwhile, Pakistan has offered to host talks between the US, Israel and Iran to try to end the war.
12:33For more, we can cross now to Dubai, where our regional correspondent Jane Witherspoon is standing by for us this
12:39morning.
12:40Jane, any hope of diplomacy here?
12:42We 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 right people.
12:54He's also alluded very cryptically to a very big present in the way of oil and gas being gifted from
13:03Tehran.
13:03Now, as you mentioned, several media agencies are reporting on that 15 point plan that has apparently been given to
13:10Iran from the US via Pakistan.
13:12However, Iranian officials are still denying that these talks are even taking place.
13:18Now, in Doha yesterday, there was a Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefing where the authorities said they will not be
13:24mediating these talks as they're too busy protecting and defending their country.
13:30They did say, however, Iran has been here for millennia.
13:33Countries need to live and work together.
13:35And it's now really up to Iran to reinforce that trust across the region.
13:41And meanwhile, Jade, what is the general mood there?
13:43Is still daily life very much disrupted?
13:47Well, yes, I must say that the attacks are still continuing, however, they have dropped a little bit.
13:53It feels a little bit calmer.
13:55However, overnight, we are having the military jets patrolling through the night.
13:59It feels like every five minutes.
14:01Now, across the wider region, of course, Lebanon is...
14:06OK, apologies to our viewers there for that technical difficulty.
14:09But as you heard there, Jane Witherspoon reporting for us there from Dubai, alluding to the atrocities in Lebanon.
14:15Well, on that point of Lebanon, coming up, we'll be joined by Barham Saleh, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
14:22A refugee himself who fled as a young Kurd from repression in Iraq.
14:27He spent years and years in exile, but then one day actually became the president of Iraq back in 2018,
14:34a position he held until 2022.
14:37Welcome, sir. Pleasure to have you here with us.
14:39Thank you for having me.
14:40So just describe the situation on the ground in Lebanon.
14:44It's a very dire situation.
14:46More than a million people have already been displaced and it's in very, very harsh conditions.
14:51Our teams are working to deliver assistance and in that regard, I have to say, EU has been generous to
14:58providing two jets of supplies, also the government of Italy as well as Irish aid.
15:05But we need more.
15:06Indeed, the European Union has been sending millions in aid, but whereas the European Union has no say here in
15:11how this war will play out, how bad will the situation get in Lebanon, in your view?
15:15I hope this thing will be put behind us before long because we need peace.
15:21This conflict has gone on already for far too long.
15:23It's highly destabilizing.
15:25It is escalating.
15:27And I have to say also human lives are at stake.
15:31The impact on civilians across the region is phenomenal, is profound.
15:36We already, as I said, about a million people have been internally displaced in Lebanon.
15:41Nearly 600,000 to a million households in Iran have been displaced.
15:47Of course, there has been significant population movements in the Gulf, not to mention Iraq that has been subject to
15:55terrible attacks, including yesterday in the Kurdistan region.
15:58And the civilians across the region, in Israel, in Lebanon, in the Gulf, in Iran, are being affected in a
16:07profound way.
16:08And in that context also, this conflict is spilling beyond the region, immediate region.
16:13We are seeing a lot of Afghan refugees in Iran and in Pakistan are being forced to go back under
16:20adverse conditions to Afghanistan.
16:22All of this combined is really presenting us with a terrible humanitarian challenge.
16:28Pakistan have offered to mediate here.
16:30Any hope in those?
16:31Let's hope that this will lead to some useful, tangible peace arrangement.
16:37This region needs peace.
16:38This conflict cannot go on like this, destabilizing and impacting human lives across the region.
16:45And I hope that we need a durable and just peace that will not put us in a place where
16:51six months from now, over a year from now, we will have another recurrence of this type of things.
16:56This region cannot afford these cycles of violence.
16:58And you described so many people on the move in the region.
17:01Should Europe prepare for potential waves coming here?
17:03At the moment, most of the displacement is within the countries.
17:07Our teams at UNSCR are already monitoring the situation very closely.
17:11There is no significant movements across the borders.
17:14Beyond that, what I spoke about in Afghanistan, that people from Iran, Afghani refugees in Iran,
17:19and Pakistan to a degree are being sent back or encouraged to go back or push back.
17:25But across the borders, we do not see that.
17:28We are also seeing, in order to put things in proper context, a large number, nearly 130,000 Syrian refugees
17:36who were resident in Lebanon have gone back into Syria.
17:39I would not call that voluntary returns per se.
17:42They are returning under adverse conditions.
17:45But in order to put the picture complete, our teams are looking at that situation.
17:49And I hope the world as a whole, we will be paying enough attention to bring this situation under control,
17:55to lead to a peace that will be lasting and basically rooted in the protection of interests of the peoples
18:02of the region,
18:03respectful of the dignity and the rights of the peoples across that region.
18:07This region has seen too many wars and too many cycles of conflict.
18:11So what would your message then be to President Trump, who doesn't really seem to have a plan here?
18:14Well, the message is peace.
18:17The message is de-escalation and dialogue.
18:19We have to be emphatic about this.
18:22And what about his Board of Peace?
18:23The Board of Peace has already been very active in Gaza.
18:27And thank God the active conflict in Gaza has been brought to an end at least for a while.
18:34And let's hope that it will deliver something tangible for the people of Gaza and the region as a whole.
18:38So, OK, Barham Salih, thank you so much, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
18:42Thank you so much for coming in to us here on Euronews.
18:45And thank you so much for watching.
18:47That brings this edition of Europe Today to an end.
18:49Stay with us here on Euronews for more news coming up.
18:52And visit Euronews.com for more comprehensive details on all the stories we're covering for you.
18:56Take care and see you soon on Euronews.
19:06Euronews.
Comments