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03:43Hier, let's take a listen
03:45summit taking place in June
03:46There's a bit of controversy here
03:48though about South Africa's
03:50participation, it looks like they
03:51won't be invited now
03:52Yes, there was a lot of pressure from
03:54the US on French which is presiding
03:56the G7 to boycott South Africa
03:59so clearly these are accusations from
04:02Donald Trump about mistreatment of
04:04white farmers in South Africa
04:07also Trump is very angry at South
04:09Africa because of Gaza, they have
04:11filed a legal complaint for crimes
04:12against humanity, against Israel
04:15so these are part of the conflict
04:19that there is which is basically
04:20between US and South Africa but it
04:22shows you that geopolitics are not
04:24just about decision, it's about who
04:26sits at the table
04:27Indeed, Maida Lubum, thank you so
04:30much for that update, we'll of
04:31course keep a very close eye on
04:33those meetings today but in case
04:34you're sitting there and actually
04:35wondering what exactly is this G7
04:38forum and what it aspires to
04:39achieve, you're not the only one
04:41Jakob Janis takes a look
04:56started to wonder what exactly is this
04:59group doing and does it still have the
05:01power to fix global crises
05:04The Group of Seven is an exclusive
05:07informal club made up of the United
05:09States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy,
05:13Japan and the United Kingdom alongside
05:15the EU and they have immense economic
05:19gravity when the G7 unifies on freezing
05:22assets or setting global taxes the rest of
05:25the world listens and usually adapts and as
05:28they meet today they will discuss
05:30ceasefire plans in Gaza securing
05:32maritime passage in the Strait of
05:34Hormuz backing Ukraine and adding more
05:37sanctions on Russia's Shadow Fleet and it
05:40all feels like history is repeating
05:42itself after all the G7 was created on
05:45the French initiative following the 1970s
05:48oil crisis and it all sounds nice but
05:51you might be wondering does it actually
05:54have power and the answer depends on how we
05:56define it the G7 cannot pass binding
06:00international laws and it has no
06:02combined military every pledge relies
06:05entirely on leaders keeping their
06:06promises back home but not everything is so
06:09sweet as it faces structural limits by
06:13limiting its membership to traditional
06:15Western powers it does overlook the global
06:18South and the rapid expansion of BRICS plus
06:21so a coalition of emerging economies proves
06:24the G7 is no longer the only heavyweight in
06:27the international affairs and as Donald
06:30Trump pushes to make global policy
06:32entirely by himself the G7 might seem like
06:36a relic however it stands as a major
06:38attempt to keep the world's biggest
06:40democracies working together rather than
06:50and as those talks get underway today President
06:53Trump has said he will delay attacks on Iran's
06:56energy infrastructure until the 6th of April
06:58he claims that talks with Iran on a peace deal
07:01are going quote very well but the Iranian regime
07:03has said it has doubts about Washington's
07:05willingness to negotiate to find out exactly
07:08what is the Iranian counter ceasefire plan we can
07:11cross now to Euronews' newsroom in Lyon and bring
07:13in our Babak Kamir that's the head of our
07:15Persian news service good morning Babak just
07:18tell us the Iranian regime so far is rejecting
07:20President Trump's plans to talk so what
07:23exactly is their proposal
07:26listen what we know about Iran's plan largely
07:29comes from Iranian media reports it includes
07:32several key demands the withdrawal of US troops
07:36from the Middle East guarantees against any further
07:39strikes on Iran compensation for damages and
07:43recognition of Iran's missile program at the
07:46same time Tehran has dismissed proposal from
07:49Trump describing them as an unrealistic list of
07:53demands in reality both sides are putting forward
07:57conditions that the other is highly unlikely to
08:00accept from Iran's perspective giving up core
08:04elements such as its missile program would go
08:08directly against the Islamic Republic's strategic doctrine
08:12in fact accepting such terms could fundamentally undermine
08:16the system itself something Trump has at time hinted at in the context of
08:22regime change we are also seeing mixed signals on the one hand Trump has extended his deadline and
08:30posed the potential strike for another ten days on the other there are credible reports of increased US military deployment
08:37in the region the gap between the two sides remains extremely wide even ten weeks not just ten days would
08:45likely not be enough to bridge it so while some of this may still be signaling or a strategic bluffing
08:54the overall picture is clear the positions remain fundamentally incompatible and the risk of escalation is not only real it
09:03may be increasing.
09:05Okay. Bye-bye. Thank you so much for that update there from your news Leon now Lebanon was drawn into
09:12this war in early March when Tehran backed Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel and Israel fired back.
09:19The Lebanese cabinet has now said that Israel is quote threatening Lebanon's sovereignty and will file a complaint with the
09:25Security Council in this regard.
09:27The humanitarian impact in just a couple of weeks has been devastating with over one million displaced in Lebanon and
09:33many many dead.
09:35For the view now from Lebanon coming up we'll be joined by Ghassan Salami a huge academic and political figure
09:42in Lebanon currently serving as the Minister of Culture since February 2025.
09:47Good morning Minister. Thank you so much for joining us here on Euronews.
09:51Thank you very much.
09:53Just first question. How severe is the situation in southern Lebanon especially right now?
09:59Well I think I agree with the Associated Press qualification of what is happening.
10:04Yesterday AP has shifted from something quite vague into saying exactly that it's an invasion.
10:12I used to say it's a creeping action by the Israeli military and I say since yesterday it's now an
10:19invasion.
10:20And Israel is saying clearly that it wants to create a buffer zone in South Lebanon.
10:25Are you fearing now a land grab? We've even heard one far-right Israeli minister calling for annexation.
10:31Yes, that's true. We take seriously all these statements.
10:35I take seriously what Smotrich said that he wants to occupy and annex all the areas south of the Litani.
10:42I take even more seriously what Katz, the Minister of Defence, said that he wants to have a buffer zone
10:48until the Litani.
10:50The problem is the following.
10:52There is a long history of Israel with buffer zones.
10:55They had a buffer zone in South Lebanon for 22 years until the year 2000 when they withdrew and said
11:01we don't need it anymore.
11:03It is doing harm to us more than it is doing any good.
11:07But now the new form of buffer zone they are trying to implement on the ground is very different.
11:17Wherever they go, they don't leave any civilian, they don't leave any house, they don't leave any possibility for civilians
11:25to go back to houses because they are absolutely destroying all the villages.
11:3134 of them have been destroyed and therefore what they are, the new concept of the buffer zone is a
11:39much more radical one, much more damaging to the civilian population.
11:44And tell me, how are you supporting, how is your government supporting civilian populations?
11:48Are you encouraging people to stay in areas that are under attack or should they flee?
11:53And do you have enough support for these people on the ground?
11:56It is very difficult to support them because very often ambulances are hit, relief tracks are hit, etc.
12:05So, no, we leave it to them to decide what they do.
12:09But whenever they move from their homes, we take care of them.
12:13And that's why we have now more than 700 shelters across the country where they are received and properly treated.
12:22And I am going immediately after this interview to visit three or four of these shelters in the outskirts of
12:30Beirut.
12:30We take care of them and I should say that the flow of international aid is starting to come and
12:40to help us by sea and by air.
12:43And we have put in place a service of very rapid distribution.
12:47Once we get any help, it goes almost the same day to those who need it.
12:54We have now more than 1,100,000 people.
12:59That's one out of five Lebanese who has been displaced.
13:03And some, I would say, 17 or 18 percent of them live in these shelters.
13:09And any hopes for talks with the Israelis to bring an end to this?
13:13We offer.
13:13We offer.
13:14The president of the republic offered negotiating with Israel.
13:17We didn't have the proper answer so far.
13:20And we haven't been able to encourage possible mediators to put enough pressure on Israel to answer to our proposal.
13:34But the proposal was officially made by the president three weeks ago.
13:38And even if there is a ceasefire eventually between the U.S., Israel and Iran to end the war,
13:43to what extent could Lebanon just be left to be destroyed?
13:47It can be left to be destroyed.
13:49We need to, here we are, navigating very, very prudently between two possible scenarios we don't like.
13:58One, that there is a ceasefire in the Gulf, although I don't see it right now.
14:03I don't see it, but this is another story.
14:05But suppose you have a ceasefire in the Gulf and Lebanon is left to itself to be destroyed entirely by
14:12the Israelis.
14:13This is one horrible scenario.
14:15The other, no less horrible scenario is that Lebanon is one item on somebody else's agenda to negotiate.
14:23We don't want anybody to negotiate for us because we know that it will be a serious violation of our
14:31sovereignty.
14:32Okay. Minister Salami, thank you so much for speaking to us here this morning on your news.
14:37Thank you for inviting me.
14:38Take care.
14:38Thank you.
14:39Now, of course, although the world's focus is very much on Iran, the threat of Russia is still Europe's number
14:45one concern.
14:46But the two wars are very much interrelated.
14:49And if hostilities continue in the Middle East, there are fears for NATO's ability to deal with so much widespread
14:55conflict.
14:56NATO allies have been meeting in Helsinki, Finland, to discuss all this.
15:00And that is exactly where our NATO correspondent, Shona Murray, finds herself as well this morning.
15:04So good morning, Shona.
15:05Thanks so much for joining us.
15:06Just tell us, how is Europe addressing security matters amidst the war in the Middle East?
15:13Well, Maeve, as we heard from NATO yesterday, Russia remains the biggest threat to European security.
15:18But as you mentioned there, these wars are very much intertwined.
15:21And we've had reports over the past few days that apparently a crucial military equipment destined for Ukraine from the
15:28United States could be diverted to Iran as the war in Iran grinds on.
15:32Now, NATO has said this isn't the case, that that material is still flowing to Ukraine, particularly interceptors.
15:37But I heard from someone this morning who said this is probably inevitable, that this may happen.
15:42In addition to that, here in Helsinki, we had the leaders of the Baltics and the Arctic countries, in particular
15:47the Prime Minister of Norway and President Shubh of Finland,
15:50saying yesterday, repeating the mantra that the war in Iran is not NATO's war, NATO is a defensive organisation.
15:56Now, that's problematic because if you see what Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State last night, said on the
16:02way to the G7,
16:03he said, well, in actual fact, Ukraine is in the United States' war, so we'll have to take that into
16:07account.
16:08So there could be some conflict here.
16:10But for now, in Helsinki, I'm joined by Valérie Ayer, a French MEP and leader of the Renew Group in
16:15the European Parliament.
16:16Valérie, for how long do you think NATO can stay out of the war in Iran?
16:23Let's be clear, this is not our war.
16:25And a shift of attention on Ukraine would be a huge mistake.
16:30Europe's security is Ukraine's security, and Ukraine's security is Europe's security.
16:35Russia is the first threat for us, and that's why you have to be fully committed and to empower ourselves.
16:43But what we heard from Marco Rubio, the Secretary General of NATO, yesterday, was that, well, the United States is
16:49really helping in this war with Ukraine and Russia because of the negotiations at the table.
16:54Now Marco Rubio is saying, if you don't help us in Iran, we won't help you with Ukraine and Russia
16:59anymore.
16:59Ukraine is not a bargaining chip, and this is not Iran's war, it's not our war.
17:04We stand here today in Finland.
17:07This is the longest border between the EU and Russia.
17:11We have to defend Finland, we have to defend Ukraine, we have to defend the EU, and this is our
17:16top priority, and it remains.
17:18But France and the UK and several other countries are part of a sort of a joint coalition to maybe
17:24re-secure the Strait of Ormos.
17:26Now they say it's when the hostilities end, but they're part of that.
17:30Do you think that maybe the Europeans will need to put their shoulders to the wheel, help the Americans in
17:35order to get some payback for Ukraine?
17:38This is not a question on helping the Americans.
17:40This is a question of securising the Hormuz path to make sure that energy issues are not so harmful for
17:49Europe.
17:50But do you think that the Europeans can do anything realistically anyway in the Strait of Ormos, despite the fact
17:54that, of course, the European economies are really suffering?
17:58As I said, this is a question of energy security.
18:00Also, what we have done until now at the European level is also to move on in environmental transitions.
18:08What this question, this war shows us is our weakness.
18:14We are too dependent on fossil fuels, so we have to move on and to be more independent.
18:19And the point you made there, obviously, we're in Helsinki, which has the largest border with inside NATO with Russia
18:24and a country that's very much leading the way when it comes to preparedness.
18:28Thank you very much, Valerie Ayer, for that this morning.
18:30And back to you, Maeve.
18:31Thank you so much, Shona, for that update.
18:33And, of course, to your guest there, Valerie Ayer, in what looks like a very windy, chilly Helsinki.
18:39Well, thank you so much now for tuning into us here on Europe Today.
18:42That brings this edition to an end.
18:44Thank you so much for your company.
18:46As always, if you need any more context, news and analysis, please do visit eurinews.com.
18:51You can also download our app and you can join us on any of our social media sites and send
18:56us direct messages if you want to get involved in the conversation.
18:59Take care and see you very soon here on Euronews.
19:37Take care and see you very soon.
19:52Take care and see you very soon.
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