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NewsTranscript
00:00Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
00:33Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
01:03Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
01:30A French and British-led coalition of around 40 mainly NATO countries is meeting today and is expected to announce
01:38a solution aimed at securing the Strait of Hormuz.
01:41Military planners have been working on the plans for weeks.
01:44To explain more, our NATO correspondent, Shauna Murray, joins me here in the studio. Good to have you back, Shauna.
01:50Tell us first, these talks happening today in Paris and online, what can we expect?
01:55Well, the expectation is that this coalition will deliver a broad shape of an outline to reopen the Strait of
02:00Hormuz when the conflict ends.
02:03Now, they're saying that this is very much going to be a defensive operation.
02:06They will not be party to the conflict.
02:08But the idea is that they will send vessels, frigates, demining operations, personnel, radars, intelligence to the region to be
02:16ready to then kickstart the reopening of the Strait when the hostilities come to a cease.
02:21Now, there's obviously huge risks in that because we don't know when this war is going to end.
02:25But the reason why this plan needs to happen today, or at least the outline needs to be in place,
02:31is because Donald Trump has been putting huge pressure on NATO allies,
02:34saying that they never came to his aid and he's obviously threatened the alliance.
02:38And even this week, he went on U.S. TV saying the Strait of Hormuz is already open.
02:42Ships are coming back and forth. We're doing it, which is not really the case.
02:46But anyway, he says our country should not be paying trillions of dollars to NATO once again, threatening the future
02:52of the alliance.
02:53So this is a very important day.
02:54And Shauna, we also saw reports overnight that the U.S. has told its European allies to expect delays in
03:01the delivery of weapons, weapons that were previously approved by the U.S.
03:05Tell us more.
03:05This is something that allies have feared since the very beginning of this war and the fact that this war
03:10is now dragging out.
03:12NATO allies have purchased equipment, such as interceptors and so on, from the United States to be used in Ukraine
03:19through the prioritised Ukraine requirements list at NATO.
03:23Now they're hearing that that equipment won't get to Ukraine.
03:26So that's hugely problematic for Europe's defence, for the NATO defence and, of course, for the Ukrainians.
03:31And it was something that actually has been expected.
03:34But we know that Ursula von der Leyen had a meeting with Mark Ruchte, the Secretary General of NATO, this
03:39week, as well as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, Alexis Grinkovic.
03:42And they relayed this to her and said that Europe needs to once again step up its defence industrial base
03:48even more than before.
03:49And I spoke to a NATO source last night who said to me, look, there's only so much equipment to
03:53go around.
03:54And that's why the defence industrial base is so important.
03:57So this is a very tricky situation now for Europe, not just from an economic perspective, but now for the
04:02defence of the continent.
04:03Indeed, Shauna, thank you so much for that very comprehensive update.
04:07We'll keep an eye on your reporting, of course, throughout the day.
04:09Now, the UN Development Programme says ongoing military escalation in the Middle East could push 30 million people into poverty
04:17worldwide.
04:18Our reporter, Lauren Walker, spoke to the agency's administrator, Alexander de Croix, who, of course, was formerly the Prime Minister
04:26of Belgium.
04:26She started by asking him about the global spillover effects of the conflict.
04:32The impact goes way beyond the region.
04:35For example, Sub-Saharan Africa is severely impacted by what is going on in the region.
04:43Small island states, for example, in the Pacific, you start to have a few islands that just don't have enough
04:49fuel anymore.
04:50So the impact of the war and the blockade that is linked to it has a deep impact.
04:57And it shows that war is development in reverse.
05:02It takes decades to lift people out of poverty.
05:06It takes six weeks of war to push them back into poverty.
05:10Are you confident that a diplomatic solution can be found between the U.S. and Iran?
05:14Am I confident?
05:16I have no crystal ball.
05:18Am I hopeful?
05:19Yes.
05:19And that, of course, is the first measure, is to stop the war or at least come to some type
05:26of normalization of the shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz.
05:31But even if the war would stop today, you will need economic interventions to avoid that whole countries and whole
05:40populations are being pushed back in poverty in a structural way.
05:44Yeah, it's macroeconomic interventions that international financial institutions can do on, for example, providing targeted and time-limited cash-outs
05:56to populations who are impacted or providing free access to fuel, cooking gas, and so on.
06:07If you don't do these targeted, timely macroeconomic interventions, you will have many more ripple effects.
06:15And we have not talked about the ripple effects of poverty, of food insecurity.
06:22That could lead to additional conflicts.
06:24That could lead to more displacement and migration flows.
06:28That could lead to other types of extremism.
06:31And you're obviously part of the UN, an institution which has been heavily criticized recently by the US president, for
06:39example.
06:40There are fears that his Board of Peace could replace it.
06:44What does the UN bring to the table in this geopolitical context that we're facing now?
06:49We have multiple UN organizations that, despite the criticism, and I'm not deaf for the criticism, are very, very much
06:59appreciated by the populations with whom we work.
07:03Now, the key element for us is to have access.
07:08For example, in Gaza, which is a really desolate place these days, more than 85% of people have lost
07:16their homes and are living in the middle of the rubble in tents that are not even worth the name
07:22of being a tent.
07:24We can help many more people.
07:25We can provide way more assistance, but we're not getting the access.
07:29My attitude would be, game on, let us show what we're capable of, but then also give us room to
07:36do so.
07:37For the moment, there's no access for UN organizations, but no one else is doing it.
07:44I'm open to work together with the Board of Peace.
07:47I think the Board of Peace is based on a Security Council resolution.
07:51It has helped in bringing a ceasefire or the diminishment of fire in Gaza.
07:58These are good things.
07:59I mean, these are realizations of the U.S. administration.
08:03But now we need to move into the next phase, and moving into that next phase really is urgent in
08:09helping people to reconstruct their lives.
08:14Lauren Walker speaking to Alexander de Croix there.
08:17Moving on now, because an EU delegation is expected in Budapest later today to meet with the team of the
08:23incoming Prime Minister, Peter Magyar.
08:26For more, we can cross over now to Budapest and bring in our correspondent, Sultan Shiboshegi, who is standing by
08:33for us there.
08:34Good morning, Sultan. Great to have you on the show.
08:36Can you first run us through what we're expecting from these technical talks between Brussels and Magyar's team today?
08:44Good morning, Europe Today. Thank you for having me.
08:47Yeah, today, finally, it's going to happen, because originally this delegation was planned for yesterday, but they postponed it.
08:53It's going to be a really important one, because Peter's Magyar key campaign pledge was to restore Hungary's ties with
08:59the EU and unblock billions in funding that had been withheld over rule of law and corruption concerns.
09:05The recovery funds question is particularly urgent. Hungary stands to lose nearly 10 billion euros if payments are not disbursed
09:14before the end of August.
09:15On Monday, Magyar outlined the four-step plan to meet the conditions for accessing the funds, including join the European
09:22Public Persecutor's Office, restoring judicial independence and safeguarding economic freedom.
09:29Peter Magyar has already spoken twice with the European Commissioner-President Ursula von der Leyen, who plashed her support.
09:35But this is not just the only item what will appear on Friday's agenda.
09:39Hungary is currently withholding the EU's 90 billion euros aid package to Ukraine after the leaving PM Viktor Orban blocked
09:48the previously agreed decision at the March EU summit.
09:51For sure, the delegation will try to convince Peter Magyar, even though we had it opt out.
09:59Okay, Sultan, thank you so much for that update. And we'll keep an eye, of course, on those talks happening
10:04in Budapest today.
10:06Moving on now to Barcelona, where the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is hosting a raft of left-wing world
10:13leaders, including the presidents of Brazil, Colombia and South Africa.
10:17Our EU editor, Maria Taveo, is there for us and, just before the show, sent us this update.
10:25Well, good morning indeed, Marit. We are in Barcelona, where the Spanish government is hosting a convention today and tomorrow,
10:32bringing together heads of states, intellectuals and activists of what it calls the progressive social democratic world.
10:40In a way, you could argue this is the opposite, the complete opposite of the CPAC convention, led in multiple
10:47occasions by President Trump.
10:49And, of course, it's not a secret that the Spanish Prime Minister and President Trump have clashed on pretty much
10:55every subject,
10:56including the war in Iran, which this country, Spain, says is completely illegal and will set the region on fire.
11:03Now, in terms of today, I spoke with Teresa Rivera. She is the Executive Vice President of the European Commission,
11:09also a former minister in the Spanish government. And I began by asking her in our interview,
11:15why is it that the world needs progressive ideas, but also has the European left lost the working class
11:22because of a disconnect between their vision and their needs? Let's take a look.
11:29My conviction is that we need to think on how to solve the problems. So it is not against anyone,
11:35but to be fair and solid on the type of responses that we are proposing and that we are playing
11:40and walking the path.
11:42So I could not say. Obviously, there is a political view that is pretty different from those political views
11:50being supported by the most conservative voices. But the main intention is to say what we want.
12:00That probably provides a different view of the things that others do want.
12:05But since you talk about the idea of progressive Europe, some would say the left has lost the European working
12:12class
12:12because it doesn't have the right priorities, because it has put forward an energy.
12:17I wonder, is this also a moment where the left needs to do a form of soul-searching too?
12:22On the contrary, I have the impression that climate action is providing opportunities to people
12:29that could feel the harm, the penalties of not taking climate action. Energy transition means counting on
12:39sources of energy that do not create additional problems and that allow people to have lower bills.
12:44So it is part of the discussion that has been distorted in purpose to prevent action in those
12:51areas that could help people to do things and to count on the high quality of life.
12:57Over the weekend, there was a very important election in Hungary in which the Hungarians voted for change.
13:03Prime Minister Viktor Orban will be leaving office after 16 years. He was obviously a big ally
13:08of President Trump in Europe. I wonder, what does that election, that result, that call for change,
13:15say to you when it comes to Europe at this stage?
13:21We've seen that Hungarians, they decide that they wanted to be Europeans, that they wanted to fight for
13:27the rights, that they thought that this was important in terms of democracy. And they decided to vote
13:33massively, massively, massively. It was not a tight election. It was very clear.
13:39So I think that it shows to what extent this narrative against Europe, against working together,
13:46against being united, against the defense of the civil rights and the integration is not something that can
13:52win in the middle long run. On the contrary, it probably exposes the limitations and the harm
14:00that people could feel in the absence of these joint forces, joint efforts of the European nations to
14:08develop the European program.
14:10Just a final point on this. There's been reports now that the Commission and obviously this now touches the
14:14core of your portfolio. This is a massive job that you have when it comes to the competition laws
14:19in the EU. And these reports suggest that there is now a plan to massively dilute some of the
14:26regulation to allow for mergers to create major European champions. Is that the case? Are you
14:32preparing for this? We are entering into the last phase to adopt an updated version of our merger
14:39guidelines. So we have already a very sound draft. After having hurt everybody, we know that we need to
14:45update our reality to today's economy. But that doesn't mean forgetting the core bulk of our mission,
14:54which is protecting consumers from abuses of dominance. So this means that we may take into
15:00consideration innovation, long-term sustainability, resilience. This means that we need to be ready to
15:08understand the global context and the impact in the national and the domestic economy. But this doesn't
15:14mean forgetting about the importance of keeping the level playing field.
15:18So you're not, just as a final question on this, because it's important, so you're not preparing
15:24major deregulation to allow companies to come together? Of course not. That is not in the pipeline?
15:27No, no, no, of course not. And I say this because you have said in the past that too much
15:30simplification at times has made things confusing. So your fundamentals is still to say deregulation would
15:36be bad for the EU. This is not a product to deregulate. This is a product to modernize and to
15:46be
15:46transparent of the criteria that we will be using to assess when the merger is pro-competitive and
15:52provides positive effects to the economy and when it is a real risk and it is not proven that the
16:00operation does not comply with what it is being said, either if it is innovation or sustainability.
16:08So I think that it allows much more innovation and much more security for all. But at the very same
16:14time, it is quite clear that we will remain defending the interests of the consumers and not accepting
16:20whatever as a blank check.
16:24That was Maria Tadeo speaking to the European Commission Vice President Teresa Ribeira.
16:29Now, there's another major election coming up in Europe this weekend. On Sunday,
16:35Bulgarians will head to the polls once again after a series of elections that have failed
16:41to break a persisting political deadlock. Our Jakob Yanis explains what's at stake.
16:49Bulgaria heads to the polls this Sunday for its eighth parliamentary election in five years.
16:54The country is the poorest in the European Union and the electorate is exhausted by a prolonged
16:59political crisis. And on paper, Bulgaria is a recent European success story, having finally adopted
17:05the Euro on the 1st of January and joined Schengen. But there is a big Euro hangover. On the ground,
17:12citizens feel impoverished and ignored by the political class. So who is stepping in to fill the void?
17:21This profound frustration has set the stage for a bitter showdown between two major figures.
17:26One side is Borko Borisov. He is the veteran center-right leader of the GERB party. While firmly
17:33pro-European, his decade in power was plagued by scandals, making him the symbol of the entrenched
17:39establishment. Facing him is Ruman Radev, the left-leaning former president, who sensationally
17:46resigned in January to run for prime minister. And Radev is riding a wave of populist anger,
17:52campaigning to dismantle the oligarchy. But his vocal opposition to military aid for Ukraine
17:58and softer stance on Moscow have left Western allies alarmed. And although polls show Radev leading
18:05bodies of 31 to 21%, neither is close to a majority, leaving the winner to inevitably cobble
18:12together a complicated coalition. And the battle for control is fierce. Just weeks before the vote,
18:20authorities detained over 200 people for electoral coercion. And the tactics are shocking. Some local
18:27officials tricked individuals into believing their state-funded winter heating and hot lunches
18:32were personal gifts from politicians. So Sunday is about much more than electing a government.
18:39It will determine whether the country can finally address these deep structural problems
18:43and rebuild public trust in the political system.
18:52Jakob Yanis there. And of course, we'll bring you the analysis on the outcome of those elections on our
18:58show on Monday. But that's it for us for today and for this week. Thank you so much for your
19:03company.
19:04Remember, if you have story ideas, tips or questions for us, you can get in touch by emailing us at
19:10europetoday at euronews.com. We love to hear from you. You can also stay up to date on our reporting
19:17on
19:17on Euronews and Euronews and Euronews.com. We'll see you on Monday. In the meantime, have a great weekend.
19:49And we'll see you next time.
19:59Ευχαριστώ.
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