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00:14Good morning, it's Tuesday the 21st of April. I'm Marit Gwynn and you're watching Europe Today,
00:22your daily dose of live news and analysis here on Euronews. Coming up today, EU foreign
00:29ministers gather in Luxembourg with the two conflict hotspots in Ukraine and Iran high
00:35on the agenda. Ukraine's foreign minister Andriy Sibiha will dial into the meeting, as
00:41will the Prime Minister of Lebanon, Nawaf Salam. We'll bring you the latest from our correspondent
00:46on the ground. Also, with the ceasefire in the war on Iran hanging in the balance and
00:52the next phase of peace talks uncertain, the Middle East is again on a knife edge. We bring
00:57you an exclusive interview with the UK ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. And Norway's
01:04foreign minister Espen Bart Eide has told Europe Today that, quote, the road to a Palestine state
01:11will be under UN principles. After a conference in Brussels seen as a response to Donald Trump's
01:18controversial Gaza peace board. We'll bring you more from that exclusive interview during
01:22the show. And Ukraine's Zelensky has said the Druzhba pipeline will be operational again
01:28by the end of April, raising the prospects of restored Russian oil flows to Hungary and Slovakia.
01:35It could mean the imminent unblocking of the EU's 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine.
01:41But first, to our top story this morning, because EU foreign affairs ministers are meeting in Luxembourg
01:48this morning to discuss Ukraine, but also the Middle East. Three member states, Spain,
01:54Ireland and Slovenia are expected to call for tougher stance against Israel for what they say
02:00are clear breaches of the EU-Israel Association agreement. We can now cross over, I believe,
02:06to our correspondent Shona Murray, who is standing by there in Luxembourg for us. Good morning,
02:11Shona. Good to have you on the show. Ukraine obviously featuring prominently in that meeting today
02:17and hopes there could be a breakthrough in the EU's financial support to Ukraine.
02:24That's right, Mered. A fairly momentous EU foreign affairs council about to happen in the next few
02:29hours in the building just behind me here, where it's likely that there'll be a political discussion
02:34about unblocking the 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine, which, as we know, has been had been stopped
02:40by the Hungarian government, Viktor Orban, over a dispute in relation to the Druzhba pipeline,
02:45which is the pipeline that flows Russian oil through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia. It appears now
02:51that that dispute is being resolved and there will be an opportunity then for that 90 billion euro to go
02:56to Ukraine. But even more so for this foreign affairs council, it's the first time it's happening
03:01since the Hungarian elections. And in the last one back in February, which took place the day before the
03:06anniversary of the fourth year of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hungary was blocking not only the
03:1190 billion euros, but it was blocking the access for Ukraine to the European peace facility, which
03:16allows the EU transfer weapons to Ukraine. It was blocking the passage of access to Ukraine in to
03:23become a member of the European Union. And it was also blocking the sanctions package. So, you know,
03:30EU foreign affairs ministers were furious at the time with Peter Zarto, the Hungarian foreign affairs minister,
03:35and he's not even showing up here today. So it seems like a new dawn in relation to EU, Hungary
03:42and Ukraine
03:43relationships married. And Shona, if we can shift it to the Middle East, obviously also featuring on the agenda.
03:50And there are three countries, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, who want a tougher action against Israel in response to
03:58the situation both in Lebanon and in Palestine. Tell us more.
04:04That's right. A letter emerged from those three countries at the weekend calling for a stronger
04:08discussion within the Foreign Affairs Council about taking action against Israel for what it says are
04:14breaches of the Israel-EU association agreement. Now, it's likely that discussion will take place
04:20because what they're saying is even more has happened even the last year in relation to maybe Israel's
04:25assault in Lebanon, the war there, but also the EU has been very concerned about a law passed in the
04:31Knesset in Israel, which allows for the execution of Palestinians convicted of murder,
04:38but not Israelis. And that law has passed, although could come before the Supreme Court.
04:42But first of all, just take a listen to the EU foreign policy chief, Kaya Callas, speaking about the situation
04:47in Palestine yesterday.
04:49We can and must do more to ensure respect for human rights and accountability and to protect the
04:59Palestinian people and to put the two state solution solidly on the table again. And this is the only way
05:06that both the Palestinians and Israelis can live in safety, dignity and peace.
05:15EU foreign affairs policy chief, Kaya Callas, speaking about the situation in Palestine,
05:20saying the EU needs to do more. But I've spoken to several diplomats from many countries over the
05:24past few days in relation to this, and it doesn't look like the EU will change its policy. First of
05:29all,
05:29to suspend even a part of the EU Israel association agreement, you need a qualified majority. And that
05:35doesn't exist. Because even though Germany and the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has had a robust
05:40and intense conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel about the situation in the West Bank,
05:45Palestine, Lebanon, and so on, it looks like Germany won't be changing its stance and will be taking
05:50action. So therefore, the numbers aren't there for even partial suspension, let alone a full suspension
05:56of this agreement. Maret?
05:57Okay, Shauna, thank you so much for that. And I know you'll be speaking to Luxembourg's
06:01Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Xavier Betel later this morning. We'll bring you that
06:07interview from Shauna on tomorrow's show. But now, the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Espen Bartheider,
06:14was in town in Brussels yesterday to co-chair a meeting on promoting a two-state solution for
06:20Palestine. He spoke to our Europe editor, Maria Tadeo, shortly after that meeting. Maria started by
06:26asking him about the situation in the Middle East and whether he feared a return to hostility
06:31between the US, Israel, and Iran is the most likely scenario as the expiration of the ceasefire
06:38nears. Well, these are different questions. If you look at Iran, I would say the difficult part
06:48is that the sides are far apart. I mean, first, their demands are far apart, although they have been
06:55working on them. I think there's been some progress, but also because one party or the
07:00other party is asking the other party to do some of the things in the ceasefire before they go to
07:06the
07:06meeting. So my advice would be go to the meeting, talk to each other. On the good side, I think
07:11there is
07:11a motive in both countries, both in the US and Iran. The war was highly unpopular in the US and
07:17created a
07:17lot of havoc in the world economy. And I also think that Iran, who has been severely battered
07:23through the attacks, would like to avoid the continuation of war. So there is a motive.
07:27And let's all try to work to help them to go in the peaceful direction. This is not only
07:33an issue for the two sides, but it affects the whole world economy.
07:37And what role for the Europeans? Because President Trump has expressed his frustration at the Europeans
07:42and NATO too, saying they have not done anything. This is a paper tiger. Without the US, they are
07:48not capable. What's your response? Well, you know, I believe very much in NATO. I believe
07:54NATO is good for all its members, including the United States. There are so many other things NATO
07:59does. And by standing together, we are defending the transatlantic area. But NATO is a defensive alliance.
08:06It's not an attack alliance. It's, you know, there have been occasions where we have joined forces in
08:12entering into faraway battles. But that has then been well prepared beforehand. One has made the
08:18argument, was uninvited. The allies and collective decisions has been made. None of that was tried
08:25before the Iran war. So there was a very limited appetite to be part of the war. However, many NATO
08:33countries,
08:34including my own Norway, is now dedicated to work on making sure that the Hormer strait is open and
08:42remains open, not as NATO, but as in the context of a broad coalition of interested parties who are
08:49third parties to the conflict, who are not fighting with either side, but who have a shared interest in
08:55protecting the principle of freedom of navigation at sea. So NATO countries are doing something, but it's
09:03not as party to a conflict. Just finally, just so we understand, the reconstruction and the
09:08construction of a two-state solution, is that going to be handled by the Board of Peace with many legal
09:13questions around the role that President Trump plays? Or is this an international UN-backed path?
09:19So the road to a one unified Palestinian state will be under the principles established by the UN over
09:27many years. And there are many countries that are strongly dedicated. Remember that almost 160
09:33countries have not recognized Palestine as a state. That is way more than three quarters of the
09:40membership of the UN. So this is clearly the world's view on this. There has to be a Palestinian
09:46state. It still takes time, but we need to ensure that that happens in such a way that we have
09:51one
09:51unified Palestine under a solid democratic governance, able to live in peace with its neighbor Israel.
09:58And it's not around the corner.
10:00Israelis have said that not has been achieved. However, they say there's still terrorism operating
10:04and they have to leave in security. Are you taking in their feedback?
10:07Well, so we absolutely want to make sure that the people of Israel can live in peace as well,
10:14and that they can be free of terrorism from their neighborhoods. But then you also have to contribute
10:19to making your neighborhood the place where people like to live peacefully. So a two-state solution
10:25under the auspices of the Palestinian government, with the rights and responsibilities that comes by being a
10:31state with adequate international support, should be precisely the neighbor and partner that would make
10:37it possible to live peacefully and not in eternal war for Israel. So when we, Norway, for many years
10:43have dedicated so much work to the two-state solution, we do it for Palestine, but we also do it
10:49for Israel
10:49because we remain convinced that in the long run, this is the only viable solution for real peace in
10:56a very troubled region. Maria Tadeo speaking to the Norwegian foreign minister there. As we heard
11:04from Shona earlier, Spain is leading calls for the suspension of the EU's trade and cooperation
11:09agreement with Israel over what it describes as persistent human rights violations. The proposal is
11:15not expected to get the necessary support from EU ministers, and this is not the first time the
11:20prospect of reviewing or suspending the agreement is raised by EU leaders. Jakob Janes explains,
11:28Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is on a mission and he won't let go. And today,
11:34once again, he will formally propose severing the EU's association agreement with Israel.
11:40Sánchez has accused Netanyahu of setting the Middle East on fire and has doubled down on his criticism of
11:46the war in Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon. The proposal has already hit a wall multiple times.
11:53Will it work this time? Established in 2000, the EU-Israel Association agreement is the bedrock of the
12:02economic and political relationship. And for months, Spain Island and Slovenia have demanded an urgent
12:08review. Now, a European citizens initiative titled Justice for Palestine, with over 1 million signatures,
12:16is forcing the issue onto the agenda. Crucially, a possible suspension would not mean a full trade ban.
12:23About 60% of Israeli exports to the EU already enjoy zero tariffs under standard World Trade
12:29Organization rules. However, the remaining 37% rely on a special duty-free treatment granted exclusively by
12:37this agreement. Suspending it would slap sudden tariffs on Israeli machinery, medical devices and
12:43pharmaceuticals. And the EU is Israel's largest trading partner, with a relationship worth more
12:50than 45 billion euro a year. The European Commission estimates this would hit Israeli experts with an
12:56extra 227 million euro a year in duties, and freeze millions in bilateral EU funding for ongoing
13:03cooperation projects. To fully scrap the deal, the EU needs everyone to agree. However, suspending
13:10just the trade privileges requires only qualified majority votes. And although Israel has lost one
13:17of its staunchest allies in Viktor Orbán's Hungary, and with Italy taking a harder line amid attacks on
13:23Christian places of faith, the proposal still faces an uphill battle.
13:33Jakob Janis there. Now, moving on, there are growing expectations, as we heard on the top of the show,
13:38that the rift between Hungary and Ukraine over the Drushba pipeline could be resolved soon. Hungary's
13:44outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has hinted he could drop his veto on EU financial support to
13:49Ukraine once the pipeline is repaired and is operational again. I'm joined for more by our
13:54Ukraine correspondent, Sasha Vakulina, who joins me in the studio. Good morning, Sasha.
13:58Zelenskyy gave an interview last night. When did he say that this pipeline could be back in operation?
14:04There are indeed signs, Maria, that it might be back and running imminently any day now.
14:11Let's take a look at the timeline of what has been happening with the Drushba pipeline,
14:16which is indeed transporting Russia's cheap oil to Hungary and Slovakia. Now, it was damaged in the
14:23Russian drone attack at the end of January. And then on the 5th of March, Vladimir Zelenskyy
14:27said it would take from six to eight weeks for Ukraine to repair Drushba. Now, it's been seven
14:34weeks since that statement. So there we go. This is the timeline. And indeed, the expectations are that
14:39it might be up and running any time now. Hungary's Prime Minister-elect Petr Magyar said he hopes to have
14:47it back as soon as possible. What I can say to the Ukrainian president, although we have not spoken,
14:54is that this is not a game. If the Drushba pipeline is in condition to carry oil, then it should
14:59be reopened
15:00as promised. And this is where it is this rare moment when Budapest and Kyiv are actually aligned,
15:05because this is exactly what Vladimir Zelenskyy said and did in that big interview you've mentioned
15:09to the Ukrainian television, when he said, for our part, we will fulfill what we promised by the end
15:14of April. The Hungarians, I think, will fulfill what they promised. They will unblock 90 billion.
15:19And the EU will fulfill what they promised, an agreement with the Hungarians, with the new
15:23government and with the others. And in that interview, Sasha Zelenskyy also outlining what
15:29he expects of the European Union now. Indeed, there are a few other decisions that Kyiv is expecting to
15:35get unblocked now. First of all, of course, this is the new package of sanctions against Russia,
15:40also blocked by Hungary, but also there is EU accession process for Kyiv. And this is something that's been
15:46vetoed consistently by Hungary, by Budapest, even before the Druzhba pipeline gets damaged in the
15:52drone attack in the end of January. Ukraine is expecting to have some clusters opened. This is
15:58the big veto of Hungary. And in mid-March, Ukraine and the European Union said that they are going
16:04technically in technical process of unblocking those clusters and opening to make sure that Kyiv is doing
16:11all the homework to be ready for when the moment comes. And the big expectation for Kyiv is now that
16:16the moment has come indeed for that. Okay, Sasha, I'm sure we'll be hearing more about that in the
16:21coming weeks. Thank you for that. We're moving on to the Middle East again now. With the ceasefire in
16:27the US and Israel's war against Iran due to expire tomorrow, President Donald Trump has said overnight
16:32it's highly unlikely he'll extend the truce unless a deal with Iran is reached before then. For more,
16:39we can cross over now to Dubai and to our correspondent there, Jane Witherspoon. Good to have you back,
16:45Jane. There were expectations of a second round of peace talks yesterday, also today. Where do we stand
16:52right now? Good morning. Well, there are lots of conflicting information going around everywhere at
16:59the moment as to whether those talks will take place in Islamabad. It's a waiting game for now. Obviously,
17:06the Iranians are keeping everyone hanging on till the last moment with no clear direction as to what
17:11they're going to do. And we are, of course, less than 48 hours until that cease line deadline ends.
17:20President Donald Trump has vowed to maintain the blockade. He's also threatened to start bombing if an
17:27agreement is not made by Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, the Iranians have said that they're
17:32not prepared to enter into any negotiations under the shadow of threats.
17:37And Jane, I know you spoke to the UK ambassador to the EWE about the situation in the Middle East
17:43yesterday. What did he have to say?
17:47Well, I think this goes further than the British embassy. I think everybody is in agreement that
17:51this needs to de-escalate. Everyone is in agreement that also we need to make sure that there's no
17:58further regional conflict and also global disruption. As you mentioned, the UK, the British ambassador to
18:04the UAE is Ed Hobart. I sat down with him for an exclusive interview with Euronews. He told me about
18:11the UK's stance on the war. He did also emphasise that there still is a risk for escalation,
18:18unfortunately, here in the Middle East. The Prime Minister has been very clear that this wasn't
18:24the UK's war. It wasn't something we wanted to take place. But particularly in defence of the
18:31Gulf countries, we have enabled the US to help support that defence through the use of
18:38British military bases in the UK and elsewhere. In terms of the Straits of Hormuz,
18:46what we want is the law of the sea to be followed and for these international thoroughfares which are
18:52critical to the global economy, not just to the economy here, not just the economy in Europe, but
18:57actually in particular the economy in the Far East to be open and flowing. So we don't want blockades,
19:05we don't want Iran or others causing danger to merchant shipping in this region.
19:15That was the UK ambassador to the UAE and thank you so much Shane for that update from Dubai. But
19:20that's all we have time for for today. Thank you so much for tuning in to Europe today. We'll be
19:25back
19:26with more news and more analysis at the same time, same place tomorrow morning. We hope to see you then
19:32and we'll see you very soon here on Euronews.
19:58Euronews.
20:00You
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