Europe Today: Bettel, Marin speak exclusively to Euronews as Hungary’s Ukraine loan veto nears end

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00:14Good morning. It's Wednesday, the 22nd of April. I'm Maret Gwynn. And this is Europe Today,

00:22your daily dose of news and analysis broadcast live here from Brussels. On today's show,

00:28Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced that the Druzhba oil pipeline has been

00:34repaired and can resume operation. It comes just in time for a gathering of EU ambassadors today

00:41in Brussels, where Hungary could drop its veto on the EU's 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine.

00:48Also, we'll have an exclusive interview with Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister Xavier Betel.

00:55He reacts to yesterday's ruling from the EU's top court, which found Viktor Orbán's anti-LGBTQ laws

01:03in Hungary in breach of the EU's values of equality and minority rights. And US President Donald Trump

01:11says he has extended the ceasefire with Iran until negotiations between both sides conclude.

01:18It came as the White House put Vice President J.D. Vance's trip to Pakistan for a second round of

01:23talks on hold. Amid the energy crisis, the EU says it could import jet fuel from alternative

01:29suppliers, such as the US, to avoid potential shortages. But first, to our top story this

01:37morning, because Kyiv says that the Druzhba pipeline, which was damaged in Ukraine three months ago,

01:43can now resume operation. It's set to end months of standoff, pitting Hungary and Slovakia against

01:51Ukraine. Our correspondent Shandor Shiroz is with me in the studio to discuss the details. Shandor,

01:58good morning. This announcement from Zelensky yesterday that the Druzhba pipeline can now,

02:04in principle, return to operation could prove to be quite significant.

02:08Yes, I completely agree. So this is the pipeline that brings cheap Russian oil through Ukraine to

02:15Hungary and to Slovakia. And it has been shut down at the end of January by a Russian strike and

02:21has

02:22not been repaired ever since until yesterday. But yesterday, Zelensky announced the repair in a tweet.

02:28He said that Ukraine has completed repair work on the sections of the Druzhba oil pipeline that was damaged

02:35by a Russian strike. The pipeline can resume operation. Now this step could end tensions between

02:42Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine. And also this issue caused huge tensions in the European Union because

02:50Hungary blocked the EU's 90 billion aid package to Ukraine because of the Druzhba issue. Now everything

02:56can be fixed. Hopefully, when the oil will start to flow, Hungary will lift its veto. It could happen

03:03today at the EU's ambassadors meeting in Brussels. And right after the Commission could send the money

03:10to Ukraine because they said that they did their paperwork already. We've been doing all the technical

03:17work on our side to make sure that once all the steps are in place, we will be losing no

03:25time.

03:26And Shandor, this obviously has caused a big political earthquake. When it comes to the

03:32politics behind this, how do you interpret this move now from Zelensky to unblock this?

03:38Well, we can only guess for the moment what we know so far that Hungary and Slovakia from the

03:43beginning accused Ukraine of using the Druzhba issue for political blackmailing and to cut Russian

03:49oil flows to Europe. On the other hand, Ukraine also said that it's technically a very difficult issue

03:56to repair this pipeline and it could take months. But for the record, Zelensky said that he would

04:02not repair the pipeline in March, he said, because he's financing Russia's war. And it's also true that,

04:10you know, Ukraine never accepted independent European experts on the ground to check the situation.

04:16But the timing is very interesting and very important. We are 10 days after the Hungarian elections.

04:22Viktor Orbán, who has been absolutely hostile towards Ukraine, has been removed from the power and

04:29Peter Magyar, who could be more flexible, will get the new government. So this could be a signal also

04:36from Ukraine to, you know, in a way, settle this situation. I would like to have one final sentence

04:43on Orbán, because it's very interesting what Orbán is doing by lifting the veto. He's keeping his word

04:49and he's also removing obstacles from the future government of Peter Magyar.

04:55OK, Sándor, thank you so much for that. And we will be keeping an eye out, of course,

04:59for the outcome of that meeting of EU ambassadors later today. But now, moving on,

05:05EU foreign ministers gathered in Luxembourg yesterday in what was the first major EU meeting

05:11since Viktor Orbán's electoral defeat. The outgoing foreign minister, Peter Sziartó,

05:17skip the talks. Orbán is also expected to skip a gathering of EU leaders in Cyprus on Friday.

05:23During yesterday's meeting of foreign ministers, they failed to agree on proposals by Ireland,

05:29Spain and Slovenia to suspend the EU-Israel Association agreement over the deteriorating

05:34situation in Gaza and ongoing violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

05:39Back from Luxembourg and joining me in the studio this morning is our correspondent,

05:43Sána Murray. Sána, briefly, bring us up to speed on that meeting yesterday and tell us about your

05:48interview with the Luxembourgish foreign minister.

05:51That's right. So, EU foreign affairs ministers, the numbers weren't there to pass this proposal

05:56to suspend the Israel-EU Association agreement in relation to alleged war crimes in Lebanon,

06:01also across Palestine. But there will be a proposal from Sweden and France to potentially

06:06ban goods from settlement areas. That will be looked at by Maris Efstkovich,

06:10the EU trade commissioner. But I also caught up with Xavier Patel, who is Luxembourg's foreign

06:15affairs minister. And at the time when we were chatting, the European Court of Justice emerged

06:20with this ruling which said that Viktor Orban's anti-LGBT law in Hungary back in 2021 was actually

06:27deemed a breach of EU law. And I asked Xavier Patel about this because he was former prime minister

06:33of Luxembourg. And he wants to address this issue with Viktor Orban directly.

06:39It's not the fact that I'm gay that I just fight for gay rights, but it's the fact that I

06:43fight for

06:44minorities. And it's always easier to fight against the smallest group in some countries.

06:51And for me, European Union is a peace project, but it's also a rule of law and the rights of

06:57minorities.

06:58And I don't like to teach other continents if on my own continent, in my own family,

07:04have people blaming me for being gay. And as I told to Viktor Orban at that moment,

07:09it was not my choice. And the most difficult part of that was to accept myself.

07:13And then to get blamed because I'm different for him. And, you know, as I said, you know,

07:19being gay is not a choice, but being homophobic is a choice. And to do politics by blaming someone

07:25reminds me seriously that how it starts also with Jewish people and then with gypsies and etc.

07:33So I want to be intolerant to intolerance. That's the only intolerance I accept. And I would fight

07:40for that. And I remember I told also in the meeting and I shouldn't speak about the meetings,

07:44but I told to to Viktor at that moment when he wants also a ban about in Hungary to speak

07:52even about LGBTI questions that I didn't become gay because I watch TV.

07:57What was Viktor Orban's response to you? Because you were equals. You were both prime ministers of your

08:02country. You know, it was a very clear answer from Viktor because usually he always answer

08:08and he did not answer. He didn't say anything. And in the in the meeting room, there was a silence

08:15when I took the floor to it was not in the agenda. And I took the floor. I asked Charles

08:19to be able

08:20to raise the topic and I raised it. But and I'm not I'm not you know, I'm not the gay

08:25prime minister.

08:26I'm prime minister and I was prime minister and I am gay. And it's just the fact that I wanted

08:30to tell him

08:30how I feel the situations for, in fact, the people who have no opportunity to tell it to him.

08:36That's the people living in his own country and being considered as as not normal.

08:41But this is a momentous Foreign Affairs Council because the last one back in February was

08:46just a torrid affair because Peter Giarto, the Hungarian foreign minister who's not actually showing up here

08:52today, was blocking the 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine, blocking access to the European peace

08:58facility, blocking the sanctions, blocking progress on Ukrainian membership of the European Union.

09:03I'm very honest, as you know, maybe the boss of diplomacy, but not the most diplomatic. But I'm

09:08always honest. I said to Peter that they moved in a direction where most of us are counting the days

09:14till the elections in Hungary are going to happen. And this was this is not good.

09:19You said that to Peter Giarto at the last Foreign Affairs Council. And what did he say to you?

09:23No answer. But I meant it that they moved in that direction. So they made it for most of us

09:32counting the days. And this is not this is never good when you just hope that there will be a

09:36change

09:36of government to be able to move on. And so that's the reason why I really promote for for a

09:42lot of

09:42topics in foreign policies to be able to have a majority vote and not unanimity. This is not good

09:48when one country can look on foreign policy. We have today also later in the day discussions about

09:53the Middle East. I hope we will be able to have an agreement, but usually we are not even able

09:58to

09:58to to to sanction settlers. And when we see what's happening in in in in Palestine and in Israel and

10:05in

10:05the West Bank, it's it's a shame what's when we see what's happening in Lebanon. And this is where

10:11sometimes it's very frustrating. Just finally, finally, on the Strait of Ormos, I mean, it's sort

10:15of changes every hour. But from an EU NATO perspective, what do you think can actually be

10:21done? But the fact is, you know, to say NATO, NATO is a defensive, it's not an offensive union. It's

10:28a

10:28defensive union. If one country is attacked, that the other will help it. Article five, for the moment,

10:33there is no attack against the NATO countries. It was an attack from NATO countries, and also from

10:40Israel against Iran. That's the reality. We can't change the history. And we have not been consulted

10:45before to know if we would love to join or not to join. So I think we should not be

10:50part of the war.

10:52But if we can be part of the solution, that because something for the boats, but and don't forget, we

10:58speak a lot of countries are now just interested in in petrol and but we should not forget that there

11:04is

11:04even humanitarian aid, which is not able to go up. So there will be millions of people who won't get

11:09food,

11:09because of it. So and we cannot say to the we cannot let the Iranians decide of the of the

11:14of

11:15millions of people who need humanitarian support.

11:20Moving on now, US President Donald Trump has said overnight he will extend the ceasefire in the war

11:26on Iran until negotiations progress and Tehran puts forward a proposal for more. We can bring in

11:32Euronews' Laila Humaira, who's in Doha for us this morning. Good morning, Laila. Great to have you on the show.

11:39Bring us up to speed, if you can, on what happened overnight.

11:46That's right, Maret. Good morning to you guys in Brussels as well. And we were watching very closely what was

11:51going to happen with these negotiation talks and with the ceasefire deadline looming. As you said,

11:57President Donald Trump late on Tuesday, our time posted to Truth Social. And here was what he had to say.

12:03We have been, and I quote, we have been asked to hold our attack on the country of Iran. I

12:09have

12:10therefore directed our military to continue the blockade and remain ready and will therefore

12:15extend the ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted and discussions are concluded

12:22one way or the other, end quote. Now that puts the ball back in Tehran's turf. There have been no

12:28official response from Iran as of yet, but that's where we stand, an extension to the ceasefire

12:34until Iran puts forward a proposal. And Laila, despite this truce now, the situation in the

12:41Strait of Hormuz remains very volatile.

12:46Yes, absolutely. And since Saturday, ships, tankers and vessels have essentially found themselves back to

12:54square one, idling in the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. We had the Iranian foreign

13:00minister, Abbas Arachi, saying the U.S. blockade is an act of war. Meanwhile, U.S. naval forces have said

13:06that

13:07it's directed 28 vessels to turn around under this Iranian port blockade. They have also seized at

13:15least one Iranian-linked vessel in the Gulf waters and another in the Indo-Pacific region. But there's

13:21also been a development in the waters as well. In the last hour or so, the U.K. maritime trade

13:26operations reported an incident northeast of Oman. And after that, the Iranian state media reported that

13:33it had enforced what it called maritime law on a container ship that had been ignoring repeated

13:39warnings.

13:41Okay, Laila Humaira there for us in Doha. Thank you so much for that update. But now,

13:46Sana Marin became Finland's youngest prime minister at the age of just 34. During her tenure, she oversaw

13:53major shifts in Finland's foreign policy, including its accession to NATO in the wake of Russia's

13:59invasion of Ukraine. Our Europe editor, Maria Tadeo, sat down with Sana Marin yesterday and started by

14:06asking her about Petra Maggia's victory over Orban in Hungary and what it could mean both for Hungary

14:12and the European Union.

14:14I think it gives hope to Europe. And I know that I am. And I know that many in Hungary

14:19and many in

14:20Europe are relieved with this outcome of the election of the Hungarian parliamentary elections,

14:26because it also gives now much more space of solutions about Ukraine. We all know that Orban

14:33has have Ukraine under his pressure on many occasions and many situations. So, of course,

14:40we hope that now things will flow forward. And also, I think it's hope for for Hungarian people.

14:45And of course, you were prime minister of Finland. You sat at the European Council. You also sat with

14:52Viktor Orban. Over the past few weeks, we've seen tapes that leaked of alleged conversations and some

14:58of them caught on tape very openly between the Hungarians and the Russians. Is that something that

15:03you suspected? And is it just a red line has been crossed already? The idea that this communication was

15:09certainly happened before and after meetings. Of course, I have worked together with Viktor Orban

15:15in the European Council. And we have had many difficult situations and discussions, for example,

15:21concerning Finland and Sweden's NATO membership. Hungary was a second of the last countries that ratified

15:31our NATO membership. And there have been many situations. And we know that that Orban has very

15:40different view on the war in Ukraine. And also, for example, rule of law, applying rule of law in Europe.

15:47Ukraine cannot win it. You said objectively, Ukraine cannot win it. You said Ukraine can win it.

15:52So Ukraine must win it. I would say Ukraine must win it. If Ukraine doesn't win the war or have,

15:59and this I mean, have an outcome on a peace negotiations that will be sustainable, that would be fair for

16:07the

16:07Ukrainian citizens. And that will provide security to Europe and to Ukraine in the future. If we won't have

16:14that, we as Europe, we are under jeopardy because Russia is, as we speak, they are preparing themselves.

16:23They're modernizing their army and they're preparing themselves to much wider fight.

16:28So they're preparing for war with Europe? The rest of the continent?

16:32I wouldn't rule that out. And we also need to prepare. And for that, we need strong Ukraine,

16:37because Ukraine has the largest, most functional and modern army with modern warfare experience.

16:44And without Ukraine, we are vulnerable. We need their lessons learned. We need their help.

16:48And we need to understand that we are as dependent on Ukraine and Ukrainian capabilities that Ukraine

16:54is dependent on our help. And you mentioned NATO. There's been a lot of friction over the past few

17:00weeks. Certainly the president of the U.S. making it very clear that he believes the Europeans have done

17:04very little in Iran and also said that NATO without the U.S. is a paper tiger. When I hear

17:09these words,

17:10this is exactly what Russia would like to hear. NATO is a paper tiger and the U.S. may consider

17:15reassessing their relationship. How concerned are you because a country like yours certainly needs

17:20a strong NATO? I'm very glad and I still support our decision joining NATO. I think it was the right

17:28one. At the same time, we have to understand and realize that NATO is a different organization now

17:33than it was when we and Sweden joined. Because Trump is a president? Because of the changing relationship

17:40between U.S. and Europe, it has already changed and it is changing. And this is a fact that we

17:45cannot

17:46escape. And it means that we need to focus on our own game. We cannot anymore only rely on the

17:52U.S.

17:52presence and U.S. capabilities. We have to build our own. And now we are speaking European defense

17:58capabilities and European unity, European military forces. And I think this is extremely necessary

18:05discussion. And we should also discuss more about the European nuclear deterrence. This is a discussion

18:13that I see happening already and the necessity to have it.

18:19And you can watch the full interview with Sana Marin tonight at 5.45 on our program 12 minutes with.

18:26Now, since Monday, tens of thousands of migrants have applied for legal status in Spain as part of the

18:31government's program to regularize half a million undocumented migrants. Jakub Janis explains.

18:40The queues formed early on Monday morning. Almost 43,000 undocumented migrants have registered.

18:47In just the first three days of Spain's new regularization scheme. Starting a program that

18:52the government says could eventually grant legal status to a half a million people. And the public

18:58debate has been polarized. Supporters cite economic necessity and social justice, while critics worry about

19:05public services and national identity. However, let's set aside the emotions for now and look at the facts.

19:14Spain is already home to 10 million people born abroad. That is one in five residents. And many of those

19:22applying for legal status come from Colombia, Venezuela or Morocco. They are a key part of the workforce,

19:30filling essential roles in agriculture, tourism and domestic care for the elderly. And regularization

19:36turns that shadow workforce into a formal contribution to the state, but also grants them access to public

19:42healthcare or legal labor protections. And this is the breakthrough. Usually, to get papers through a

19:47process called Araigo, undocumented migrants must prove they have been in Spain for two or three years.

19:53This scheme slashes that requirement to just five consecutive months. However, and that's important,

20:00we are talking about one year renewable residence permit, not full citizenship. It does not grant the

20:07right to vote in general elections or provide an immediate path to nationality. And individuals with

20:13criminal records will not qualify. And the plan has already caused major friction in Brussels. Spanish

20:20residency permit is effectively a Schengen pass, allowing free travel across Europe for 90 days in any 180 day

20:28period. EU officials worry that this could act as a poor factor, undermining the bloc's new,

20:35stricter crackdown on irregular migration. However, one thing is certain. Spain will either become a

20:41laboratory for a shrinking continent or break European solidarity in this most divisive issue in the EU.

20:54Jakob Yanis there. And that's all we have time for for today. Thank you so much for tuning in. We'll

21:01be

21:01back with more news, more analysis, same time, same place tomorrow. In the meantime, do get in touch with

21:06us with your questions and tips. You can email us on Europe today at Euronews.com. And we'll see you

21:13very soon here on Euronews.

21:23Euronews.

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