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00:16Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
00:30The President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced that the Druzhba oil pipeline has been repaired and can resume operation.
00:37It comes just in time for a gathering of EU ambassadors today in Brussels,
00:42where Hungary could drop its veto on the EU's €90 billion loan to Ukraine.
00:49Also, we'll have an exclusive interview with Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.
00:55He reacts to yesterday's ruling from the EU's top court, which found Viktor Orbán's anti-LGBTQ laws in Hungary
01:04in breach of the EU's values of equality and minority rights.
01:09And US President Donald Trump says he has extended the ceasefire with Iran until negotiations between both sides conclude.
01:17It came as the White House put Vice President J.D. Vance's trip to Pakistan for a second round of
01:23talks on hold.
01:24Amid the energy crisis, the EU says it could import jet fuel from alternative suppliers, such as the US, to
01:32avoid potential shortages.
01:34But first, to our top story this morning, because Kyiv says that the Druzhba pipeline, which was damaged in Ukraine
01:42three months ago,
01:43can now resume operation.
01:45It's set to end months of standoff, pitting Hungary and Slovakia against Ukraine.
01:51Our correspondent, Shandor Shiroz, is with me in the studio to discuss the details.
01:57Shandor, good morning.
01:59This announcement from Zelensky yesterday that the Druzhba pipeline can now, in principle, return to operation,
02:06could prove to be quite significant.
02:08Yes, I completely agree.
02:10So this is the pipeline that brings cheap Russian oil through Ukraine to Hungary and to Slovakia.
02:17and it has been shut down at the end of January by a Russian strike and has not been repaired
02:23ever since until yesterday.
02:25But 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 by
02:35a Russian strike.
02:36The pipeline can resume operation.
02:39Now, this step could end tensions between Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine.
02:44And also, this issue caused huge tensions in the European Union
02:49because Hungary blocked the EU's 90 billion aid package to Ukraine because of the Druzhba issue.
02:55Now, everything can be fixed, hopefully.
02:58When the oil will start to flow, Hungary will lift its veto.
03:02It could happen today at the EU's ambassadors' meeting in Brussels.
03:07And right after, the Commission could send the money to Ukraine
03:10because they said that they did their paperwork already.
03:15We've been doing all the technical work on our side to make sure that once all the steps are in
03:22place,
03:23we will be losing no time.
03:26And Sándor, this obviously has caused a big political earthquake.
03:30When it comes to the politics 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 beginning
03:44accused Ukraine of using the Druzhba issue for political blackmailing and to cut Russian oil flows to Europe.
03:52On the other hand, Ukraine also said that it's technically a very difficult issue to repair this pipeline and it
03:59could take months.
04:00But for the record, Zelensky said that he would not repair the pipeline in March, he said, because he's financing
04:06Russia's war.
04:08And it's also true that, you know, Ukraine never accepted independent European experts on the ground to check the situation.
04:16But the timing is very interesting and very important.
04:20We are 10 days after the Hungarian elections.
04:22Viktor Orbán, who has been absolutely hostile towards Ukraine, has been removed from the power.
04:29And Peter Magyar, who could be more flexible, will get the new government.
04:34So this could be a signal also from Ukraine to, you know, in a way settle this situation.
04:40I would like to have one final sentence on Orbán, because it's very interesting what Orbán is doing by lifting
04:47the veto.
04:48He's keeping his word and he's also removing obstacles from the future government of Peter Magyar.
04:55OK, Sándor, thank you so much for that.
04:58And we will be keeping an eye out, of course, for the outcome of that meeting of EU ambassadors later
05:02today.
05:03But now, moving on, EU foreign ministers gathered in Luxembourg yesterday in what was the first major EU meeting since
05:12Viktor Orbán's electoral defeat.
05:14The outgoing foreign minister, Peter Siarto, skipped the talks.
05:18Orbán 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, Spain and Slovenia to suspend the
05:30EU-Israel Association agreement over the deteriorating situation 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, Shauna Murray.
05:44Shauna, briefly bring us up to speed on that meeting yesterday and tell us about your interview with the Luxembourgish
05:50foreign minister.
05:51That's right. So, EU foreign affairs ministers, the numbers weren't there to pass this proposal to suspend the Israel-EU
05:58Association agreement in relation to alleged war crimes in Lebanon, also across Palestine.
06:03But there will be a proposal from Sweden and France to potentially ban goods from settlement areas.
06:09That will be looked at by Mara Seftikovic, the EU Trade Commissioner.
06:12But I also caught up with Xavier Patel, who is Luxembourg's foreign affairs minister.
06:16And at the time when we were chatting, the European Court of Justice emerged with this ruling, which said that
06:21Viktor Orban's anti-LGBT law in Hungary back in 2021 was actually deemed a breach of EU law.
06:29And I asked Xavier Patel about this because he was former prime minister of Luxembourg and he once addressed this
06:35issue with Viktor Orban directly.
06:40It'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 minorities.
06:44And it's always easier to fight against the smallest group in some countries.
06:52And for me, European Union is a peace project, but it's also a rule of law and the rights of
06:57minorities.
06:59And I don't like to teach other continents if on my own continent, in my own family, have people blaming
07:06me for being gay.
07:07And as I told to Viktor Orban at that moment, it was not my choice.
07:11And the most difficult part of that was to accept myself and then to get blamed because I'm different for
07:18him.
07:18And, you know, as I said, you know, being gay is not a choice, but being homophobic is a choice.
07:22And to do politics by blaming someone reminds me seriously that how it starts also with Jewish people and then
07:31with gypsies and etc.
07:33So I want to be intolerant to intolerance.
07:37That's the only intolerance I accept.
07:39And I will fight for that.
07:41And I remember I told also in the meeting and I shouldn't speak about the meetings, but I told to
07:45to Viktor at that moment when he wants also a ban about in Hungary to speak even about LGBTI questions
07:55that 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 country.
08:03You know, it was a very clear answer from Viktor because usually he always answer and he did not answer.
08:10He didn't say anything.
08:12And in the in the meeting room, there was a silence when I took the floor to it was not
08:17in the agenda.
08:18And I took the floor. I asked Charles to be able to raise the topic and I raised it.
08:23But I'm not I'm not you know, I'm not the gay prime minister.
08:26I'm prime minister and I was prime minister and I am gay.
08:29And it's just the fact that I wanted to tell him how I feel the situations for, in fact, the
08:34people 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 just a torrid affair
08:48because Peter Giarto, the Hungarian foreign minister who's not actually showing up here today,
08:53was blocking the 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine, blocking access to the European peace facility, blocking the sanctions, blocking
09:01progress 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.
09:08But I'm always honest. I said to Peter that they moved in a direction where most of us are counting
09:13the days till the elections in Hungary are going to happen.
09:17And 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?
09:24No answer. But I meant it that they moved in that direction.
09:28So they made it for most of us counting the days.
09:33And this is not this is never good when you just hope that there will be a change of government
09:37to be able to move on.
09:39And so that's the reason why I really promote for for a lot of topics in foreign policies to be
09:44able to have a majority vote and not unanimity.
09:48This is not good when one country can look on foreign policy.
09:50We have today also later in the day discussions about the Middle East.
09:54I hope we will be able to have an agreement.
09:56But usually we are not even able to to to to to sanction settlers.
10:00And when we see what's happening in in in in Palestine and in Israel and in the West Bank, it's
10:06it's a shame what's when we see what's happening in Lebanon.
10:09And this is where sometimes it's very frustrating.
10:12Just finally, finally, on the Strait of Ormos.
10:15I mean, it's sort of changes every hour.
10:17But from an EU NATO perspective, what do you think can actually be done?
10:22But the fact is, you know, to say NATO, NATO is a defensive.
10:26It's not an offensive union.
10:28It's a defensive union.
10:29If one country is attacked, that the other will help it.
10:32Article five.
10:33For the moment, there is no attack against the NATO countries.
10:37It was an attack from NATO countries and also from Israel against Iran.
10:42That's the reality.
10:42We can't change the history.
10:43And we have not been consulted before to know if we would love to join or not to join.
10:48So I think we should not be part of the war.
10:52But if we can be part of the solution, that because something for the boats.
10:57But and don't forget, we speak a lot of countries are now just interested in in petrol.
11:02And but we should not forget that there is even a humanitarian aid which is not able to go up.
11:07So there will be millions of people who won't get food because of it.
11:10So and we cannot say to the we cannot let the Iranians decide of the of the of millions of
11:16people who need humanitarian support.
11:20Moving on now, US President Donald Trump has said overnight he will extend the ceasefire in the war on Iran
11:27until negotiations progress.
11:29And Tehran puts forward a proposal for more.
11:32We can bring in Euronews' Laila Humaira, who's in Doha for us this morning.
11:37Good morning, Laila. Great to have you on the show.
11:40Bring us up to speed, if you can, on what happened overnight.
11:46That's right, Maret.
11:47Good morning to you guys in Brussels as well.
11:49And we were watching very closely what was going to happen with these negotiation talks.
11:53And with the ceasefire deadline looming, as you said, President Donald Trump late on Tuesday, our time posted to Truth
12:01Social.
12:02And here was what he had to say.
12:04We have been, and I quote, we have been asked to hold our attack on the country of Iran.
12:09I have therefore directed our military to continue the blockade and remain ready and will therefore extend the ceasefire until
12:17such time as their proposal is submitted and discussions are concluded one way or the other, end quote.
12:25Now, that puts the ball back in Tehran's turf.
12:27There have been no official response from Iran as of yet, but that's where we stand, an extension to the
12:34ceasefire until Iran puts forward a proposal.
12:37And Laila, despite this truce now, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz remains very volatile.
12:46Yes, absolutely.
12:47And since Saturday, ships, tankers and vessels have essentially found themselves back to square one, idling in the waters of
12:56the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
12:59We had the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Arachi saying the U.S. blockade is an act of war.
13:04Meanwhile, U.S. naval forces have said that it's directed 28 vessels to turn around under this Iranian port blockade.
13:14They have also seized at least one Iranian-linked vessel in the Gulf waters and another in the Indo-Pacific
13:20region.
13:21But there's also been a development in the waters as well.
13:23In the last hour or so, the U.K. maritime trade operations reported an incident northeast of Oman.
13:30And after that, the Iranian state media reported that it had enforced what it called maritime law on a container
13:37ship that had been ignoring repeated warnings.
13:40OK, Laila, Humaira there for us in Doha, thank you so much for that update.
13:45But now, Sana Marin became Finland's youngest prime minister at the age of just 34.
13:51During her tenure, she oversaw major shifts in Finland's foreign policy, including its accession to NATO in the wake of
13:59Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
14:01Our Europe editor, Maria Tadeo, sat down with Sana Marin yesterday and started by asking her about Peter Maggia's victory
14:08over Orbán in Hungary and what it could mean both for Hungary and the European Union.
14:13I think it gives hope to Europe, and I know that I am, and I know that many in Hungary
14:19and many in Europe 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.
14:32We all know that Orbán has had Ukraine under his pressure on many occasions and many situations.
14:39So, of course, we hope that now things will flow forward.
14:43And also, I think it's hope for Hungarian people.
14:46And, of course, you were prime minister of Finland.
14:49You sat at the European Council.
14:51You also sat with Viktor Orbán.
14:53Over the past few weeks, we've seen tapes that leaked of alleged conversations, and some of them caught on tape
14:59very openly, between the Hungarians and the Russians.
15:02Is that something that you suspected, and is it just a red line has been crossed already, the idea that
15:08this communication was certainly happened before and after meetings?
15:11Of course, I have worked together with Viktor Orbán in European Council, and we have had many difficult situations and
15:20discussions, for example, concerning Finland's and Sweden's NATO membership.
15:24Hungary was a second of the last countries that ratified our NATO membership, and there have been many situations.
15:37And we know that Orbán has a very different view on the war in Ukraine, and also, for example, rule
15:45of law, applying rule of law in Europe.
15:47Ukraine cannot win it.
15:48You said objectively, Ukraine cannot win it.
15:50You've said Ukraine can win it.
15:52Ukraine must win it, I would say Ukraine must win it, if Ukraine doesn't win the war or have, and
15:59this I mean, have an outcome on a peace negotiations that will be sustainable, that would be fair for the
16:07Ukrainian citizens.
16:08And that will provide security to Europe and to Ukraine in the future.
16:13If we won't have that, we as Europe, we are under jeopardy, because Russia is, as we speak, they are
16:22preparing themselves, they are modernizing their army, and they are preparing themselves to much wider fight.
16:29So they're preparing for war with Europe, the rest of the continent?
16:32I wouldn't rule that out.
16:33And we also need to prepare, and for that we need strong Ukraine, because Ukraine has the largest, most functional
16:40and modern army with modern warfare experience.
16:44And without Ukraine, we are vulnerable.
16:46We need their lessons learned.
16:48We need their help.
16:49And we need to understand that we are as dependent on Ukraine and Ukrainian capabilities, that Ukraine is dependent on
16:56our help.
16:56And you mentioned NATO, there's been a lot of friction over the past few weeks, certainly the president of the
17:01U.S. making it very clear that he believes the Europeans have done very little in Iran, and also said
17:06that NATO without the U.S. is a paper tiger.
17:09When I hear these words, this is exactly what Russia would like to hear, NATO is a paper tiger, and
17:14the U.S. may consider reassessing their relationship.
17:17How concerned are you, because a country like yours certainly needs a strong NATO?
17:22I'm very glad, and I still support our decision, joining NATO.
17:27I think it was the right one.
17:28At the same time, we have to understand and realize that NATO is a different organization now than it was
17:34when we and Sweden joined.
17:36Because Trump is the president.
17:38Because of the changing relationship between U.S. and Europe, it has already changed, and it is changing, and this
17:45is a fact that we cannot escape.
17:46And it means that we need to focus on our own game.
17:49We cannot anymore only rely on the U.S. presence and U.S. capabilities.
17:54We have to build our own.
17:56And now we are speaking European defense capabilities and European unity, European military forces.
18:03And I think this is an extremely necessary discussion, and we should also discuss more about the European nuclear deterrence.
18:12This is a discussion that I see happening already, and the necessity to have it.
18:19And you can watch the full interview with Sanna 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 government's
18:32program to regularize half a million undocumented migrants.
18:37Jakub Yanis explains.
18:40The queues formed early on Monday morning.
18:43Almost 43,000 undocumented migrants have registered in just the first three days of Spain's new regularization scheme,
18:51starting a program that the government says could eventually grant legal status to a half a million people.
18:57And the public debate has been polarized.
19:00Supporters cite economic necessity and social justice, while critics worry about public services and national identity.
19:07However, let's set aside the emotions for now and look at the facts.
19:15Spain is already home to 10 million people born abroad.
19:19That is one in five residents.
19:21And many of those applying for legal status come from Colombia, Venezuela or Morocco.
19:26They are a key part of the workforce, filling essential roles in agriculture, tourism and domestic care for the elderly.
19:35And regularization turns that shadow workforce into a formal contribution to the state,
19:40but also grants them access to public health care or legal labor protections.
19:44And this is the breakthrough.
19:46Usually, to get papers through a process called Araigo,
19:49undocumented migrants must prove they have been in Spain for two or three years.
19:53This scheme slashes that requirement to just five consecutive months.
19:58However, and that's important, we are talking about one-year renewable residence permit,
20:03not full citizenship.
20:05It does not grant the right to vote in general elections or provide an immediate path to nationality.
20:12And individuals with criminal records will not qualify.
20:16And the plan has already caused major friction in Brussels.
20:19Spanish residency permit is effectively a Schengen pass,
20:23allowing free travel across Europe for 90 days in any 180-day period.
20:29EU officials worry that this could act as a poor factor,
20:33undermining the bloc's new, stricter crackdown on irregular migration.
20:38However, one thing is certain.
20:40Spain will either become a laboratory for a shrinking continent
20:43or break European solidarity in this most divisive issue in the EU.
20:54Jakob Iannes there, and that's all we have time for today.
20:58Thank you so much for tuning in.
21:00We'll be back with more news, more analysis, same time, same place tomorrow.
21:05In the meantime, do get in touch with us with your questions and tips.
21:08You can email us on europetoday at euronews.com
21:12And we'll see you very soon here on Euronews.
21:17We'll see you next time.
21:27We'll see you next time.
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