Europe Today: Charles Michel speaks to Euronews as EU leaders hold crisis talks in Cyprus

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00:14Good morning, it's Friday the 24th of April. I'm Marit Gwynne and you're watching Europe Today,

00:21your daily dose of news and analysis broadcast live here from Brussels. Coming up on today's

00:27show, EU leaders are gathering in Cyprus to talk Ukraine, Iran, energy and mutual defence.

00:35They arrive fresh off a major win having unblocked a crucial loan for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia.

00:43Leaders from Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and the Gulf are also flying in for talks on the situation

00:48in the Middle East. And as world leaders gather at the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece,

00:54we speak to former European Council President Shave Michel about Europe's role on the global stage

01:00and his deeply critical stance towards the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

01:06And US President Donald Trump has said that Israel and Lebanon have agreed a three-week extension

01:13to the ceasefire in Israel's war on Hezbollah. It came after direct talks between Israeli and Lebanese

01:20ambassadors to the U.S. the second such talks in recent days.

01:25They like each other. I found that out today and I've sort of heard about that. They actually

01:30like each other. Lebanon and Israel, they've agreed to an additional three weeks of, I guess,

01:37no firing, ceasefire. No more firing. Let's see. We hope that happens. It's not going to happen

01:42between them, but they do have Hezbollah to think about.

01:47But first, for our top story today, we're taking you to Cyprus, where EU leaders are holding an

01:53informal summit against a fraught geopolitical backdrop. Last night, over dinner, leaders discussed

02:00plans to revive the EU's little-known defence clause amid deepening cracks in the relationship

02:06between the U.S. and its European allies. Today, they'll tackle the EU's long-term budget,

02:11and they'll also lunch with leaders from the Middle East. For more, we can cross over to

02:16Cyprus now and to our correspondent, Jorge Liborero, who's there for us. Great to see

02:22you, Jorge, this morning. Listen, this should have been Victor Orbán's last summit, but he's

02:28decided to skip, and that really seems to be defining this gathering.

02:35Kalimera Maret, indeed, the longest-serving member of the European Council, is not making

02:41his way to this summit. It would have been his farewell summit, so to speak, after 16 years of

02:47uninterrupted power. But as we remember, Victor Orbán was defeated in the polls earlier this month,

02:53and opposition leader Peter Magyar took over with the promise of restoring ties between Budapest

02:59and Brussels. Leaders yesterday, as they made their way to the dinner, were noticeably relieved

03:06by the change in power, because Victor Orbán has been a figure of disruption and obstruction

03:12for 16 years, and now everybody wants to bring back a sense of normalcy into the collective

03:18decision-making.

03:19And, Jorge, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, was also there joining the leaders

03:25over dinner yesterday. And he had some very interesting comments on Ukraine's bid to join

03:33the European Union.

03:37Yes, indeed. At first, we didn't know if Zelensky was going to make it in person to the summit

03:43here in Cyprus. But after the vetoes on the 90 billion loan and the package of sanctions against

03:48Russia were lifted earlier this week, he decided to show up in person. And his message was

03:55unmistakable. He was pushing to really speed up the accession process of Ukraine, which has been

04:01blocked by Hungary for almost two years now. The frustration of Zelensky was very palpable

04:06as well. He said that he needs a clear date for accession and he wants to speed up the process

04:13as soon as possible. However, other leaders like the prime ministers of Belgium and Luxembourg

04:18were more cautious. They said that they don't want any shortcuts. They don't want any fast

04:23tracks for Ukraine's accession. So my short analysis here in Cyprus is that after the end

04:29of the urban era, EU leaders will have to finally face head on the complex issue of Ukraine's

04:36accession with no easy answers. And yesterday, I got to talk to one of these leaders, the Estonian

04:42Prime Minister Christian Michal. And we talked about accession, but also other topics that

04:46are hot on the agenda right now. Take a listen.

04:50We'll see, because always there's a chance, at least for a fresh start. So it will mean

04:56that you can start again. And to be honest, I cannot see any other way that Ukraine's future

05:05is in Europe. That is definitely so. That will mean that the question is only when, not if

05:13and how. Now, I know you've been working on initiative to introduce an European white

05:19ban for Russian soldiers who have taken part in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Why

05:25are you pushing for this measure now? And why is it so important to you?

05:29It's not even important to me, but it's important to everybody living in Europe because, to put

05:37it very simple terms, that before the war and at the start of the war, Russia had less

05:43men under the arms than right now. So we have more men under the arms right now than at the

05:48start of the war. And we would imagine for a moment that the war would stop. There will

05:54be ceasefire, peace and some, but hopefully just in lasting peace. Fine. But what will those

06:01people do? Most of them are criminals, but they have to be treated as heroes inside Russia.

06:07So, once again, I would ask everybody that, do you want these skies near to your home? No,

06:11you don't. So that's why you have to ban them for life from Schengen.

06:16Ideally, you think it could happen this year or do you think it needs more time?

06:21Ideally, it could happen. It should happen before the summer, but this is ideally. I have this

06:28kind of feeling that we will be talking about it before the summer already, but I don't know if

06:33enough decisions will be made before the summer, but I hope so.

06:37Another issue here for this informal summit is mutual assistance. We know that the European

06:42treaties have an article of mutual assistance, 42.7. It hasn't been explored until now, but we also

06:49know that many member states like yours are also part of NATO, which has an article 5 of collective

06:53defense. Do you see a possible contradiction between these two articles or can they coexist?

06:58They are coexisting because, for example, NATO article 5 has been invoked only once

07:06from the United States and European article 42.7 has been also invoked once by France. So

07:16the question is about the need and they can exist together, I would say, because usually it's pretty

07:24much overlapping what we're doing, because you need certain assistance, you need your allies to act

07:30with you. So I would say this is working well, but also we should talk about European capabilities,

07:36because as we can see, President Trump's message is also that Europe should bear more burden in

07:42own defense. Trump has also threatened to withdraw the United States from NATO. He's been saying this several

07:48times. We don't know what's going to happen. But do you think that because of these threats that he's

07:54making so publicly, the value of Article 5 has been decreased, that it's not so powerful anymore?

08:01I would say no to that, because, for example, when we had Russian MiGs in our space a little bit

08:09before

08:10that, certain Russian drones in Poland's airspace, which were shot down first time in NATO's history at that

08:16moment. At that moment, Trump's message was quite clear that America is standing to protect Baltics

08:22Poland and so on. So I would say that the messages have been quite clear that NATO's working and also

08:28in

08:28Haig. We had NATO summit there and Trump said that if Europe is sharing the burden, he will commit to

08:37NATO. Yes, I can understand that there's a lot of political messages, but the military side is working

08:44absolutely as well.

08:48That was the Estonian Prime Minister Kristian Michal speaking to our correspondent Jorge Liborero, and

08:54we'll, of course, keep an eye out for Jorge's reporting throughout the day from those talks in Cyprus.

08:59Now, when he was president of the European Council,

09:03Shagv Michel had a notoriously strained relationship with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

09:10Those tensions have resurfaced in recent weeks. Our Europe editor Maria Tadeo caught up with Michel

09:17earlier today at the Delphi Economic Forum. She began by asking him about von der Leyen's leadership

09:23style, often described as highly centralised, and whether sufficient checks and balances exist

09:30to keep that approach in check.

09:33All of us, we know what we have to do, but I'm observing, it seems that it's difficult to make

09:39decisions that are urgent and that are needed. I trust the European Council. I think that by nature,

09:46the European Council is the right body to decide what are the main orientations and also to make

09:52the most difficult decisions. Because, you know, the European Council is the guardian of the European unity.

10:00And this European unity is something that's not easy to achieve. It requires a lot of work, a lot of

10:05preparation,

10:06it requires a lot of collective intelligence, it requires to listen to each other. And I'm confident

10:13that sooner or later, the European Council will make additional decisions to clarify some of the

10:19orientations that we have to decide on in the near future.

10:23Do you, are we to understand therefore that the Council's stance, it should be stronger,

10:28it should have a louder voice? It's not as strong as it should be the message now.

10:32You know, it's not a creation of voice, it's a creation of decisions that have to be made.

10:39And what is a bit frustrating for all those like me, who are absolutely convinced that this project

10:44is more needed than ever, the European project, the European dream, the European principles,

10:49the European values, the European coexistence. And what is frustrating is the fact that all of us,

10:54we know what we have to do. We know exactly what we have to do. Everything is on the table.

10:58They are observing that there are always good reasons to procrastinate. There are always good reasons

11:02to waste time. And that's regrettable. And again, I don't want to blame anyone in particular. Let's

11:12be clear. That's not my point. When I want to blame someone, I'm very clear. You know me. Here,

11:17that's not my point. My point is, let's look at the future. And we have tools, we have capacities,

11:23we have great companies, we have great structures. We have a lot of strength within the EU. And there

11:31is a crisis. There is chaos across the world. And by experience, we know when it's difficult in the

11:38world, in general, the EU is able to learn lessons fast. Let's act faster and let's learn our lessons.

11:46Some would argue the weakness at times of the Council goes back to the idea of unanimity.

11:52And that has been dragging the action and certainly the peace and the speed around it.

11:56Viktor Orban obviously has been crushed in a defeat. Viktor Orban now is gone from the Council.

12:02Is that going to make things better? Actually, would you argue the dynamics are more profound?

12:06Even with the Hungarian Prime Minister gone, this issue will remain.

12:10I hope that it will help the European Council to be more united in the future.

12:16Are you relieved that Viktor Orban lost?

12:18I wouldn't say that. Because I will tell you why. Because I think that, based on the experience I

12:24have on some topics, some in the European Council were hiding behind Viktor Orban, point one. And point

12:31two, in some of the European countries, you can have tomorrow some national leaders,

12:38one so far from Viktor Orban's ideology on some topics, including on Ukraine, for instance.

12:44Point two, does it mean that unanimity is a problem? For sure, unanimity is a challenge. There is no doubt.

12:50But I think you should think carefully before making a decision to not to use unanimity anymore.

12:57Because if you stop to try to involve every country in the same decision,

13:04the reason is that you will weaken the weight of the EU at the international level.

13:11And that's why I think the priority should be different. In my opinion, we should fight against

13:16the abuse of this veto right. Because if you follow the philosophy and the principle of the Lisbon Treaty,

13:22the idea was that the veto right was supposed to be used when your vital interests are at risk.

13:30And the problem is that today, too many countries are tempted too many times to use this veto right

13:36as a kind of tool to blackmail and to get something in the other side. That's the problem, I think.

13:42It seems to me, however, listening to the leaders just finally on this point, that they would agree that

13:45largely needs to happen as soon as possible and complete the union, but they would also say we

13:50need to reform and there is no fast track for Ukraine. Are those three statements compatible?

13:55Yeah, but what you mentioned is this agreed language, no fast track, etc. When we want to do something,

14:04but in parallel, we add a sentence so that it is in fact more difficult to get the result.

14:14Let's be clear. There is no doubt that in those countries they have to do their homework and they

14:21know what they have to do. They have to put in place a reform, they have to guarantee the independence

14:25of justice, to fight against corruption, etc. On the other hand, let's be honest, in some of the European

14:32countries, it was very comfortable to use the argument of those countries not acting as fast as needed,

14:43because there is in some European countries a difficult political debate with this enlargement policy.

14:49And I think in those circumstances, we could all win if we tell the truth to our people. Everywhere in

14:58Europe,

14:58the future will be more stable, more secure with them within the EU. And of course, there are some

15:04efforts, but also other efforts that are needed in terms of domestic reforms and in terms of what

15:12kind of policy we put in place.

15:16That was the former president of the European Council, Charles Michel, speaking to our Europe editor,

15:22Maria Tadeo. Now, the FIFA Football World Cup is just around the corner happening this summer,

15:29of course, in the US, Canada and Mexico. And it's becoming deeply intertwined with global politics.

15:37The Trump administration is reportedly working behind the scenes to replace Iran, which did qualify for

15:44the tournament with Italy, which painfully lost in the playoffs to Bosnia and Herzegovina,

15:50missing out on a spot in the World Cup for the third consecutive time.

15:55For more, our Jakob Janis has this explainer.

16:00Could the 2026 World Cup see a team that failed to qualify take to the purge?

16:07A plan is brewing in Washington to give Italy a wildcard entry by replacing Iran.

16:12Paolo Zampolli, a special envoy to President Trump, confirmed he has pitched the swap to

16:17both the White House and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

16:20But wait a second. Is this game-changer even in the rulebook?

16:26The Financial Times reports this is an attempt to repair ties between Trump and Italy's

16:31Giorgia Meloni after the Republic spud over the Iran War and the Pope.

16:36And Zampolli argues Italy four world titles offer the pedigree to join the 2026 tournament

16:42hosted across the US, Mexico and Canada.

16:46All right, but how is it legal? Article 6 of the World Cup regulations gives FIFA sole discretion

16:52to replace any team that withdraws or is excluded. And while Iran insists they plan to participate,

17:00FIFA has already set a precedent. Just last summer, they used the same powers to hand a spot at the

17:07Club World Cup to Inter Miami, enabling Lionel Messi to play.

17:13But football is not the only arena where the guest list is being rewritten. This February, Russia and

17:18Belarus were bards from flying their flags at the Milano-Kortina 2026 Winter Olympics in response to

17:24the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Yet, when the Paralympics, which are governed by a different

17:30body than the Olympics, allowed these symbols back after a Swiss court ruling, the European

17:35Commission boycotted the opening ceremony. Sport Commissioner Glenn Mikalev called the return

17:40of the national banners unacceptable, while Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine continues.

17:46So if Italy does make it to Los Angeles this June, it could be the most historic wildcard in the

17:52history

17:52of the sport. They just have to hope their diplomatic pedigree is as strong as their footballing one,

17:59especially after the brutal defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the qualifying playoff final.

18:09And that brings this edition of Europe Today to an end. Thank you so much for your company today

18:15and throughout this week. We will be bringing the latest from that meeting of EU leaders taking place

18:21right now in Cyprus. Our correspondent Jorge Liborero is there on the ground. Keep an eye out for his

18:28reporting throughout the day on Euronews and Euronews.com. You can also get in touch with us,

18:34email us at europetoday at euronews.com with your tips, questions and feedback. We love to hear from

18:40you. We'll be back on Monday with more news and more analysis from Brussels and across our European

18:47bureaus. In the meantime, do have a great weekend.

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