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Europe Today: Dombrovskis esclude l'allentamento delle sanzioni Ue alla Russia malgrado l'inflazione
Dopo il taglio delle previsioni di crescita e l’allarme inflazione, il commissario UE Valdis Dombrovskis a Europe Today esclude un allentamento delle sanzioni contro la Russia, a differenza di USA e Regno Unito, nonostante la crisi energetica legata alla guerra in Iran.
ALTRE INFORMAZIONI : http://it.euronews.com/2026/05/22/europe-today-dombrovskis-esclude-lallentamento-delle-sanzioni-ue-alla-russia-malgrado-linf
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Dopo il taglio delle previsioni di crescita e l’allarme inflazione, il commissario UE Valdis Dombrovskis a Europe Today esclude un allentamento delle sanzioni contro la Russia, a differenza di USA e Regno Unito, nonostante la crisi energetica legata alla guerra in Iran.
ALTRE INFORMAZIONI : http://it.euronews.com/2026/05/22/europe-today-dombrovskis-esclude-lallentamento-delle-sanzioni-ue-alla-russia-malgrado-linf
Abbonati, euronews è disponibile in 12 lingue.
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00:15Buongiorno, è Friday 22 di May, questo è EUROPE TODAY e io sono Mariette Guinn,
00:21porto l'analyse e l'analyse di starte la giornata live here from Brussels.
00:26Come up today, after the EU downgraded its economic growth forecast and warned of a sharp rise in inflation yesterday,
00:35the EU's economy chief, Valdis Dombrowski, tells this programme the EU will not ease sanctions on Russia
00:41as the US and UK have done to cushion the energy crisis caused by the Iran war.
00:47And the EU and Mexico are expected to sign a revamped trade and cooperation deal in Mexico City later today
00:55after a decade of negotiations.
00:58It adds to a string of trade deals clinched by the EU in recent months
01:02as it aims to diversify trading partners in a more volatile world.
01:07We speak to the European Parliament's Vice President Javi López from Mexico.
01:12Also, as the Cannes Film Festival wraps up this weekend,
01:16we ask whether this year's event has been the most politically charged to date
01:21as debates over war, power, ideology and influence dominate the headlines.
01:28But first, our top story this morning.
01:31The European Commission has lowered its growth outlook for 2026
01:36and warned of a spike in inflation as the energy crunch continues to rattle the economy.
01:42Governments across the EU are taking different approaches
01:45to shield households and businesses from rising costs,
01:49while the International Monetary Fund has warned the bloc cannot simply subsidise its way through this crisis.
01:55For more on this, I'm joined on set by Iranews' Luca Bertuzzi.
01:59Luca, good morning. Good to have you with us.
02:01Thank you and good morning to you.
02:02So, tell us first, just for a bit of context,
02:05Giorgia Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister, for example,
02:08has wrote to the Commission President von der Leyen asking for financial flexibility
02:13to tackle this crisis.
02:15Is she getting a response?
02:16Well, we're going to see a response soon, I think,
02:19because this is a very strong political message that Meloni sent to us
02:23for fiscal flexibility at a time of an energy crunch in Europe.
02:27She invoked political courage and said that the energy security
02:32should be treated as a European strategic priority alongside defence spending.
02:39So, Italy, let's keep in mind, is among the highest energy costs in Europe
02:44alongside Germany and Belgium.
02:46And the stakes are so high that Meloni said that
02:49if not enough fiscal flexibility is provided,
02:53Italy might withdraw from the SAFE programme,
02:56which is the EU programme,
02:57to finance defence spending with low interest loans.
03:01And we also heard the Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Maggia
03:04suggesting the EU might need to contemplate buying Russian energy once again
03:08once the war in Ukraine ends.
03:10What is the line that Brussels is taking on this?
03:14Yeah, and we'll hear more about this,
03:16but so far the line has been a firm no.
03:19Still, European governments are facing increasing domestic pressure
03:24as energy costs are taking a toll on the economy
03:27and they might be tempted to ease sanctions on Russian relatively cheap energy imports.
03:35Ukraine's recent history, of course, has shown that energy dependence can be weaponised.
03:40Still, changing posture now for the EU would be a major shift after four years of war,
03:47but the pressure is mounting.
03:49We saw this week that the UK government has sparked a public backlash
03:54when it appeared to issue a waiver on sanctions for Russian gas and oil.
04:00London described it as a miscommunication,
04:03but it's clear that the energy crisis is also biting the UK economy.
04:07Last month we saw the CEO of Eni, Italy's largest energy company,
04:12saying that there should be a suspension on the ban on Russian gas imports.
04:18The Italian government has so far distanced itself from this position,
04:22but several key European countries are heading to elections next year, including Italy.
04:28Okay, Luca, and in fact, our Europe editor, Maria Tadeo,
04:32spoke to the Economy Commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, yesterday,
04:35and she started by asking him about this,
04:37about whether the EU would have to contemplate easing sanctions on Russian commodities
04:41as the US and the UK have done to ease the impact of the energy crisis on Europeans.
04:48Well, we already saw back in 2022 that Russia tried to use its fossil fuel supplies
04:55as a tool for blackmail and manipulation,
04:58and we paid a quite dear economic price for having this dependency from Russia,
05:05so therefore there's no point of going back to this.
05:08We have diversified our supplies.
05:10Our largest gas supply is now Norway.
05:12Our largest LNG supplier is US, and so on.
05:16So there are strategic decisions taken to move away completely from Russian oil and gas,
05:25and we have to follow it through.
05:26But you rule out, because it's very important, that by the winter, by Christmas,
05:31the temperatures going down, that the EU will not take any measures easing sanctions on Russian energy at any level.
05:38Well, if anything, we need to strengthen sanctions against Russia, not ease,
05:42because actually Russia is a country benefiting from this conflict in the Middle East
05:47and those higher energy prices, getting substantial windfall profits.
05:52So we should not facilitate it further.
05:55And it's worth noting that already now we started the process of refilling our gas storages.
06:03Well, it currently goes, so to say, within the historical range of this time of the year.
06:10That's something we, in any case, need to do.
06:12We need to prepare ourselves for next winter.
06:14But you don't feel blackouts, you don't fear that, once again, as we talked about in 2022,
06:20there was a real fear that Europe would come to a halt, it will grind to a halt,
06:24that the industry would not be able to operate because of a shortage of supplies.
06:28You don't expect that to be the case by the end of the year?
06:31No, we do not expect this to be the case now.
06:36Indeed, there was this risk back in 2022, or winter from 2022 to 2023,
06:42exactly because we were independent from Russian fossil fuel supplies.
06:46So we should not get back there.
06:48This week, the head of the Italian government sent a letter to the commission.
06:52By now it's very clear that Giorgia Meloni believes the commission is not taking her concerns seriously.
06:57She says that this is just as equally important energy to defense.
07:01What are you going to offer the Italian prime minister that is going to placate her anger?
07:05Because by now it's clear they are not satisfied with the measures you provided.
07:08We are obviously now looking at policy options and also our fiscal policy response.
07:17But the main message in the case remains that the support measures need to be temporary and targeted.
07:23the ones which are not sustaining or increasing demand for fossil fuels.
07:29So on one hand, not just to perpetuate higher energy demand and thus higher global energy prices
07:36because we are facing supply shock.
07:38So we cannot resolve it by stimulating demand.
07:43And second, we must keep in mind also more limited fiscal room of maneuver and also flexibilities already existing in
07:54our fiscal framework.
07:54We have a number of automatic stabilizers which can play out,
07:58which allows for, in a sense, certain fiscal buffer before even member states come with discretionary measures.
08:04But we are doing this assessment and preparing it.
08:06So you're listening to her concerns?
08:08Well, we certainly are listening to the concerns of member states and looking appropriate policy response.
08:17That was the European Commissioner for the Economy, Valdis Dombrovskis, speaking to Maria Tadeo.
08:23Now, moving on, Hungarian Prime Minister Petr Magyar is pushing to revive the so-called Visegrad or V4 group,
08:31which brings together Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
08:35Magyar has even pitched expanding the group.
08:38Jakub Janus tells us more.
08:41Petr Magyar's first official foreign trip to Poland wrapped up yesterday.
08:45And now, when the diplomatic dust is settling,
08:48all eyes are now on the sudden resurrection of the group called Visegrad IV.
08:51And if you are a bit unsure what this shift actually means for Europe,
08:55or even what the group is about, let's break it down together.
09:00The V4 was set up in the early 1990s to guide these post-communist neighbors into the West.
09:06But beyond geography, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary are bound by the same massive Central European automotive and manufacturing supply
09:14chains.
09:14But also a shared goal to protect billions in EU cohesion funding.
09:19And their most significant political impact came over 10 years ago in 2015,
09:24when their coordinated resistance forced Brussels to abandon mandatory migration quotas.
09:29And what's interesting, this is no longer the poor relation of Western Europe.
09:34Central Europe enters this new chapter with economic strength.
09:38Just look at the data.
09:40Last year, Poland led the continent with a booming 4% real household income growth,
09:45while Germany lagged at 0.6%.
09:48And Austria's household income even declined.
09:51And this wealth flip gives the region confidence.
09:54Magyar is even pitching a bold plan to merge the V4 with Austria,
09:58with reports suggesting Vienna is receptive to a Benelux-style alliance.
10:03But let's be realistic.
10:05Can this bloc actually deliver anything tangible?
10:07Critics point out that the V4 group has historically struggled to look beyond its own internal divisions.
10:13And in the past, cooperation was derailed by fears of revived Austrian hegemony.
10:18And even today, old bilateral disputes between neighbors like Slovakia and Hungary still cause friction.
10:24And acting as one voice in Brussels will not be seamless.
10:28And while the countries aim to cooperate on a regional energy and transport infrastructure,
10:33geopolitical fault lines remain.
10:35Hungary, Czechia and Slovakia, unlike Poland,
10:38are opting out of EU's 90 billion euro loan package for Ukraine.
10:42So will potential divisions stop this bloc from making a real impact?
10:46Only time will tell.
10:47But with Magyar finally in default,
10:50it turns out the three musketeers were just waiting for their fourth.
10:59Now, for more on this, I'm joined by our Hungarian correspondent, Sándor Szyros.
11:03Sándor, good to see you.
11:05Tell us, what's Magyar's strategy here?
11:08What is he trying to achieve?
11:09Well, as mentioned, it was his first visit to Poland,
11:12and he had two messages.
11:14First of all, he said that he's conducting foreign trips in a very different way.
11:20It was a big show what he did.
11:22He went on a commercial plane, then he took the train.
11:27He did a lot of selfies on the streets of Warsaw.
11:30So it's a different feeling after Orbán.
11:33And the political message was that he wants to revive Polish-Hungarian ties,
11:38which were stuck during the Orbán era.
11:43There was a lot of diplomatic tensions because of Orbán's ties to Russia.
11:47And he wants to revive also the Visegrad IV,
11:51which is a key in Central European cooperation.
11:54In Warsaw, he also said that, you know,
11:56maybe this group should extend beyond these four countries,
12:00Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia, and Poland,
12:03to Austria, and to even further, let's take a look at what he said.
12:11I am personally ready and consider it important
12:14to extend the cooperation of the Visegrad IV,
12:17whether with our Scandinavian friends
12:19or with Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania,
12:23or the Western Balkan countries that have not yet joined the EU.
12:27The heart of Europe beats in Central Europe today.
12:36It's clearly ambitious, Sándor,
12:38but realistically, can this bloc become a powerful one also here in Brussels?
12:43We will see it in the coming years.
12:45The big problem for the Visegrad IV right now is that,
12:48you know, 10 years ago,
12:50they had one major common topic, migration.
12:53They were fighting against the mandatory relocation quotas
12:56of the European Union.
12:59Now, you know, this issue is completely mainstream.
13:01And what connects these four countries is, you know, infrastructure, economy, business.
13:09And there is one thing that could potentially unite them is to fight against the Green Deal
13:15of the European Union and to preserve car industry,
13:19which is really strong in all of those countries.
13:22OK, Sándor, we keep an eye out for that, of course.
13:25Thank you.
13:26Now, moving on.
13:27Later today, the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum,
13:30will receive the presidents of the European Commission and Council,
13:33Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa,
13:35for the eighth EU-Mexico summit.
13:37They're expected to ink a revamped trade deal
13:40to replace the previous pact struck 25 years ago.
13:43It's set to slash tariffs on a range of goods,
13:46including agricultural products.
13:48Also in Mexico is Javi López, the European Parliament's vice president,
13:52who has been part of these negotiations.
13:54I spoke to him in an interview and started by asking him
13:57what the deal offers for both sides.
14:01First, after 10 years of negotiation and after 10 years without summits at the high level,
14:06that we will have it tomorrow,
14:08we are able to modernize the global agreement with Mexico
14:11after 25 years working with the current agreement.
14:16With this, we are doing more on trade,
14:20especially in predictable trade with high standards,
14:23but also we are reinforcing our geopolitical alliance with one G20,
14:28a giant, culturally, demographically, economically,
14:32and in a world where all of the rest big actors are using trade as a coercive force,
14:42we are working for predictable trade agreements.
14:45So is it fair to say this agreement is more than anything a reaction against
14:49the unpredictability, perhaps, of Trump's America?
14:52We know both Mexico and the EU have been targeted by aggressive trade policies from the US.
14:59And is that going to work?
15:00Because some would look at the agreement that the EU has signed with the US,
15:05the trade agreement, and would say,
15:07well, actually, Trump is calling the shots.
15:09No, I think we are working in the right direction.
15:12We are working in the direction of diversification of our economic relations in the world,
15:18trying to reduce dependencies, also dependencies coming from the United States.
15:21This is the reality.
15:23We're risking our dependencies in trade, also in security.
15:27And on that, we are having a group, a mix of important association agreements.
15:32We have Mercosur, that it's a game changer with the region.
15:35We have the modernization of Mexico.
15:37And also, we will have India.
15:39And it's three big examples of this offensive foreign action,
15:44foreign policy that we are having.
15:46You mentioned Mercosur, and obviously, that was a big step forward.
15:49But could you argue also that the EU has been a little bit slow to deepen ties with Latin America?
15:56And we're now seeing, of course, President Trump trying to reassert his sphere of influence
16:00over the Western Hemisphere.
16:01Has the EU been a little bit too negligent in the relationship?
16:05It's true that it was during a lot of years not in the radar of the priorities of the EU,
16:09and we were extremely focused on our neighbors.
16:13Also, we had good reasons to do that.
16:14But at the same time, now, after the Ukraine war, I will say,
16:18but after the arrival of Trump, too, to the White House,
16:22we are forced to think more strategically and act more mature in the world.
16:27And our relations with Latin America, especially, are strategical relations.
16:31It's the biggest partner in the world where we can work together for a multilateral dialogue,
16:37working with the same agenda, climate change, gender equality, inclusive growth,
16:42also defending international law and the chapter of the United Nations.
16:48And on that, we are working with these association agreements that are key to reinforce
16:53and are real game changers in the region.
16:59Now, as the Cannes Film Festival draws to a close,
17:03the red carpet has this year become a battleground over politics, ideology and artistic freedom.
17:10Artists have been weighing in on issues from the war in Gaza to gender roles.
17:14A feud has also erupted over the influence of conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré
17:19over Canal Plus, French cinema's biggest funder.
17:23For more, we can cross over to Cannes now and to Jada Yuan, a journalist and writer who is at
17:29the festival.
17:30Jada, great to see you and to have you with us on Europe Today.
17:32I guess politics always permeates into this festival.
17:37And I would say perhaps that this year has been no exception.
17:41Absolutely.
17:42It is one of the most political I've been at.
17:46I would say last year was also incredibly political.
17:52Robert De Niro came out in his opening speech called Trump, America's Philistine President.
17:57But the difference is that every single day when something screens and the Canal Plus logo comes up,
18:07the audience will boo, even if it's a gala premiere.
18:11And of course, on that, Jada, Canal Plus, there's been a big dispute.
18:16600 prominent figures from the film industry writing an open letter against the conservative billionaire
18:22who's its main shareholder.
18:24And this is creating quite a stir.
18:27Yes, and it's also because the CEO of Canal Plus here at Cannes, after that letter came out,
18:34basically said that they would blackball anybody who was on that letter.
18:38So they said they will blackball all of these 600 artists, including Julia Binoche.
18:48And, yeah, the controversy just continues.
18:52OK, well, Jada, we'll keep an eye out on the action from Cannes over the weekend.
18:57Thank you so much for joining us this morning on Europe Today.
19:00And that's it from us for today and for this week.
19:03We'll be back on Tuesday next week as we're taking a break on Monday.
19:07Remember to get in touch with us with your questions and feedback.
19:11Email us at EuropeToday at Euronews.com.
19:13And in the meantime, have a great weekend.
19:27Grazie a tutti.
19:54Grazie a tutti.
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