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Europe Today: a Nemzetközi Energiaügynökség rekordméretű energiabiztonsági válságra figyelmeztet
Az IEA szerint a világ a modern kor legnagyobb energiabiztonsági válságával néz szembe a Hormuzi-szoros lezárása miatt. Exkluzív interjú Fatih Birol főigazgatóval.
BŐVEBBEN : http://hu.euronews.com/2026/05/28/europe-today-a-nemzetkozi-energiaugynokseg-peldatlan-energiabiztonsagi-valsagra-figyelmezt
Iratkozzon fel: Az Euronews elérhető 12 nyelven
Az IEA szerint a világ a modern kor legnagyobb energiabiztonsági válságával néz szembe a Hormuzi-szoros lezárása miatt. Exkluzív interjú Fatih Birol főigazgatóval.
BŐVEBBEN : http://hu.euronews.com/2026/05/28/europe-today-a-nemzetkozi-energiaugynokseg-peldatlan-energiabiztonsagi-valsagra-figyelmezt
Iratkozzon fel: Az Euronews elérhető 12 nyelven
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00:14Good morning, it is Thursday the 28th of May. I'm Maeve McMahon and this is Europe Today.
00:20Your morning dose of European news and analysis live here on Euronews.
00:25Coming up, all eyes on Spain, where the political system has been shaken to its core by a corruption investigation
00:31involving the former Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
00:36Incumbent Socialist Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has ruled out early elections though and says he fully supports the former Premier,
00:43who's a close friend and mentor.
00:45We'll be live in Madrid.
00:46And the focus is also on Hungary. The country's new Prime Minister, Peter Maillard, is in Brussels today for one
00:53of the most important meetings of his political career.
00:56After talks with NATO, tomorrow he'll be sitting down with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, to
01:03try to claw back billions in frozen EU funding.
01:06We'll be speaking exclusively to Brussels' Rule of Law Chief, Michael McGrath.
01:11Meanwhile, as NATO carries out military exercises on the Russia-Finland border, Poland's Donald Tusk is in London, building closer
01:18diplomatic ties with the UK.
01:20Prompted by the ongoing war in Ukraine, the two countries have signed a historic defence deal and a new master
01:26plan to counter a regular migration.
01:28But first, Israel has warned thousands of civilians to evacuate their homes in southern Lebanon ahead of a fresh wave
01:36of airstrikes.
01:37It comes as the US carries out new strikes inside Iran, targeting a military facility.
01:43Meanwhile, this Thursday, the International Energy Agency is warning the world is facing the, quote, biggest energy security crisis in
01:51modern history,
01:52as the shutdown in the Strait of Hormuz continues to rattle the global energy market.
01:56Our Europe editor, Maria Tadeo, sat down with the agency's executive director, Fatih Birol, in an exclusive interview from Paris,
02:04where they discussed the outlook for Europe and, of course, the risks ahead.
02:08I label this crisis as the largest energy crisis in the history.
02:15We had three energy crises up to now, and two oil crises in the 1970s, 1973 and 1979.
02:24And in 2022, after the Russia's invasion of Ukraine in Europe, we had a natural gas crisis.
02:30If I add how much oil and gas we lost in this all three crisis, it is much less than
02:39what we lost in the Middle East crisis, Iran crisis now.
02:44It's a huge problem for the global energy system, global economy for Europe and beyond.
02:51And when you say this will trigger fundamental changes, especially you, and I want to reiterate this, you talk about
02:56energy, but also energy security.
02:58What kind of changes are you envisioning?
03:00Because this shows us that the world is becoming more and more a dangerous place.
03:07And here the countries want to secure their energy supplies, and this would mean that the countries will review their
03:18energy strategies, which technologies, which fuels they are going to choose, and which countries they are going to work, from
03:26which countries they import energy, for example.
03:29And they are going to review their energy strategies, and this will have major implications for the investment and beyond.
03:35And some would argue no continent has paid such a high price over its strategic dependencies than Europe.
03:40But before we get into that, I also want to ask you, for European viewers, in mid-April, you made
03:47some comments, which obviously made a lot of headlines, certainly in Europe, about jet fuel.
03:52You warned that in six weeks there could be no jet fuel.
03:54That created a lot of anxiety among finance ministers and also just Europeans who thought, this summer, am I going
04:00to be able to go on vacation?
04:01Am I going to be able to pay for fuel tickets?
04:05What is the situation now?
04:06Because from the outside, it seems a very stressed-out scenario did not fully manifest.
04:11But is it the case?
04:12Yeah.
04:12So the reason I said this is very simple.
04:17Europe imports about 75% of it is jet fuel from Middle East normally, and it is not finished.
04:26And when we look at our stocks, jet fuel stocks, they are diminishing.
04:32And I said, we said that if Europe cannot find new sources of imports, we are going to have major
04:40problems in terms of flying.
04:43Now, in the meantime, Europe was able to get some jet fuel from the United States and from Nigeria to
04:51compensate this gap from Middle East.
04:54So, which means that we are now sort of okay when we are entering the traveling season, but we are
05:04going to pay much higher for flying here or there.
05:08And, of course, that takes us to the idea that this is not necessarily a supply crisis, but a price
05:12crisis.
05:13I do want to ask you…
05:13Exactly.
05:14But also, let's not forget that many companies, after I made this announcement, many companies, the Lufthansa, the Scandinavian, the
05:24Ryanair, and all of them, KLM, they cut their flights.
05:27And they cut their flights.
05:28And just on this point, because I think this is very important, some, certainly in Brussels, believed that statements like
05:35that, they were contributing to fear-mongering.
05:38Is that something that you would go, no, this was my duty and I had to say what I said,
05:42and I stand by those comments?
05:43We, our motto is very clear, no fear, no favor.
05:48We look at the data, we say give a wake-up call to the countries, and if we didn't give
05:53this wake-up call, they wouldn't rush to get from Nigeria and United States.
05:58And thanks to them, thanks to this, our wake-up call, they were able to get some jet fuel from
06:06U.S. and Nigeria, which barely now, this is the problem.
06:10So, in that sense, is the situation, the outlook now for Europe looking relatively better compared to two months ago,
06:19or is this still uncertainty?
06:20Because we're seeing the Commission just got their forecast for growth this year.
06:23Yes.
06:24I wouldn't say better, but less worse than before.
06:28And what does that mean this year?
06:30What are the scenarios that you paint?
06:32Until, of course, we don't know what will happen with the state of Hormuz, I very much hope that very
06:38soon we get a fully and unconditional opening of the state of Hormuz.
06:43If it doesn't happen, the problem with the jet fuel and diesel and beyond will be with us for weeks
06:50to come.
06:53And that was Fathi Birol there, the head of the International Energy Agency.
06:57And you can catch the full interview tonight with Maria Taddeo on Euronews.
07:01But now to Finland, where NATO is conducting military exercises close to the Russian border this Thursday,
07:07amid ongoing concerns in Baltic states about increased drone incursions.
07:11Our NATO correspondent, Shona Murray, is on the ground and is joining us live this morning from Finland,
07:17just 30 kilometres from the border with Russia.
07:20Good morning, Shona.
07:21Just tell us about these drills and are they actually responding to the drone threat?
07:28Yes, indeed.
07:29Good morning, Maeve.
07:30Well, certainly the exercises we've seen over the past couple of days, Northern Star, Sword 26.
07:35And we're in the middle of one of these exercises right now, which is why you'll see the tank behind
07:39me.
07:39And you could see some simulation of live fire.
07:42But essentially what they're doing is trying to modernise NATO in response to what we're seeing in Ukraine.
07:49And it's essentially called NATO's Eastern Flank Deterrence Innovation.
07:53It includes things like traditional capabilities like the tank behind me, Chinook military helicopters, armed forces.
08:01But then, of course, very important, advanced drone technology, reconnaissance drones, anti-personnel drones,
08:08because very much taking into account what's been happening here at the Finnish border and other Baltic states borders of
08:15the past few weeks,
08:15but also the past couple of years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, you've seen a lot of threats
08:21coming from Russian aggression.
08:23So what we also will see is basically a renewed cyber technology, autonomous zones, and effectively the drone wall we've
08:31all been talking about.
08:32But listen, take a listen to Major Matt Blueby from the U.S. Army who told me about this, what
08:38he calls a kill zone.
08:41A big part of that is not just our own drones, but us having sensors, a system of networked sensors
08:48all integrated together through the same mission command systems.
08:52And us linking those together gives us that ability.
08:55And so it gives us the ability to have an autonomous kill web that we have.
09:00So whether you have, say, incursions in Estonia, but systems in Latvia or Lithuania that can see those,
09:07then, you know, someone else can use their technology to take those threats out.
09:13So, Shona, the U.S. is participating in this exercise.
09:17So does that mean they're fully committed to the NATO alliance?
09:22Yeah, it's a very important question, Maeve, because the Americans have actually led the SWORD 26 part of the exercise,
09:28which is very important.
09:28And as I said, deals with NATO's eastern flank.
09:31And it's also about innovation.
09:33So it is about the future.
09:34Having said all that, we know that the United States is withdrawing its capabilities from the future of NATO,
09:41essentially meaning that the U.S. won't be supplying or won't make available capabilities to NATO in times of war
09:49or any sort of invasion.
09:50And that's very much a Trump administration decision, because, as we know,
09:53the U.S. has been a leading member of NATO for several decades and does very much take part enthusiastically
10:00in these exercises.
10:01But there is no doubt that it's not a philosophical conversation anymore.
10:04The U.S. is pulling out of NATO and basically the rest of NATO has to pull up its socks
10:10and basically try to fill that gap of those capabilities in the future.
10:15Maeve?
10:15OK, Shona Murray, thank you so much for that live broadcast there from the Finnish-Russian border.
10:20And now these exercises and the recent expansion of NATO are all down to the fact that Russia invaded Ukraine
10:25illegally back in 22 and shows no signs of backing down.
10:29For more on the high stakes of these security threats, our Ukraine correspondent, Sasha Vakilina, spoke to the former prime
10:36minister of the country, Arsenio Yatsenyuk.
10:39Europeans have to realize that this war relates not only to Ukraine.
10:45They are going after every single European citizen, every single European country.
10:50So, and Ukraine actually today is on the front line of defending both Ukraine, because we are defending ourselves and
10:59defending the European Union.
11:01The real understanding comes only in case if you feel it, if you see it, if you can listen to
11:09an air raid siren.
11:10We are living in a completely new world.
11:13And on the one hand, I wish every single European citizen to be in safety.
11:19On the other hand, I wish all of us to realize that you folks can be safe only in one
11:25case, if we as Ukrainians win this war, period.
11:28You met Putin.
11:30Correct.
11:31What's your take as somebody who actually met Russia's president?
11:35Should there be the negotiating table, let's say, with the EU represented either by Kayakalos or Antonio Kostya?
11:41That's another name that's been circulating in Brussels.
11:44Let me go back to square one.
11:47First, please do not underestimate this war criminal.
11:51He's not an idiot.
11:53He's a KGB operative.
11:55He has changed definitely dramatically in the last decade, no doubt.
11:59But he still has quite effective top military and security brass.
12:12So he's less strategic.
12:14He's more tactical.
12:17And he always has the sense of whether you are weak or you are strong.
12:24So he makes a sniff test of each person he meets.
12:29But whether we have an ability and whether do we have a chance to outplay him?
12:36Yes, we do.
12:37No doubt.
12:41And now we move on to Spain, where anti-corruption police have raided the headquarters of the ruling Socialist Party
12:47in Madrid.
12:48The heat is on current Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who's facing public criticism from a string of corruption scandals involving
12:55his close contacts.
12:56For more, we can cross now live to Madrid, where Euronews correspondent Rafael Salido is standing by for us outside
13:02the seat of the Socialist Party.
13:04Good morning.
13:05Just tell us about the raids that took place there yesterday.
13:09Hi.
13:10Good morning, Maeve.
13:11So, yes.
13:12Once again, here in Spain, yesterday, we woke up to the news of yet another investigation involving the ruling party,
13:19the Spanish Socialist Party.
13:21Yesterday, federal agents came and entered the national headquarters of the party here in my back.
13:28They were executing a judge order, a request for documents, in a case investigating alleged payments to a party operative
13:38called Lady Diaz.
13:40From the party, they insist that this was just a request of documents, not so much as a formal warrant.
13:47However, at the same time that the policemen were in the headquarters, the authorities were executing several search warrants in
13:55private homes of people supposedly involved in this investigation.
14:00The purpose of this investigation, with this skill, under a gag order, is to find out whether Diaz was acting
14:07on her behalf or she was being, she was receiving instructions from the party or even the government.
14:15So, what is next, and how is the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, responding to all this?
14:21Well, actually, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was yesterday meeting with the Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican when he found
14:30out about the raid in the headquarters.
14:33He, after the meeting, he spoke to the press where he insisted, first of all, that this was not a
14:39raid, but just a search warrant, a search for information.
14:43And even though he did strike a cautious tone, he did recognize the seriousness of the situation involving his party.
14:53However, he insisted that the PSOE has nothing to hide.
14:58He also insisted that he's not planning on calling elections or resigning at all.
15:03And he reiterated his support for former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who is actually under a different investigation
15:12for influence peddling.
15:15But the Prime Minister said that so far he has seen no reason to change his support, and he defended
15:22his presumption of innocence.
15:25However, Prime Minister Sánchez pledged to fully cooperate with the investigation.
15:31Let's listen.
15:35Apparently, we're talking about an administrative requirement, not a police search warrant.
15:43I don't want to downplay the seriousness of the investigation that the National Court is currently conducting,
15:48and I can tell the Spanish public that we're fully cooperating with the justice system.
15:53Total collaboration with the justice.
15:55Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez there on a story being, of course, very closely watched here in Brussels.
16:00And now for the view from the European Commission headquarters, the Burley Mall.
16:04Coming up, we'll be joined by Michael McGrath.
16:06That's Ireland's European Commissioner in charge of rule of law, democracy, justice and consumer protection.
16:12An Irish Fianna Fáil politician, Michael McGrath, was a senior government minister in the past,
16:17including the country's finance minister until 2024.
16:20So we're pleased to have you with us today in the studio.
16:22You're welcome.
16:23Thank you, Maeve.
16:24Good to be here.
16:24So as I said, we're following here in Brussels that story in Spain very carefully.
16:29Spanish people are shocked.
16:30As the Commissioner for Democracy and Rule of Law, what is your reaction to this kind of scandal?
16:34Well, clearly we don't comment on individual cases, but the policy of the European Commission towards corruption is very clear.
16:42We have to have a zero tolerance policy across the European Union.
16:46What is most important is that the national authorities in any given case are allowed to do their work without
16:54any interference,
16:55that they follow the evidence and they take the case to its appropriate end point.
17:00We have recently reached agreement on a new anti-corruption directive in the European Union.
17:07So that will be transposed in the next couple of years, which harmonises the definition of corruption offences and also
17:14harmonises penalties.
17:16The reality is that corruption is insidious.
17:19It takes from valuable public resources and it fundamentally undermines public trust in institutions and in democracy itself.
17:28So it's crucial that all member states tackle it and we deal with it in the Rule of Law report
17:32every year.
17:33And especially this issue, one of the investigations is actually about alleged attempts from the Socialist Party to sabotage or
17:39obstruct judicial investigations.
17:40So it's a very serious matter you're dealing with here that could impact indeed people's public trust in institutions.
17:46Yeah, as I say, the case itself, I don't have the details, nor should I, and it will take its
17:51normal course.
17:52But every year we do an annual Rule of Law report, which will be published now in July of this
17:57year.
17:58It looks at every single country of the European Union across a number of headings, including under the heading of
18:04corruption,
18:05and examines the country's track record of investigating, prosecuting and securing convictions in respective corruption cases,
18:14particularly high-level corruption cases, because, of course, the more senior the level,
18:18then the more serious the damage is done to public trust and indeed to the institutions themselves.
18:24And let's talk about Hungary. The Viktor Orban era is over.
18:28Peter Maillard is in Brussels for talks.
18:30Will he get those billions of funds back, do you think?
18:34So the Prime Minister will be meeting with Ursula von der Leyen, the Commission President, tomorrow.
18:39We have made a good start in resetting the relations with the Hungarian government.
18:45We are there as a commission to work with them and support them on the path to restoring rule of
18:51law
18:52and commitment to respecting fundamental rights of all citizens in Hungary.
18:58Sounds like they're not ready then. Are they ready then?
19:00Sounds like, from what you're saying, they're not ready.
19:02The discussions are ongoing. I will be visiting Budapest next week
19:05and I'll be meeting with the new Hungarian Justice Minister again to agree on the reforms
19:11and look at the progress that they intend to make over the months ahead.
19:15And why was there confusion?
19:16We are there to work with them and support them.
19:17Why was there so much confusion and mystery about the meeting between Ursula von der Leyen and Peter Maillard?
19:22I'm not sure there was mystery or confusion, but these things often are only nailed down quite late on.
19:28That's the reality.
19:29Will they have dinner?
19:30Given schedules and timetables. I don't know the detail of their engagement,
19:34but the important thing is that they will meet and they will continue the substantive discussions on the issue at
19:39hand.
19:40And that is about how the European Commission can support the new Hungarian government
19:44in their efforts to restore rule of law in Hungary and ensure that the necessary reforms can be implemented.
19:51So we will support them. And so far, they have demonstrated a very clear and steadfast commitment on this path,
19:58which will help to serve the best interests of the Hungarian citizens at the end of the day.
20:03And just back on your file, when it comes to tech, etc., you'll be coming out soon with a proposal
20:07to wean off our dependency on big US tech,
20:10promote our own homegrown cloud technology, etc.
20:13Can you confirm this plan?
20:15So this will be led by my colleague, the Executive Vice President, Hennifer Cunnan.
20:19It is a tech sovereignty package and it is consistent with the overall policy direction that the European Union is
20:27currently taking.
20:27It needs to be seen alongside all of the other measures that we have brought forward so far in this
20:33commission in the last 18 months,
20:35designed to improve our competitiveness.
20:38Yes, have a focus on strategic autonomy, but at a time when there is so much upheaval,
20:44geopolitical uncertainty and indeed economic volatility,
20:47we do need to make sure that on key strategic issues that the European Union is supporting its indigenous industries
20:55and that we have access to the critical services and the deep materials that we need.
21:01Okay. Commissioner Michael McGrath, thank you so much for joining us here this morning on Europe Today.
21:05And thank you so much for tuning in.
21:07For more news and analysis, you can visit euronews.com or check out our social medias.
21:12And we'll be back again tomorrow, so tune in for that.
21:14Thanks for watching. Take care.
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