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Europe Today: US-Iran peace deal at risk as EU approves controversial migration law
Despite Israel's offensive in Lebanon, which prompted Iran to threaten to end its ceasefire with the US, Donald Trump says peace talks "will go on". Meanwhile in Europe, the EU has approved a controversial migration law allowing member states to establish return hubs in third countries.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/06/02/europe-today-us-iran-peace-deal-at-risk-as-eu-approves-controversial-migration-law
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Despite Israel's offensive in Lebanon, which prompted Iran to threaten to end its ceasefire with the US, Donald Trump says peace talks "will go on". Meanwhile in Europe, the EU has approved a controversial migration law allowing member states to establish return hubs in third countries.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/06/02/europe-today-us-iran-peace-deal-at-risk-as-eu-approves-controversial-migration-law
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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NewsTranscript
00:14Good morning, it is Tuesday the 2nd of June. I'm Maeve McMahan and this is Europe Today.
00:21Your morning hit of European news and analysis, live here on Euronews.
00:25Coming up, after talks last night, EU institutions reached a deal on what could become the bloc's toughest migration rules
00:33to date.
00:34Known as the so-called Returns Directive, the regulation would expand deportation powers for member states.
00:40Some fear Brussels is adopting elements of the US approach to migration enforcement.
00:45By the way, on the trade front, MEPs on the European Parliament's Trade Committee will be voting today on the
00:50Turnberry Tariff Agreement covering transatlantic business.
00:54Valued at $1.68 trillion, the vote is expected to pave the way for final ratification and implementation of the
01:02much-debated deal.
01:03And after two months of haggling, Meta Friedrichsen will soon return as the Danish Prime Minister for her third term.
01:10Her four-party centre-left coalition consists of her Social Democrats, the Moderates, the Green Left and the Social Liberals.
01:18The government's priorities will be presented today, while ministers will be named tomorrow.
01:22Plus, the EU has condemned what it describes as Russian pressure on Armenia ahead of parliamentary elections taking place.
01:30This Sunday, Brussels pushed back after Moscow suggested Yerevan should hold an immediate referendum to leave the Russian-led Eurasian
01:38Economic Union.
01:39But first, Iran has suspended peace talks with the US until Israeli operations in Lebanon come to an end.
01:46In response, Donald Trump now says that Hezbollah and Israel have agreed to de-escalation, to scale back fighting.
01:54Oil prices had surged just yesterday by more than $3 a barrel.
01:58Now, shortly, we'll cross live to Lebanon, which was drawn into the conflict in early March when Hezbollah began launching
02:04rockets into Israel.
02:05But first, let's get the latest from Euronews' regional correspondent, Jane Witherspoon.
02:10Jane, good morning. Just tell us, what is the latest? Bring us up to speed.
02:17Good morning. This really is a tale of two sides, with each saying completely different things.
02:23President Trump said yesterday he couldn't care less whether the peace deal talks with Iran continue or whether they fail.
02:31That said, he still is playing mediation of sorts.
02:36He found that he has spoken to Hezbollah via intermediaries and secured an agreement that it would not attack Israel.
02:44He did, of course, take to his truth social and he wrote,
02:48I had a very productive call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of Israel and there will be no troops going
02:55to Beirut and any troops that are on their way have already been turned back.
03:01Jane, is this just tactics, though? Could we really see more escalation?
03:09Well, who knows? Every day we wake up to different news.
03:13Iran, meanwhile, have said that it has suspended all indirect talks with the U.S.
03:18and announced that it would pursue complete closure of the trade of Ormer,
03:23accused Israel of continuing crimes in Lebanon and stating that he sees fire on one front of the U.S.
03:31in general.
03:33Iran, for a foreign spokesperson.
03:36And just, Jane, if I may, what impact is this all this uncertainty having on business?
03:51OK, and apologies to our viewers there.
03:55We're having some technical difficulties hearing there from our correspondent.
03:58That was, of course, Jane Witherspoon reporting live there from Dubai.
04:01And now for the view from Lebanon, we can head to Beirut and speak to the Lebanese MP and former
04:07Deputy Prime Minister Ghassan Hasbani.
04:09Good morning. Welcome to the programme. Thank you so much for joining us.
04:13Good morning.
04:14So, look, President Trump has said now he's had a severe call with Israel's Netanyahu.
04:18And now he says no Israeli troops can go into Beirut.
04:21Have you any faith, though, in this phone call?
04:24Well, the situation is actually more complicated than this.
04:29The Israelis had threatened to target the suburbs of Beirut, the stronghold of Hezbollah headquarters.
04:36If Hezbollah continued to target Israel's towns and settlements in the north.
04:42And that was basically the condition that after calls between the Lebanese authorities and the United States administration,
04:51we ended up with effectively averting the suburbs of Beirut, such an attack and de-escalation of the conflict,
05:00with the promise from Hezbollah that they would cease the targeting of the Israeli towns.
05:05Yet this has not been really cemented and clarified as how it will be implemented and whether it will hold
05:14for a long time.
05:16This morning it has been quieter than the last few days, of course.
05:20But it is unclear whether the Israelis will continue their operations in the south of Lebanon on the ground against
05:28Hezbollah,
05:28or whether they will simply cease all operations based on this U.S. request to clear the way for the
05:36Lebanese-Israeli discussions in Washington.
05:39And that's the big concern.
05:40Is a real ceasefire actually taking shape?
05:42Because we're seeing clashes still ongoing despite all those announcements.
05:45And also two Israeli soldiers killed just by Hezbollah.
05:50Yes, indeed.
05:51I think the impression here on the ground is that the ceasefire would probably be limited to not targeting the
05:59Beirut suburb, if it holds.
06:02But the operations on the ground in the south seem to be continuing against Hezbollah,
06:07who incidentally was the one who restarted this confrontation by sending rockets to Israel upon the assassination of the Khamenei.
06:17And what about the Israelis?
06:18Do you trust the Israelis to stop the killings?
06:20We haven't heard now from Betanyahu after that phone call last night with President Trump.
06:25I don't trust any side to stop anything because Hezbollah effectively is an Iranian faction on Lebanese territory dictated.
06:34Their actions are being largely dictated by the war that's ongoing today.
06:40And they are effectively a militarized force outside the Lebanese government control on the eastern Mediterranean, controlled by Iran.
06:47And they are at war with Israel.
06:50So it's not the Lebanese state that's at war with Israel at this point.
06:53And effectively, what the Lebanese state is trying is to de-escalate and avert or avoid further destruction in Lebanon
07:03in a war that is not for Lebanon to be part of anyway.
07:07And describe now the situation on the ground in Lebanon.
07:10It got from bad to worse recently.
07:13Indeed, it got worse.
07:14And we had effectively a cessation of hostilities for about 15 months before it restarted in March, as I said,
07:22as Hezbollah restarted targeting Israel.
07:26It was essentially a fragile ceasefire on the premise that Hezbollah would be fully dismantled by the Lebanese government.
07:34This was happening, but at a much slower pace than expected, given the limited capabilities available at the Lebanese with
07:40the Lebanese armed forces.
07:41But the war in Iran triggered a new attack from Hezbollah towards Israel, which led to a further escalation that
07:49we are seeing right now.
07:51So it's very difficult to tell how this will end.
07:55But it is very important to know that the Lebanese government has announced Hezbollah to be an illegal entity.
08:02The military activities of Hezbollah to be completely illegal.
08:05And today it is about how can the Lebanese government control all of its territory and establish its sovereignty with
08:14the help of its supporting countries and to control the decision on war and peace so that we can avoid
08:22such a situation happening in the future where militarized factions on Lebanese territory can pull the trigger at any point
08:29in time and drag Lebanon into a war with Israel again.
08:32And on that point, do you feel supported on the international stage or do you feel completely isolated?
08:37No, right now there's great support, particularly coming from the United States administration.
08:42We rarely have this kind of attention at the highest possible level, which is the president of this in this
08:48instance.
08:49We have the support of the European Union and the European countries individually to bring about stability and peace to
08:57Lebanon and to control any activities on Lebanese territory by the Lebanese government so that the country can recover.
09:07We can reconstruct what was destroyed and we can exit from an economic and financial crisis that we have been
09:16struggling with for many years, even before the conflict started.
09:20But as you said earlier, you do not trust the Israelis at this point.
09:22What do you think their endgame is here with their military incursion?
09:26I do not trust neither the Israelis nor the Iranians to stop this conflict until there is a clear resolution
09:35to the arms outside the Lebanese government control.
09:39Effectively, Lebanon, for more than 70 years, has been struggling with this, struggling with militarized factions on its territory outside
09:47the Lebanese government control, launching attacks on Israel and Israel retaliating and invading, then withdrawing, then invading again.
09:56So this has been an ongoing situation for many, many years that Lebanon cannot sustain.
10:01So basically, what we need to have is stability in Lebanon and the Lebanese government in full control of its
10:09territory so that it would be part of the international law and protected by international law.
10:14OK, Mr. Hasbani, thank you so much for taking the time out this morning to speak to us here live
10:18on Europe Today.
10:20Now, moving on, the EU Council and the EU Parliament has rubber-stamped a controversial law to speed up the
10:25return of migrants that have no right to stay in Europe and set up so-called return hubs.
10:30Those in favour say it's a smart way to manage migration ahead of big elections in France and Italy next
10:36year.
10:36But critics warn of a xenophobic twist in EU affairs.
10:40For more on this deal, we're joined here in the studio by our very own Stéphane Crobet.
10:44Stéphane, quite a shift to the right here. This would have been a major taboo 10 years ago.
10:48Yeah, absolutely, Maeve. I mean, the whole discussion about return hubs shows you just how far the EU has moved
10:55towards a tougher approach on migration.
10:58Remember, 10 years ago, during the migration crisis, Europe opened its doors to more than a million asylum seekers.
11:06And what happened? Migration became Europe's most polarising political issue and the populist backlash never really ended.
11:14That's why we've seen right-wing parties surging across the continent, campaigning on promises to cut migration and to tighten
11:23borders.
11:25Those parties exploited the fact that the EU had struggled with a very simple problem,
11:29and that is that thousands of migrants whose asylum applications were rejected stayed in Europe anyway.
11:37Governments complained that deportations were too slow, too complicated, too bureaucratic, or even impossible.
11:43Now Brussels wants a long-lasting solution, the return hubs.
11:49Just a few years ago, just a proposal would have been politically unthinkable in this town, as you alluded to.
11:56But today it has become a part of a much broader shift in European migration policy.
12:02The message is no longer simply welcome, but control.
12:06The EU has strengthened border controls, expanded the powers of Frontex, and signed migration deals with countries outside the EU.
12:17And Europe increasingly focused on deterrence rather than reception.
12:22So return hubs may be the clearest symbol yet of that transformation, Maeve.
12:28Okay, Stefan Krober, thank you so much for that update.
12:31And now for the view from the European Parliament.
12:33Coming up, we'll be joined by Charlie Weimers, the Swedish member of the European Parliament from the right-wing Swedish
12:39Democrats,
12:40the Vice President of the European Conservative and Reformists, who's been working on this file inside the European Parliament.
12:46The Parliament, of course, will have to greenlight this file and also EU countries,
12:51but it could enter into force as soon as next month.
12:55Good morning, sir. Welcome to Europe Today.
12:57Good morning. Thanks for having me.
12:59So I know we've been debating this here in Brussels for months, but just remind our viewers,
13:02what is in this deal? Because some say the measures are rather draconian.
13:05Well, the EU has reached a landmark deal on the return regulation.
13:10That means, for instance, longer detention periods to prevent people from absconding,
13:17firm entry bans that carry real weight, and the legal framework for return hubs.
13:24So, indeed, the era of deportations has begun.
13:29We're moving from words to actual enforcement of our laws and our borders.
13:34But this kind of language would not have been used here in Brussels 10 years ago.
13:38What has changed?
13:40Reality has kicked in, and everyone sees that mass uncontrolled migration cannot continue,
13:47and people demand answers to how we are going to take back control over the migration policy.
13:54And remember, one out of five with a final return decision is going home today.
14:01Hundreds of thousands of people are going into the shadows every year in Europe,
14:07and that needs to stop.
14:08But the mass migration crisis, if you like, was in 2016.
14:11In 2026, the picture is very different, and the numbers of irregular migration are gone down,
14:15if you look at the Frontex.
14:16Well, they have gone down since 2015.
14:19That was a very extreme year.
14:21But the effects, the consequences of years of illegal migration are there.
14:29Just look at Paris this past weekend.
14:31And people see this, and they demand that the EU does something about border control,
14:37does something about returns.
14:39But why do you think this will fix the problem?
14:40Does migration not need an overall, much more holistic approach?
14:43Well, we do have a holistic approach.
14:46For instance, we are stopping asylum shopping,
14:48people moving through a range of safe countries on their way to a destination in a rich country in Europe.
14:55Now we are focusing on helping people in their area.
15:00We are also looking at how to make countries take back their own citizens,
15:06something that has been one of the major obstacles to effective returns through the years.
15:13We are going to use trade, aid, visa policy to get those countries to take back their citizens.
15:21But the Greens, another party in the NGO, civil society, are not happy.
15:24The Greens have said this agreement legalizes return hubs outside the EU.
15:27It gives a green light to the detention of minors.
15:30And to lifetime entry bans without serious legal grounds.
15:34They say fundamental rights stand at the top of the hierarchy of norms.
15:37Because the EU is meant to be a union of values.
15:39We hear there's so much coming out of Brussels.
15:42A very important value of the European Union is rule of law.
15:47And if we're talking about human rights, that includes the right of Europeans to live in safe societies governed by
15:53the rule of law.
15:54And I wonder why the Greens won't accept the idea of, for instance, terror suspects getting lifetime entry bans.
16:04Why do the Greens want them in Europe?
16:06That's the question.
16:07That's a question for perhaps The Ring, our debating show here on Euronews.
16:11Mr. Weimers, thank you so much for being our guest this morning on Europe Today.
16:15And now moving on, we can bring in another story now, which brings us to France,
16:20where allies there have detained a sanctioned Russian oil tanker in the Atlantic over the weekend.
16:24President Emmanuel Macron has said for more on how ships are illegally transporting sanctioned Russian oil.
16:30Here's our Jakob Yanis with the help of Jorge Lebrero.
16:35For most Europeans, it was just another quiet weekend.
16:38But out in the Atlantic, a high-stakes naval standoff was playing out.
16:43Last Sunday, French maritime forces operating alongside the UK
16:47intercepted a sanctioned Russian oil tanker named the Tager.
16:51And its Russian capitan flantly refused to comply with orders,
16:55forcing military teams to take control of the vessel.
16:57And yesterday, French President Emmanuel Macron declared it completely unacceptable for ships
17:02to bypass international sanctions and fund Russia's ongoing war.
17:07But hold on for a second.
17:09What actually is the Shadow Fleet?
17:10And how does it affect Europeans?
17:14Russia's infamous Shadow Fleet is a clandestine armada of tankers
17:18that Moscow has deployed to bypass international sanctions on oil sales,
17:23most notably the G7 price cap.
17:26And the Kremlin has spent billions to buy dilapidated ships of murky ownership
17:30that fall short of the premium insurance and, as a result, evade Western oversight.
17:35But insurance is just one of the ways that the Shadow Fleet uses to avoid global tracking.
17:41Take a look.
17:42These ghost vessels manipulate the registration,
17:44switch flags to jump from one jurisdiction to another,
17:48transmit falsified GPS data,
17:51or turn off their transponders to become invisible at sea.
17:54Finally, they rely on the oldest trick in the book,
17:57moving their oil cargo between ships
17:59to mask its true origin before it ever reaches port.
18:03And yes, the EU, through successive packages of sanctions,
18:07has blacklisted over 600 of these Shadow Vessels.
18:10But the years-long crackdown has turned into a frustrating game of a whack-a-mole.
18:15Which simply means that the moment one ship is designated,
18:18another emerges from the dark.
18:20Which might seem like fun,
18:22but for Europeans, this is not just a financial game of cat and mouse.
18:26These vessels are in extremely poor condition,
18:29making them an environmental ticking clock for a catastrophic oil spill on European shores.
18:34Also, a tanker, thought to be a part of the fleet,
18:38has been caught in the Baltic Sea,
18:39dragging its anchor to damage critical undersea cables.
18:43And historically, global maritime laws were written to protect free trade
18:47under the premise of innocent passage.
18:49But, as you can see,
18:51there is nothing innocent in how Russia uses these rules as a shield
18:54to fund its war machine.
19:01And with that, we can bring this edition of Europe Today to an end.
19:05If you'd like to share your view with us on any of the stories we're covering for you this morning,
19:09do reach out.
19:10EuropeToday at Euronews.com is our email address.
19:13Europe Today is also available to listen to as a podcast or read as a newsletter.
19:18So do sign up, subscribe, and stay informed with us here on Euronews.
19:22But for now, bye from Brussels.
19:56Euronews.com is a production of Europe Today.
19:56Europe Today.
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