Europe Today: Latvian PM Andris Kulbergs speaks exclusively to Euronews as Rubio meets Lavrov

Name: Europe Today: Latvian PM Andris Kulbergs speaks exclusively to Euronews as Rubio meets Lavrov
Uploaded: 2026-07-23T07:01:28+00:00
Duration: 19 min 31 s
Channel: euronews (in English)

00:13Good morning. It's Thursday the 23rd of July. I'm Maret Gwynn and you're watching Europe Today,

00:21Euronews' morning show broadcast live here from Brussels. Coming up today,

00:26U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he will discuss the war in Ukraine with the Russian

00:32Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov when they meet in the Philippines later today. U.S. brokered talks

00:39between Kiev and Moscow have stalled, but Rubio says there may be, quote, new conditions to bring

00:46both sides back to the table. We'll bring you more details. In other news, the European Commission

00:52has said it is preparing to accept new U.S. tariffs in the coming days as long as they do

00:57not exceed the 15% cap agreed under the EU-U.S. trade deal sealed a year ago. Trump is

01:06expected

01:06to announce fresh levies on goods allegedly made with forced labor. And the U.S. has signed a

01:13landmark nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia expected to allow the Gulf country to develop its own

01:19civilian nuclear program. The U.S. Energy Department has described the deal as a peaceful cooperation

01:26agreement that will benefit American companies. But we start this morning in Latvia. Andrus Kulberg

01:34became the Baltic country's prime minister in May after the previous coalition government collapsed

01:40over its handling of stray drones. Latvia is, of course, one of NATO's frontline states bordering

01:47Russia on Europe's eastern flank and plays a leading role in supporting Ukraine. And Prime

01:54Minister Andrus Kulberg joins us live now from Riga. Prime Minister, good morning. Really good to have

02:00you with us on the show. Good morning, Brussels. Yesterday, your armed forces in Latvia fired a warning

02:09shot and used tear gas to prevent migrants from crossing from Belarus. Do you believe,

02:16Prime Minister, that Minsk and Moscow are instrumentalizing these migrants in order to

02:22destabilize your country? I do not believe. I'm sure this happens since 2021. We're being tested,

02:31not just us. This this moment, it is us. It is any given moment. It is our neighbors, Lithuania,

02:36Estonia, Finland, or Poland. Any of us are tested. This is a hybrid threat. This is a war threat.

02:43That's what Russia does. This is for sure, because we can see that it is not just asylum seekers what

02:50somebody might think of. They are really men, 18 to 25, with criminal past, with all given visas from

02:59Belarus. This is all organized from the top level of Russian mob as well. So this is an organized threat

03:08towards us to find a weak link. And we all have to do all the measures, take all the measures

03:14to prevent

03:15that. And why, Prime Minister, do you think that this is intensifying now? Why is Putin deciding to target

03:23Latvia in this hybrid war at this moment? Because he's losing in Ukraine. Simple. He needs to take

03:32attention somewhere else and have this action. Prime Minister, I want to move on to talk about

03:37drones because the previous governments there in Latvia collapsed amid criticism over its handling of

03:43incursions. What are you and your government doing differently to ensure Latvia is better prepared

03:50and protected against this threat? We're not simple. We're talking the truth. We're not giving

03:55any anticipations which cannot be met. I appointed the defense minister a professional, a professional

04:05not just from Latvia, but from the field in Ukraine, who has clear knowledge, clear experience of warfare,

04:13what is happening in Ukraine. So getting the best of the best solution for us. So we signed the drone

04:19deal with Zelensky. This gives us access to the Ukrainian know-how and implement the umbrella for

04:27our skies in the best possible way. Do you think that the EU more broadly is moving quick enough on

04:33this? Because we know that this is a threat across the eastern flank. We know that the European Commission

04:39here talking about a drone wall. Are you confident that those European initiatives will also work?

04:45They will work, but they have to be much faster in speed. You pointed it out really correctly. We are

04:52not up to speed. We are not just Latvia. We're investing five percent above five, actually six,

04:58uh, above six or six percent in our defense, clear defense, not some buildings, real defense. But that is

05:04even not enough for the outside of European border. So eastern flank, we're defending all Europe, not just

05:10Latvia. So this is a matter which has to be whole Europe's matter for the defense. And this is an

05:17important point where we all have to be united. And Prime Minister, when it comes to supporting Ukraine,

05:22obviously squeezing Moscow's war chest is very important. Yet we have now Greece blocking the latest

05:29package of EU sanctions against Russia as it seeks an exemption from the ban on Russian LNG. Does that

05:37frustrate you? Well, this I've been quite vocal about it also on my, um, my speeches in our closed

05:46loop as well of the leaders. We have to understand what is the purpose of the sanctions? Why we are

05:53doing that? Why are we supporting Ukraine? This is number one question prior to anything else. Do we want

05:58Ukraine to win? Do we want to support Ukraine so that the bully gets its peace? Or what do we

06:06want?

06:06Or we want to earn money? So there's a choice. It's not both. So so the sanctions has to be

06:13implemented. But above all, the best sanctions, what work today are the long range Ukrainian

06:20sanctions deep into Russian heart, which is gas infrastructure, petrol station infrastructure. That

06:27is the biggest pride with Russia has. That's their only asset is selling gas. Now the pump versus

06:34propaganda, Putin's propaganda is working because the pump is winning the pump where people cannot

06:40put their gas into their cars. That is the deepest sink the sanction and the deepest signal to the

06:47whole society. The latest sanctions package was also meant to include a full EU entry ban on Russian

06:53soldiers. Are you disappointed that this has been watered down in these negotiations?

07:00I am. I am because, well, first of all, this is sanction package 21. We should have done it in

07:07the

07:07first year, not in the fifth year. We're waiting. We're doing all that. Let's let's see how it works.

07:15No. If we want to win, we have to give it. Where was it? Remember what happened in the first

07:20year?

07:20We said, oh, no, don't shoot over the border. It's going to cause the chaos. It's going to cause

07:25no. What happened? Nothing much has happened. But the escalation with so many Ukrainians had to die

07:31just because we did not take the decision timely enough. So I think it's all in all our interests just

07:39to finally unite, push it through and give the Ukrainians the momentum to use the momentum what

07:45they have now. OK, Prime Minister Andres Kulbergs, that's all we have time for, I'm afraid. But thank

07:50you so much for joining us. And we hope to see you again soon on Europe Today. Now we're moving

07:56on.

07:57The annual NATO summit earlier this month was hailed as a step towards a more balanced

08:03U.S.-European relationship. It also reconfirmed Russia as an ongoing threat to the alliance.

08:10Today, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to

08:15discuss ending the war in Ukraine. This as the war on Iran shows no signs of subsiding.

08:21To discuss all of this, I'm glad that we can say we can bring in our NATO correspondent,

08:26Shona Murray, who is live for us from the NATO headquarters in Brussels.

08:31Good morning, Shona. Great to see you. The Ankara summit earlier this month, I know you were there,

08:36proved quite a positive moment for Ukraine. Is there hope now that the U.S. might do more to

08:43pressure Russia? Well, good morning, Marit. Indeed, it was a step towards Europe really stepping up,

08:51bringing the establishment of NATO 3.0 with a lot of procurement, 50 billion euros in procurement

08:58for European capabilities. At the same time, as you mentioned there, it was a good day for Ukraine

09:03in Ankara because the United States allowed the licensing and manufacturing of crucial

09:08patriot defence systems. And today, Marco Rubio said he is meeting his counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

09:15The jury's out as to whether this means that it's a definitive moment, because we heard also Marco Rubio

09:21saying that he won't be putting too much pressure on Lavrov. Lavrov also saying he's going to

09:26question Marco Rubio comments by U.S. President Donald Trump, who said that the war in Ukraine

09:30is coming closer to an end. So to discuss this, I'm joined by Colonel Martin O'Donnell,

09:36who's the senior adviser to the Supreme Allied Commander of the European Forces here at NATO.

09:41So, Martin, that meeting today with Marco Rubio and Sergei Lavrov, do you hope something will come

09:48out of it because of what we've seen in terms of the signs of Ukraine doing much better on the

09:52battlefield and Russia really on the back foot? Well, I think Secretary Rubio has said the meeting

09:59will comprise of a number of different things. We'll see what comes out of it in terms of peace.

10:03Of course, we all hope for and really want to see peace in Ukraine. The important thing to know,

10:08though, is until that point comes, NATO will continue to support Ukraine.

10:12Yeah, but do you think that it's possible because of that signal that Donald Trump gave

10:18the Ukrainians that they can manufacture and license Patriot defense missiles,

10:23that the United States is sort of a bit annoyed that Putin has not in any meaningful way

10:28come to the table when it comes to peace, that maybe the U.S. is

10:31giving a little bit more support to Ukraine than we've seen so far in the past couple of years?

10:35Yeah, I mean, President Trump has been pretty clear. He wants to bring about a peaceful end

10:39to that, to stop all of the killing. So then you see responses like you just described. And I think

10:46those are very, very positive movements towards peace.

10:51And on the Iran issue, because we know that the war there has started apace. And in fact,

10:56it was at the NATO summit that Donald Trump decided that the memorandum of understanding

11:00was no more. And that's not a good sign for NATO, because we know that Donald Trump was outraged

11:05that allies didn't support him in the initial days of the war. What do you think allies can do

11:10in defending the United States if they want to, and also the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz?

11:16Because that's what everyone's very concerned about.

11:17Yes, I think it's not a good thing for anyone, right, that this is going on, that Iran has said,

11:23hey, we'll control the Strait of Hormuz. All the allies agreed at the NATO summit that you talked

11:30about that the Strait of Hormuz must remain free and free will. And if NATO can play a role,

11:35we've said time and time again, we will. A lot of nations, bilaterally, multilaterally,

11:41have sent ships already to the region. Nations are also supporting the United States in other ways.

11:47Bulgaria, for example, their parliament met yesterday, decided to support the basing of

11:54US refuelers. That was followed by a statement from a US European command saying that they will

12:01support Bulgaria with United States assets in the region if anybody thinks that they can threaten

12:06the United States or NATO. So these are strong reactions. They are indeed, because the Iranians

12:11have responded to that and said that that might bring Bulgaria as a party to the conflict. So

12:16there is a threat that this war in Iran could explode even further.

12:21Well, look, we saw that when Iran fired missiles towards Turkey, right, a NATO ally. Of course,

12:27NATO defended in all of those instances. And we will continue to defend against any threat posed by

12:32Iran or anyone else to this defensive alliance.

12:35Thank you very much for joining us this morning. And back to you in studio, Marid.

12:39Shauna, thank you so much. And thank you also to your guests there.

12:42Now, the European Commission is rumoured to be preparing to announce its first fine on Google

12:49under the Digital Markets Act, which is a set of laws aiming to rein in the power of big tech.

12:55This announcement could come as early as today. The move, of course, risks escalating tensions with

13:01the US administration, which is critical of the EU's digital rules. Well, for more, I'm joined in the

13:07studio by our correspondent, Luca Bertuzzi. Luca, tell us first, what do we know about this expected

13:13fine on Google?

13:14Yes, indeed, Marid. We have been hearing about this fine for a few days now. And it's rumoured as imminent

13:21as early as today, even though we have no details about the total amount that is expected in the range

13:29of

13:30billions of euros. This is the culmination of a two year investigation into Google and

13:38accusation that the tech company is favouring its own services in search results and preventing

13:46app developers to communicate with users outside its app store and with alternative payment system.

13:53Now, the European Commission has been criticised for being too slow in cracking down on big tech companies,

14:01taking years to conclude investigations only after the damage was already done and the competition

14:09squeezed out of the market. This is precisely what the Digital Markets Act is trying to avoid

14:15by bringing in a set of ex-ante rules meant to prevent Google and similar dominant companies

14:26to prevent European companies to compete in the same markets. This is the first investigation

14:34for Google, and it might be a testing bet for how Brussels is capable to make digital markets dominated

14:42by tech giants more contestable. Indeed. And also the timing of this one is quite notable because

14:49tensions with the US are quite high. So how could this impact that US-EU relationship?

14:56Well, indeed, there is never a dull moment in transatlantic relationship with Donald Trump in the White House.

15:02And as we heard before, Washington is preparing fresh tariffs as the current regime

15:10which will expire in a few days. In the past, sanctioning American companies has proved controversial

15:17even inside the Commission, with senior officials working on a trade deal with the US pushing to delay fines.

15:24In this case, Brussels seems determined to go ahead nevertheless, but many will wonder how Washington will react.

15:32Indeed, Luca. Thank you for that. And as mentioned, that fine rumoured to be imminent.

15:40Now we're moving on. As efforts to enlarge the European Union gain political momentum,

15:45attention is now turning to how future enlargements will be financed. The cost of Montenegro's accession

15:52is already being debated as part of negotiations of the EU's next long-term budget. Meanwhile, some countries,

15:59including Germany, are pushing for a major overhaul of the bloc's enlargement rules. Euronews' Lena Roche sat down

16:07with Germany's Minister of State for Europe, Gunther Krichbaum, and started by asking him about Germany's

16:14recent proposal to allow candidate countries, notably Ukraine, to join the bloc in stages before

16:21completing all the required reforms. First of all, it is a common proposal from France and Germany,

16:29and we want to give more credibility to the enlargement process. What does it mean? At the moment, we are

16:35negotiating with all these countries since a couple of years, more than 10 years. So ordinary people, they

16:42lose the faith. That means, ah, well, they think this European Union, in reality, they don't want us.

16:48So giving back more credibility means to organize it step by step by step, not like a high-jumping

16:57competition like it was done in the years, all the years before, because it is not helpful. When I talk

17:06about a high-jumping competition, it means the bear is laying on one meter fifty. But in reality, this

17:13acquis communautaire, which is symbolizing this bear, is not any longer like in former times on one meter

17:19fifty, but on two meters, because the whole acquis communautaire changed. And this means it is more

17:26complicated for these concerned states to jump over it. In reality, it means to organize it step by step by

17:35step, not to substitute a full membership, but it is the case that we have to find a better approach

17:43and a better way to achieve it. And this is now why they propose this gradual integration. And this

17:51is important because after I each step, ordinary people and citizens, they will recognize an added value.

17:58So this is important and means to find here association membership with a membership and

18:08in the council with a membership in the European Parliament as with a status as an observer. And so

18:17they can join. And at the same moment, we are giving a message also to other countries like Russia, like

18:23China. These states belong to us, to the European Union. And what about the costs of the EU enlargement?

18:31Can the EU net contributors even afford this anymore? Well, all this will be managed in the

18:38multi-annual financial framework. So we have a budget in the European Union. And for this purpose,

18:46this is also the money which is inside this financial framework in this budget. So of course,

18:56also in the future, it will be guaranteed.

19:00That was Euronews' Lena Roche speaking to the German Minister of State for Europe, Gunther Krichbaum in Berlin.

19:07And that brings today's program to a close. Thank you so much for your company again this morning.

19:12Remember, we also want to hear from you. Send us your feedback to Europe Today at Euronews.com.

19:18And in the meantime, take care and see you tomorrow.

Europe Today: Latvian PM Andris Kulbergs speaks exclusively to Euronews as Rubio meets Lavrov

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