00:00We'll start with space first, Commissioner.
00:02Russia has become increasingly creative when it comes to hybrid warfare incidents against the EU.
00:08How can the EU's space policy defend against this?
00:13Well, first of all, definitely we are having capabilities to help member states
00:25to avoid some specific hybrid threats, for example.
00:30Jamming and spoofing of navigation signals.
00:34We are investing into how to make those signals much more reliable and safe.
00:41And, of course, we need to develop proper capabilities in space to have space geo-intelligence data.
00:51That is what we are discussing, what we call as observation governmental service.
00:55And the last point, really, what we need to be prepared, that hybrid threats will become an issue and challenge,
01:07not only on Earth, but also in space.
01:10And is the EU losing the space race when it comes to adversaries and opponents such as the United States,
01:17China, Russia, for instance?
01:19Well, from one side, we can be very proud that till now, historically, we managed to develop some of the
01:30world leading class satellite constellations
01:35like Galileo, Copernicus, now we are building for security light communication, Iris Square.
01:41But, of course, we see also the challenges and problems with the launching,
01:48where we really need to catch up with what is going on in different parts of the world, in the
01:56United States and so on.
01:57And that is what we are discussing.
01:59And is the biggest problem the European Union's pace when it comes to these launches?
02:06Well, the biggest problem, perhaps, is, first of all, that we missed some period of time when technological developments in
02:16the world went ahead
02:17and we still kept our traditional launching technologies, so now we are catching up.
02:24Second, really, we need to develop also our launching paths or launching ports.
02:29That is why I decided to go what we call for launching tour around, first of all, all the launching
02:38paths which we have on the European continent,
02:40including French Guiana, Azor Islands, where the new developments are coming, also on the European continent, in Sweden, in Norway,
02:50United Kingdom.
02:52So that is what we need to see, really, and to find a way how we can become much stronger,
03:00because the launching demands are increasing very rapidly, both from EU institutions, from national governments, from commercial business.
03:11And second, we need to look also how to develop technologies, how to develop transport means.
03:17It means rockets, both for heavy launching, but also for micro-launching.
03:22And there are some very remarkable developments recently, for example, with ISRA Aerospace Company, German company,
03:33which was the first company commercially, which was able to launch commercial satellites from Andoya Spaceport in Norway.
03:45So things are moving ahead. We want to strengthen that movement much more.
03:49And the first International Space Summit occurred two weeks ago in Paris.
03:55However, top US officials, as well as space and defense companies, didn't attend.
04:01How do you interpret this snub from the Americans?
04:04Well, we do not interpret it, no. We have our job to be done, and we are looking at how
04:11we can make our capabilities, European capabilities, much stronger.
04:15We have very good partnership with other countries, like Canada, South Korea, for example.
04:25Recently, we signed a memorandum of understanding with the Republic of Korea on their interest to join Iris Square program.
04:34So, definitely, we are looking at how to keep our transatlantic relationship and also technological relationship with the United States.
04:46But also, we see what we need to do by ourselves.
04:50We need to have our own capabilities, independent capabilities, which would make Europe stronger.
04:56But that would make also our transatlantic relationship stronger.
05:00But did the Americans provide an explanation as to why they didn't attend?
05:04I was not having any kind of that explanation.
05:08Of course. And if we go to the United Nations General Assembly on the sidelines of that, speaking on a
05:16defense topic,
05:16the Greenland, the United States, and Denmark signed a security and defense agreement.
05:22Do you think that this properly safeguards Danish sovereignty in the future?
05:28Well, at least what we can read from the statements of the Danish government are positive about that agreement.
05:37And definitely, perhaps, it's good that also the United States, Greenland, and Denmark agreed on such kind of agreement.
05:47And it removes some kind of this, you know, language which was totally unacceptable, which was used by some American
05:59authorities.
06:00What was the language?
06:02The language was that, you know, we didn't remember very well that Greenland should belong to the United States and
06:09so on and so on because of security reasons.
06:11So now those issues are resolved, and that is what Europe was saying from the very beginning, and Denmark was
06:17saying from the very beginning.
06:18Yes, we understand some kind of American security interests that can be resolved in a proper way by negotiations, by
06:31agreements, and that is what was achieved.
06:34So in some way, we can say that the European approach here was really, was a basis for such kind
06:42of agreement.
06:42But does the agreement not give the United States unfettered access to Greenland?
06:49Well, you know, again, I can just quote what Greenland authorities and Denmark authorities are saying, that they are satisfied
07:03with that agreement, which means that their interests are protected by this agreement.
07:08Of course, also on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the presidents of Lithuania and Poland met with
07:15the CEO of Palantir.
07:17This is the US-based defence and tech company.
07:20The takeaway from these meetings is that we could expect more deeper cooperation between the two countries and the tech
07:28company.
07:28What do you make of this?
07:29Is this wise for Europe's eastern flank, particularly as that company has been criticised for how it uses AI on
07:37the battlefield?
07:39Well, first of all, of course, Palantir is a great company.
07:44And developments with AI for intelligence, for managing the data are very crucial for modern warfare doctrines.
07:53And we can see, for example, Ukrainian development with their own delta system for data management, battlefield data management.
08:08And this is what really is becoming a new normal in the management of battlefields and in implementation of warfare
08:22or defence doctrines.
08:23So, Europeans, we shall develop our own capabilities, but for the time being, clearly, perhaps, possibilities to use some kind
08:32of technologies or, let's say, services from other companies.
08:40That can be useful.
08:41I don't know all the details, what was discussed and what was agreed.
08:45And what about the safeguards?
08:47Should the EU have stronger safeguards when it comes to AI and autonomous weapons?
08:53Safeguards in terms of what?
08:55You know, safeguards in terms of development of our own capabilities.
08:59Yes, that is what we are looking for.
09:03And that, I hope or I expect that one of the so-called European defence projects of common interest will
09:12be exactly based on development of AI capabilities
09:17to help our militaries to help our militaries to better manage battlefield data.
09:23There are different proposals from different countries.
09:29We asked, you know, that project to be developed further, to mature, and I'm absolutely sure that it will become
09:37one of those very important European, pan-European projects.
09:41And definitely, we shall have our own capabilities here.
09:46Because, again, when we are talking about our defence needs, we need to take care about our independence, about our
09:55capabilities, about our readiness
09:57to take primary responsibility for European defence, as our transatlantic partners are asking us,
10:03and what is written down in the so-called NATO 3-0 doctrine.
10:08Absolutely.
10:09And, Commissioner, one final question.
10:11You are the former Prime Minister of Lithuania.
10:13You obviously hail from the Baltic region.
10:16We saw late last night that Latvia gave in.
10:20It dropped its veto regarding the EU sanctions package against Russia.
10:24Was this the right move for those two individuals to be delisted from the EU sanctions package against Russia?
10:32And does it set a dangerous precedent for sanctions negotiations in the future?
10:37Well, definitely, sanction policy in Europe should be strengthened and made more effective.
10:47Really, you know, there should be less of individual member states influence, possibility to influence on sanction lists as it
11:01happens.
11:02And that is why, for example, myself, I am very much in favour of what German government is proposing to
11:11move from unanimity in foreign policy issues towards qualified majority voting.
11:18Then some kind of those developments where one country can veto, one country is demanding that, you know, somebody should
11:27be removed from their sanction list would not happen anymore.
