State of the Union: von der Leyen bid for re-election, sanctions and Rafah crisis

euronews (in English)

Ursula von der Leyen's bid for re-election, sanctions against Russia and the Rafah crisis are the topics in our weekly round-up of European politics.

Transcript

00:00 Welcome to the State of the Union from Brussels.

00:08 It can't be said that it was a surprise, but the suspense over who will be the European

00:13 People's Party's main candidate in the European elections is over.

00:18 Ursula von der Leyen will run for re-election and said this week that she is excited about

00:24 the possibility of a second term as President of the European Commission.

00:29 And the EPP is excited to have her as a candidate, given the notoriety she has gained in the

00:35 European Union and the rest of the world.

00:38 But at her meeting with a party's group in the European Parliament, Ursula von der Leyen

00:43 declared her "red lines" on who the EPP can make alliances with.

00:49 The cut-off line is, do you stand for democracy?

00:51 Do you defend our values?

00:53 Are you very firm in the rule of law?

00:55 Are you supporting Ukraine?

00:58 And are you fighting against Putin's attempt to weaken and divide Europe?

01:05 And these answers have to be very clear.

01:07 Von der Leyen was praised for her work to build consensus for the European Union's

01:12 support for Ukraine following Russia's full-scale invasion.

01:17 One of these consensus emerged this week with the approval of the 13th package of sanctions

01:23 against Russia.

01:25 It targets companies that help Russia obtain sanctioned products, including those based

01:30 in China, Turkey and North Korea.

01:33 And to show his shock at the death in prison of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny,

01:39 the head of diplomacy announced a proposal that links the two issues.

01:44 As Yulia Navalny has told us, Putin is not Russia and Russia is not Putin.

01:54 I have just issued a statement on Alexei's death and I have proposed to the ministers

02:03 to rename our global human rights sanctions regime with his name.

02:09 This will be a way of keeping his memory alive.

02:14 Foreign ministers expressed their political agreement with this proposal, Borre said.

02:19 But there was no consensus on a statement calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, where 29,000

02:26 Palestinians have died, according to the Hamas-led health ministry.

02:32 Once again, unsurprisingly, Hungary was the only one of the 27 countries left out, including

02:39 in calling on Israel not to carry out a ground operation in the city of Rafah.

02:46 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering there, and the humanitarian catastrophe would reach

02:51 a new level, the United Nations warned.

02:54 The manager of one of its agencies, the UNDP, dedicated to development, had meetings with

03:00 the European Commission at the beginning of the week.

03:04 Akem Steiner spoke next with Euronews.

03:08 Akem Steiner, UNDP manager, thank you very much for coming to our studio.

03:13 We are of course now worried about the situation in the south, in Rafah, near the border with

03:20 Egypt.

03:21 Do you think an evacuation of Palestinians to Egypt would be somehow a solution?

03:28 I only want to refer to the Secretary General's call, and I think this is the only answer

03:32 right now, a humanitarian ceasefire.

03:36 To rely on an evacuation of maybe a million people who are already internally displaced

03:44 under these circumstances could, as many have said, result in an absolutely catastrophic

03:50 loss of life.

03:51 Therefore the speculation about where else people could move, I think, is not one that

03:57 in the UN we consider to be either feasible, nor do we wish to be part of a forced relocation

04:03 of people.

04:04 Will the UNDP and other UN agencies somehow cease or replace the United Nations Agency

04:12 for Palestinian Refugees, considering the whole situation of accusation of possible

04:20 employment of Hamas members?

04:22 As many of us have said in the United Nations family, there is no alternative to relying

04:28 on UNRWA's infrastructure, service and capacity right now to provide humanitarian support

04:34 in a situation that is already extreme, both in terms of the lack of support that we are

04:40 able to provide from the outside because of access and many of the restrictions, but also

04:45 because of the difficult situation of operating within Gaza.

04:48 We are looking at how we can work with each other in order to expand the space for humanitarian

04:54 support and then ultimately also to help people recover.

04:58 That is as well the situation in Ukraine, which I imagine was also featuring high in

05:03 your discussions with the European Union counterparts.

05:09 Is there already a possibility of doing some reconstruction and long-term planning for

05:16 Ukraine?

05:17 What has defined UNDP's partnership with Ukraine ever since Russia attacked Ukraine

05:23 is essentially our contribution and our partnership in helping Ukraine to keep basic state and

05:31 government services operational.

05:35 And we are focusing also on early recovery and reconstruction in the context of small

05:40 and medium-scale enterprises.

05:42 Many in Ukraine have lost everything, their business.

05:45 It may have been a hairdresser salon or a car repair workshop or a digital business.

05:52 They have lost everything.

05:53 They have had to move.

05:54 They become internally displaced.

05:56 One of the priorities of the Ukrainian authorities has been how to help them be able to re-establish

06:01 themselves as entrepreneurs to not only regain their livelihood but also the dignity of not

06:07 simply being somebody who can no longer rely on themselves to earn an income.

06:13 Achim Steiner, UNDP manager, thank you very much for coming to the program and for this

06:18 important contribution.

06:19 Thank you.

06:20 To close the program, let's talk a little about art.

06:26 Traditionally, the Presidency of the Council of the EU organizes some cultural events.

06:31 In the case of Belgium, it decided to celebrate 100 years of surrealism with two major exhibitions.

06:37 A story of not laughing can be seen at the Brussels Bazaar Art Center.

06:43 The other, titled Imagine, is on display at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts.

06:49 One could say that some political events in Brussels are often the scene of some surreal

06:54 moments.

06:55 That's it for this edition.

06:57 Thank you for watching.

06:58 Thank you for watching.

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