State of the Union: Imminent famine in Sudan and Orbán's EU presidency

euronews (in English)

This edition of State of the Union focuses on the start of Hungary's rotating EU presidency and the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Sudan.

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to the State of the Union, I'm Stephan Grobe in Brussels.

00:10It's July and if you thought activity would wind down with the beginning of the summer,

00:14well, you better think again.

00:17Election stunners in France and the United Kingdom provided totally different readings

00:21of people's political mood.

00:23The political groups in the European Parliament kept struggling for partners and alliances

00:27ahead of their opening session in Strasbourg in less than two weeks.

00:32And Belgium handed the rotating EU presidency to long-time Brussels nemesis Hungary.

00:38The whims of the calendar added that Viktor Orban's government is now in charge of the

00:42EU agenda, which is like the fox guarding the hen house, as one observer said.

00:48This week, Orban also visited Ukraine and launched a new right-wing alliance, Patriots

00:54for Europe, to potentially become the biggest haven for like-minded parties in the European

00:59Parliament.

01:00So much activity for one purpose, make Europe great again.

01:05If we want to stop the current repression and strengthen our power, then we have to

01:12become great.

01:13How can we compete with a self-proclaimed America if we don't become great ourselves?

01:19Europe's greatness, to use Viktor Orban's words, also depends on how the EU acts on

01:25the international stage and in major crisis spots around the world.

01:30This week, it was relatively quiet in Ukraine and Gaza, which allowed the international

01:35community to pay more serious attention to the situation in Sudan, which is devastating.

01:42For more than a year, the violent conflict between the Sudanese army and rebel forces

01:47has displaced hundreds of thousands of people who basically have nothing to eat.

01:53Several UN agencies issued urgent warnings.

01:57We are in a race against time, not only to have enough resources, but also to be able

02:07to deliver these resources to people who are on the verge of starvation.

02:16Just days ago, the International Rescue Committee produced a Sudan crisis alert to highlight

02:22the trajectory of this humanitarian catastrophe.

02:25The report deplores diplomatic failures to address the disaster and presses for a total

02:31reset of the humanitarian response.

02:34For more on this, I'm now joined by Etizas Youssef, country director for Sudan at the

02:39International Rescue Committee.

02:41Welcome to the program.

02:42Thank you very much, and thank you for having me.

02:47Well, we hear a lot about the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan.

02:51Give us a sense of just how bad it is.

02:54I believe Sudan is really going through a very difficult time.

02:58Half of the population of Sudan, they are facing, like, all of them are food insecure

03:06at IPC level, and almost like 750,000, those they are really facing starvation or hunger.

03:15And with that massive displacement, that rapid displacement, is really putting Sudan is at

03:22the top of any humanitarian crisis.

03:25And as you see from our recent alert being released, we are really trying and calling

03:31for attention for the crisis, because it seems the humanitarian community, they completely

03:36failed Sudan and Sudanese.

03:39Who is to blame for this situation?

03:41Who failed the people of Sudan?

03:43The continued fighting and the two parties that refused to stop and sit and try to overcome

03:51their problems is one contributing factor.

03:54And also the pressure from the international community, it also contributes a lot to put

04:00pressure for them to silence the weapons.

04:04And also Sudan facing huge funding issues and problems.

04:11Out of 2.8 billion that is being requested for the humanitarian response plan for Sudan,

04:19is being funded so far by 16% only.

04:24Why is there such a lack of attention on the crisis internationally?

04:28I guess it is multiple competing priorities with multiple crises that is going on globally.

04:36You can name them, it's Gaza, Ukraine, like Yemen, Syria, and also I do believe the geophysical

04:48position of Sudan is not that appealing and having the great attention.

04:53And I do believe that with that lack of crisis, we should really get enough attention that

04:58we have it, even in the media.

05:01And what should the international community and the European Union in particular do to help?

05:07Yeah, I guess for me, I do believe the EU and the member states have played a leading

05:14role in the international response to the crisis in Sudan, including recently they organized

05:21in April the Paris Conference, and also they ramping up the humanitarian effort.

05:26Additional to that, we are really asking the EU to put more diplomatic work behind

05:32the securing ceasefire and also humanitarian access and strengthening their engagement

05:37with the regional actor, because at this time, political pressure is really needed.

05:45All right, Etisaz Yusuf, Country Director for Sudan at the International Rescue Committee.

05:49Thank you so much for sharing your insights with us.

05:52Thank you very much.

05:54To a different topic.

05:56This week, the Netherlands ended the Slave Memorial Year, commemorating the abolition

06:01of slavery in 1863.

06:04The main ceremony took place in Amsterdam's Oosterpark, with Prime Minister Mark Rutte

06:09attending on his last day in office.

06:12For over 300 years, adults and children from various parts of Africa were abducted and

06:18shipped across the Atlantic by Dutch slave traders.

06:21The former Dutch colonies of Suriname and Caribbean islands like Aruba and Curaçao

06:27owe their economic wealth to the forced labor of slaves.

06:32With the memorial year, the Dutch government wanted to contribute to permanently increase

06:36knowledge of an underexposed part of the country's history.

06:41The government also made apologies and reparations.

06:45July the 1st is now called Ketikoti, the day the chains were broken.

06:51That's it for this edition.

06:52I'm Stefan Grober.

06:53Thank you for watching.

06:55Have an excellent week.

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