State of the Union: Biden's NATO summit and Orban's self-declared peace mission

euronews (in English)

This edition of State of the Union looks at the NATO summit in Washington and the negative reactions to Viktor Orbán's self-declared peace mission to Moscow and Beijing

Transcript

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

00:10What a week this has been, and a bad week for nationalist and populist forces.

00:16French voters produced a reverse shocker by keeping the far-right far away from power

00:21in the second round of the general election.

00:24On the European level, mushrooming far-right parliamentary groups are splintering the populist

00:29influence in the European Parliament.

00:32And the self-declared herald of peace, nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, found

00:38out the hard way what clout he has in the real world, and that is zero.

00:44Just days into his new role as rotating EU Council President, Orban traveled to Moscow

00:49and Beijing on what he bombastically called peace mission to end the war in Ukraine.

00:55Well, not only did he come back empty-handed, but he was also read the riot act by the rest

01:01of the EU.

01:02Here is Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who will take over the EU Presidency in January.

01:25Some member states are so angry at Budapest, they now even want to shorten the Hungarian

01:45Presidency.

01:46That doesn't seem to go anywhere, but the first Hungary-chaired council meetings were

01:51snubbed by ministers who sent civil servants instead.

01:56Hungary could feel its isolation even more at the NATO summit in Washington, where U.S.

02:01President Joe Biden had this to say about Orban's bosom friend, Vladimir Putin.

02:06Putin wants nothing less, nothing less than Ukraine's total subjugation, to end Ukraine's

02:13democracy, to destroy Ukraine's culture, and to wipe Ukraine off the map.

02:22And we know Putin won't stop at Ukraine, but make no mistake, Ukraine can and will stop

02:29Putin.

02:34The Washington summit was meant to present a united front and show that in its 75th year,

02:40the alliance is as strong as ever.

02:42It was overshadowed by a series of crises, of which questions about President Biden's

02:47fitness for office at 81 was probably the least of the problems.

02:53So what's in store for NATO going forward?

02:56Joining me now is Ian Lesser, Executive Director of the Brussels office of the German Marshall

03:01Fund.

03:02Welcome to the program.

03:03Good to be with you.

03:04So President Biden has called the alliance the most unified it has ever been, but behind

03:10the scenes, the mood was rather gloomy.

03:13What are the most important challenges for NATO going forward?

03:16Well, above all, even though this is the 75th anniversary and it has, in some sense, a celebratory

03:23character to it, there is a war going on in Europe.

03:26There's an increasingly dangerous relationship with Russia, also a very competitive relationship

03:32with China.

03:33But it's above all, it's about deterring and defending against Russia, but also providing

03:38Ukraine with what it needs to defend itself.

03:41NATO is trying to inoculate itself against the disruptions and crises that Donald Trump

03:47might instigate should he return, trying to make itself Trump-proof, so to speak.

03:53Can this actually work?

03:54Well, NATO has had some experience with this.

03:56Of course, we don't know what the outcome will be in Washington.

03:59But even if Biden is reelected, there are going to be big challenges for NATO.

04:04Any American administration is going to keep coming to Europe and asking Europe to spend

04:08more and do more.

04:09And of course, NATO has been doing some of that.

04:11But the challenges are very large and the requirements are very big.

04:16But of course, that's a much more pointed issue if Trump is reelected.

04:21And there is some desire to try to put Europe in a more stable position in that regard.

04:26Yes, there is Trump, but there's also growing power of far-right forces unfriendly to NATO

04:31in Europe.

04:32How serious a problem is this for the alliance?

04:35Well, far-right, but also in some cases also on the left, parties that are not always supportive

04:43of the transatlantic relationship.

04:46This too can be a problem.

04:47It can be a problem in terms of policy towards Russia, support for Ukraine, defense spending.

04:53Many of the parties who are seeking power in Europe want to spend money on other things,

04:59on social programs, at a time when defense is demanding more spending.

05:04And that requirement is probably going to go on for years.

05:06So in a sense, the stresses exist in a political way on both sides of the Atlantic.

05:11Finally, there is a new secretary general in town.

05:15Is Mark Rutter the right man for steering NATO through stormy waters?

05:20Well, everything that is done at NATO, from the smallest to the largest thing, is done

05:24by consensus.

05:26And there are a few things more important than choosing a secretary general in very

05:30difficult times.

05:31And so I think the fact that Mark Rutter was chosen with a great deal of support, it wasn't

05:37very controversial, says something about where the alliance wants to go and the degree of

05:41confidence in his leadership.

05:43And I think that's probably correct.

05:45All right.

05:46Ian Lessa, executive director of the German Marshall Fund in Brussels.

05:49Thanks for coming on the show today.

05:51Always good to be with you.

05:52Thank you.

05:54Before we go, let's take a look at what's new in the world of arts.

05:58I like art.

06:00The bigger, the better.

06:02And here's Italian land artist Dario Gambarin with his latest work on a crop field outside

06:07of Verona.

06:09Using only a plow and a tractor, he drew the Eiffel Tower in dedication to the upcoming

06:14Olympics.

06:15It's a contribution to peace in hopes that sports will unite people all over the world,

06:21he says.

06:23Over in London's Kensington Gardens, a mammoth-sized pumpkin is quite the spectacle.

06:28The bronze sculpture is the largest pumpkin by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama and is part

06:35of the Serpentine Gallery's public art program.

06:38Kusama's relationship with pumpkins is rooted in her childhood when her home was surrounded

06:44by squash.

06:46She admires pumpkins for their hardiness, their humorous forms and their taste.

06:53There you have it.

06:54That's it for this edition.

06:55I'm Stefan Grober.

06:56Thank you for watching.

06:57Have an excellent week.

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