Good morning, it’s Eleonora Vasques and Jorge Liboreiro from Brussels,
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Today is the day: the 27 ambassadors are getting ready to give their final approval to the €90 billion loan to Ukraine. The long-chased breakthrough was made possible after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Tuesday that the Druzhba pipeline, which carries cheap Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia, had been repaired and could restart operations, Sasha Vakulina, Sandor Zsiros and Jorge Liboreiro report.
This means, Zelenskyy said, that there are “no grounds” any more for Hungary to keep its contentious veto in place.
“The EU asked Ukraine to repair the Druzhba oil pipeline, which had been destroyed by Russia. We have repaired it. We hope the EU will also deliver on the agreed commitments,” Zelenskyy said in his evening address.
The other member states share this assessment and want Hungary to put an end to the political saga that severely undermined the bloc’s collective decision-making. The written procedure is expected to be launched in the morning, unless there’s a last-minute surprise.
“I don’t want to jinx it. I hope everything goes well, because we have seen some turns in this file,” said Top EU Diplomat Kaja Kallas on Tuesday. “Resuming (flows) is a promise that Ukraine made, so hopefully, all the obstacles are removed.”
The restoration of the Druzhba pipeline can also pave the way for the adoption of a new package of sanctions against Russia, which has been lingering on the table since early February. However, this might not happen that fast because there’s still an outstanding issue with the proposed ban on maritime services for Russian tankers. Malta and Greece, two countries with big stakes in the sector, want to move forward with the full ban only if there’s an agreement at the G7 level. However, a G7 agreement on the matter may prove illusory, as the US is likely to veto such a decision.
Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commissioner for the Economy, told Euronews that the bloc should prepare to go it alone. “We should not be making ourselves dependent on this. We should not put ourselves in a situation where if there’s no G7 agreement, we are not able to act ourselves,” he said. “In this case, we need to act as the EU and sustain and increase this sanctions pressure on Russia.”
You can learn more from our Brussels based Hungarian journalist Sandor Zsiros on today’s show.
Meanwhile, the European Court of Justice ruled that Hungary’s 2021 Child Protection Law unlawfully discriminates against LGBTQ+ community, Sandor reported. This is the first time a member state has been found in violation of the EU fundamental values charter.
Commenting on Orbán’s behaviour towards the LGBTQ+ community, Luxembourgish Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel told Euronews’ Shona Murray that “being gay is not a choice, but being homophobic is a choice. Doing politics by blaming someone reminds me, seriously, how it started also with Jewish people, Gypsies, etc.” You can watch the interview in today’s show.
Moving on to the Berlaymont, Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen and Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition Teresa Ribera will present a much anticipated broad set of social measures today. The latter aim at cushioning households, businesses and industry from the impact of high energy prices caused by havoc in global energy markets due to the war against Iran, Marta Pacheco reports.
The Commission is set to propose targeted financial support such as energy vouchers, income aid and social tariffs for vulnerable groups, alongside temporary bans on disconnections, according to a draft document seen by Euronews. It will also propose tax reductions on electricity and clean technologies, while encouraging consumers to lower bills over time through subsidies for heat pumps, solar panels and home insulation.
Looking further across, the situation in the Middle East is far from being resolved. US President Donald Trump announced an indefinite extension of the ceasefire with Iran while the second round of negotiations are still on hold.The two countries warned that without a deal, they were prepared to resume fighting.
US Vice President JD Vance, expected to lead the US negotiating team, called off a trip to Pakistan. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said in the Iranian state TV that there is “no final decision” to keep going with the talks because of “unacceptable actions” by Trump, likely referring to the US decision to keep blocking Iranian ports.
Trump said that Europeans have done very little in Iran and called NATO a “paper tiger.”
Head of EU news Maria Tadeo asked Sanna Marin, former Prime Minister of Finland, whether she is still convinced that joining NATO was a good idea.
“I’m very glad and I still support our decision to join NATO,” Marin told Euronews.
“At the same time, we have to understand and realise that NATO is a different organisation now than it was when Finland and Sweden joined,” she added, referring to the changing relations between the EU and the US due to Trump’s administration.
“We need to focus on our own game. We cannot anymore rely on the US presence and capabilities, we have to build our own,” Marin added.
Watch the interview on today’s show.
TOP STORY | ISRAEL
EU ministers reject calls to suspend Israeli trade agreement over ‘war crimes’
EU foreign ministers rejected calls to end preferential trade with Israel in connection with allegations of war crimes, highlighting persistent divisions within the bloc over the Middle East.
However, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said further discussions would take place, including consideration of a proposal by France and Sweden to impose tariffs on goods originating from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. “We cannot lose sight of Gaza and the West Bank,” Kallas told journalists at a press conference. Ahead of the meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday, the governments of Spain, Ireland and Slovenia called on the EU to “uphold its moral and political responsibility, and to defend the very core values that have underpinned the European project since its foundation.”
Shona Murray has more.
TOP STORY | ENERGY
EU to boost jet fuel imports from the United States amid shortage fears
European transport ministers are exploring options to import jet fuel from alternative supplies such as the United States amid potential shortages across the continent. Ongoing disruptions in the Middle East and production cuts in several oil-rich countries have limited the market, Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas told reporters on Tuesday.
The announcement comes as the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, warned that jet fuel in Europe is in short supply, a claim backed by several European airlines that have warned it could lead to flight cancellations. The warning has so far been downplayed by the European Commission, which argues that flight cancellations “have nothing to do” with shortages but rather with the airlines’ own lack of profitability.
EU refineries account for roughly 70% of the bloc’s jet fuel, with the remainder usually imported from the Middle East. With the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping lane accounting for roughly 20% of all oil and natural gas transit globally, due to the US and Israel’s strikes against Iran on 28 February, fuel exports to Europe have been disrupted, prompting EU countries to take action to ensure continuity.
Marta Pacheco has more.
MORE FROM OUR NEWSROOMS
Scroll, like, repeat: How the EU plans to boost children’s protection online. The Commission presented its plan to protect minors online as it presents a new age-verification system. Member states are legislating to ban children from social media, while the European Parliament is calling for a strict 16-year limit. Elisabeth Heinz and Leticia Batista Cabanas have more.
Slovakia to vote in July a referendum on scrapping lifelong payments for politicians. Slovakia will hold a referendum in summer to decide whether to cancel lifelong payments for Prime Minister Robert Fico and other leaders after their terms in office expire, the country’s president said on Monday. Gavin Blackburn has more.
We are keeping an eye on:
- European Commission will deliver a communication on affordable and secure energy
- Parliament and Council negotiators will try to reach a deal on the revision of the regulation on social security coordination, which seeks to set fairer and clearer rules on social benefits for EU mobile workers
That’s it for today. Maria Tadeo, Jorge Liboreiro, Shona Murray, Marta Pacheco, Sandor Zsiros and Sasha Vakulina contributed to this newsletter.
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