Euronews Polish edition launches with exclusive EU and NATO interviews
The opening of Euronews's new Polish edition on Thursday was attended by representatives from Polish media, politics and civil society, highlighting their country's role in shaping the European information ecosystem.
Euronews journalists interviewed Polish leaders, current and former ministers for an exclusive edition of The Europe Conversation, a television programme in which guests discussed key issues affecting Poland and Europe.
In an interview, Poland's Interior and Administration Minister Tomasz Siemoniak addressed the issue of relations with the US administration and the future of NATO.
"I assess these relations as very good," Siemoniak said. "There was President Andrzej Duda with President Trump. Minister Sikorski spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, he spoke with the president's national security adviser. All this took place recently. There was the secretary of defence of the United States in Poland; it was his first visit."
"These messages are strong and unequivocal."
Former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, commenting on the EU's security plans, pointed out that European countries will not be able to replace the US' presence and contributions to European security, which the Trump administration is already rolling back.
"In the West we have two powerful blocs, with one having both military and economic power and the other only economic power," said Morawiecki. "The former is, of course, the Americans. Without the Americans, it is hard to imagine a lasting peace. Without American support, we in Europe could not be at peace for decades."
"It is thanks to American support and presence in Europe that the Cold War was also won."
Watch the interviews from the Euronews Polish launch event in the player above.
Hungary has agreed to drop its veto and allow the renewal of the sanctions that the European Union has imposed on more than 2,400 individuals and entities, mainly from Russia, in response to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The resolution happened on Friday, less than 48 hours before the measures were set to expire, a risky deadlock that had put the bloc in a situation of extraordinary suspense.
Sanctions have to be renewed every six months by unanimity, meaning one member state can single-handedly derail the entire process.
Hungary's veto was confirmed several times this week in meetings between ambassadors, with unsuccessful attempts on Monday, Wednesday and, most recently, Thursday afternoon. Each failure sent the clock ticking on.
Budapest demanded several names be removed from the blacklist, several diplomats told Euronews. Following intense discussions behind the scenes, a compromise was eventually reached to release four people, three of whom Hungary wanted.
Additionally, three individuals who are dead were excluded.
As a result, the prolongation for another six months was approved on Friday morning. The sanctions were set to expire by midnight on Saturday.
"They came to their senses, I guess," said a senior diplomat, referring to Hungary. "They realised siding with Putin is not the best course of action."
The saga marks the second time in three months that Viktor Orbán's government has put Brussels on edge by threatening to undo the sanctions regime that the bloc has painstakingly built since February 2022.
In January, it took exception to sectoral sections, which cover sweeping bans on oil, coal, technology, finance, luxury goods, transport and broadcasting, and the freezing of €210 billion in assets from Russia's Central Bank.
Budapest relented after obtaining a non-binding statement on energy security.
This time, it set its sights on the blacklist that includes hundreds of military commanders, government officials, oligarchs, propagandists and Wagner Group mercenaries, all of whom are subject to an asset freeze and a travel ban.
President Vladimir Putin and his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, are designated.
The blacklist also targets hundreds of Russian companies in the military, banking, transport, energy, diamond, aviation, IT, telecoms and media sectors.
Hungary argues that Donald Trump's inauguration as US president and his efforts to strike a peace deal merit a rethink of EU support for Ukraine and EU sanctions on Russia.
The stance is not shared by other member states, who believe pressure on Moscow should continue for the duration of the war. They also want to pursue a "peace through strength" strategy to reinforce Ukraine's standing in the negotiations and establish the country's armed forces as an effective, long-lasting security guarantee.
Orbán disagrees with the "peace through strength" mantra and last week prevented the adoption of joint conclusions on Ukraine at the end of a special EU summit, forcing his fellow leaders to release an attached "extract" signed off by 26.
"Hungary has a different strategic approach on Ukraine," said António Costa, the president of the European Council. "That means that Hungary is isolated among the 27. We respect Hungary's position, but it's one out of 27. And 26 are more than one."
Leaving the summit, Orbán replied: "The European Union has isolated itself from the US, isolated itself from China because of the trade war, and isolated itself from Russia because of the sanction policy. So if someone is isolated here, it's the European Union."
The stark political divergence played out during the talks among ambassadors, with Hungary managing to block the roll-over on at least three separate occasions this week.
The veto happened the same week that US and Ukrainian officials announced significant progress in their negotiations, easing tensions between both sides.
Ukraine said it was ready to implement an interim 30-day ceasefire provided Russia reciprocated, while the US agreed to immediately lift the suspension on military assistance and intelligence-sharing with Kyiv, which caused consternation in Brussels.
"Ball is in Russia's court," said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In response, Vladimir Putin said he was in favour of the proposal but asked for certain "nuances" to be clarified before committing himself. Putin heavily implied that Ukraine should stop receiving Western weaponry for the duration of the ceasefire.
The European Commission has confirmed that it is already working on a 17th package of sanctions against Russia.
This article has been updated with more information.
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