We've made 'huge progress' on Schengen membership: Bulgarian PM Denkov
Produced by Sophie Samaille, Juliette Laurain, Isabelle Romero and Perrine Desplats
European Union Sport News
'We cannot recycle our way out of the plastics crisis': EU Commissioner Sinkevičius
We first take stock of the pollution of European seas – with the European Environment Agency highlighting problems in successive reports. "Pollution comes from the shore," Sinkevičius says. "It's industrial pollution. It's urban wastewater that's not being treated properly. It's partly agricultural too. All that pollution gets exacerbated by additional pressures, such as climate change. We see the temperature rise in the sea." So what is being done about that? "On chemical and fertiliser pollution, we have taken concrete steps under our Farm to Fork strategy. But it’s also extremely important that we deal with our waste; for example plastic packaging," Sinkevičius responds.
Sweden's accession will make 'a lot of improvements' to NATO: Swedish FM Billström
Billström appears optimistic that Turkey and Hungary will ratify Sweden’s NATO accession at more or less the same time. "I asked my counterpart, the foreign minister of Hungary, just the other week at the NATO foreign ministers' meeting, if Hungary still holds to its promise that they won't be the last to ratify us - meaning that once Ankara starts to ratify, Hungary will follow swiftly. And his answer was 'yes, we still will maintain our promise'. The Hungarian parliament has already done all that is necessary. They only have a final vote left. They have done all the committee work, so they can move quite rapidly, once there is 'white' smoke from Ankara," Billström says.
Ukraine on its own? Support wavers as Kyiv faces battlefield stalemate
Speaking of horse trading, guess who's coming to dinner in Paris? The answer is Hungary's prime minister, who was recently welcomed in Moscow with open arms. Viktor Orban wants the unfreezing of EU funding blocked over rule of law issues or he says he'll scupper the bloc's own Ukraine funding at next week's final Brussels summit of the year.
US withholding aid to Ukraine 'unacceptable’, ex-president Poroshenko says
This is "not just a package of assistance for Ukraine", but "an investment in American security", former Ukrainian president Poroshenko said.
'We have a historic opportunity to get it right on migration': EU Commission VP Schinas
We start with the shock win by the far right in the Dutch elections – something that is linked to voters' concerns and fears about migration and immigration. Schinas is cautious in his reaction.
‘We are on the West’s side’: Georgian President Salomé Zourabichvili says
“Georgian political leaders have started again to talk a very pro-European language, which for some time they had subdued in some ways,” said the French-born Zourabichvili, who was elected to Georgia’s largely ceremonial presidency in 2018 with the backing of the now-ruling Georgian Dream party. Last month, Georgian Dream led an unsuccessful effort in Georgia’s parliament to oust Zourabichvili in the country’s first-ever impeachment vote. The party’s leader accused her of violating the constitution by visiting Europe to lobby support for EU membership without first seeking the government’s consent.
Spain's EU presidency overshadowed by political crisis (part 1)
Acting Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares, from the ruling Socialist Party (PSOE), insists that Spain's EU presidency is firmly on track and making important decisions, despite a few initial delays.