Ursula von der Leyen's bid for re-election, sanctions against Russia and the Rafah crisis are the topics in our weekly round-up of European politics.
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00:00 Welcome to the State of the Union from Brussels.
00:08 It can't be said that it was a surprise, but the suspense over who will be the European
00:13 People's Party's main candidate in the European elections is over.
00:18 Ursula von der Leyen will run for re-election and said this week that she is excited about
00:24 the possibility of a second term as President of the European Commission.
00:29 And the EPP is excited to have her as a candidate, given the notoriety she has gained in the
00:35 European Union and the rest of the world.
00:38 But at her meeting with a party's group in the European Parliament, Ursula von der Leyen
00:43 declared her "red lines" on who the EPP can make alliances with.
00:49 The cut-off line is, do you stand for democracy?
00:51 Do you defend our values?
00:53 Are you very firm in the rule of law?
00:55 Are you supporting Ukraine?
00:58 And are you fighting against Putin's attempt to weaken and divide Europe?
01:05 And these answers have to be very clear.
01:07 Von der Leyen was praised for her work to build consensus for the European Union's
01:12 support for Ukraine following Russia's full-scale invasion.
01:17 One of these consensus emerged this week with the approval of the 13th package of sanctions
01:23 against Russia.
01:25 It targets companies that help Russia obtain sanctioned products, including those based
01:30 in China, Turkey and North Korea.
01:33 And to show his shock at the death in prison of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny,
01:39 the head of diplomacy announced a proposal that links the two issues.
01:44 As Yulia Navalny has told us, Putin is not Russia and Russia is not Putin.
01:54 I have just issued a statement on Alexei's death and I have proposed to the ministers
02:03 to rename our global human rights sanctions regime with his name.
02:09 This will be a way of keeping his memory alive.
02:14 Foreign ministers expressed their political agreement with this proposal, Borre said.
02:19 But there was no consensus on a statement calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, where 29,000
02:26 Palestinians have died, according to the Hamas-led health ministry.
02:32 Once again, unsurprisingly, Hungary was the only one of the 27 countries left out, including
02:39 in calling on Israel not to carry out a ground operation in the city of Rafah.
02:46 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering there, and the humanitarian catastrophe would reach
02:51 a new level, the United Nations warned.
02:54 The manager of one of its agencies, the UNDP, dedicated to development, had meetings with
03:00 the European Commission at the beginning of the week.
03:04 Akem Steiner spoke next with Euronews.
03:08 Akem Steiner, UNDP manager, thank you very much for coming to our studio.
03:13 We are of course now worried about the situation in the south, in Rafah, near the border with
03:20 Egypt.
03:21 Do you think an evacuation of Palestinians to Egypt would be somehow a solution?
03:28 I only want to refer to the Secretary General's call, and I think this is the only answer
03:32 right now, a humanitarian ceasefire.
03:36 To rely on an evacuation of maybe a million people who are already internally displaced
03:44 under these circumstances could, as many have said, result in an absolutely catastrophic
03:50 loss of life.
03:51 Therefore the speculation about where else people could move, I think, is not one that
03:57 in the UN we consider to be either feasible, nor do we wish to be part of a forced relocation
04:03 of people.
04:04 Will the UNDP and other UN agencies somehow cease or replace the United Nations Agency
04:12 for Palestinian Refugees, considering the whole situation of accusation of possible
04:20 employment of Hamas members?
04:22 As many of us have said in the United Nations family, there is no alternative to relying
04:28 on UNRWA's infrastructure, service and capacity right now to provide humanitarian support
04:34 in a situation that is already extreme, both in terms of the lack of support that we are
04:40 able to provide from the outside because of access and many of the restrictions, but also
04:45 because of the difficult situation of operating within Gaza.
04:48 We are looking at how we can work with each other in order to expand the space for humanitarian
04:54 support and then ultimately also to help people recover.
04:58 That is as well the situation in Ukraine, which I imagine was also featuring high in
05:03 your discussions with the European Union counterparts.
05:09 Is there already a possibility of doing some reconstruction and long-term planning for
05:16 Ukraine?
05:17 What has defined UNDP's partnership with Ukraine ever since Russia attacked Ukraine
05:23 is essentially our contribution and our partnership in helping Ukraine to keep basic state and
05:31 government services operational.
05:35 And we are focusing also on early recovery and reconstruction in the context of small
05:40 and medium-scale enterprises.
05:42 Many in Ukraine have lost everything, their business.
05:45 It may have been a hairdresser salon or a car repair workshop or a digital business.
05:52 They have lost everything.
05:53 They have had to move.
05:54 They become internally displaced.
05:56 One of the priorities of the Ukrainian authorities has been how to help them be able to re-establish
06:01 themselves as entrepreneurs to not only regain their livelihood but also the dignity of not
06:07 simply being somebody who can no longer rely on themselves to earn an income.
06:13 Achim Steiner, UNDP manager, thank you very much for coming to the program and for this
06:18 important contribution.
06:19 Thank you.
06:20 To close the program, let's talk a little about art.
06:26 Traditionally, the Presidency of the Council of the EU organizes some cultural events.
06:31 In the case of Belgium, it decided to celebrate 100 years of surrealism with two major exhibitions.
06:37 A story of not laughing can be seen at the Brussels Bazaar Art Center.
06:43 The other, titled Imagine, is on display at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts.
06:49 One could say that some political events in Brussels are often the scene of some surreal
06:54 moments.
06:55 That's it for this edition.
06:57 Thank you for watching.
06:58 Thank you for watching.