This edition of State of the Union focuses on the start of Hungary's rotating EU presidency and the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Sudan.
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00:00Hello and welcome to the State of the Union, I'm Stephan Grobe in Brussels.
00:10It's July and if you thought activity would wind down with the beginning of the summer,
00:14well, you better think again.
00:17Election stunners in France and the United Kingdom provided totally different readings
00:21of people's political mood.
00:23The political groups in the European Parliament kept struggling for partners and alliances
00:27ahead of their opening session in Strasbourg in less than two weeks.
00:32And Belgium handed the rotating EU presidency to long-time Brussels nemesis Hungary.
00:38The whims of the calendar added that Viktor Orban's government is now in charge of the
00:42EU agenda, which is like the fox guarding the hen house, as one observer said.
00:48This week, Orban also visited Ukraine and launched a new right-wing alliance, Patriots
00:54for Europe, to potentially become the biggest haven for like-minded parties in the European
00:59Parliament.
01:00So much activity for one purpose, make Europe great again.
01:05If we want to stop the current repression and strengthen our power, then we have to
01:12become great.
01:13How can we compete with a self-proclaimed America if we don't become great ourselves?
01:19Europe's greatness, to use Viktor Orban's words, also depends on how the EU acts on
01:25the international stage and in major crisis spots around the world.
01:30This week, it was relatively quiet in Ukraine and Gaza, which allowed the international
01:35community to pay more serious attention to the situation in Sudan, which is devastating.
01:42For more than a year, the violent conflict between the Sudanese army and rebel forces
01:47has displaced hundreds of thousands of people who basically have nothing to eat.
01:53Several UN agencies issued urgent warnings.
01:57We are in a race against time, not only to have enough resources, but also to be able
02:07to deliver these resources to people who are on the verge of starvation.
02:16Just days ago, the International Rescue Committee produced a Sudan crisis alert to highlight
02:22the trajectory of this humanitarian catastrophe.
02:25The report deplores diplomatic failures to address the disaster and presses for a total
02:31reset of the humanitarian response.
02:34For more on this, I'm now joined by Etizas Youssef, country director for Sudan at the
02:39International Rescue Committee.
02:41Welcome to the program.
02:42Thank you very much, and thank you for having me.
02:47Well, we hear a lot about the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan.
02:51Give us a sense of just how bad it is.
02:54I believe Sudan is really going through a very difficult time.
02:58Half of the population of Sudan, they are facing, like, all of them are food insecure
03:06at IPC level, and almost like 750,000, those they are really facing starvation or hunger.
03:15And with that massive displacement, that rapid displacement, is really putting Sudan is at
03:22the top of any humanitarian crisis.
03:25And as you see from our recent alert being released, we are really trying and calling
03:31for attention for the crisis, because it seems the humanitarian community, they completely
03:36failed Sudan and Sudanese.
03:39Who is to blame for this situation?
03:41Who failed the people of Sudan?
03:43The continued fighting and the two parties that refused to stop and sit and try to overcome
03:51their problems is one contributing factor.
03:54And also the pressure from the international community, it also contributes a lot to put
04:00pressure for them to silence the weapons.
04:04And also Sudan facing huge funding issues and problems.
04:11Out of 2.8 billion that is being requested for the humanitarian response plan for Sudan,
04:19is being funded so far by 16% only.
04:24Why is there such a lack of attention on the crisis internationally?
04:28I guess it is multiple competing priorities with multiple crises that is going on globally.
04:36You can name them, it's Gaza, Ukraine, like Yemen, Syria, and also I do believe the geophysical
04:48position of Sudan is not that appealing and having the great attention.
04:53And I do believe that with that lack of crisis, we should really get enough attention that
04:58we have it, even in the media.
05:01And what should the international community and the European Union in particular do to help?
05:07Yeah, I guess for me, I do believe the EU and the member states have played a leading
05:14role in the international response to the crisis in Sudan, including recently they organized
05:21in April the Paris Conference, and also they ramping up the humanitarian effort.
05:26Additional to that, we are really asking the EU to put more diplomatic work behind
05:32the securing ceasefire and also humanitarian access and strengthening their engagement
05:37with the regional actor, because at this time, political pressure is really needed.
05:45All right, Etisaz Yusuf, Country Director for Sudan at the International Rescue Committee.
05:49Thank you so much for sharing your insights with us.
05:52Thank you very much.
05:54To a different topic.
05:56This week, the Netherlands ended the Slave Memorial Year, commemorating the abolition
06:01of slavery in 1863.
06:04The main ceremony took place in Amsterdam's Oosterpark, with Prime Minister Mark Rutte
06:09attending on his last day in office.
06:12For over 300 years, adults and children from various parts of Africa were abducted and
06:18shipped across the Atlantic by Dutch slave traders.
06:21The former Dutch colonies of Suriname and Caribbean islands like Aruba and Curaçao
06:27owe their economic wealth to the forced labor of slaves.
06:32With the memorial year, the Dutch government wanted to contribute to permanently increase
06:36knowledge of an underexposed part of the country's history.
06:41The government also made apologies and reparations.
06:45July the 1st is now called Ketikoti, the day the chains were broken.
06:51That's it for this edition.
06:52I'm Stefan Grober.
06:53Thank you for watching.
06:55Have an excellent week.