00:00Good morning, Maria. Great to see you.
00:02Look, this meeting comes on a brutal week for Brussels,
00:04given the criticism from the U.S. administration.
00:07Fill us in.
00:11Well, yes, Maeve, a difficult week for Europe,
00:14but today a positive story, if I may, for once.
00:16Of course, as you say, a new head of the Eurogroup.
00:19It's the Greek finance minister, a turnaround story here in Brussels.
00:22Today, this was a country, remember,
00:24that almost crashed out of the European Union and the euro 10 years ago
00:29and now leads this group of finance ministers.
00:31But, yes, the focus very much this week has been on the words by the U.S. administration,
00:36a European economy that is simply too weak, too politically correct,
00:40obsessed with regulation and green policies.
00:43A lot of this could lead to the end, according to the U.S. administration,
00:47to the European civilization.
00:49Very tough words.
00:51And to debrief, I'm happy to say we are joined live
00:53by the head of the European Investment Bank, Nadia Calvino.
00:57President, thank you so much for joining us this morning.
01:00I want to get your thoughts on those remarks by the U.S. administration.
01:04The European Union, it is simply too weak.
01:07Are we obsessed with regulation and are we killing this economy?
01:11Well, actually, Maria, what I feel these days is that I'm more proud than ever to be European.
01:17I think our values are our compass and they must be also underpinned in the new world order,
01:22which is in the making, and our unity is our strength.
01:26That's very clear when so many people are interested in dividing us and weakening the European Union.
01:32And when you say there's a new world order, does that mean that the United States may not be an ally?
01:37Are these the remarks of a friend?
01:39When he says you're too weak, too politically correct, it's the end of a civilization, they are weak.
01:44Is that how a friend talks to a friend?
01:45It's very clear that there's a new world order, which is in the...
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