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00:00:14Good morning, it is Wednesday the 18th of February. I'm Maeve McMahan and this is Europe Today,

00:00:21your daily dose of European news and analysis, live here on Euronews.

00:00:26Coming up, another day, another attempt to end the war in Ukraine, this time in Geneva.

00:00:33Delegations from Moscow and Kiev are gathering in the Swiss city for their second day of

00:00:37tense US-brokered talks. With neither side willing to budge on key issues from territory

00:00:43to security guarantees, the US-imposed June deadline for settlement looks increasingly

00:00:49unlikely. Despite the negotiations, Russia continues to launch long-range drones and

00:00:54missiles across Ukraine. For more, our Ukraine correspondent Sasha Vakilina joins me now in the

00:00:59studio. Sasha, good morning. Morning. So look, yesterday we saw six hours of tense talks,

00:01:04more today, but no expectations of any sort of breakthrough.

00:01:09Now, the sides also spoke a little bit about what happened there in Geneva yesterday. We heard from

00:01:14the US envoy Steve Witkoff. He said that there was meaningful progress made at the first day of the

00:01:20negotiations. We also heard from the Ukrainian delegation, specifically from Rustem Umerov, who is

00:01:25the head of the delegation and also the Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council. Now,

00:01:31Rustem Umerov also praised the first day of the talks. He said that the discussions focused on

00:01:36practical issues and the mechanisms of possible solutions. Tomorrow morning, the political and

00:01:41military groups will continue to work. There we go. There are two tracks, the political one and the

00:01:46military one. Now, the Russian side seems to be more sceptical about it. Reportedly, there were some

00:01:51arguments and some situations where the dialogue got stuck. Well, this is, of course, also due to the

00:01:56fact that Moscow changed the head of the delegation. It's now represented by Vladimir Medinsky, who is

00:02:00one of the hardliners and one of the biggest supporters of Russia's all-out war against Ukraine.

00:02:06And meanwhile, Sasha, just tell us what's happening on the ground in Ukraine.

00:02:09Ukraine is actually coming to the Geneva negotiations in a different position. Ukrainian forces have been making

00:02:14some progress and have been successfully going on counterattacks, specifically in southeastern Ukraine,

00:02:20around 80 kilometers east of Zaporozhye city. And that was largely thanks to the fact that that Space X and

00:02:29Elon Musk's managed to block the access to Starlink terminals, unauthorized Starlink terminals for Russian forces.

00:02:36Now, Elon Musk said himself numerous times that he's not cooperating and not doing any business with Russian

00:02:41government or Russian military. And the moment they stopped the access, we could see the difference

00:02:46on the battleground, Maeve.

00:02:48OK, Sasha Vakilina, our Ukraine correspondent, thank you so much for all those updates.

00:02:53But now, coming up, we'll be joined by the US ambassador to the European Union, Andrew Puster,

00:02:59an attorney and businessman by trade. Andrew Puster ran a successful fast food chain before taking on the

00:03:05role of President Trump's eyes and ears right here in Brussels. So the ambassador has a very

00:03:10busy schedule. Ambassador, great to have you with us. Welcome back to Europe today.

00:03:15It's great to be here, Maeve. Thanks for having me back.

00:03:17As I said, it's busy days for you. You're just back from the Munich Security Conference.

00:03:22Yes.

00:03:22I feel the atmosphere was a little bit better, a little bit nicer than last year,

00:03:26right between the Europeans and the Americans. Did you get that feeling?

00:03:28Yes. Everybody was very positive about Secretary Rubio's speech. And I think it's

00:03:32the hallmark of a diplomat to be able to tell people things they need to hear and may not want

00:03:37to hear in a way they find acceptable. And I thought the European audience was very open to him

00:03:44and obviously got a standing ovation. So he did pretty well.

00:03:47Despite the fact that the fundamentals have not changed. I mean, his speech did say that the US

00:03:52is worried about European civilization. What is wrong with European civilization?

00:03:56Well, I think the problem is that with immigration, the impact of immigration on Europe,

00:04:05mass immigration, the impact of the climate policies on the economy and on GDP per capita,

00:04:13on the ability of people to really...

00:04:14But there is no mass immigration right now. The numbers have gone down. If you take a look at

00:04:18Frontex, the numbers have gone down of irregular migration. And now the EU is taking a tougher stance

00:04:22on asylum seekers, for example.

00:04:24I think it is. I actually think the EU's position on immigration has come

00:04:29a great distance towards the American position. I think we're more aligned than we were even just

00:04:34a year ago. But I think what Secretary Rubio was talking about was the impact of the past migration,

00:04:41the past mass migration and the challenge, the civilizational challenge that that posed.

00:04:45But what are the facts on this?

00:04:47What are the facts on this?

00:04:49Which facts?

00:04:50What are the facts? What is he worried about?

00:04:51Well, he's worried about the impact on issues such as freedom of religion, freedom of speech,

00:05:02from groups of people coming to make us share our values as Western civilization. They have different

00:05:07values, not that they're right or wrong, but they're different than ours. And that would be a

00:05:12challenge to our Western civilization and our ability to get along.

00:05:17The EU needs managed migration because, you know, unemployment is quite low right now. There's a

00:05:21major gap.

00:05:23There's a difference between managed migration and mass migration. And I think what we've seen over

00:05:27the past decade is just flows of people coming in onto the continent. And the reaction has not been

00:05:33positive. I think that you saw...

00:05:35But we do not have flows if you check the statistics. But let's just go back to Kaya Kallis' speech.

00:05:39You've seen rise of parties on the right based on the immigration issue. So there is concern in

00:05:45Europe.

00:05:45But whether or not they're based on facts, they're arguments. I mean, they're superstars on social

00:05:49media. Let's just go back to Kaya Kallis' speech last week in Munich. She said that there's no

00:05:58European erasure. She said that the United States perhaps shouldn't be preaching to the Europeans

00:06:04given the state of press freedom in the United States. Do you feel, do you not see why she's getting

00:06:08upset?

00:06:10No, I don't. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure why she is upset. She's always been very supportive

00:06:15of the United States. She's always been very anti-Russia. I know that that's based on her

00:06:19Estonian roots and her personal history. But look, I think it's important that we address the issues

00:06:25of free speech. I think it's important that we address the issues of immigration. I think it's

00:06:29important that we address the issues of over-regulation that's destroying the economies across Europe.

00:06:33And it's, and you just listen to, you know, listen to Chancellor Merritt or, or to Bart

00:06:38de Vever, Prime Minister de Vever.

00:06:39And that issue is being addressed. We saw the Leaders' Summit there last week.

00:06:42So I think he agrees. I think he's saying this is, you know, we need to address these issues

00:06:46and they're, they're being raised. Let's say, I don't know that they're being addressed yet.

00:06:51They were, we're making, you're making an effort to it.

00:06:53Well, you know, it takes time, you know, 27 democracies working together.

00:06:55So just back to Marco Rubio's idea in the, at the Munich Security Council, this idea of a

00:07:00political alignment between the EU and the United States. But how do you know that you'll

00:07:05make sure to get this if you're so mean to your allies, if you're saying such nasty things

00:07:09all the time?

00:07:10Well, I didn't think Rubio's speech was mean at all. I thought, I thought Secretary

00:07:13Rubio was very diplomatic. I think that, you know, he's interrupted three times by applause

00:07:17and got a standing ovation at the end. So it couldn't have been too insulting. I thought

00:07:22when he talked about how, how tied we are, how the World War One, World War Two demonstrated

00:07:28that we are inextricably linked, that we come from Europe. There's a, there's a real bond

00:07:34here. And I think he, he did everything he could to emphasize that.

00:07:37So why doesn't he come to Brussels? Why is he not visiting Brussels? He's over in Budapest

00:07:41now showing his support to one head of state who's, who's posing now for elections to Viktor

00:07:46Orban.

00:07:46Well, these, Hungary and Slovakia, there's nothing wrong with him visiting those countries.

00:07:51I'm not sure why he didn't visit Brussels this trip. I'm sure he will visit Brussels

00:07:55at some point.

00:07:57Does the Europeans feel of snubbed?

00:07:58Well, I can't answer that. I don't know why they would feel snubbed. They shouldn't

00:08:02feel snubbed. He's got a lot to do as Secretary of State, and I'm sure he's out there trying

00:08:07to meet the demands. When he gets to these events, I don't know if you've ever seen Secretary

00:08:11Rubio at these events, but he's treated like a rock star. I mean, everybody wants to meet

00:08:14Well, that's why we'd love to welcome him here in Brussels.

00:08:16I'd love him to come. There's an open invitation.

00:08:20But is that not political interference, the fact that he's in Budapest right now, just

00:08:23ahead of a huge election?

00:08:25I think he has every right to visit Budapest. I mean, Hungary is an ally of the United States.

00:08:30It's a member of the European Union. It's not like he's, you know, going and visiting

00:08:34countries that aren't affiliated with the EU. He's visiting EU member states, and I really

00:08:39don't see a problem with that.

00:08:40But Europeans are feeling a little bit upset as well about the mantra coming out of Washington

00:08:45right now. Did you see J.D. Vance? He got booed at the Winter Olympics ceremony.

00:08:49I didn't. I read different accounts of what happened when he walked out there. I know that

00:08:54he's not particularly popular because he raised some issues last time when he spoke at the

00:08:59Munich Security Conference. And it's, you know, Europe, there was one group at the, I heard

00:09:06some talk at the Munich Conference, where they were saying Europe was like somebody who was

00:09:11asleep and had a snooze button on the alarm clock. Did you hear that?

00:09:14So they...

00:09:14I've heard that many times.

00:09:15It's time to get up and they hit the snooze button. Well, when J.D. Vance and President Trump

00:09:20came along, it was time to stop hitting the snooze button on things like a 5%, you know,

00:09:24you've got to defend yourself, the 5% of GDP commitment. So there are issues that they've

00:09:29raised in a way that they'd had to wake Europe up. And J.D. Vance is a very good guy.

00:09:35I mean,

00:09:35if you interviewed him, you'd like him very much.

00:09:37Well, hopefully I'll get to interview him sometime here on Europe Today. But in the meantime,

00:09:40Ambassador, the Greenland issue seems put to bed for now. Should we expect more tariff threats

00:09:45coming from D.C. soon? Because that really scared Europeans.

00:09:48I think that what we should expect is that we'll have a free trade agreement, or excuse me,

00:09:54the framework trade agreement will be approved by Parliament, hopefully, the week of March 9th.

00:10:00Then we'll have a trilog, or we call it United States Reconciliation, where we'll come up with

00:10:05a final bill. And we'll have the critical minerals deal. We'll have the trade agreement. You know,

00:10:10we'll start moving forward. I think it's really time that we stop talking at each other and start

00:10:17speaking with each other. And I think both of these agreements, critical minerals and free trade,

00:10:21can get us on a path to doing that. I think when we come to an agreement on Greenland,

00:10:25I think that will move things forward. But we need to get a more conciliatory approach to how

00:10:32we're dealing with issues. And I think as we do that going forward, we'll find fewer and fewer of

00:10:35these disruptions.

00:10:38Okay. In the meantime, Ambassador Puster, thank you so much for being our guest once again here

00:10:41on Europe Today.

00:10:42Thanks, Maeve. My pleasure.

00:10:43Hope to see you back here again soon. But moving on, Brussels has launched a formal probe

00:10:48into the Chinese retailer Sheen. According to the EU Commission, there is sufficient evidence

00:10:53that clothes, cosmetics and electronics are not compliant with EU law. Jakob Janis has more

00:10:58on the platform that records 145 million monthly European users.

00:11:06Everyone loves a good bargain. But what if your free euro t-shirt comes with an extra baggage?

00:11:11It all started last year with a massive scandal in France. Authorities found illegal products,

00:11:18including a childlike sex doll being sold on Sheen. And now the EU is stepping in. The European

00:11:25Commission has just launched a formal priority investigation into the e-commerce giants under the

00:11:32Digital Services Act. Interested? Let's unbox it together.

00:11:37Brussels is targeting Sheen's entire business model. And they are investigating its addictive

00:11:44design, like giving users points and rewards to keep them hooked, and demanding transparency

00:11:50on their secret algorithms pushing these products. And if Sheen is found guilty, it faces multi-million

00:11:58euro fines. France even threatened to suspend access to the site entirely.

00:12:04But the crackdown doesn't stop there. Consumer watchdogs are raising the alarm on

00:12:10influencers pushing cheap hole and dupe videos on social media without disclosing their paid

00:12:16partnerships. Finally, the EU is hitting these companies where it hurts. And it is your wallet.

00:12:23Starting in July this year, the EU is slapping a flat 3 euro customs tax on every single parcel under

00:12:31150 euros.

00:12:33With an estimated 12 million cheap packages entering the EU every single day, the days of tax-free shopping sprees

00:12:41on Chinese online marketplaces are officially numbered. And since the Chinese New Year just kicked off,

00:12:49Happy New Year to the e-commerce giants. The EU just opened a massive investigation.

00:12:54And unfortunately, this is a gift you cannot return.

00:13:02Jakob Janis, they're reporting on a probe that could take years to carry out, and she's Sheen fined

00:13:07six percents of its annual turnover. But now, moving on to one of Europe's most closely watched election

00:13:13races of the year, to Hungary. Incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Orban and TSAS's Peter Maier have

00:13:19both launched their campaigns, one clearly in favour of Brussels and the other against. For the first

00:13:24time since 2010, a change of government appears possible. For more, Sander Zieros, our Hungarian

00:13:29correspondent, is in the studio. So Sander, last week we talked about those dirty scandals in the campaign.

00:13:35Where are we now? Good morning, Maeve. Indeed, there are indicators that Peter Maier's so-called

00:13:41sex tape blackmailing scandal could move forward, and some sensitive information could be released

00:13:48soon. Before I go to the details, let me give you a background. So last week, Peter Maier said he

00:13:53has

00:13:54been lured into a sex act in a Budapest apartment with his former girlfriend, and according to him,

00:14:01a sex tape has been illegally recorded. Peter Maier also said that there have been drugs in this

00:14:08apartment, but he never touched them. And last week, there was a very mysterious web page posting one

00:14:15image of this bedroom, of this apartment. Peter Maier admitted that he has been there, so the picture is

00:14:22real. And now, yesterday, this web page quoted Peter Maier that he never touched drugs in this

00:14:29apartment, and posted, this web page posted one question, are you sure? Quotation. So this might

00:14:37be an implication that, you know, a possible video related to a possible drug use could come soon.

00:14:46Nevertheless, Peter Maier is denying this. So the plot is thickening there. How will this impact the

00:14:52campaign? It's too early to say, we haven't seen the video, we don't know about the content. But you

00:14:59know, the drug use is illegal in Hungary, and we have a lot of conservative voters, and everyone is

00:15:06fighting for the undecided voters right now in Hungary. But nevertheless, you know, Peter Maier is like,

00:15:14for me, he's a little bit like Donald Trump, there is a lot of attacks, a lot of campaigns against

00:15:19him. But

00:15:20everything you throw at him, he just brushes off from himself, and he moves on a little bit like Donald

00:15:26Trump did in the past. And so far, he is unharmed. But this scandal could be different, depending on what

00:15:34will happen. I mean, and the elections are getting closer and closer. So we will see much more tensions

00:15:41coming in this election. And it's worth pointing out to our viewers, Shandor, that Peter Maier is a

00:15:46former close friend of Viktor Orban and a former member of Fidesz, the party of Viktor Orban. So

00:15:51Shandor, thank you so much for bringing us all those details. We'll keep, of course, a very close eye

00:15:54on that campaign. But now coming up, we'll be joined by Seamus Boland, the new president of the EU's

00:16:00Economic and Social Committee, an EU body that came about some in the 50s to give a voice to civil

00:16:07society in shaping EU legislation. Good morning, President Boland. So look, 100 days into your

00:16:14new job, do you really feel that you're shaping EU legislation? It's a very pro-business agenda now.

00:16:19Absolutely. But I really do. I think I'm into the issues very much at the heart of what I'm

00:16:24talking about are the eradication of poverty. There's a lot of problems with housing. People

00:16:29can't get houses anymore. People are feeling the brunt of energy and the cost of it. Bringing

00:16:35civil society at the heart of Europe. These are the organisations, the ordinary organisations

00:16:39that really are at the forefront of disaster zones, etc. They need to be at the centre.

00:16:44But what can the EU really do about housing?

00:16:46Well, the EU, in fairness to President Costa, I met him in the early days and I've been talking

00:16:51to the Commissioner Jorgensen as well. I think they have to make a very clear statement that

00:16:56housing is urgent, that it's not something to be solved in a couple of days. It has to be

00:17:01done, but it has to be done now. It has to be brought to the forefront. And EU countries,

00:17:0627, you mentioned it earlier on in the show, 27 individual countries need to also take it

00:17:11urgently. But the EU needs to take the lead.

00:17:13Well, there's a sense of urgency in the room among EU leaders, perhaps not about housing,

00:17:17but about other issues related to the economy. We saw that leaders' retreat last Thursday,

00:17:21this idea of a pragmatic federalism, a multi-speed Europe. What is your view on this?

00:17:26Yeah, I had the pleasure of talking to President Costa before that leaders' retreat. And clearly

00:17:31it was about competitiveness. Yes, you said a pro-business world, but competitiveness with

00:17:36values. Europe is built on values. You said 27 countries trying to make their way in the

00:17:42world, trying to ensure that nobody is left behind. So my way of looking at it is we have

00:17:47to be competitive. We have to worry about security, but we better make sure we don't leave people

00:17:52behind. And that means keeping the values that we were built upon alive.

00:17:57And who should pay for this? I mean, we heard Mario Draghi mention 800 billion euro gap there.

00:18:01Here's the thing. We're talking about billions of euro. We have to accept that those billions

00:18:07cannot be taken out of the current budget, because if we do, we're going to make people

00:18:10very, very poor, very poor. So we've got options. We've got to either borrow more, and we can,

00:18:16because Europe has room. We can raise money, of course, from the individual countries'

00:18:21subscriptions, or we can find other financial tools. But we cannot impoverish people by putting

00:18:29all this money up front and taking it out of their pockets. That can't happen. So we've

00:18:33got to take new ideas, and I hope that leaders' retreat did that.

00:18:36And do you think that people in the room are thinking like you?

00:18:39I'd like to think so. I mean, I've met something like 11 commissioners at the moment. I've met

00:18:43countless MEPs, chairs of the committees in the parliament, and lots of people in what's

00:18:50called the power, the power room, let's call it that. And all I can say is, yes, they are

00:18:56listening, and they know, because if they leave people behind, they may not be in office.

00:19:01Okay. Seamus Bowling, the President of the Economic and Social Committee, thank you so

00:19:04much for joining us here this morning on Europe Today. And thank you so much for tuning

00:19:09in. As always, any comments or questions that you have for us, you can always write us

00:19:13at europetoday at euronews.com. And for more news and analysis, check out our website, euronews.com.

00:19:19Take care. Thanks for watching, and see you soon on Euronews.

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