Europe Today: Spanish FM on Euronews, Black Sea drone attacks, EU-China reset

Good morning, it's Wednesday, October 14th. You're watching Euronews, and this is Europe Today. Coming up, in the latest spillover from the Ukraine war in the Black Sea, 11 people are missing after two merchant ships were struck off the Bulgarian coast yesterday. The Bulgarian government summoned the Russian ambassador after drones struck a Ukrainian-owned cargo ship, while another vessel was also hit and sank. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the attacks, calling them another front of escalation of the Russian war in Ukraine. Germany, Italy and Belgium have called for a mechanism to halt new EU legislation deemed excessively burdensome for businesses, as part of a broader push to strengthen the bloc's competitiveness. In a letter sent to European Council President Costa, seen by Euronews, Chancellor Merz and Prime Ministers Meloni and De Wever propose what they call an emergency break. The issue is expected to be discussed at tomorrow's EU summit in Brussels. And the global economy could soon test the limits of resilience as emergency oil stocks run low and government budgets become overstretched, the International Monetary Fund has warned. In its twice-yearly World Economic Outlook, the IMF called for urgent action to tackle public finances amid rising debt levels and inflation. One bright spot? Global growth withstood the Middle East conflict better than feared over the past six months, the IMF said. Welcome to the program, I'm Stefan Grover. War on Europe's doorstep, political uncertainty at home, and tensions on its southern border. From Ukraine to a housing crisis and the uncertainty of snap elections. Spain is facing pressure on multiple fronts. And the focus is also firmly on Ceuta, as King Felipe visited the enclave this week amid renewed tensions with Morocco following this summer's unprecedented border crisis. So how is Spain responding? And can Madrid navigate these crises without weakening its position in Europe? Our Europe editor Maria Tadeo spoke with Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares on the sidelines of the Warsaw Security Forum. And she started by asking him what triggered Donald Trump's sudden heavy pressure on Ukraine and its president, Zelensky. Only President Trump can answer to that question. What's important for us, for Europeans, is how we can advance peace, a real peace, a genuine peace that will preserve the sovereignty of Ukraine, that will guarantee security for the Ukrainians for the Europeans? That's the real question. And we will only get that by backing President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people. Minister, you also know that this is coming at a cost. Do you have the capacity to still pay out of pocket or do you say we need to explore the Russian frozen assets? I have been very clear since the very beginning. I think we should use frozen assets. I've been since the very first day advocating for it, why we should put our taxpayer money when there is the frozen assets. So let's advance and let's not forget what is at stake right now. It's not only territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, but it's also the future of the security of Europe. Do you believe that the prime minister of Spain, therefore, on Thursday will put on the table again the issue of the Russian frozen assets? We have been consistent with that policy and with many other countries. We have been always advocating for the use of frozen assets. Will Spain provide some of the Patriot systems that you have in Spain to the Ukrainians? I never disclose what we are giving or not to Ukraine. This is a war and we have to keep the capabilities, you know, with discretion. But I can guarantee you that we have done as much as we can every time and we will continue to do it. OK, so you seem to indicate there's something maybe behind the scenes. Let's talk about Spain. The polls will indicate, well, you're not going to be back in government. So why do this now? There is only one poll that is really worth to see. It's the date of the vote. That's the only one. All the others, they say many, many things. I've been in many campaigns. I've seen many elections in which the poll said one thing and the result said something else. So the president decided to ask the Spaniards for a clarification. They want that type of Spain run by the extreme right and a reactionary coalition that really don't care about the rights of the people. Or they preferred the current government that has put Spain at the highest economic growth and always protects the right of the people. It's up to them to decide. But your critics would say, when you talk specifically about the housing, you have been in government for eight years. If there was a problem, there was plenty of time to fix it. And this issue is being weaponized. What credibility do you defend this line? With a guarantee that we do what we say, that we have been for eight years increasing all the rights of the people. When it comes once again to increasing the minimum wage at a historical level, increasing pension rights that were frozen, increasing a scholarship, putting all the funding for public health and public education. We will do the same with housing. And because we tried to do it with the Congress and they didn't want it. We need more strength in the Congress. And that's a clarification that the president has asked for. But what makes you believe this is going to be an extreme right that is going to undo years of democracy? You would think Spain is a strong enough democracy to not be undone by an election. There is a risk for the rights of the people, for all their social rights, for the pension rights, for the public education and the public health. And at the same time, extreme right is always connected with forces abroad, European Union, that try to divide us, that try to divide Spaniards and Europeans to make us weaker and to weaken our democracy. And who are these forces? Are you saying Russia is behind? Who is paying? Who are these forces? Well, we know very well that Russian disinformation always plays a role. They want Europe to be divided. But there are different forces around the world that come from different. I'm the minister of foreign affairs. Are you thinking Israel, perhaps? Many of them, many of them try to divide Europe because a Europe that is divided is a Europe that is weak. Vox, I see, seems to be doing very well in polls and they seem to have capitalized on the question of migration and certainly the crisis that we've seen play out in Ceuta, which is still not resolved. Most of the people that went into Ceuta illegally are already back. But many are still there. They are still there, but most of them have gone back and we will continue working as we have done it today until Ceuta recovers total normality. Will you say we need to revisit our policy with Morocco? We want to have a good relation with Morocco based on the respect of sovereignty, of territorial integrity and the principles that we agreed in 2022. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Álvarez speaking to Maria Tadeo. The Black Sea is becoming the next theatre of Russian aggression, with two commercial vessels hit by drones off Bulgaria's coast yesterday morning. It's the latest in a string of attacks on shipping in the region, with officials surrounding the stretch of sea sounding the alarm. Joining me now in the studio is our defence correspondent, Angela Skujins. Good morning, Angela. Good morning, Stefan. What's the latest here? Yeah, so in the early hours of Tuesday morning, a series of drones attacked two commercial vessels off Bulgaria's coast, sinking one. Eleven sailors are still missing. The Bulgarian Prime Minister, Rumen Radev, stated that this incident is absolutely unacceptable while calling on support from allies while an investigation continues. Now, he stated he doesn't have clear or conclusive evidence to definitively point the finger, but clear logic would suggest that Russia stands to benefit from an incursion such as this. Now, if we take a look at this map over here, we can clearly see that this is just one incident in a string of recent drone incursions, the first occurring on Monday last week, a cargo vessel off Romania's coast attacked, two individuals dying as a result. The following day, two more vessels attacked off Bulgaria's coast and this latest incident occurring one week later, clearly demonstrating that what was once a rarity in the region is certainly becoming a reality. You've described the problem. Are there any possible solutions on the table? Yes, so EU heads of state will meet in Brussels on Thursday to discuss a new hybrid warfare playbook. But the real question here is whether it can be developed with enough teeth to truly push back against these incursions. Of course, the EU also has a Black Sea strategy as well as an eastern flank drone initiative. But we're really waiting to see the implementation come here. Now, I spoke to a military official from Moldova. Of course, this is a landlocked country, but it has seen 94 confirmed drone incursions since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. And I started by asking him what societal impact these drones are having on the people of Moldova. Luckily, we don't have any casualties within civilian personnel. We do have some effects towards the local infrastructure in the area next to the impact Because those drones are coming with an amount of explosives upon them and having a significant impact towards the morale of the civil society and, of course, a safe and secure environment within the region. All right, Angela Skujins, thank you for your reporting. Europe and China are trying to reset their increasingly difficult trade relationship, but the tensions are far from over. From Chinese electric cars and massive industrial overcapacity to rare earths and access to each other's markets, Brussels is demanding more reciprocity from Beijing. And behind the trade dispute lies a much bigger question. Can Europe reduce its dependence on China without damaging its own economy? A few days ago, EU Trade Commissioner Šefčovič returned from talks in China that showed some progress. Yesterday, I spoke to Bernd Lange, chairman of the European Parliament's International Trade Committee, and I asked him whether this positive beginning was enough to call it a breakthrough. At the moment, we are discussing 16 points, and now we have an agreement on more or less three of them. So there is really now the beginning, and there's a chance to have a more or less comprehensive agreement perhaps in March next year. So I guess it's really a starting point. Of course, it's good. So I'm quite sure that now China is a little bit more flexible than perhaps one year ago because of the economic situation in China. So they need the export market to the European Union, and therefore it was possible to start the negotiations. So a good starting point. Let's see how it will be developed. Is China negotiating in good faith? My experience is that if you have an agreement or an understanding with China, and it is really hard to get it, no doubt about it. I have really some experience in the past. If there is an agreement, if there is a clear rule, they are staying to this rule. Of course, they have their strategic interests, but it's not a secret. If you are reading the 12th, 13th, 14th, and now the 15th five-year plan, everything is written down. Perhaps the difference with the European Union is, of course, we are also sometimes writing something down, but they are doing what they are writing down. So China appears to have offered concessions on hybrid cars and rare earths. What has Beijing actually committed to and what still needs to be negotiated? Yeah, in the hybrid car, of course, there was a curve with a really dramatic increase. And now we have stopped the curve and we limit the import for around about 360,000 cars a year for four years with 6% increase per year. So this leads some or gives some time for the European manufacturer. Then on the rare earths, we have a specific way for getting access, a European way that's also good. And a third agreement, don't forget, we have a cut of tariffs from China in a volume of 225 million. What is the one concession from China you would demand from Beijing before calling this a successful deal? Of course, there are a lot of other So the access to the Chinese market is limited for several reasons. By the way, for public procurement, there is an additional 20% price for foreign offers. We have some problems to get investment located and so on. So there are a lot of issues where we should discuss on that detail. Then, of course, we have our legislation, the Foreign Subsidies Regulation. There are some trade acts in China which forbid the cooperation between Chinese companies and the European authorities. Also, this, I guess, has to be changed. So there has to be trust in using the economic figures and also regarding investment obligations inside the European Union. And so there are a lot of items which should be discussed and led to an agreement. So it's perhaps really the starting point, not even the half of the way. It's just the starting point. And I hope that we can work on and I'm quite hopeful. Bernd Lange, chairman of the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament. Negotiations on the next long term European Union budget are entering the final stretch. As it happened, Ireland presently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU and presented a compromise on the size of the bloc's next seven-year budget ahead of tomorrow's EU summit. The proposal suggested chopping 141 billion euros off the 1.7 trillion euro draft on the table. Well, it did not go down well, as Dublin has been in line for a kicking from all sides since the idea was published. Are the cuts too small or too big? That's the billion euro question. Joining me now is the Irish Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Neil Richmond. Good morning, great to have you on. Good to be here. So one could argue that when you make everybody unhappy, you did a good job. But that doesn't get us any closer to a EU budget. How far apart are the positions within the EU Council? I think what we've been able to achieve in the last week is a demonstration of what is actually realistic. We were able to take the Commission proposal and over an intense number of months had four different meetings at ambassador level, three different meetings at ministerial level and scores, dozens of bilateral meetings between our Minister for European Affairs, Thomas Byrne, our Prime Minister with their counterparts across the Union to produce something that Member States is reflective of the really broad opinion of Member States. So I think certainly leaders will discuss this this week, and we very much hope that we'll be able to hand over this document at the end of our presidency in December and move to a very clear situation of a strong European budget that, despite all the claims, is still 30% bigger than the last EU budget. And I think that's been lost a lot in the commentary of the last number of days. What would you say is the weakest point of your proposal? I don't think our proposal has a weak point, because as presidency, we've acted as an honest broker. we are a net contributor as a member state but we strongly believe in cohesion and investment the union we benefited of that we've been able to take very clear priorities when it comes to security competitiveness overseas development assistance and make sure that a proposal that is still an increase on the last budget that can still provide a European Union budget that is ambitious to achieve our aims is on the table and we now move it over to leaders and we fundamentally think an agreement can be achieved at trial you mentioned that security and defense are supposed to be Europe's new priorities why should Europeans believe that when your proposal reduces spending actually in these areas but it's a massive increase on the last European budget and a lot of people get focused just on the Commission proposal it's very very important but you look at that is just a proposal you look at what the actual spending was under the last budgetary terms obviously Europe is a considerably different place now and this actually has real investment but in addition to that we've also seen legislative advancements over the last number of years which put security and defence. And security and defence isn't just binary. A real investment in official development assistance is key to security. Investment in our CAP and our food is key because food security is going to be a huge battle too. Well, you have time for one very short question. And you mentioned it, you want to get this done by the end of the year, before the French presidential election next year. Is this realistic? Yes or no? Absolutely. Perfect. Thank you so much, Irish Minister of State Neil Richmond. Thanks for your time this morning. And that does it for us today. If you want more news, go straight to our website, the fastest-growing news website in the English-speaking world for the second month in a row, by the way. Yes, you heard that right. YourNews.com nearly doubled its audience over the past year to almost 45 million visits in September. As our rivals, shed readers. On that note, thank you for your continuing loyalty. I'm Stefan Grover and I'll see you tomorrow