Denmark's rotating presidency of the EU has been juggling a lot of difficult political balls: the climate negotiations ahead of the COP30 in Brazil, the "simplification" omnibuses that have run into political battles in the European Parliament, and much else. We travel to Copenhagen to talk to Denmark’s Minister for European Affairs, Marie Bjerre, about how the presidency is going, and how the small country is dealing with the big geopolitical headwinds blowing into Denmark.

Bjerre says that "there has been a change of mindset, because we used to be a little bit more critical of the EU with further integration, more EU legislation. But the attitude towards the EU [in Denmark] has really changed quite dramatically. And this has absolutely to do with the new geopolitical reality that we are faced with. We see war on our continent, war in Ukraine, a more aggressive Russia, and also new political winds blowing from the US. And in such a situation, Europe has to be much stronger. Europe has to be able to defend itself, and therefore Denmark also has to contribute to that."

Denmark is a committed supporter of Ukraine, and we ask Bjerre how the Danish EU presidency is dealing with the fact that the Hungarian government is blocking further moves to have Ukraine join the EU.

"There's absolutely the possibility of making progress, and we are actually progressing," Bjerre replies. "Yes, Hungary is blocking so we can't formally open the negotiation clusters. But we're working on the technical level. During our (EU) presidency, we have managed to frontload the technical work, meaning that when Hungary is not blocking any more, then we will be capable of opening the negotiation clusters and hopefully also be able to close them quite fast afterwards, because the Ukrainians are working on the reforms," she explains. Bjerre highlights an agreement that was reached during the Danish presidency on mobile phone roaming in the EU for Ukrainians. "A lot of us remember how expensive it was when we used our phone going to France from Denmark," she says. "But today it's cheap and from 1st of January it will be cheap for the Ukrainians as well. It sounds like a small agreement, but it goes to the fact that Ukrainians are getting closer to the EU."

Denmark is considered to be a pioneer in the renewable energy transition in Europe, especially on wind power. Bjerre hints that Denmark was disappointed at the climate target that the EU agreed ahead of the COP30 summit in Brazil. 

"From a purely Danish perspective, we would have liked this agreement to look a little bit different," Bjerre admits. "We are very ambitious on the climate agenda. We're not hiding that. We are not going to use fossil fuels in the future. And we believe that developing new green technologies is linked with competitiveness."

Bjerre also links competitiveness with the EU's "simplification agenda".

"Right now it's impossible for me as a politician to visit a Danish company without them saying that they are burdened with too many rules," she states. "Things are too bureaucratic. We are asking them for too many reporting requirements. The Draghi report from last year said it quite clearly: we are overregulating in the EU; it's too burdensome to do business in the EU. And therefore simplification is a key priority for our presidency. And luckily we already closed two agreements on this simplification. But the agreement on sustainability is of course also key for us to close."

Will the simplification of sustainability rules undermine climate goals, though? Is the watering down of reporting requirements not a problem? "I think we have to think about the green transition in a different way," Bjerre answers." We're not necessarily getting more green transition when we're reporting about it. It's also about innovation and letting companies thrive and innovate."

We turn to the thorny subject of migration, and the notion of "return hubs" for migrants outside EU borders, which has recently run into legal difficulties. Bjerre confirms that "return hubs" are indeed still an idea.

"Denmark has had a strict immigration policy for more than 25 years, and we are proud of that. For many years, I think we were not looked upon as a country for inspiration when it came to our immigration policy, but we are that today. Many countries realise that we need to have better control of migration and better control of sending irregular migrants back, and a part of that is building receiving centres or returning hubs. We realise that it’s difficult to do this as one single country, and that's why we're advocating that these hubs should be made together in [the] EU."

Programe prepared by Charlotte Prudhomme, Agnès Le Cossec, Perrine Desplats and Oihana Almandoz

Montenegro is considered to be one of the frontrunners to join the European Union, and it hopes to enter the bloc and the eurozone in 2028. The Western Balkans country of around 620,000 people began accession talks in 2012. Six years earlier, in 2006, it had emerged as an independent state after the end of the former Union of Serbia and Montenegro. We host the country's president, Jakov Milatović. He is a young pro-European reformer who says he is determined to follow the Euro-Atlantic path. Milatović is an Oxford-trained economist and was minister of economic development before being elected president of Montenegro in 2023.

We begin with EU enlargement, a key issue in the region. "The enlargement of the EU was always an investment in stability and prosperity, not only of the parts where the EU enlarged, but also of Europe as a continent as a whole," Milatović says. "Now, I believe it's the same story with the Western Balkans. If Europe doesn't grasp this opportunity and take the moment, somebody else will try to increase its power in the region. And this is what we are already seeing through different cyber threats and disinformation that are coming from the third parties. And so I am very clear, I do want to see a more engaged Europe in the Balkans."

What sort of help would he like from the EU?

"Technical help, so that we can make our institutions more resilient in order to be able to fight hybrid threats more effectively," Milatović answers. "But in the long run, we obviously need to work a lot on media literacy, of our young people especially, as well as on social cohesion."

Milatović touts the strides that his country has made towards EU membership.

"Montenegro is the only candidate country that has opened all the [negotiating] chapters. And we were also able to close a number of them," he explains. "Montenegro is fully aligning its foreign and security policy with the one of the EU. So everything, literally everything that is decided by the EU Council, Montenegro takes on board. Montenegro is also part of NATO and that's very important given the current geopolitical situation. You mentioned the eurozone. Montenegro has unilaterally adopted the euro a while ago. And in that regard, we are also trying to fulfil all the necessary criteria. Also, in comparison to the other countries of the region, Montenegro doesn't have any major open issues with its neighbours. So we would not be bringing problems to the club."

Milatović admits, though, that organised crime continues to be a significant issue, and an obstacle on the path to Montenegro's EU accession.

"This is a challenge that we are tackling together with our international partners," Milatović says. "And I believe that the French authorities played a crucial role, together with Europol and Interpol, when they dismantled the encrypted correspondence between the members of the organised crime groups. And this is the evidence which our prosecutorial system, our court system is now using to prosecute many of those people. There are people who were part of our system, of our police department, of our court system, who, instead of fighting the organised crime, were actually part of the organised crime! I do want to put an emphasis on the fact that, when I was chosen to become the president, I had a very clear mandate from the people to promote zero tolerance on organised crime and on corruption."

Multiple European countries have reported incursions into their airspace by presumed Russian drones in recent weeks and months. That is a particular concern to so-called "frontline states" of the EU and NATO. We speak to Latvia's Foreign Minister Baiba Braže about the EU's drone readiness, Russia sanctions, hybrid warfare and the issue of migrant pushbacks.

Braže says her country is "at the forefront" of drone policy in the EU. "We have a very high scientific and tech base, and it is easy to do business in Latvia. So tech companies have really been quite successful," she explains. "We have huge military ranges where they can do live bombing and electronic warfare, and we also have a superb relationship with the Ukrainian military, so lots of our stuff gets tested on the battlefront in Ukraine," she goes on. Braže emphasises that in Latvia there is a "permissibility to fail environment", and says she would welcome EU Commission leadership to create more of that at the European level.

"What we need is single-source, small procurement, letting them (the companies) fail, then letting them advance rapidly, taking on scientific developments and discoveries, and just being out there," Braže elaborates. "We have said to the Commission leadership, and also to French ministers, that we need that permissibility to fail, as well as speed and rapid adoption."

Continuing on the drone issue, Braže takes a big-picture approach. "This is not just about the border," she says. "We also saw in the airports in Copenhagen or other places that you need to identify and detect the drones early on, because you want to understand what that is as early as possible. If you just use some radar or something, it might look like a Delta plane, not like a drone."

We come to the EU's 19th package of sanctions on Russia, which targeted Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) for the first time. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were the first EU states to stop using Russian gas. Braže is critical of countries that are continuing those imports. "We haven't gone back to any Russian [oil and gas]. And we advise the same for all the companies in Europe," Braže says. "The fact that there's quite a bit of Russian LNG imports in France, I don't think is the right message to Russia. I don't think it's right to give billions of euros from French taxpayers' money or French companies' incomes to the Russian budget from which they wage the war."

We also ask Braže about reported migrant pushbacks at the Latvia-Belarus border; something that the European Court of Human Rights has held hearings on.

"It became very clear what was happening on the side of Belarus; that they were gathering people flown in from different parts of the world," Braže states. "They were gathering them in the groups, bringing them to the border, and then pushing them across the border. And that was very much through a Belarus-KGB organised effort. So, I'm sorry, this is not any more an issue of asylum and migration. This is organised activity with the objective of violating our border – which is a border of the EU and NATO."

But don't the migrants have rights under international humanitarian law, even if they are being used as a political weapon? "They have the right to ask for asylum in Belarus", Braže replies. "I mean, they are all in Belarus territory. They have to ask for asylum there, and it will have to be granted. Belarus should be able to do that. It's considered quite a safe country."

Programme prepared by Agnès Le Cossec, Oihana Almandoz et Isabelle Romero

On the tenth anniversary of France's worst peacetime massacre, we speak to the EU's Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Bartjan Wegter. He tells us what lessons have been learned from the November 13, 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, and what is being done at the EU level to counter threats. He also warns of the need for heightened vigilance, because even though the so-called "ISIS caliphate" ended in 2019, the group has been "agile in adjusting its strategy" and is "focusing on the online environment to recruit individuals in the EU", he explains.

Programme prepared by Perrine Desplats, Oihana Almandoz and Isabelle Romero

FRANCE 24 secured an exclusive interview with Kaja Kallas, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, at the Paris Peace Forum. At this year's edition, there was fretting about violence that undermines the international order, but also a renewed call for global cooperation. Kallas, who has been in the job for about a year after being prime minister of Estonia, tells us that her "big goal is to make Europe a geopolitical power; that we would matter on the world stage."

Kallas expresses worry about the state of the global order. "I think international law is under heavy fire, if we look at what is happening in the world," she says. "We have the United Nations Charter that says that you can't attack another country, you can't attack the sovereignty or territorial integrity of another country. But yet here we are. We have many conflicts, many wars around the world. And international law is something that is really protecting the smaller countries, so that their big neighbours don’t make a step towards them.  And the majority of the world's countries are small countries. So if you think this doesn't concern you right now, then it's just a matter of time. So we really need to preserve this world order where might does not make right."

Is she worried about the US retreat from its traditional global role under the Trump presidency, particularly when it comes to development aid? "If we look at the bigger picture, it is clear that United States has withdrawn its help, and all the countries in the world are behind our doors asking us to fill the void," Kallas replies. "It's clear that our taxpayers can't do that. We have many places where we are the biggest humanitarian aid donor. But there are a lot of rich countries around the world who should also shoulder the burden. So, clearly, we are trying to do our share, but we can't fill the void that America is leaving behind."

There was also much focus on Africa at the Paris Peace Forum. Kallas has denounced the brutality of the paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, and the ethnic cleansing of civilians there.

"The situation in Sudan is unbearable and it doesn't have the attention in the media that other conflicts have," Kallas states. "What we are trying to do is to call on those parties with the weapons, the warring parties, to stop, because the human suffering is just so enormous. We are the biggest provider of humanitarian aid, but everybody should understand that for stability, for prosperity, for investments, you need peace."

On a different conflict, Gaza, the EU has been notoriously split politically. But Kallas focuses on what the bloc is doing to stabilise the situation going forward.

"The ceasefire was very much waited for, as was the release of hostages, but it was clear that it was the first phase," Kallas avers. "A sustainable peace requires international backing and that's why we are, of course, thinking about what we can do on our side. We have two missions working on the ground, the EUPOL COPPS (to support Palestinian police and the rule of law) and EUBAM Rafah (a border assistance mission on the Gaza-Egypt frontier). We're thinking about what more can we do to also contribute to the International Stabilisation Force."

Kallas is a staunch supporter of international trade deals such as Mercosur, between the EU and Latin American countries.

"If we look at the economy of Europe, then our companies definitely need markets," she says. "And Mercosur would bring the biggest free trading area of 700 million people. And I know the worries that are there in France. That's why the EU Commission has put forward new safeguards for those worries, which are very important for the farmers." For Kallas, Mercosur has a clear geopolitical imperative, because "there are other powers outside Europe that really want us to be at each other's throats, to be clashing. If we are fighting each other, we are actually weaker towards our adversaries."

Asked about Ukraine and EU defence, Kallas addresses concerns among EU member states that the EU Commission might be overstepping its powers in terms of defence projects.

"Actually the leadership on this is with the member states," she maintains. "The only thing that the European Union tries to do is to coordinate and put member states together, because some projects are too large for any single member state, but we can do them together." A firm supporter of Ukraine, Kallas highlights the added value that the country has for EU defence industries. "I recently visited Ukraine and the drone factories there," she says. "The innovation they are doing is very impressive, and also how fast they are able to produce drone interceptors. They have a very clear view of how it operates because they have it already in place. So we don't have to invent the wheel. We can do this and learn from their lessons."

Programme prepared by Oihana Almandoz, Isabelle Romero and Agnès Le Cossec.

The EU Council insists that the EU must leave next month's COP30 climate summit in Brazil with a clear path forward to keeping a lid on 1.5°C of warming. But is that target already out of reach? Our guest says that the world is actually on course for 2.9°C of warming, and that the international community is failing to live up to the promise of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement. Isabella Lövin is a prominent Green MEP, a former minister for the environment and climate in the Swedish government, a former minister for international development cooperation, and a former deputy prime minister of Sweden.

Lövin lays out the challenges facing developing countries in particular, ahead of the COP30 in Belém, Brazil.

"Sadly enough, we now see the US leaving the Paris Agreement for the second time and the EU not taking the leadership that it should," she states. "The US is withdrawing all the support through the Green Climate Fund. And we see many countries around the world also diminishing their development aid. And this is creating a lot of distrust from the developing countries who are very much struck by hurricanes, droughts, forest fires and all these things that we see in Europe and that we see in the United States, but they don't have the means to adapt to it."

For Lövin, the pushback in some member states against the EU’s proposed carbon emissions target for 2040 is indicative of a lack of leadership. "We, the rich countries, we have developed our wealth through the burning of fossil fuels. We have a moral obligation," she insists. "We also promised to be more ambitious than the developing part of the world, and to show leadership. So it's not too much to demand from the EU that we show how we can get to minus 90 percent in carbon emissions by 2040. All the analysis that has been done by the European Commission shows that it's perfectly doable. We have all the tools that we need in terms of legislation, in terms of research and innovation. So we're the continent that can do it. We can't look to the US to do it."

Sticking to the 2040 target is also in the EU's self-interest, Lövin maintains. "We see how China, which is a Communist power, has invested enormously and subsidised the development of EVs, electric vehicles and new technologies," she says. "And the EU is falling behind. We are really being outcompeted by others if we don't continue to do the Green transition. China is investing in the technology that we will have to import later, if we are not there. And we will still be dependent on imports of fossil fuels for billions and billions of euros."

We ask Lövin about the big gulf that has opened up between the Greens and the Conservatives in the European Parliament, despite both groups being part of the broad pro-European coalition.

"As the Greens, we're all for simplification when we're talking about excessive bureaucracy on some things like state aid rules, or some excessive reporting obligations for SMEs," Lövin answers. "But if you look at reporting for sustainability, if we're going to import products that are produced outside of Europe that have caused a lot of [carbon] emissions or use child labour, then it's not excessive reporting we're asking for. And we know that the big companies like Ikea or Volvo or big European companies, they're already prepared to do this reporting. They're not asking for deregulation on these things. But now, in this house (the EU Parliament), many of the right-wing parties and the extreme right parties, they are only talking about environmental legislation, about climate legislation. That's the only thing they want to deregulate. For companies, it's much better to have clear targets that are really long term so they know what they should invest in. I speak to many companies all the time and they say to us: 'Just tell us what we need to do and we will do it'."

Programme prepared by Perrine Desplats, Isabelle Romero, Agnès Le Cossec and Oihana Almandoz.

It was described as an unhappy marriage — and it ended in June. The four-party government in the Netherlands collapsed when far-right leader Geert Wilders pulled his PVV party out of the coalition, citing his partners’ inaction on migration and asylum issues. That breakdown led to snap parliamentary elections being called, which are due to take place on 29 October. Beyond the personalities and personal rivalries, the issues in the Dutch election reflect some of the major political battles unfolding across the EU — particularly on migration and the green transition. We debate what’s at stake with our guests.

Programme prepared by Perrine Desplats, Oihana Almandoz and Isabelle Romero

 

At a jam-packed EU summit in Brussels on 23 October, dominated by the thorny issue of using frozen Russian assets, we caught up with the Deputy Minister for European Affairs of Cyprus, Marilena Raouna. Although Belgium was at the centre of haggling over how to turn the Russian assets into a “reparation loan” to help Ukraine, it is not the only country concerned by the issue. Cyprus has frozen €1.2 billion in Russian assets. Raouna emphasises that Cyprus has “completely turned the page” on Russian money flowing through the country and that supporting Ukraine will be a “top priority” when Cyprus assumes the rotating EU presidency in January 2026.

Cyprus’s historically close links with Russia notwithstanding, Raouna pledges that the Cypriot EU presidency will “take an approach of unequivocal, steadfast support for Ukraine on all fronts – political, economic and humanitarian. This is about defending core European principles, including territorial integrity and sovereignty. Cyprus is a member state of the European Union that has part of its territory under occupation by Turkey. We know first-hand what it means to have territorial integrity violated. So this will be a top priority for the Cyprus presidency,” she asserts.

On the question of using frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine – the issue that dominated the EU summit – Raouna says: “There is broad support for the need to continue supporting Ukraine financially and in its defence capabilities. One of the proposals being discussed in this context is the use of the frozen Russian assets. The point we are making is that we need to ensure these proposals are legally sound, and that they are financially and economically viable for all member states.” In the event, EU leaders did not achieve a breakthrough on the issue and will revisit it at the next summit.

Cyprus itself has frozen more than a billion euros in Russian assets. Raouna insists, however, that the island does not deserve the “Moscow on the Mediterranean” epithet that the media has sometimes used in reference to Russian money on the island.

“There is very clear evidence that Cyprus has completely turned the page in that regard,” she states. “There are independent reports that verify this. President Christodoulides took very concrete steps when he assumed office a little over two and a half years ago. He invited a law enforcement team from the FBI to join our own teams. We have been steadfast in our support of the 19 sanctions packages, and our economy has done away completely with any Russian capital. If anything, we now have a very strong presence of American companies in Cyprus.”

Being something of a bridge between Europe and the Middle East, Cyprus has been an active player in diplomacy on Gaza, and it intends to keep Gaza high on the agenda during its EU presidency.

“When the war in Gaza started, we put forward the Cyprus Maritime Corridor, a humanitarian corridor which was supported by the European Union and by the United Arab Emirates, together with our partners in the region and with Israel. And this corridor is still ongoing,” Raouna says. “We’ve also put forward a six-point plan, which corresponds to a number of points in President Trump’s 20-point plan. We want to facilitate and advance its implementation, and we are now in the crucial initial phase. This is about the EU increasing its footprint in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, because these regions are inextricably linked with the security of the European Union.”

 

 

Programme prepared by Luke Brown, Isabelle Romero, Perrine Desplats and Oihana Almandoz

As political and economic turmoil continues in France, we speak to the influential former EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton. A former minister of economy and finance in the French government, Breton gives us his reading of the debt situation in France, as well as of France’s current standing in the European Union. We also talk about the obstacles to a more integrated EU defence industry – something that Breton was closely involved with in the European Commission during his tenure in 2019-2024.

Breton points out that France is in worse shape than Germany, despite experiencing the same problems. "We had the same subprime issues, the same debt problems, the same Covid impact," he says. "And now we are at 116 percent debt versus GDP. Germany is at 62 percent. So it means that probably something is wrong with us. And we need to be very candid and to say to our public opinion that we cannot afford to pay our social benefits [the way we used to]. And we need to discuss together how to reduce our spending."

So has the political deadlock and the mounting debt hurt France's standing in the EU?

"When you are a founding member of the Union like France, you need to behave by example," Breton replies. "And it's true that, since 20 years, we have not kept our commitments. In the Eurogroup, at the Ecofin, when you don't stick to your commitment, it makes you a little bit more weak when you speak to others. That's the reality. Of course it's painful, but I think it's possible to demonstrate to the rest of our partners that we will get back on track."

Breton adds: "France is still a big country. Remember that we have nuclear submarines. We have nuclear aircraft carriers. We are the only ones able to carry deterrence with our nuclear weapons, which is extremely important these days."

Speaking of defence, we discuss the problems facing the EU's European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP). Breton was intimately involved with EDIP's launch as EU Commissioner.

"What is extremely important is that defence stays at the level of member states. This is their sovereignty and it will stay this way. And the European Commission needs to understand that," Breton states. "On the other hand, the Commission has a very important power in industry. You remember we had a big discussion about shells and calibre 155 ammunition that we wanted to deliver to Ukraine. We were manufacturing 500,000 per year, but today, because we put a programme in place, we are producing more than 2 million per year. So are on our way to achieving what Russia is doing. This demonstrates that it's possible to work together to drastically enhance our defence industry."

We ask Breton if it was a good idea for the Commission to talk about creating a "drone wall", in response to the recent presumed Russian drone incursions into European airspace.

"Well, you know, in France this term reminds us of the Maginot Line (a French fortification that the German army bypassed in 1940). You can go around [a drone wall] in a car, or as an individual. So, I mean, it doesn't work this way," Breton says. "But, of course, we need to defend our airspace together. And this was already put into the EU's Strategic Compass in 2023. So we don't need to reinvent the wheel. It's already extremely clear that there are four contested spaces – airspace, space itself, cyberspace and maritime space – where we need to work together."

Programme prepared by Isabelle Romero, Perrine Desplats and Oihana Almandoz

Elections in Europe are a rollercoaster these days. EU elites were relieved when the pro-EU camp won the parliamentary vote in Moldova, but the Czech legislative election turned out quite differently. Andrej Babiš, a populist and self-proclaimed Trumpist, won the ballot, staging a comeback similar to his colleague in neighbouring Slovakia, Robert Fico. Babiš’s victory is clearly a boon to Eurosceptic forces since it was he who, together with Hungary's leader Viktor Orban, set up the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament. But does his win have an impact on the EU's help for Ukraine? And on dealing with a more assertive Kremlin, which seems to be testing Europe with drone incursions? We put these questions to two MEPs.

Programme prepared by Oihana Almandoz, Perrine Desplats and Isabelle Romero

Read more about the work of the Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield (EUDS)