Talking Europe

Hungary's government is "holding European Union decision makers hostage" by refusing to join an EU-wide embargo on Russian oil, according to Lithuania's foreign minister. This comes as EU leaders continue their efforts to gather support for a sixth sanctions package on Russia from all 27 EU member states. The government of PM Viktor Orban has claimed that an import ban on Russian oil would ruin the Hungarian economy. Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis tells FRANCE 24 that "Europe is weaker" as a result, and that he is "still hoping Budapest will be responsible in their decisions".

As the British government indicates it is preparing to deviate from the Northern Ireland Protocol – a key part of the Brexit deal – the European Commissioner overseeing EU-UK relations tells FRANCE 24 he is "appealing to the UK government to come back to the negotiating table". Maros Sefcovic spoke to our Europe editor Catherine Nicholson.

Germany has been in focus this week after lawmakers in the Bundestag on Thursday overwhelmingly backed a decision to send heavy weapons to Ukraine. Meanwhile, as Russia cut off gas supplies to EU member states Poland and Bulgaria over their refusal to pay for the fuel in roubles, Germany remains heavily reliant on Russian gas imports – more so than the EU average. We speak to Parliamentary State Secretary at the Ministry for Economy and Climate, Franziska Brantner, a German MP with the Green Party.

It was a French election, to elect a French president. But Emmanuel Macron took to the stage below the quintessentially French Eiffel Tower on April 24 for his victory speech to the sound of the European anthem, Beethoven's "Ode to Joy". He told his supporters that their fellow electors had chosen "a more independent France and a stronger Europe". Many of them waved EU flags, as well as the French tricolore. So what does the re-election of "Monsieur Europe" mean for the Union and France's place in it? We speak to MEPs from the two European political groups represented by Emmanuel Macron and his rival Marine Le Pen.

In this programme, we unpack the first round of France's presidential election, which left incumbent Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the running for the most powerful job in France. Our guest is Jacques Rupnik, Research Professor at the Centre for International Studies at Paris's Sciences Po university.

The past few days have delivered more reports of atrocities committed by the Russian military in Ukraine: women and girls raped, civilians locked up and shot, plus reports of chemical weapons being deployed in Mariupol. Calls continue for more to be done to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin. In the EU, leaders have condemned the Kremlin, decrying the attacks as "war crimes". But opinions are divided on how to stop the atrocities happening. Should EU countries sanction Russian oil and gas, worth billions to Moscow each week? Or could this end up causing more economic harm to Europeans than Russians, amid a cost of living spike? We debate the issue with two MEPs.

Over the past eight months, the Conference on the Future of Europe has aimed to give a voice to 800 citizens from the 27 EU member states. The goal of this unprecedented endeavour was to see concrete progress on the climate, employment, health and even diplomacy. A third of the participants were under 25 years old. Throughout the event in Strasbourg, FRANCE 24 closely followed four of the young panellists: an Italian anthropology student, a French high school student, a Slovakian doctoral student and a young Swedish woman concerned about the environment. What are their expectations in terms of migration, the environment, health or the climate? Why did they get involved? Our reporters have been finding out.

The EU is coming to the end of a major experiment in public debate: the Conference on the Future of Europe, an eight-month-long event in which the EU invited its 450 million citizens to share their thoughts on how the bloc might reorient itself to face new challenges. What – if anything – has the conference achieved? Will true change come about? We discuss this with three guests who took part in the Conference itself.

Amid supermarket food rationing, a truck drivers' strike over petrol prices and rising inflation in Spain, the country's economy minister tells FRANCE 24 that it's "essential" for Madrid to be allowed to take measures to bring electricity prices down. "We're working with the Commission to have an authorisation to decouple our energy market and thus stop this price increase […] It doesn't make sense that Spanish and Portuguese citizens do not benefit from the fact that we have for instance at least 50 percent of our generation from renewables. This is very cheap and clean energy and our citizens should benefit from these low prices," Nadia Calviño explains.

Amid supermarket food rationing, a truck drivers' strike over petrol prices and rising inflation in Spain, the country's economy minister tells FRANCE 24 that it's "essential" for Madrid to be allowed to take measures to bring electricity prices down. "We're working with the Commission to have an authorisation to decouple our energy market and thus stop this price increase […] It doesn't make sense that Spanish and Portuguese citizens do not benefit from the fact that we have for instance at least 50 percent of our generation from renewables. This is very cheap and clean energy and our citizens should benefit from these low prices," Nadia Calviño explains.