Hungary’s Pride march ban a ‘serious breach’ of EU values: Sweden’s EU minister • FRANCE 24

Hungary’s Pride march ban a ‘serious breach’ of EU values: Sweden’s EU minister • FRANCE 24

[Music] hello you’re watching Talking Europe it’s been a dense few days of diplomacy for European leaders a key NATO summit in the Hague pledging increased defense spending followed by an EU summit in Brussels we’re in the EU Council studio to take a look at the crucial issues facing summit leaders and on today’s program we’re pleased to welcome Sweden’s Minister for European Affairs Jessica Rosenrants she’s been in the job since last year and previously she chaired the Swedish Parliament’s Committee on EU affairs and she was also first deputy leader of the moderate party group in the Swedish Parliament welcome to the program
thank you very much
let’s start with the defense spending in this 5% target that NATO agreed we’ve heard at this EU summit comments from some of the more frugal countries such as the Netherlands saying there’s no such thing as free money so how do you think across the EU uh countries are going to actually reach this target
well first of all I mean it’s been an historic week i would say leaders have agreed on a very ambitious 5% target at the NATO summit and at the European Council leaders um are discussing and taking decisions on also how to carry out these investments and that’s something I think is quite fascinating now to see how the EU can complement NATO nato setting the targets the EU making it possible through several important instruments like the safe instrument like the EDIP instrument just to mention a few who sort of give the possibilities for countries to do these investments or help countries do these investments because obviously we know that 5% is an ambitious target um and uh Sweden has full focus and the goal of also reaching this 5% target we have a eight party agreement so all parties in the Swedish parliament agree to reach this target
i believe you haven’t agreed on whether to use the so-called escape clause yet to finance this defense we don’t see the necessity for Sweden because we have a quite you know good financial situation but we do support those measures for those countries who need to to use them because we see this as a a joint European uh responsibility and a necessity and then we have to do what we can of course to to make it possible for countries but our main point is always that it comes down to priorities and sound and good public finances is in itself important so of course all of us who know have to have to do these important investments we also need to see how can we do this within our national budgets do do the necessary priorities but then we also welcome that there are some tools available from the European side to make it possible such as the escape clauses and other important tools
let’s look at uh the situation around uh Russia and Ukraine uh there is obviously discussions or there have been discussions going on about uh an 18th package of sanctions uh we’ve seen these persistent frictions between Hungary and Slovakia on the one side and other EU leaders on how far the EU is willing to go on these sanctions what do you think a compromise could look like
so Sweden has been pushing for the 18 sanctions package we think it’s really important to put further pressure on Russia alongside our direct support to Ukraine sanctions against Russia is really important uh to help Ukraine on the battlefield and put pressure on the Russian war economy i um I think it’s uh I think it I think we will reach a conclusion and I think that it’s natural that there is a discussion beforehand different countries have different views but so far we have managed to agree on the previous uh 17 sanctions packages so I have good faith
and of course Sweden hosted this uh Nordic Baltic format at the start of uh the summit so you’re trying to sort of take things further when it comes to Ukraine as well in that in that format
well we live in turbulent times there is a lot going on uh many different conflicts that are sort of you know requiring our attention and we think it’s important to remind ourselves that we have to keep Ukraine high on the agenda in Sweden we say that the support to Ukraine is our most important foreign policy priority and um we can also see now that Europe has actually surpassed the US when it comes to military support to Ukraine we have a crucial role to play and we really have to maintain our focus uh but not just by talk but also by delivering concrete support and that is something that not least the Nordic Baltic countries are taking a lead in and what we are also pushing for among even more member member states to really take this uh this responsibility that we have for our joint security there’s been also some discussion at least on the sidelines of this summit about the Hungarian government’s ban on the gay pride march and uh Sweden was one of 16 countries which addressed a statement to the European Commission urging it to use its rule of law toolbox to do something about that uh what exactly would you like to see happen on this question
to me it’s really important to to say that EU is not just a geographical union we’re a union based on values and as a member state you have uh you have signed up to respecting fundamental values such as rule of law anti-corruption uh independent judiciary and for allowing people to be who they are and love who they are so implementing legislation in Hungary that basically uh means forbidding pride parades but also actually means uh imposing restrictions on people’s possibility to meet or to express their opinions that’s a serious breach so I think it’s important to use all the tools in the tool box
including the chapter 7 or is it too soon for for that
you know we have different tools one thing is is going into now the the upcoming uh negotiations on the budget not a single euro should go to a country that does not respect rule of law or the or our basic common principles and that’s something that Sweden will be really pushing for in this multi-annual framework um second is to intervene um legally in different court processes in in the European Court of Justice right now Sweden is intervening in many cases including the um LGT uh LGBT um uh law and also last but not least we have the article 7 which is sort of the ultimate tool in the toolbox uh I think we are we should be prepared there to take the next step in discussing what we can do after having had eight hearings with Hungary uh for seven years but they haven’t really led to um any change
i’d like to talk a bit about the EUI Israel association agreement uh various colleagues uh uh of your prime minister in this summit have said that it’s time for much tougher action on Israel uh do you think that that it’s time to actually notify Israel uh that it’s in violation of its obligations
i think that the situation in uh in Gaza is uh is terrible it’s uh I mean we are we are always standing up for Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas uh they even have an obligation in some way to act against this terror organization but the way that Israel is conducting its warfare at the moment is unacceptable and I really think that it’s important to secure humanitarian access to Gaza sweden is actually the second largest um donor of of humanitarian support to Gaza in the EU and this humanitarian aid does not reach the people that need it so we need to put pressure on Israel to make sure that humanitarian aid gets into Gaza we have welcomed the um the um the review of the um the association agreement and there are clear indications that that Israel is not living up to all all the standards that it should and I think we should what what we want as a next step is uh to have clear recommendations of how we can take this process further to put pressure on Israel to meet our requirements not least when it comes to to allowing for more humanitarian aid we’re also pushing for sanctions against some of the ministers in the Israeli government who are not um seeking a two-state solution uh and who are sort of uh hindering uh the way forward but we see no real progress here
it’s been said that the EU has lacked leverage both on Israel and on uh the whole situation around Israel and Iran it’s obviously said a lot of issued a lot of statements calling for all sides to show restraint but it doesn’t seem to have a lot of tools to actually uh calm things down do you think uh what do you think it should be doing diplomatically with Iran is there any hope of reviving talks or do you think the US is going to just monopolize that space basically
I think in many ways in the Middle East we see that Europe is not always the sort of plays the key role we see we see other countries um perhaps having more leverage and to some extent that also uh depends on oursel that we do not always agree on a common position but we have agreed on quite a lot when it comes to also the situation in Israel and Gaza and I think we need to that we need to act on not least the humanitarian access um on Iran I think it’s important to to state that all leaders are agree that Iran should not have nuclear weapons and uh having that said still important now to go back to the negotiating table to deescalate to seek a diplomatic solution and that’s something that we can agree on
let’s talk a bit about tariffs as well because there’s this 9th of July deadline to find a deal between the EU and the US uh the German chancellor whose first EUO this is uh he’s adamant that the EU should focus on a few key areas like steel and chemicals rather than try and do a broader deal straight away so just focus on a few key areas and go for a zero for zero agreement do you think that’s realistic
our position from Sweden is to to really make sure that we have EU unity in these negotiations because I think perhaps what what the E what the US was anticipating earlier on or at least what we were worried about was that we were going to see a division among EU countries um this has not been the case we have been able to preserve a unity in the negotiation uh obviously the commission taking the leading role and that is something that we think is really good i think we can expect a lot of discussions going forward on how exactly the tactics will be but from a Swedish point of view we are not we are not afraid of taking actions against the US if it is necessary but it is not the way forward that we want to seek we want to seek a good negotiated solution where we all realize that it’s beneficial both for the US and for American companies and consumers as well as on our side to continue to trade um and that is what’s something that will make us both the richer and stronger on both sides but we’re not afraid to take measures if if that is necessary but I think we will come back to the whole strategic uh decisions going forward
okay we’ll stop there thank you so much for being my guest on Talking Europe jessica Rosen Grant is the uh Minister for European Affairs in the Swedish government that’s all for this edition of Talking Europe glad you could join us thank you [Music]

At a jam-packed EU summit in Brussels, we caught up with Sweden’s EU Affairs Minister, Jessica Rosencrantz. Bouncing off Slovakia’s and Hungary’s opposition to a potential new round of Russia sanctions, she touches on the Hungarian government’s ban on this Saturday’s Pride march, insisting that the EU must be prepared to use “all the tools in its toolbox” to make sure that the rule of law is respected.
#Sweden #Hungary #Pridemarch

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