Talking Europe

For our first Talking Europe interview with the new crop of EU Commissioners, we host Hadja Lahbib, who is in charge of preparedness and crisis management, as well as equality. Lahbib, a former foreign minister of Belgium, talks about the challenges of her extremely broad portfolio, covering Ukraine, Gaza, Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan. A common thread is the difficulties faced by women and girls in crisis situations around the world – something that links up with Lahbib's efforts to promote gender balance and women's rights in the EU itself.

Asked whether the EU is leading by example, when there is an obvious gender imbalance in the new European Commission, Lahbib replies:

"For sure not. But that's because of the reluctance of the member states. And it's also a reflection of what is at stake in our European Union. We are observing a backlash against gender balance everywhere – whether we're talking about the notion of consent in sexual relations, or about reproductive health and rights, or about abortion. We need to address these issues, because our values are at stake. We need to make sure that women and girls have the same perspectives for their future [as men and boys]. And when we talk about competitiveness, how can we be competitive when half of humanity is still suffering from the 'glass ceiling'?"

Lahbib shares her impressions of her trip to Ukraine, from where she had just returned when we recorded this interview.

"I have to say that I am back full of energy because Ukrainians are impressive in their resilience. They are completely future-oriented despite the difficult conditions, despite nearly three years of war. They are constantly adapting their tools, their equipment. We are going to learn a lot from them when it comes to a preparedness and crisis management And when it comes to equality – the second part of my portfolio – I mainly met women. Women are those who are left behind. The grandmothers, the women who are alone with children. We really need to support them. I went to Ukraine with an initial allocation of €148 million for humanitarian aid."

We then turn to the apparent political breakthrough between Israel and Hamas over Gaza, and discuss what that could mean for the EU's involvement. "Before talking about reconstruction, we need unhindered access for humanitarian aid," she says. "The majority of hospitals and public services are completely destroyed. Eighty percent of civilian infrastructure, of buildings, are destroyed. The majority of the wounded are women; girls and children. And the losses are tremendous – essentially women and children. So we need peace before talking about reconstruction."

Staying on the theme of humanitarian aid, we talk about the situation in Syria, and whether EU sanctions on certain sectors in the country should be temporarily lifted – as a group of EU member states has called for. Indeed, the US has already waived some sanctions to facilitate humanitarian supplies.

"What we don't want is an Assad 2.0 Syria," Lahbib says. "We want an inclusive Syria, capable of embracing all its population, in all its diversity. So we will judge the de facto authorities based on their actions and not on their words. We are waiting. There will be certainly be a discussion about the lifting of sanctions [at the foreign affairs council on January 27]. It will be an open discussion. But in the end we will need a consensus. We will need the agreement of all the [EU] member states."

She goes on to explain: "Humanitarian aid is not linked with those [political] principles. It's always unconditional. It's needs-based. My role is to assess the humanitarian conditions."

Programme prepared by Isabelle Romero, Luke Brown and Perrine Desplats