SophieCo
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Russia wouldn’t endanger spy swap system with West by attacking Skripal - ex-Soviet mole in CIA
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Israelis and Palestinians alone will find solution, not let others do it – 20th IDF head
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‘Putin is a long-distance runner in politics’ – German journalist Hubert Seipel
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‘Japan should leave US nuclear umbrella’ - Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki discusses the nuclear deterrence
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‘Football beyond politics - shame some politicians don’t get that’ - Russia 2018 World Cup Chief on attempts to undermine the tournament
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‘Cowards fighting cowards behind computer screens’ – ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant on US drone strikes.
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‘US taking other nations hostage over Iran sanctions' – Ex EU-Commissioner Guenter Verheugen
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Spanish ex-Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos talks on Catalonia's bid for independence & future of the EU
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Former Italian PM Matteo Renzi talks on populists rise in Europe, referendum defeat and migrant crisis
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‘George Soros would like to invite millions of migrants to Europe’ – Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto
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‘Breaking up with the US won’t hurt Pakistan’ – ex-Pakistan PM Shaukat Aziz
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‘The UK shouldn’t pretend it is a superpower’ – Lord Peter Truscott
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‘Dangerous for US experts to be too sympathetic to Russia’ – ex-US Defense Department analyst
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‘Secure and stable Africa is in very few people’s interests’ – Eeben Barlow, the mercenary leader
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‘American unilateralism challenges transatlantic relations’ – ex-French PM
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‘No gentlemen in football when the World Cup is at stake’ - Christian Karembeu
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‘Cybercrime is bigger than arms & drugs’ – cybercrime fighter
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Fmr. Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki on the impact of Arab Spring
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‘Basically, we didn’t lose anything’ - Billionaire Arkady Rotenberg, Putin’s closest friend, on Western sanctions.
‘US taking other nations hostage over Iran sanctions' – Ex EU-Commissioner Guenter Verheugen
As Washington has warned European companies against doing business in Iran following its withdrawal from the nuclear deal, the EU triggered a mechanism said to “neutralise” the impact of US sanctions. Former vice-president of the European Commission Guenter Verheugen joins SophieCo to discuss the rift between the allies and the consequences of the US exit from the agreement.
European companies “haven’t much choice,” given the benefits they receive from doing business in the US, rather than in Iran. “The American policy of taking hostage other nations [sic] and companies can be successful in the end,” Verheugen says, adding the EU has “no real defence against it.”
“It’s obvious that the partnership between the United States and the European Union is entering a new age,” the former commissioner says. “The EU-US axis was a guarantor of peace and stability not only in Europe, but in other regions as well.” If it disappears, “the world will come closer to the final conflict,” Verheugen says. And the Europeans should be aware that “the America First policy” won’t end with Trump’s presidency, which is “representing America much more than Obama” did.
As for the Iran deal, Verheugen says while it can survive without the US, the pact and the “whole system of non-proliferation” is in jeopardy. For that reason, the remaining signatories, the UK, Germany, France, Russia and China need to “organise cooperation” and “create a counterweight.” Tune in for the full episode of SophieCo with Guenter Verheugen.