Barroso, a former Portuguese Prime Minister, was President of the European Commission twice, from 2004 to 2014. It was under his presidency that Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU and that Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

In an interview with Euronews's Shona Murray, Barroso made clear that despite the backsliding of the rule of law in Europe, the EU should not solve political problems with institutional tools like treaty change; he also called Crimea a “special case,” and agreed with those who think the EU is much better prepared now if the re-elected US president Donald Trump withdraws the US from Ukraine.

One of the highlights of the interview is when Barroso recounted a conversation with the president of the Russian federation Vladimir Putin, telling him he considered Ukraine was an “artificial country” created by the CIA and by the European Commission.

Barroso also mentioned how many times he met Putin during his mandate at the European Commission. Can you guess how many?

A quick look at the agenda today, with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen xxx.

A brief overview of the European Parliament vote today on the deforestation law: will MEPs change the deadline for implementation and some parts of content of the legislation as the centre-right is proposing?

On the last part of the show, we look at which famous national dishes risk to disappear because of climate change.

Radio Schuman is hosted and produced by Maïa de la Baume, with journalist and production assistant Eleonora Vasques, audio editing by Zacharia Vigneron and Georgios Leivaditis. Music by Alexandre Jas.

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Next episodes

Ex-Commission president Barroso talks Putin,...

Next episodes

Ex-Commission president Barroso talks Putin, Trump, Crimea and why it’s...