The instrumentalisation of vetoes undermines the democratic principles of the European Union as it hijacks the interests of 26 in the name of one single holdout, High Representative Kaja Kallas told Euronews in an exclusive interview.

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Kallas was reflecting on the end of Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in uninterrupted power, during which the Hungarian prime minister frequently frustrated his fellow leaders with his near-constant, overlapping vetoes.

“We have to be clear that, actually, the EU treaties do not foresee the veto. The treaties are based on unanimity — that everybody agrees,” Kallas told Euronews in an interview recorded on the sidelines of an informal summit of EU leaders in Cyprus.

“We have seen recently that when 26 countries want something, and one does not, then we end up doing what that one country wants, not what the 26 want. So it is not really democracy.”

EU treaties provide a legal pathway to move from unanimity to qualified majority voting. However, in a significant Catch-22, such a shift itself requires unanimous consent.

“We definitely also have to look at our working methods to be more effective, because in this geopolitical world we need to be credible — and for that we need to be united and able to take decisions,” she added.

As the EU’s foreign policy chief — an area where unanimity is required — Kallas has dealt first-hand with many of Orbán’s vetoes. At times, she had to issue statements in her own name after joint communiqués proved impossible.

Following this difficult period, the High Representative said she was “very hopeful” about having “good cooperation” with the incoming government of Péter Magyar, who won Hungary’s elections on a pledge to restore ties between Budapest and Brussels, currently at an all-time low.

Magyar has said the veto remains a “valid option”, provided it is used constructively.

“We cannot run ahead of events. First, we need to have the new Hungarian government in place, which will probably happen in mid-May,” Kallas said.

“Then we will see whether we can revisit the decisions that have been blocked before.”

‘A geopolitical choice’

This week saw the lifting of two Hungarian vetoes: one on the €90 billion loan to Ukraine and another on the 20th package of sanctions against Russia.

Orbán, though, seems intent on leaving his veto on Ukraine’s accession process, in place for almost two years, as an inheritance for Magyar. As a result, Kyiv has yet to open a single cluster of negotiations.

The incoming prime minister has expressed opposition to fast-tracking talks with Kyiv, a view shared by other member states, who worry any shortcuts will undermine the credibility and integrity of the enlargement policy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, keeps pushing for a “clear date” for his country’s admission under an accelerated timetable. He has also rejected overtures for half-baked membership as an alternative to fully-fledged rights.

“Ukraine does not need symbolic membership in the EU. Ukraine is defending itself — and it is also defending Europe. And it is not doing so symbolically — people are really dying,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week before joining EU leaders in Cyprus.

“We are defending shared European values. I believe we deserve full membership.”

Kaja Kallas, who has been a strong supporter of Kyiv’s ambitions, said it was important to “work on both sides” — public opinion in member states and legal reforms in Ukraine — and to shift the narrative around candidate countries to highlight their potential contributions to the bloc.

“We need to talk about what we gain from these countries joining,” she said.

“A bigger Europe, a stronger Europe in terms of defence, and also a larger single market that benefits our companies — all of this makes us a more credible geopolitical power in the world,” she added. “It is always a geopolitical choice.”

Ukraine, Kallas noted, has by far the largest army in Europe, meaning that “Europe would be stronger if Ukraine were with us.”

Meta is laying off about 8,000 workers, or about 10% of its workforce, the company said Thursday as it continues to ramp up spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure and highly paid AI-expert hires.

The company said it was making the cuts for the sake of efficiency and to allow new investments in parts of its business, as first reported by Bloomberg, which also said the company will leave about 6,000 jobs unfilled.

Also Thursday, Microsoft said it was offering voluntary buyouts to thousands of its U.S. employees.

The software giant plans to make the offers in early May to about 8,750 people, or 7% of its U.S. workforce, according to two people familiar with the plan who were not authorized to speak about it publicly.

While an alternative to the sudden layoffs removing tech workers from peers like Meta and Oracle, the savings are likely tied to a similar industry upheaval that is requiring huge spending on the costs of artificial intelligence. Meta has already warned investors that its 2026 expenses will grow significantly — to the range of $162 billion to $169 billion — driven by infrastructure costs and employee compensation, particularly for the artificial intelligence experts it’s been hiring at eye-popping pay levels.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives welcomed Meta’s cuts in a note to investors Thursday.

He said he sees it as part of a strategy of using AI tools to “automate tasks that once required large teams, allowing the company to streamline operations and reduce costs while maintaining productivity driving an increased need for a leaner operating structure.”

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, has spent billions of dollars operating an ever-expanding global network of data centers powering cloud computing services, AI systems and its own suite of productivity tools, including the AI assistant Copilot.

CNBC reported earlier Thursday on a memo from Microsoft’s chief people officer, Amy Coleman, announcing the voluntary retirement plan.

“Our hope is that this program gives those eligible the choice to take that next step on their own terms, with generous company support,” Coleman wrote, according to CNBC.

Tensions escalated in the Strait of Hormuz April 22 after Iran’s IRGC seized two vessels in what analysts describe as “tit-for-tat” retaliation against the U.S. And one ship is linked to a billionaire shipping family tied to Presidents Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron.

Video aired on Iranian state TV purportedly shows IRGC soldiers seizing the container ships in the Strait, Reuters said Thursday.

One vessel, the MSC Francesca, is owned by MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, which was founded by Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte and is now controlled by his two children, Fox News Digital has learned.

“Some 20 Iranians armed to the teeth stormed the ship. Sailors are under Iranian control, their movements on the ship are limited but the Iranians are treating them well,” a relative of one of the MSC Francesca seafarers told Reuters.

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“The ship is anchored 9 nautical miles from the Iranian coast. Negotiations between MSC and Iran are ongoing, our sailors are fine,” Montenegro’s minister of maritime affairs, Filip Radulovic, told state broadcaster RTCG.

Maritime intelligence firm Windward AI pointed to IRGC “tit-for-tat” tactics given the recent MSC vessel seizure.

This followed a U.S. naval blockade imposed on April 13, with Tehran warning of retaliation after U.S. forces also seized an Iranian vessel.

“The IRGC attacked three ships. It also captured and took in two of them — the MSC Francesca and the Epaminondas — while the Euphoria managed to get away,” Windward AI co-founder Ami Daniel told Fox News Digital.

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“This is a ‘tit-for-tat’ exercise by the IRGC, which, along with the Houthis, has long claimed MSC is connected to Israel.

“Aponte, owner and chairman, has a Jewish wife, and MSC calls in Israel; however, so do all major liners.”

Diego Aponte, Gianluigi’s son, had been making “inroads with Trump’s circle,” Bloomberg reported April 13.

He also helped arrange a November 2025 White House meeting with Swiss business leaders that led to a preliminary deal to reduce the 39% tariffs imposed on Switzerland over the summer.

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Over the last year, MSC’s relationship with the White House also positioned father Gianluigi Aponte as a key player in a $19 billion deal with Li Ka-shing, as MSC and BlackRock moved to acquire two Panama Canal ports under pressure from Trump to place them in “friendly” hands, according to the outlet.

With a net worth of at least $37 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, it is Gianluigi Aponte and his wife, Rafaela Aponte-Diamant, who appear to mingle with world leaders.

The MSC executive chairman and Rafaela have been photographed with French President Emmanuel Macron.

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Rafaela is also reportedly related to Alexis Kohler (his mother is said to be her cousin), who served as Macron’s secretary-general from May 2017 to April 14, 2025, and was described as “Macron’s second brain.”

The Aponte family’s vessel, carrying about 40 crew members, was taken toward Iran’s port of Bandar Abbas by the Iranian navy, sources told Reuters Thursday.

Four crew members, including the captain, are from Montenegro, officials said, while Croatia’s foreign ministry confirmed two Croatian nationals are also aboard.

MSC declined to comment, Reuters confirmed.

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The IRGC Navy claimed both vessels captured “were operating without the necessary permits.”

According to Lloyd’s List, the 2008-built MSC Francesca “normally operates in service between the U.S. West Coast, Asia and the Middle East Gulf.”