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Nobel peace prize winner Machado arrives in Oslo
In other news, we will also hear from Nobel peace prize winner María Corina Machado later today, as she arrived in Oslo overnight after a truly incredible trip from Venezuela.
The Wall Street Journal reported on the details of the operation to get her out of the country and over to Norway, describing how she “slipped through 10 military checkpoints to reach a fishing boat bound for Curaçao and a private jet headed to Norway,” where she met members of her family for the first time in almost two years.
Speaking to the BBC, she did not confirm or deny details of her trip, but acknowledged that “I am here because many men and women risked their lives in order for me to arrive in Oslo.”
“They [the Venezuelan government] say I’m a terrorist and have to be in jail for the rest of my life and they’re looking for me,” she said. “So leaving Venezuela today, in these circumstances, is very, very dangerous.”
She appeared on the balcony of the Grand Hotel in Oslo at 3am local time to greet her supporters, later joining them on the street.
Machado said she plans to bring her award back to Venezuela, but declined when she would return to her home country, which previously threatened her with sanctions for leaving it as a “fugitive” wanted by the Maduro regime.
“I came to receive the prize on behalf of the Venezuelan people and I will take it back to Venezuela at the correct moment. Of course I will not say when that is,” she told reporters in Oslo.
We will hear more from her this morning as she is due to give a press conference at 11.30am UK (12.30 Oslo).
Morning opening: Strong words, but what’s next?
Jakub Krupa
The US president, Donald Trump, said that he “discussed Ukraine in pretty strong words” in his last call with British prime minister Keir Starmer, French president Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Given the US language on Europe, European leaders and Ukraine in recent days, it’s not difficult to imagine that the three Europeans felt the need to push back a bit on the rhetoric coming from the White House.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall.
But the key thing is what’s next. Trump revealed that the Europeans are trying to get him to come over to Europe for a meeting this weekend to discuss the latest in person, possibly joined by Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
But he didn’t sound too keen, at least for now.
“I think we had some little disputes about people, and we’re going to see how it turns out. And we said, before we go to a meeting, we want to know some things.
They would like us to go to a meeting over the weekend in Europe, and we’ll make a determination depending on what they come back with. We don’t want to be wasting time”.
In the meantime, the Europeans continue to coordinate their positions between themselves, with another “Coalition of the Willing” call planned for this afternoon.
Separately, Germany’s Merz will welcome Trump whisperer and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte in Berlin, hoping the two can come up with a plan to get Trump – or “daddy” (rolls eyes) – on board again.
In Brussels, the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will meet with Czech Republic’s incoming prime minister, Andrej Babiš.
But already this morning she has met with Serbia’s Aleksandar Vučić, who seemingly unaware of just how sensitive the pool microphones are told her that he “got a message from Moscow.” Oh.
I will bring you all the key updates throughout the day.
It’s Thursday, 11 December 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
