I know so many people that rely on TG for everyday communications and it would be devastating if suddenly their chat client were deleted from their phones. No doubt Apple is capable of doing that, but I think they are aware of how bad the feedback would be with many people losing contact to family and friends since they don't really have an alternative means of communication when living overseas. 

 If the Eu demands it (hard enough) Apple will obey. Same as they obeyed to the Chinese Gov demanding them to pull WhatsApp, Threads, Signal and Telegram from the Chinese App Store not long ago.

All of this is happening in the EU under the umbrella of combating child pornography and the EU's DSA.