Latest news bulletin | February 1st – Midday
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00:00 Russia and Ukraine make their first major prisoner of wars exchange since the last swap
00:07 failed a week ago.
00:10 Hungary presses Ukraine to make further legal reforms to resolve a dispute over minority
00:16 rights.
00:20 The European Union is stepping up pressure on Hungary ahead of the High Stakes Summit
00:24 on Thursday to agree on four years' worth of 50 billion euros of aid to Ukraine.
00:34 Released prisoners of war returning to home soil.
00:38 Russia and Ukraine conducted their first major prisoner of war exchange on Wednesday since
00:43 the previous swap failed a week ago.
00:46 Moscow and Kiev said they handed over approximately 200 soldiers each.
00:52 So far some 3,000 prisoners of war have reportedly been repatriated since the start of Russia's
00:58 full-scale invasion.
01:00 And Wednesday's events marked the 50th exchange.
01:04 This after a Russian military transport plane allegedly carrying dozens of Ukrainian prisoners
01:09 of war crashed.
01:11 Moscow claims Ukrainian President Zelensky's forces shot it down.
01:16 On Thursday, Moscow held a church memorial service for the Russian pilots who reportedly
01:21 lost their lives in the crash.
01:23 Ukrainian officials said that the swap the day of the crash had been cancelled and no
01:28 evidence shows the POWs were on board.
01:33 Around 75,000 ethnic Hungarians reside in the Ukrainian region of Transcarpathia.
01:39 Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has long alleged that Ukraine's government is
01:43 infringing upon their rights.
01:45 In December, Kiev amended its education and language laws to comply with the EU's membership
01:51 requirements, restoring many of the minority rights demanded by Budapest, much to the relief
01:56 of the region's Hungarian community.
01:58 "European integration was the catalyst that helped the whole process.
02:05 And it is possible that the summit of the EU on December 8 was the point that moved
02:13 the question of Ukrainian-Hungarian relations."
02:17 But Hungary is not fully satisfied with the reforms, a potential sticking point as EU
02:21 leaders meet on Thursday to try to convince Orban to lift his veto on a 50 billion euro
02:27 aid package for Ukraine.
02:28 "We have just said what points we see the guarantee of getting back to 2015 conditions.
02:37 We hope that the work of the intergovernmental committee will be successful."
02:44 Hungary has made 11 specific requests to Ukraine.
02:48 They include restoring the status of the national school, allowing a high school diploma to
02:53 be taken in Hungarian and enabling the use of the Hungarian language in public life.
03:04 The European Union has stepped up pressure on Hungary ahead of the High Stakes Summit
03:09 on Thursday to agree on four years worth of 50 billion euros of aid to Ukraine.
03:14 In the last European Council meeting in December, Hungary vetoed the initiative.
03:19 Now many member states have lost patience with Viktor Orban systematically misusing
03:24 his veto power.
03:25 Now they are ready to act.
03:28 "We have never seen such an isolation for a new member state against other new member
03:36 states and it really seems to be a test for the European Union on how much it can handle
03:44 its internal disagreements."
03:49 Now EU institutions and member states are trying desperately to find solutions.
03:54 Possible alternatives could be financing KIV outside of the EU's budget with the remaining
03:59 26 countries.
04:01 Other countries are demanding that the EU strips Hungary of its voting rights by stepping
04:05 up the so-called Article 7 process, a sanctions regime already in place against Budapest because
04:11 of democratic backsliding.
04:13 "We shall see whether the leaders will have enough patience to negotiate with Viktor Orban
04:23 or whether they will undertake this new way by using of Article 7, but it's just a speculation."
04:31 Hungary earlier signaled it would be open to an agreement if the EU would allow an annual
04:36 check-up on the Ukraine package.
04:39 This was rejected by other countries.
04:41 Budapest also demanded more of the EU funds for Hungary be unfrozen.
04:46 The funds in total make up 20 billion euros.
04:50 "Orban still has a kind of transactional logic, which means that if he receives good
04:57 offers it means that he can abandon his vetoism and obstructivist approach in the decision-making
05:07 process, but I don't think it can solve the long-term problem and the long-term problem
05:12 seems to be that the legal system and political system of Hungary seems to be unfit to the
05:22 institutional structures and the values of the European Union."
05:27 Ukraine desperately needs EU aid to continue its defence against Russia's aggression.
05:32 It is also dealing with the fact US aid for Kyiv is also currently being blocked by Congress.
05:37 "The escalation of asylum requests, the growth of the far right, the difficulties of states
05:50 and local communities have pushed the German government to a tight immigration without precedent.
05:56 I came to Berlin to understand how the situation is, what is changing and why."
06:00 "This part of the camp was added last year because we realised we need additional places
06:30 so we built an additional 3,000 places for refugees to stay."
06:36 "So in the beginning this was like a hub, a
07:06 logistical centre where people arrived and from where they would pass on to other destinations.
07:11 Since then things have changed because it has become more and more difficult for people
07:16 to find private housing in Berlin.
07:19 Refugees actually stay permanently."
07:45 Catalan pro-independence president Pere Aragonès calls for responsibility so that the Spanish
07:50 amnesty law is passed after it was blocked this Tuesday due to opposition from Catalan
07:55 Independentist Party, Junts.
07:58 The text could grant amnesty to all those involved with the Catalan referendum.
08:02 Junts was one of the key actors in the negotiation of the law, a condition to grant Prime Minister
08:07 Pedro Sánchez his re-election.
08:09 Aragonès, a political rival of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, wants to avoid
08:15 risk.
08:16 "I call for responsibility from all parties so that this amnesty law is not at risk,
08:30 can be passed as soon as possible and all these citizens of Catalonia can fully recover
08:36 their rights and freedoms."
08:37 Aragonès' party, Republican Left of Catalonia, is now one of the main supports of Sánchez
08:42 in exchange of concessions for Catalonia, while Junts has opted for a more confrontational
08:47 strategy.
08:48 "Everyone decides what their way of working is.
08:52 In any case, what concerns me is to underline a very important issue.
08:58 We have a historic opportunity.
09:00 The Spanish government, to maintain its stability, will have to have the support of the 14 independentist
09:07 parties.
09:08 This is a historic opportunity for Catalonia and we have to take advantage of it to obtain
09:15 more competences for our country."
09:17 One of the things he wants to obtain is an independence referendum, something he is already
09:22 negotiating with Sánchez.
09:23 When asked if he believes Sánchez will authorize it, Aragonès argues he trusts his own party's
09:28 strength and capacity.
09:30 "Just as a year ago he told me he didn't see the amnesty, now he tells me he doesn't
09:35 see the referendum.
09:36 I confirm that a year ago he saw the amnesty and asked for the referendum.
09:41 Now the amnesty is on the way and I told him that we will continue to defend the referendum
09:47 of self-determination."
09:48 Catalonia held an independence referendum in 2017 that was ruled illegal by Spanish
09:53 courts, forcing half of the then Catalan government, including Puigdemont, to flee
09:58 the country.
09:59 The other half were sent to jail and pardoned in 2021.
10:02 Meet Sándor Kereki, the Hungarian photographer who takes you back to the streets of Budapest
10:13 in the 1970s.
10:15 Given a camera by his father at the age of 16, he spent the next 10 years wandering the
10:20 streets of the city where he captured everyday moments.
10:24 "When you walk down the street, you find something interesting.
10:28 When I go home and open it, it turns out that it's not interesting.
10:34 There is nothing special in it.
10:36 There is no plan in it.
10:38 The only plan is that I tried not to interfere."
10:43 Kereki's completed piece consists of 7,000 exposed negatives.
10:48 Each of the photograph on display is intriguing, evokes memories and in few occasions some
10:54 have recognized themselves or a relative.
10:56 "I haven't been able to do this much more, looking at the other pictures.
11:02 I was lucky, the lighting was good.
11:05 I ran into it.
11:07 I found it and I was very lucky to find it.
11:10 It happened on the street, but you don't see it every day."
11:15 In 2021, 1,800 images were uploaded to a digital photo website named FortPan.
11:21 In some cases, they're still available to view in the archive.
11:25 It's open until February 4th.
11:27 [WHOOSH]