Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Von der Leyen asked Serbia to agree on foreign affairs as she tours Western Balkans, promoting
00:07EU enlargement.
00:11The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsala, met with the Pope and praised
00:15his work in promoting reconciliation and peace.
00:20Weekend elections in Georgia could decide the future of the country and whether it ultimately
00:25joins the European Union.
00:32The wine-growing town of Konjak is at the epicentre of a trade war between China and
00:37the EU.
00:45Ursula von der Leyen and her Balkan tour land in Serbia, one of the EU candidates with which
00:52the relationship is more complicated.
00:56One of the reasons is the lack of support from its President, Aleksandar Vucic, for
01:02the bloc's sanctions against Russia.
01:25Serbia wants to join the EU, but in order for that to happen, it must enact a few reforms.
01:33The EU Commission President says the country has made progress.
01:49There is not a set year for Serbia to join the EU, but recently Vucic said it would be
01:56difficult that it happens before 2028.
02:03During his visit to New Delhi, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke with Indian Prime Minister
02:08Narendra Modi and endorsed a free trade agreement between India and the European Union.
02:15Scholz and Modi also signed agreements on increased cooperation between Germany and
02:20India as it comes at a time when the West is seeking to counter China's growing influence
02:25in the region.
02:43And on the topic of Russia's war in Ukraine, Scholz said it impacts both Germany and India
02:48in various ways and that no one can close their eyes to the conflict.
03:11Scholz considers the achievement of peace a precondition for Ukraine to become a member
03:16of NATO.
03:17He spoke about Ukraine's peace plan a day prior to meeting Modi and voiced his concern
03:22over Ukraine's request for an immediate invitation to the alliance.
03:27He said a country at war cannot become a member of NATO.
03:35During a meeting at the Vatican, the President of the European Parliament, Roberto Mezzala,
03:41praised Pope Francis for his leadership in promoting reconciliation and peace.
03:47Mezzala emphasized humanity and peace are similarly at the heart of the European Parliament's
03:52work and reiterated the European Union's commitment to its role as a peace project.
03:59The Pope held a private audience where he discussed main topics on the European agenda
04:03with Mezzala.
04:05On Ukraine, the President of the European Parliament said that the European Union will
04:09continue to support Ukraine from Russia's unjustified aggression.
04:14The pair also spoke about migration, to which Mezzala said there is a need for a European
04:20and human-centric approach, one that does not leave any country or individual unsupported.
04:27When speaking about the Middle East, Mezzala reassured the Pope that Europe continues its
04:32efforts to de-escalate the situation and said they need to find a sustainable way forward
04:37towards long-term peace.
04:45Lithuania will continue to be a responsible partner of the European Union and Ukraine
04:50if the centre-left form a new government.
04:53That is according to the former Lithuanian President Dalia Gribuskaitė.
04:57Yes, it is a large probability that we will have now centre-left government, but from
05:03foreign policy point of view, I do not see at all any serious changes.
05:08It will be continuity, responsible behaviour towards our partners, pro-European stance,
05:16pro-NATO stance, pro-Ukrainian stance.
05:19National security has become a main talking point leading up to the country's elections.
05:25To the former head of state of the country, a peace agreement in Ukraine that allows Russia
05:30to keep the territories conquered, as Vladimir Putin intends, will only give room for Russia
05:35to prepare for new aggressions to other neighbouring countries such as the Baltic states.
05:40It is not necessarily the Baltic states, it could be also Moldova, it could be even Georgia,
05:46it depends on the elections also.
05:48So from this point of view, Putin's Russia today is a dangerous neighbour, it is not
05:55just Russia, but Putin's Russia, and especially because when Putin started open war, open
06:01war towards its neighbours, he has no way back, and until the end of his time, he will
06:08be in the war mood, and that means in the more intensive war mood or less intensive,
06:14he will be always dangerous to European Union and to its neighbours.
06:18Gribuskaitė was in Portugal for the Estrel Conferences, where she participated in a panel
06:23on diplomacy and international cooperation with the former head of state of Mongolia
06:27and the former Prime Minister of Tunisia.
06:34Georgia is heading to the polls on Saturday in a parliamentary election many citizens
06:39believe will be the most crucial vote of their lifetimes.
06:43The election will pit a coalition of opposition parties against the ruling Georgian dream,
06:49which many fear is dragging the nation towards authoritarianism and away from the European Union.
06:55Brussels put Georgia's bid for entry to the EU on hold indefinitely in August after the
07:00ruling government passed a Russian law, cracking down on freedom of speech earlier this year.
07:06Georgian Dream argue it needed to curb harmful foreign actors trying to destabilise the country.
07:12But journalists and activists say its true goal is to stigmatise them and restrict debate
07:18before the election.
07:21Many Georgians fear that if the Georgian Dream party is re-elected, hopes of joining the
07:26EU could be permanently extinguished.
07:39This year, an election year, the funds allocated by the European Parliament to the political
07:43groups represented in it were paid out on a half-yearly basis rather than annually.
07:49The June election was a game-changer, with some, mostly right-wing groups, winning seats
07:54in the chamber and others losing, such as the Greens and the Liberals of the Renew group.
08:00The bulk of these funds is distributed in proportion to the number of MEPs in the group.
08:08During the six-month period, the European Parliament has paid out 31 million euros to
08:12the seven political groups and to non-attached members.
08:16The European People's Party, as the biggest group, received more than 8 million euros,
08:21the Social Democrats received almost 6 million and the far-right Patriots for Europe received
08:263.7 million.
08:29At the bottom of the scale, the Europe of Sovereign Nations group, which has 25 MEPs,
08:34received 1.17 million euros.
08:40The European Parliament allocates around 65 million euros a year for the support of the
08:44political groups. Most of it is distributed proportionally, so 97.5%. 2.5% is distributed
08:51in equal shares, but the bulk is distributed in proportion to the number of MEPs that the
08:57political group has. So bigger groups get more funding, smaller groups get less funding.
09:03The European Parliament's budget is the only source of funding for political groups and
09:07non-attached members. The funds are used to cover administrative and operational costs.
09:12They explicitly cannot be used to support national political parties or to finance election
09:18campaigns.
09:21However, the funds have been misused in the past and Parliament was forced to implement
09:27stricter controls.
09:32In Denmark, the Danish People's Party has used this group funding to support Facebook
09:36campaigns in the run-up to the Danish election, the Danish national election. There have also
09:40been similar cases in France, for example, with the Front National back then, so it's
09:44quite some time ago, where group funding was also misused for the purpose of the national
09:50party and national candidates.
09:53Other funds from the European Parliament are paid directly to MEPs in order to pay their
09:58assistance salaries.
10:06The wine-growing town of Cognac in southwestern France is at the epicentre of a trade war
10:11between China and the EU. Since mid-October, Beijing has imposed temporary anti-dumping
10:17measures for imports of European brandy. This comes after the EU Commission said it wants
10:23to impose heavy tariffs on electric vehicles coming from China. Anxiety and frustration
10:28against the French government are brewing among Cognac makers.
10:33We are hostage to a situation in the context of a conflict between Europe and China on
10:39electric vehicles. Cognac is strictly for nothing. We are completely sacrificed. So
10:44we can still catch up with the situation. It is up to our government to find solutions,
10:50to get closer to China and to see what discussions there may be outside Europe. I would remind
10:56that China is our first market in value, I insist a lot, our second in volume.
11:01France is expected to be the country most affected by this decision, with China importing
11:06as much as 99% of the spirit last year. That's about 1 billion euros in revenue. In addition
11:13to bad weather and harvest this year, Cognac makers fear this decision could threaten the
11:18future of their profession.
11:20Adding this subject of Chinese taxes, which would make us lose our second market, would
11:26have catastrophic consequences for all operators, winemakers, negotiators and the entire industry
11:31around us.
11:32European brandies such as Armagnac, Italian Grappa and all other grape spirits will also
11:37be overtaxed by China.