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00:00Opposition parties from the left and far-right are threatening France's government with a
00:06no-confidence vote.
00:11In a visit to Kiev, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended his country's refusal to send
00:16Ukraine tourist long-range missiles.
00:21Pro-European parties won Romania's general elections, but far-right parties secured over
00:2430% of votes, attributed by many to delays in Schengen accession.
00:35French Prime Minister Michel Barnier's government is hanging on by a thread.
00:39On Monday, Barnier decided to use the controversial Article 49.3 of the French Constitution to
00:45force the adoption of next year's social security budget.
00:49In retaliation, both the left-wing coalition, the NFP, and the far-right National Rally
00:54Party have announced that they will be filing separate motions to topple Barnier's government.
01:00The confidence vote could come as early as Wednesday.
01:04So what happens now?
01:05Well, either the motion is passed by the majority, bringing down the Barnier government, or it
01:09could be rejected and the social security bill will then be adopted and then sent to
01:15the Senate.
01:16However, the first option currently seems like the most plausible one, considering all
01:20four parties in the NFP coalition have declared that they will be voting this motion that's
01:26between 180 and 192 seats.
01:30The far-right and its allies have 141 seats.
01:34If all MPs from both groups vote to topple Barnier, well, they will have more than the
01:40289 seats necessary to do so.
01:44And if the government falls, it will be the first successful no-confidence vote since
01:501962, back when Charles de Gaulle was president.
01:53Sofia Katsenkova reporting from Paris for Euronews.
02:01During a surprise visit to Kiev on Monday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended his
02:06country's refusal to send Ukraine Taurus long-range missiles, but stressed that his support for
02:11the country remains strong.
02:14We have a certain assessment of individual weapons systems, whether it is right to provide
02:20them or not.
02:21This has something to do with the range and the need to control the target control.
02:26And that's why we said no, but that doesn't reduce our support, which is very comprehensive.
02:33And it is important to me to say that it will also remain comprehensive.
02:38Scholz's visit is the first time in more than two years, and comes just weeks after Ukrainian
02:43President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized him for having a phone call with Russian President
02:48Vladimir Putin.
02:50Zelensky said that German air defense systems have saved tens of thousands of people in
02:55Ukraine, but also said support should increase.
02:58During the visit, Zelensky took Scholz to a military hospital where they spoke with
03:02wounded soldiers.
03:04Zelensky also showed Scholz through an exhibition of drone equipment, showcasing domestically
03:08produced drones as well as those created in cooperation with German companies.
03:16Hungary's Foreign Minister has reiterated Budapest's stance on peace during his twelfth
03:22visits to Moscow since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
03:28Peter Seattle, who has repeatedly visited Russia, a step that his European colleagues
03:33have avoided, met with Sergei Lavrov on Monday, but leaders discussed the conflict in Ukraine.
03:39The visit to Moscow coincides with Hungary's rotating presidency of the European Union.
04:06In July, Prime Minister Viktor Orban traveled to Moscow and met with Vladimir Putin, sparking
04:12sharp criticism from the EU.
04:14Under Orban, Budapest has repeatedly pushed for negotiations with Moscow.
04:23On the streets of Bucharest, Romanians are responding cautiously to the outcome of Sunday's
04:28parliamentary election.
04:31Final results on Monday show that pro-Western parties won the most votes, and will look
04:35to form a coalition government.
04:37But increased parliamentary seats for the far-right could make it difficult to form
04:41a majority and reach agreements.
05:05On Sunday, the second round of the presidential election will take place, of which analysts
05:18say the outcome would clarify the political situation in Romania.
05:35The nationalist independent candidate Kalin Dzerzhescu won the most votes in the first
05:57round of the presidential election.
06:00He will go head-to-head with liberal candidate Elena Lascuni in the second round next Sunday.
06:15Pro-European parties won Sunday's parliamentary general elections in Romania, but far-right
06:19parties achieved a better score than never before, which is more than 30 percent of votes.
06:27One of the arguments used by the right-wing during the campaign was that Romanians are
06:31not respected by the EU, and the delayed late accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen
06:36area was a proof of that.
06:42Since 2007, Romania is a member of the EU, and in January, 13 years after the beginning
06:47of the process, it finally became a full member of the free movement area.
06:54The Schengen story was actually very used by the sovereignist parties and the far right,
07:01saying, listen, Brussels does not treat us as equal partners.
07:08And I think this also contributed to the whole general feelings against the EU.
07:14Since 2015, many member states have been temporarily closing their borders, referring to health
07:20or security reasons.
07:22The prevailing mood right now in the society is not, ha, we got it, but finally.
07:27Plus, some Romanians are kind of jokingly talking about this, saying that, well, right
07:32now Schengen zone is generally in trouble, a lot of countries are imposing border controls.
07:37It is now clear that Romania remains a pro-European country, despite a massive rise of anti-EU
07:42narratives that has influenced many citizens via social media.
07:46According to Globsec, 83 percent of Romanians support the country's EU membership, but more
07:51than 70 percent believe that Romania is not able to influence the EU decision mechanisms.
07:56Certain part of Romanian population feel that they are kind of second class citizens of
08:02European Union.
08:03I think the battle is we are disillusioned with the West because not everyone has benefited
08:08of our membership to the EU.
08:12You have people that are not living worse, but they don't feel that Romania has economical
08:17growth because we have a lot of inequalities between the classes.
08:24Now is the time for negotiations in Romania to form a government.
08:28And in the meanwhile, this Sunday, citizens will vote for the second round of the presidential
08:32elections, where the ultra-nationalist anti-EU candidate, Colin Georgescu, had a victory
08:37on the first round.
08:38He will face the conservative pro-European Elena Lascuni.
08:47Many France, the UK and the US have called for de-escalation of violence in Syria after
08:53rebels marched on government-controlled areas, reigniting violence in the 13-year-long conflict.
08:59In a joint statement, the NATO countries urged the protection of civilians and infrastructure
09:04to prevent further displacement and the disruption of humanitarian aid.
09:08An alliance of Syrian rebel groups seized control of Aleppo over the weekend, with Syrian
09:13President Bashar Assad announcing a subsequent counter-offensive.
09:17Syrian state television claimed government forces had killed nearly a thousand insurgents
09:22over the past few days without providing evidence.
09:25The surge in violence comes at a time of high political turmoil in the Middle East, with
09:29Israel waging war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
09:33Renewed violence in Syria risks involving more regional powers into the conflict.
09:38Both Russia and Turkey have their own interests to protect, with both sides offering support
09:42to opposing groups in the country.
09:47Thousands of workers at Germany's Volkswagen headquarters in Wolfsburg began warning strikes
09:52on Monday morning.
09:54The Works Council slammed shareholders for prioritising billions of euros profit as workers
09:59face job insecurity and mass layoffs.
10:02The mood in Wolfsburg is sombre, as talks between the union and VW are set to continue
10:32next Monday.
11:02Nine out of ten VW plants located across Germany joined the strike as the car company plans
11:12to shut three plants, terminate thousands of employees and slash wages by 10 per cent
11:17in a bid to save cash as consumer demand for cars is stuck in neutral.
11:22But declining sales are not just hitting Germany.
11:25Italy, France and Belgium are also reporting a dramatic slump in sales, which could lead
11:31to a deeper crisis within the eurozone.
11:34Liv Stroud in Wolfsburg for Euronews.