Latest news bulletin | February 26th – Evening
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Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/02/26/latest-news-bulletin-february-26th-evening
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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NewsTranscript
00:00Romanian prosecutors have opened criminal proceedings against
00:03ultra-nationalist politician and 2024 presidential election candidate
00:08Kalin Djordjescu.
00:11Ukraine and the United States have reached a minerals deal
00:14that is according to several senior Ukrainian officials.
00:22After recovering from a respiratory crisis,
00:24Pope Francis' clinical condition remains critical.
00:31Romanian prosecutors have opened criminal proceedings against
00:36ultra-nationalist politician and 2024 presidential election candidate
00:41Kalin Djordjescu.
00:43The six counts include anti-constitutional acts and misreporting his finances,
00:48authorities said on Wednesday.
00:51The charges also revolve around his support for sympathizers of the Iron Guard,
00:56a pre-World War II fascist and anti-Semitic movement and political party,
01:01which is illegal under Romanian law.
01:04Euronews Romania sources say prosecutors questioned Djordjescu
01:08as part of an investigation looking at zero expenses
01:12he declared for last year's electoral campaign.
01:16Local media report prosecutors have begun searching the premises of his close associates.
01:22After news broke of the raids, Djordjescu claimed the searches were aimed
01:26at blocking his new presidential candidacy.
01:30Others affected by the nationwide police action are under investigation for several crimes,
01:35including illegal weapons caches and instigating fascism.
01:43A notorious French fugitive whose prison escape killed two guards last year
01:47was extradited to France after he was arrested in Romania.
01:51Are you happy to return to France?
01:53Mom, I love you, that's all.
01:56What can you tell us?
01:57Mom, I love you, that's all. I love my mother.
01:59Mohamed Amra, also known as The Fly, was arrested near a shopping center in Bucharest.
02:04Investigators who tapped his phone discovered he was preparing to leave for Romania
02:09roughly two weeks ago.
02:11They had then monitored cameras surrounding the residence in the capital which he had rented,
02:16and special forces were able to arrest him after he had left the building for the first time.
02:22Amra had been sentenced for burglary in Normandy
02:25and was suspected of heading a drug trafficking network.
02:28French prosecutors said he was also under investigation
02:31for an attempted organized homicide and kidnapping that resulted in death.
02:43Ukraine and the United States reached an economic deal
02:46that would include the exploitation of Ukraine's minerals.
02:49That is according to several senior Ukrainian officials.
02:53One of the officials said they hoped the deal would improve ties between Kiev and Washington
02:58and that it would ensure long-term support from the U.S.
03:03Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly will travel to the United States
03:08to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump.
03:10One of the officials said the deal could be signed as early as Friday.
03:14I hear that he's coming on Friday.
03:16It's okay with me if he'd like to and he would like to sign it together with me
03:20and I understand that's a big deal.
03:22It is not the first time that a deal as such got presented to Ukraine.
03:26The U.S. had previously presented an offer that would allow them to access Ukraine's minerals
03:31in return for continued support.
03:34Zelensky had, however, turned down this proposal
03:37as it did not offer enough security guarantees for Ukraine.
03:41Ukrainian officials told the Financial Times
03:44that while this deal did not state explicit security guarantees either,
03:48its offer was far more favorable.
03:53The President of the European Council, Antonio Costa,
03:57has met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for talks in Budapest
04:02ahead of an emergency EU summit on the 6th of March.
04:07Their meeting was aimed at gauging each other's stance on supporting Ukraine,
04:11the prospects for ending the war,
04:13and ways to strengthen Europe's defence capabilities.
04:18The Hungarian government has consistently pursued a more independent stance within the EU,
04:24particularly on matters related to Ukraine and defence policy.
04:30It's an approach that has sparked both anger and concern among other EU member states,
04:35particularly with the Hungarian Premier's backing of the recent policy shift
04:39towards Ukraine advocated by US President Donald Trump.
04:44A video conference is also set to be held by the European Council this Wednesday,
04:49giving French President Emmanuel Macron the opportunity to discuss his meeting with Trump in Washington,
04:55which was primarily focused on the peace process in Ukraine.
05:00Costa's visit to Budapest follows his talks in Warsaw
05:04with Polish Prime Minister and EU President Donald Tusk,
05:07after which he emphasised that military and financial support for Ukraine,
05:12as well as its involvement in peacebuilding and reconstruction,
05:15remain top priorities for the European Union.
05:19There is also a consensus among member states on the need to increase defence spending,
05:24and the European Commission will present an EU plan on this matter at the upcoming summit.
05:30The United States' opposition to a European-backed UN resolution
05:34that condemned Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has sparked reactions.
05:39The Trump administration voted against the Ukrainian resolution on Monday.
05:44Cyprus' Foreign Minister says, despite the dramatic shift,
05:48attention must remain on ending Russia's invasion.
05:51The result is that yesterday the European Union managed to retain
05:55an important element from the point of view of the initial position,
06:00from the point of view of the declaration, from the point of view of the dictionary,
06:04regarding the actual situation in Ukraine.
06:07There was a very serious mobilisation by the member states,
06:11with a significant number of colleagues who had moved to New York because of this,
06:15and the result is that the European Union has managed to maintain
06:18an important element from the point of view of the initial position,
06:21regarding the actual situation in Ukraine.
06:25The UN General Assembly still adopted the resolution which called for Russia
06:29to immediately withdraw all of its military forces from Ukrainian territory.
06:42The Ukrainian army is fighting a decisive battle on the Pokrovs front line
06:46in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
07:07Fears that Russian troops could capture or bypass the nearby city of Pokrovsk
07:11and move deeper into the country are higher than ever.
07:16Most of the town's population was evacuated.
07:19Those remaining are hard to convince.
07:36We head to Western Donbass.
07:39This is Ukraine's major coal mining basin,
07:42a crucial industry for the country's energy supply
07:45and a potential target for Moscow.
07:48The area's oldest mine is operating full swing,
07:51with the help of an increasing number of women
07:54as more and more men are being mobilised.
07:57Oksana fled her hometown of Barmut in the Donetsk region.
08:01Her father and eldest son were killed in the Russian bombings
08:05two years after she'd lost her mother and husband to a nuclear attack.
08:10She found a second breath at the mine and also in this dance school.
08:19A choreographer before the war, Oksana was a dancer.
08:23She was a member of the dance school.
08:26She was a dancer, a dancer, a dancer.
08:29She was a dancer, a dancer, a dancer, a dancer.
08:32She was a dancer, a dancer, a dancer, a dancer.
08:35A choreographer before the war, Oksana now gives dance classes to teenage girls.
09:06As the dust from Sunday's elections settle in Germany,
09:11the new government is facing an uphill battle.
09:14Germany's top three concerns for this election were European peace and security,
09:19the economy and social issues.
09:22However, CDU leader Friedrich Merz has also placed emphasis on migration.
09:27Policy expert Raphael Loss says geopolitical issues will be amongst Merz's top priorities.
09:35In recent years, the relationship between France and Poland has reached new lows.
09:43There is the potential that this election will unfold.
09:48With a Chancellor Friedrich Merz, he wanted to gather a powerful majority behind him.
09:55A reset will take place in this important relationship.
09:58This will be a new impulse for European politics from Berlin.
10:06It's not just a EU-centric policy.
10:10In many cases, it will be about a coalition of the willing, which Friedrich Merz will try to build.
10:16But nevertheless, I think the geopolitical challenges that we have to deal with,
10:20with regard to Moscow, Washington, but also Beijing,
10:25so that we actually have to do a lot more on all fronts.
10:29Whilst Merz is promising a stronger and more stable government,
10:33questions surrounding financing increased defence spending and resolving social issues
10:39are likely to dominate Germany for the next few months.
10:43Here, black and red can certainly produce stability.
10:46But beyond that, a lot will unfold along the lines of the question
10:50of how a two-thirds majority can be produced in the Bundestag
10:54in order to, if necessary, change the constitution for a new special asset,
10:59for a reform of the debt break, for a reintroduction of the duty to fight under a new model.
11:06And here, a black-red coalition is urgently needed.
11:09The cooperation of both the Greens, which I see as less of a problem,
11:12but also the cooperation of the left, which is fundamentally different from the other democratic parties in the middle
11:18when it comes to some foreign policy issues.
11:22Liv Stroud, in Berlin, for Euronews.