Latest news bulletin | March 19th – Midday
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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/2025/03/19/latest-news-bulletin-march-19th-midday
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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NewsTranscript
00:00U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed on a limited
00:06ceasefire against Ukraine's energy facilities.
00:09The Baltic nations and Poland agreed to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention, an international
00:16treaty banning anti-personnel mines.
00:20Opposition lawmakers protested as the Hungarian parliament passed a bill banning pride events.
00:32U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed during a
00:36phone call on Tuesday to seek a limited ceasefire against Ukraine's energy facilities.
00:42The Russian president agreed to halt attacks on energy and infrastructure targets for 30
00:47days but declined to endorse a broader ceasefire deal that the U.S. is pushing for.
00:52The White House described it as the first step in a movement to peace and hopes it will
00:56eventually include a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and the full and lasting end
01:01to the fighting.
01:02Meanwhile, the Kremlin's statement included a long list of conditions and demands from
01:07Putin's side, a key condition called for the cessation of foreign military aid and intelligence
01:12sharing to Ukraine.
01:15The White House said negotiations would begin immediately, however, it still remains unclear
01:20whether Ukraine is on board with the phased ceasefire plan.
01:29Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland agreed to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention, an
01:34international treaty banning anti-personnel mines.
01:38The decision comes in response to growing concerns over Russia's growing military threat
01:43to its neighbouring countries.
01:45Latvia's Prime Minister Evika Silina said a draft would be submitted next week to the
01:49parliament, who have to make the final decision.
01:52We will not be the first or the last country to withdraw from this convention, and that's
01:57why today, after the Minister of Foreign Affairs has made the decision, we are happy that we
02:02have started the process so that we can withdraw from the Ottawa Convention and remain a minister
02:08until next week's Cabinet meeting.
02:11Lithuania's Defence Minister Dovilešek Alėna said the joint decision sent a strong political
02:16signal.
02:17When the whole region, all the defence ministers at one point, send a single message, it seems
02:24to me a lot more strategically clear, you know, how we want to look back at our own
02:29defence.
02:30Finland could be the next to withdraw, having previously said they were also considering
02:35leaving the treaty due to Russia's use of anti-personnel mines in Ukraine.
02:42That was the most anticipated phone call in the world.
02:47Moscow had one week to respond to a 30-day ceasefire proposal by Washington, which Ukraine
02:53had agreed upon.
02:56What's missing in this crucial moment, which can help put an end to the largest and bloodiest
03:02war in Europe since World War Two, is Europe itself.
03:07The EU has not participated in the talks, which can put an end to the war at its own
03:13borders.
03:14And that was a mistake, says Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs
03:19of Belgium.
03:20We need to be involved in the process.
03:23It is not yet the case and we think that it's certainly a mistake.
03:29It's not the role of President Trump representing the interests of Europe and Europe should
03:36be around the table with its own representatives.
03:41I emphasize the key role that Kajsa Kalas, our representative for the foreign policy
03:49of Europe, is playing.
03:51On top of getting its seat at the table, the EU is facing a challenge of getting all members
03:55agree first among themselves.
03:57The goal of the Americans is peace, and the Americans are talking about peace with the Russians.
04:06Brussels wants to continue the war.
04:09So, to call the entities, countries, organizations that want to continue the war to the talks
04:15about peace, this is doubtful.
04:21In a haze of smoke and surrounded by chaos, the Hungarian parliament passed a bill banning
04:26Pride events.
04:28Opposition lawmakers from the Momentum party ignited the smoke bombs in the chamber.
04:32However, the protests failed to prevent the law from passing by a two-thirds majority.
04:38During Monday's debate on the bill, Gergely Gulyas, who represents the government, said
04:42it is necessary to ban the march to protect children from so-called sexual propaganda.
04:49I would like to strengthen the government's intention to consider the issue of child protection
04:55to be of great importance.
04:57This is not only true in the case of Pride, but it is also true in the view that today
05:02we spend three times as much on the Hungarian child protection system as the post-communist
05:07government spent in the last year.
05:09However, Momentum fails to believe the ban is about protecting children.
05:13If the fate of Hungarian children were a little bit more important to them, they would not
05:18give mercy to pedophile criminals, the Hungarian children's homes would not be in such a state,
05:22and the Hungarian education system would not be in such a state.
05:27Pride marches are held in over 100 countries around the world, including all EU member
05:32states.
05:33Under the new Hungarian law, not only organizers, but also the participants are subject to committing
05:39an offence.
05:40Attending a banned event will carry fines of up to 500 euros.
05:44Authorities can now also use facial recognition software to help identify attendees.
05:54Germany's parliament on Tuesday passed a historic financial package to massively boost defense
06:00and infrastructure spending.
06:02The bill unlocks billions in defense spending and sets up another 500 billion fund for infrastructure
06:08projects.
06:09But some experts say a temporary reform is not enough, and a full reform of the so-called
06:15debt break is needed.
06:40Experts have also warned that any infrastructure projects will need additional reforms to address
06:48Germany's labor shortage.
06:51We don't have a good welcome culture for people from abroad, regardless of whether they are
06:56highly or poorly qualified.
06:58And we have to address this blind spot if Germany wants to be competitive and stay competitive.
07:04A hundred billion of the fund will go towards supporting climate measures, a key concession
07:09CDU leader Friedrich Merz made to get the Greens to agree on the package.
07:15The bill made it through parliament with 513 votes in its favor.
07:22The bill passed marks a historic shift in Germany's attitude towards taking on debt,
07:27triggered by a felt need to increase defense spending.
07:30But the bill still needs the approval of the parliament's upper house to become law.
07:35Tamsin Paternoster, in Berlin, for Euronews.
07:39Two NASA astronauts stuck in space returned to Earth on Tuesday, hitching a different
07:45ride home to close out a saga that began with a bungled test flight over nine months ago.
07:51Within an hour, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were out of their capsule, waving and smiling
07:57at the cameras, while being hustled away in reclining stretchers for routine medical checks.
08:04They both arrived at the International Space Station, ISS, early June last year and were
08:09to return home no more than 10 days later.
08:12The International Space Station program, the commercial crew program and SpaceX came up
08:17with the plan that we just witnessed. The Crew 10 launch last week, the docking over
08:21the weekend, the undock early today, and then the landing that we just witnessed.
08:26And splashdown, Crew 9 back on Earth.
08:29Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico early Tuesday evening, just
08:35hours after departing ISS. Splashdown occurred off the coast of Tallahassee in the Florida
08:41Panhandle, bringing their unplanned odyssey to an end.
08:48Officials ordered the evacuation of hundreds of homes near Malaga in southern Spain after
08:53heavy rains caused riverbanks to burst, unleashing flash floods.
08:58Firefighters were searching for a missing couple in Sevilla on Tuesday morning and found
09:03the body of a woman near the area where their vehicle disappeared.
09:07Andalusia's Interior Chief Antonio Sun said that 19 rivers in the region were on high
09:12alert for flooding.
09:14A total of 40 highways across the region, as well as some rail lines, had to be closed
09:19due to rising waters, and school classes were suspended in 16 municipalities.
09:25Spain, which has suffered from a prolonged drought in recent years, has received steady
09:30rainfall, especially in its south, for the last two weeks, and the latest storm proved
09:35too much for reservoirs and riverbanks.
09:38Scientists and government officials link these swings between extreme dry and wet spells
09:43to climate change, which has also produced increasingly hot summers in Spain.
09:49CRIMINAL ORGANISATIONS
09:53Criminal organisations are the new soldiers in a hybrid war.
09:59Mafias have teamed up with hostile countries to threaten the European Union with cross-border
10:04criminal activities that have destabilising political effects.
10:10The alert was issued by the EU's police agency Europol on Tuesday.
10:16Criminal organisations, of course, they are agile, they are borderless, they are controlling
10:25and they work to destabilise.
10:28So criminal organisations, they look always for opportunities.
10:31If they see an opportunity to work with a state actor, they will work with a state actor.
10:36According to the European Union, one of the most worrying examples of the interaction
10:42between organised crime and hostile state actors is illegal immigration.
10:47Human traffickers are being used by foreign powers such as Belarus to destabilise its
10:53neighbours in exchange for money.
10:56This is the modus operandi of the criminal gangs who cooperate very closely with the
11:01Belarusian and Russian government, because without engagement of state actors from Belarus
11:08and Russia, it would be impossible to create this migration route.
11:14Europol has warned of risks coming from conflict zones and has established close cooperation
11:20with the Ukrainian authorities.
11:22Europol is also suggesting the European institutions to prepare a strategy in order to tackle the
11:29possible emerging risk coming from a post-war scenario in Ukraine where cows could become
11:36a weapon for criminal organisations.
11:40Sergio Cantone, DENACH, for Euronews.