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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/2025/03/20/latest-news-bulletin-march-20th-evening
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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NewsTranscript
00:00European leaders are meeting in Brussels on Thursday to discuss security, defence spending
00:07and support for Ukraine amid ongoing peace negotiations.
00:11On arrival, Dutch Prime Minister Dijkshove expressed support for the proposals in the
00:15white paper on defence that was unveiled on Wednesday, but cautioned against more joint
00:20borrowing.
00:21We look constructive to the plans, but we always said it two weeks ago and I'm going
00:29to say it today, that sustainable debt is important, that there should be a good balance
00:35in finance and financial health is important, those are issues and we are opposing Eurobonds.
00:42It's not new, it's what we always say, so there is no problem at all with the Netherlands.
00:46EU foreign chief Kaya Kalas proposed an initiative to deliver more artillery ammunition to Ukraine.
00:53For Ukraine, I proposed initiative to really go with the ones that President Zelensky needs,
01:02ammunition in amount of 5 billion, so we should at least start to have a really concrete step,
01:11not only words, but also in deeds that we are helping Ukraine right now, because the
01:16stronger they are on the battlefield, the stronger they are behind the negotiation table.
01:22UN Secretary-General António Guterres is also joining European leaders for a working
01:26lunch on multilateralism.
01:31Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to win time and win on the battleground while
01:36Ukraine is ready for peace.
01:38This is according to Manfred Weber, the president of the centre-right European People's Party
01:43EPP.
01:44Speaking in a live interview hours before a crunch summit of EU leaders kicked off in
01:49Brussels, Weber said the Trump administration in the US is now seeing the reality.
01:55Well the result is that there is no ceasefire.
01:57That's the result in this moment of time.
01:59There is no final agreement and we don't know what really will happen in the next upcoming
02:04days on the battleground.
02:06And you can really see that Zelensky, the Ukrainians are ready to go for peace and Putin
02:11is playing.
02:12He wants to win time.
02:13He wants to win on the battleground.
02:15That's a reality.
02:16He has no interest to stop the war.
02:17Now also the American administration is now arriving in this reality that the war is not
02:23easy to be stopped because Putin has a clear plan and that means to really conquer, to
02:28really occupy Ukraine.
02:30The EPP leader also reacted to Europe's current exclusion in the telephone diplomacy between
02:36the three leaders.
02:37Should we have a Ukraine?
02:38Weber said Europe and Ukraine must be on the table.
02:41Well absolutely Europe and Ukraine must be on the table and America must understand there
02:47will be no agreement at all without the country of Ukraine.
02:51It's a sovereign country.
02:52They have their president, they have their parliament, they have national unity in defending
02:56themselves and their values, democracy and freedom.
02:59So that's why it's unthinkable.
03:01High on Thursday's summit agenda are plans to rearm Europe so as to ensure it can rely
03:07on its armed forces and military might in the event of aggression.
03:13What I want to say is that we would save a lot of money if we would do things together
03:18That's why the main initiative is now come and procurement, do things together, invest
03:23in Europe, buy European and we need some flagship projects where people immediately understand
03:28that as Europeans together we are better protected.
03:32Look for cyber defence where everybody understands that there is no national border anymore or
03:37missile defence system, a drones defence system.
03:39Let's do this on the Polish-Belarusian border for all Europe.
03:44Then we are better protected if we do it together.
03:47Today's emergency meeting in Brussels was convened in reaction to Trump's fast-moving
03:51diplomacy.
03:52The meeting will also address the need to boost competitiveness, the situation in the
03:56Middle East amongst others.
04:02The threat of Russia attacking the EU and NATO states from the territory of Belarus
04:07should be taken very seriously.
04:09Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya told Euronews, warning that it will depend
04:15on whether Ukraine's interests are sacrificed now.
04:19How do you assess this risk?
04:23I would perceive these threats very seriously because while Lukashenko is in power Belarusian
04:32land can be used as launching pad for attack again on Ukraine or on our western neighbours.
04:39It's no problem for Lukashenko to serve Putin and give our land and infrastructure for the
04:46invasion.
04:47Until the regime is there, there will be constant threat to your security.
04:53We have to dismantle this regime to get rid of Lukashenko, only in this case Belarus will
04:57not be the source of constant blackmailing with migrants, nuclear weapon or joint drills
05:04with the Russians.
05:06Do you think the risk of the possible invasion from the territory of Belarus towards NATO
05:12members, the Baltic states, could be coming as quickly as this year?
05:16Look, I can't predict this because dictators are irrational.
05:21I understand that all the countries who want peace in our region, including the USA, not
05:29to provide long-lasting peace, it would allow Russian troops to regroup, you know, to strengthen
05:38itself and to start invasion or blackmail with the invasion in the nearest future.
05:45So on the fact how European Union together with hopefully the USA will act now, if they
05:54will not sacrifice with the Ukrainian territories or with Ukrainian interests that will embolden
06:01Russians, so maybe it will not happen.
06:04But if solutions that we are taking now about Belarus, about Ukraine, that we are like ready,
06:10you know, to leave some territories under Russian influence, so it will show that democratic
06:18world cannot answer decisively.
06:21If they accept that subjugation or invasion of other countries is possible and they don't
06:28have instruments to counter this, it might happen that they will knock to the doors of
06:34European Union.
06:35Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Istanbul on Thursday despite a demonstration
06:44ban implemented by local authorities.
06:46Similar protesting against the arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu, Istanbul's mayor, who is also
06:51a key rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
06:55What has been done is absolutely unlawful, unlawful and baseless.
07:01This is not democracy.
07:04The leader of the mayor's Republican People's Party criticized the arrest and claimed Erdoğan
07:09targeted İmamoğlu as he feared losing to him in the ballots.
07:13The Turkish Minister of Justice countered these allegations and said that the courts
07:22operate independently.
07:23It is extremely dangerous and wrong to draw the investigations carried out by the impartial
07:29and independent judiciary to different parties and to label them as coups.
07:36European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed deep concern over the arrest.
07:41She reminded Turkey of its obligation to uphold democratic values.
07:45We want Turkey to remain anchored to Europe but this requires a clear commitment to democratic
07:52norms and practices and it is key that Turkey respects these fundamental principles.
07:59Prosecutors have accused İmamoğlu of corruption as well as aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers'
08:04Party.
08:08The CEO of Barclays Europe has weighed in on Europe's economic attractiveness amid concerns
08:12over tariffs and global competition.
08:15His comments come as Germany's parliament this week approved a reform of its debt break
08:18proposed by Chancellor-in-Waiting Friedrich Merz.
08:24Attractiveness is inherently a relative concept and investors and the global capital that
08:30they represent have choices and where they apply their capital ultimately expresses that
08:36choice of relative attractiveness.
08:39So I think what we've seen in the year-to-date period is clearly a compression in the US
08:48stock market for example and an increase in the indices that I look at for the European
08:54stock market.
08:55That tells you something.
08:57According to a recent report from Morgan Stanley, European equities have this year outperformed
09:01US stocks by the widest margin since the year 2000.
09:05The MSCI Europe index has risen over 9% since January, beating the S&P slide of 4.5%.
09:13CEO Cesato also warned of a possible recession that could be triggered by the situation in
09:17the US.
09:18At the end of the day, the euro area has roughly 480 billion euros of goods exports to the
09:26US.
09:27Now, at the moment, the latest models that our research team have looked at are relatively
09:37mild in terms of the tariff assumption that's being made.
09:41But were there to be a 25% tariff on all of those goods, that could actually tip the euro
09:48zone into recession.
09:50Finally, on improving Europe's competitiveness, Barclay's CEO highlighted the need for deeper
09:55capital pools, advocating to pair institutional firepower with private capital to address
10:00major challenges, noting that relying solely on retail investments would be insufficient.
10:11Having ring-fenced 800 billion euros for its Rearm Europe plan, the EU will have to spend
10:16wisely on defence.
10:18And timing is everything, a lesson that Ukraine has learned in three years of war.
10:23I think Europe has to invest a lot in general, in defence, just because we see how the world
10:32is uncertain right now.
10:34If you have a stock of really good but really expensive equipment, it will be depleted really
10:39soon.
10:41So drones are our way to answer a big opponent.
10:47Cheap drones have been crucial, both in terms of surveillance and launching attacks ahead
10:52of using more expensive tech.
10:55The Ukrainians have driven the Russian Black Sea Fleet away from the coast without the
11:00Ukrainians having a navy at all.
11:02They've used basically drones and new technologies to do it.
11:07So if you're Europe and you need to replace capabilities or develop new effects, I think
11:15the main takeaway is look at dual-use technologies.
11:19Being able to test the tech on the battlefield is also vital.
11:23And that takes time.
11:25Time is really precious right now, in politics, in economy and in defence too.
11:31If you can buy some time with money, you better do it.