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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/2025/03/21/latest-news-bulletin-march-21st-evening
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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NewsTranscript
00:00A major plan by EU foreign policy chief Kayakallis to send urgent military aid of up to 40 billion
00:07euros to Ukraine failed to get off the ground at an EU summit in Brussels.
00:12The plan includes sending 5 billion euros on 2 million rounds of ammunition as well
00:17as air defence systems, missiles, drones and fighter jets.
00:20But President of the European Council Antonio Costa said Ukraine will be funded for 2025
00:26due to among other things the Commission's rearm plan adopted weeks prior.
00:56Also on the agenda was Europe's need to boost competitiveness and innovation amid
01:17sluggish growth and the spectre of a trade war triggered by US President Donald Trump's
01:21tariff announcements.
01:23Earlier on, the EU said it was delaying until mid-April retaliatory tariffs against sector-specific
01:28targets in the US.
01:30EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the decision was made to allow for more
01:34negotiations with the White House.
01:37We are in principle opposed to tariffs.
01:40We think that tariffs are bad.
01:42They are like taxes.
01:44They are bad for consumers.
01:46They are bad for business on both sides of the Atlantic without any question.
01:52We are in active discussion with the US administration on this issue and I can confirm that we decided
01:59to adjust the timing of the entry into force of tariffs.
02:04The impact of our response does not change.
02:08EU leaders also said they deplored the resumption of violence in Gaza where over 500 people
02:12have been killed by Israeli airstrikes, many of whom were children.
02:16They called for the ceasefire to be put back on track, for the hostages to be released
02:20without condition and for humanitarian aid to be allowed back into the enclave.
02:25Shona Murray, Euronews, Brussels.
02:30Former President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, has said there will
02:34be no peace settlement in Ukraine without the European Union.
02:38Speaking with Euronews hours after the EU's 27 leaders wrapped up a summit in Brussels,
02:44Barroso accounted for fears that Thursday's summit showed divisions amongst EU member
02:48states on Ukraine's defence.
02:52I don't agree there was no outcome.
02:55That's the usual way the European Union decides.
02:59Of course it's by definition relatively slow because it's building a consensus amongst
03:05so many member states.
03:07But if you think about it, the conclusions are relatively rich.
03:12They reiterate important points, the fact that they cannot be original all the time.
03:17And they reiterate commitment to European defence, that's very important.
03:21To support Ukraine, that's extremely important.
03:24And just on the talks between the Kremlin and President Trump, I know you've met Mr
03:28Putin 25 times, but the EU seems to be left out in the cold of these talks.
03:32How should the EU react to that?
03:35I mean, sooner or later the European Union will come because there will be no peace without
03:40the European Union, quite clearly.
03:42Not only Ukraine is a country in the European Union, in Europe, I'm sorry, and Ukraine
03:48says that it needs, of course, the European Union to be associated.
03:51But even Mr Putin, Putin said already that there will be no peace without the lifting
03:56of sanctions, or the sanctions that have been imposed by the European Union.
04:00So the Russians are the first to be interested in having Europe associated.
04:05EU leaders at the summit in Brussels failed to reach an agreement on allocating 5 billion
04:10euros for the purchase of two million artillery shells for Ukraine this year.
04:15According to reports, several countries, including France and Italy, refused to commit to specific
04:20financial contributions, while Hungary vetoed the joint summit statement for the second
04:26time in as many weeks.
04:33A single infected USB key and a virus that spreads, paralyzing a French warship's entire
04:40missile system.
04:43That's just one of the scenarios these cyber warfare officers are tackling at a naval base
04:48in Toulon, southern France.
04:51For two weeks, 15,000 soldiers across all branches of the French armed forces will be
04:57put to the test.
04:58The goal?
04:59To strengthen cyber defenses using real-world scenarios, many inspired by Russia's full-scale
05:06invasion of Ukraine.
05:07Our mission, at first, was to carry out technical sampling of the potentially infected system,
05:14and then, once the sampling is done, to carry out an analysis to find out what happened
05:19to the system.
05:20We train to carry out the procedures, to use the tools, so that the day it happens, we
05:26are efficient and operational.
05:30But in the event of a real crisis at sea, the French Navy must learn to react quickly.
05:36In the event of a cyber attack, as simulated in this exercise, we will be able to set up
05:44the same functional chains that are all involved in this exercise, but this time with a real
05:53operational pressure, which means that people will have to react as quickly as possible
05:58to compress the time and recover as quickly as possible the availability of the system
06:02of weapons in question, so that we can continue the mission.
06:05With digital threats on the rise, the French Army plans to boost its cyber warfare force,
06:11growing from 4,000 to 5,000 specialists by 2030.
06:24The European Commission wants to create a single defense market, as outlined in its
06:30new white paper on arming the EU by 2030.
06:34Right now, the market is divided with five leading countries, France, Germany, Italy,
06:40Spain and Sweden, causing a situation that leads to uncoordinated manufacturing and supply chains.
06:48We are producing very many, very expensive products, but in the small numbers.
06:54And what we need is that the market is able to provide necessary numbers of ammunition,
07:02missiles and different defense equipment, and that the countries can consolidate themselves
07:11together and buy together.
07:13And we need to give the opportunity for the small and medium-sized enterprises to operate
07:19on the market.
07:22Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the EU has quadrupled its military production, but the Commission
07:29wants better coordination.
07:31It says key areas need strengthening, like air and missile defense, artillery, munitions,
07:37drones and military transport.
07:39To cut costs and improve efficiency, the Commission suggests buying equipment together.
07:46Today, the Germans buy Germans, the Spanish buy Spanish, the French, of course, only French
07:54equipment.
07:55We need to open the tenders of the countries to other nations' companies as well.
08:02It needs to give the possibility to the small countries to be integrated part of that all.
08:08The Commission also wants the EU to rely less on American military equipment.
08:12It suggests buying more from European producers to strengthen the local industry.
08:19But this will take long-term political commitment.
08:21The question is, will the member states, who clearly are spooked by the international
08:27geopolitical situation, will they now really put the money there in a sustained effort?
08:33And if there were to be a ceasefire in Ukraine, would they sit back and say, OK, panic over?
08:38Or would they really go ahead?
08:41Because I think that's the fundamental question.
08:44We need European defense, and it takes a decade of effort, a decade of spending to get there.
08:51And from this effort, the Commission reaffirmed its rearmament plan, which should enable 800
08:57billion euros to be spent.
09:03What Russian president wants is not only the actual annexation of territories, but loyal
09:07regimes and full Russification of countries and nations, says Belarusian opposition leader
09:12Sviatlana Tikhanovskaya.
09:13She told Euronews that although the protest movement in her country had to go mostly underground,
09:19it only means people are getting ready to uprise in the right moment.
09:23You know, for sure what we see in Belarus, it's a creeping occupation.
09:27And it is done with allowance of Lukashenko, who is Putin's puppet.
09:32Lukashenko is ready to sell our serenity, sell our independence, our country to Russia
09:38just to stay in power.
09:40And it hasn't happened like recently.
09:43We see the process of Russification.
09:46You know, what Putin is trying to do, it's for Belarus, for example, it's not about physical
09:52annexation.
09:53It's about keeping a loyal government in power.
09:57This is what they want in Ukraine, actually, as well.
10:00You said that it is hard to also foresee what can happen as long as Lukashenko is in Belarus.
10:08Do you think it's going to be the same if, hypothetically, Putin is no longer in power?
10:14Of course, something can happen in Russia, and hence it will be weaker Lukashenko and
10:21people will uprise again.
10:24You know, it might be a victory of Ukraine.
10:30It also will weaken Putin and weaken Lukashenko.
10:33But the changes in Russia can start from changes in Belarus, as well.
10:38There are more possibilities to change regime in Belarus than in Russia.
10:43You know, all these constant repressions that we are going through for four, at the most
10:47five years already, haven't made people to forget or to forgive or to deny their pro-European
10:56perspectives, pro-democratic.
10:58And so our movement inside the country, it, of course, now went mostly underground.
11:04But of course it hasn't disappeared.
11:06While Lukashenko is still detaining people every day, every day 15, 20 people are detained
11:13because he knows that as soon as he stops, there will be massively people on the streets.
11:18He behaves as if still thousands of people standing in front of his palace.
11:22Visible quietness on the country doesn't mean that people gave up.
11:28It means that people are preparing and they will be ready when there will be possibility.