Latest news bulletin | May 17th – Evening - video Dailymotion

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00:00 Georgia's president doubles down on her promise to veto the country's controversial foreign

00:06 influence law.

00:09 Police in northern France kill a man attempting to set fire to a synagogue.

00:20 Russia's armed forces are incapable of any major advance, according to NATO's top military

00:26 officer.

00:33 Days after it was passed by the parliament, Georgia's president has told Euronews she'll

00:38 veto the controversial foreign influence bill.

00:42 Its approval puts Georgia's bid to join the EU in jeopardy.

00:45 "This law will pass, the veto will be overruled or it will be modified in a marginal and uninterested

00:54 way.

00:55 The aim today is to go to the elections."

00:57 The ruling party says the law will promote transparency and national sovereignty.

01:02 Riot police have been brought in to break up protests against it.

01:06 "These are brutalities that are not the police's doing, but special forces that have a police

01:16 registration but no identification.

01:19 Investigations and investigations into the perpetrators of these brutalities are not

01:27 possible.

01:28 We are in a situation that could escalate into violence at any moment."

01:36 She says the upcoming parliamentary election in October will give the voters a chance to

01:41 reverse the law.

01:42 "Through elections we will have a referendum on Europe.

01:46 That's how we will see the next elections, which will not be normal elections, but elections

01:53 to stop this deviation.

01:55 I use the word 'weak' - it's only a deviation.

01:58 We will come back to it.

01:59 But it is important to do it through elections.

02:03 And above all, the EU must say clearly that it will take Georgia's choice into account.

02:09 It will not sanction the country.

02:11 I distinguish between individual sanctions and the country.

02:16 But the country will not be sanctioned as long as its answer is not known in the polls."

02:21 Dubbed the 'Russian law', the bill is similar to Kremlin's legislation used to silence critics.

02:26 "What I can guarantee is that in this country, which has experienced at least three wars

02:33 and decades of occupation by the different Russia, not to say centuries, which has 20

02:41 percent of its territory occupied, on which there are no days without hostages, where

02:47 Georgian language is practically forbidden, where human rights, including non-Georgian

02:54 populations, are violated every day, there can be no temptation to return to the Russian

03:01 gyron, especially when we look at what Russia is today."

03:05 The President has until May 28 to act on the bill, which targets foreign-funded media and

03:11 non-profit organizations.

03:13 The government could overrule her veto.

03:18 The apparent assassination attempt against Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico will

03:22 only deepen political divides, officials and prominent public figures warn.

03:28 A local councillor in Bratislava said there was a clear cause leading to the incident.

03:34 "The reason why this happened is that the hate speech in the public space is really

03:42 like a common thing and the leaders of our country doesn't do anything against the hate

03:51 speech."

03:53 Member of the opposition party Slovakia Movement said there is no place for violence in politics.

03:59 "Both political camps should think about what steps to take in the coming hours and

04:07 days to prevent the tension, but rather to shake the reins."

04:14 Member of Slovakia's Hungarian Alliance Party says declarations by the head of state

04:19 were important gestures to calm tensions.

04:22 "It was very important to thank the president of the upcoming republic, who should know

04:28 that one and the other camp's prominent figures are involved, who said together that

04:37 tensions should be reduced and should not be escalated."

04:40 Journalist-publicist Martin Simeka is not at all optimistic about the future.

04:46 "I'm afraid now it seems like maybe for a couple of days everybody calms down, but

04:56 I don't believe that will last too long.

05:01 I'm quite, I would say, nervous because I think that things will even get worse."

05:13 Russian President Vladimir Putin is on his second and final day of his China trip, with

05:18 the aim of growing economic ties with the ally.

05:22 Due to Western sanctions, trade turnover between Moscow and Beijing has boomed since the war

05:28 in Ukraine, and it's now exceeded $200 billion a year, Putin said.

05:34 But the two Asian giants intend to go even beyond.

05:37 "Our strategic alliance in energy, which has become a driving force of the global energy

05:44 market, I'm sure will continue to strengthen.

05:48 Russia is ready and capable of providing China with unwavering, reliable energy, with clean

05:55 and clean energy, with light and heat."

06:01 On Friday, Putin headed to the China-Russia Expo in Harbin, in China's northeast, a city

06:08 that was once home to many Russian expats.

06:12 In a symbolic move, he laid flowers at the local cenotaph for the fallen Russian soldiers

06:18 and visited the Orthodox Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God.

06:24 China-Russia talks also touched on the war in Ukraine.

06:28 Putin said he welcomed China's role in trying to break a diplomatic solution to the war.

06:41 Putin has denied plans to capture Kharkiv as fighting continues in the region, forcing

06:47 thousands to flee.

06:49 He said Moscow launched attacks in Kharkiv in response to Ukrainian shelling of Russia.

06:55 "What concerns what is happening in Kharkiv, it's also their fault, because they shelled

07:03 and continue to shell residential areas in the border area, including the city.

07:10 It's obvious, they are shelling the city centre, residential areas.

07:16 I said publicly that if this continues, we will be forced to create a safe zone, a sanitary

07:26 zone.

07:27 We are doing this.

07:29 As for Kharkiv, we don't have such plans today."

07:36 Despite the intensifying violence, Russia's armed forces are incapable of any major advance

07:42 according to NATO's top military officer.

07:46 His comments come as Ukrainian forces engage in fierce battles with Russia's troops for

07:52 control of Vovchansk, a key town in Ukraine's north-eastern region.

07:58 "The Russians don't have the numbers necessary to do a strategic breakthrough.

08:04 We don't believe more to the point, they don't have the skill and the capability to do it,

08:10 to operate at the scale necessary to exploit any breakthrough to strategic advantage."

08:17 Vovchansk has been a hot spot for fighting in recent days, with thousands fleeing the

08:25 region as the fighting continues.

08:34 French police shot and killed a man on suspicion of setting fire to a synagogue in the northern

08:40 city of Rouen.

08:41 The individual carried a knife and a metal bar.

08:45 He is believed to have climbed onto a rubbish bin and thrown a mollotov cocktail inside

08:50 the building.

08:51 "If the police forces, who do a remarkable job, don't neutralize this guy, the synagogue

08:58 will burn.

08:59 I have a very strong opinion, especially for the Jewish community in Rouen."

09:03 "It's a reaction of anger because once again we are dealing with French Jews who

09:08 simply want to live in peace in this country and who are facing a wave of unprecedented

09:13 anti-Semitism.

09:14 +1000% in the weeks that followed October 7th, +300% in the first months of 2024.

09:21 It's unbearable."

09:23 Due to increasing targeting of the Jewish community, French Interior Minister Gérard

09:28 Darmanin asked local authorities to step up security at Jewish places of worship and religious

09:35 schools.

09:39 The campaign for the European elections is in full swing in Germany, but has been overshadowed

09:43 by recent attacks on politicians.

09:46 The violence has been fueling the debate on whether democracy is under threat.

09:50 Last month, a politician from the Social Democrats spent several days in hospital after being

09:55 beaten up whilst hanging up campaign posters.

09:58 Green politicians have also experienced a recent spike in threats.

10:01 Green Party candidate Yvonne Müsler was spat on and threatened last week whilst campaigning.

10:06 "It's not like it used to be, where people would say 'no, I'm not interested'

10:12 but there are always verbal attacks, insults, stupid things.

10:18 It's not just a lack of interest, but also an open aggression."

10:24 "Democracy also means that citizens have the choice between different parties and these

10:33 parties have the possibility to present themselves to the citizens.

10:38 And democracy is at its limits when it comes to violence."

10:41 Violence against politicians has been increasing at an alarming rate.

10:46 The numbers of attacks have almost doubled since 2019.

10:50 According to statistics, attacks against green politicians have almost tripled in the past

10:55 five years, whilst violence against Alternative for Germany politicians has decreased around

11:00 20%.

11:01 "Well, violence is something that we are facing on a daily basis.

11:06 It's not only me as maybe a better known figure, but it's happening to all of us, it can happen

11:12 to all of us.

11:14 And this is an ongoing story for years now.

11:17 So it's not only happened recently, but also years ago.

11:21 From my side, I've been attacked.

11:23 Also physically, my car has been burned."

11:32 Politicians are calling for quicker convictions in those cases.

11:36 Mosley's perpetrators are still at large and may only be convicted after the campaign is

11:40 over.

11:41 Liv Stroud, in Berlin, for Euronews.

11:44 (whooshing)

Latest news bulletin | May 17th – Evening

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