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Latest news bulletin | December 5th – Midday
euronews (in English)
Follow
05/12/2024
Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
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News
Transcript
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00:00
Newly revealed declassified information suggests a state actor may have been behind Georgescu's
00:07
campaign.
00:11
France's prime minister will submit his resignation to the country's president after being ousted
00:15
by a no-confidence vote in parliament.
00:24
Parliament demonstrations carried out for a sixth night in a row on Wednesday in Georgia's
00:29
capital Tbilisi.
00:31
Protesters showed no sign of backing down amid water cannons and arrests by riot police.
00:38
The opposition is calling for new elections following the October 26 vote, which has been
00:42
labelled as fraudulent.
00:44
The election that returned Georgian Dream to power was also criticised by President
00:49
Salome Zurabichvili.
00:50
The ruling party's latest decision to pause EU accession has worsened the situation.
01:01
Opposition parties in South Korea submitted a motion on Wednesday to impeach President
01:06
Yun Suk-hyeol after he imposed a martial law.
01:11
The law was lifted just hours after the president announced it, following mass protests and
01:16
parliament opposition.
01:21
Lawmakers that had managed to defy security forces and enter parliament unanimously voted
01:26
against the law.
01:30
Impeaching Yun would require the support of two-thirds of the parliament and the backing
01:34
of at least six constitutional court judges.
01:38
Voting is set for Friday or Saturday.
01:42
Officials are also mounting for members of Yun's cabinet to resign.
01:48
If Yun is impeached, he'll be stripped of his constitutional powers until the court
01:52
can rule on his fate.
01:58
The Romanian political scene embattled second round of the presidential elections have been
02:03
thrown in disarray by the Romanian presidency decision to unseal the intelligence agency's
02:09
reports indicating a foreign interference in the elections in favor of far-right candidate
02:15
Kalin Georgescu.
02:17
Romania's foreign intelligence service states in the released documents that Romania is
02:23
the target of aggressive hybrid actions by the Russian Federation.
02:28
The dramatic move by the Romanian state to release the National Security Council's secret
02:33
documents showed that major sums of money together with an elaborate foreign operation
02:40
on social media influencing lead to the unexplained rise of the obscure extremist candidate Kalin
02:46
Georgescu.
02:47
The secret documents from three Romanian intelligence agencies details that 797 TikTok accounts
02:55
created in 2016 for Georgescu and left dormant were activated to maximum capacity two weeks
03:03
before the elections.
03:06
Telegram accounts created in 2022 coordinated the TikTok and offer operations in favor of
03:13
Kalin Georgescu who called himself an independent candidate with zero campaign spending.
03:20
The documents which list a wide array of show that 1 million euros were mobilized by
03:26
foreign state actors to drive Georgescu's campaign and the TikTok LHD confirmed that
03:32
it received over 300,000 euros from Kalin Georgescu campaign.
03:38
But Georgescu always maintained that he did not spend one euro for his campaign which
03:45
opens the door to allegation and investigation of illegal campaign financing.
03:51
The major question following now is the fate of the second round of the presidential elections,
03:57
the light of these revelations.
03:59
For Euronews, Andrea Gourban.
04:06
Barely in and already out, French Prime Minister Michel Barnier will formally resign to French
04:11
President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday morning.
04:15
Following a no-confidence motion which toppled his government the night before.
04:19
After your fall, sooner or later there will be a budget for the state.
04:24
The Prime Minister must submit to the President of the Republic the resignation of the government.
04:29
The work of the National Assembly is up to date.
04:33
Barnier pushed through the 2025 budget without parliamentary approval, saying it was necessary
04:39
amid deep political divisions.
04:42
Yet the proposed austerity budget only deepened those divisions and inflamed tensions.
05:02
Both the left and right wing of France's National Assembly united in favour of Wednesday's
05:08
no-confidence vote.
05:13
French President Emmanuel Macron will speak Thursday evening in an attempt to set a course
05:18
at a time of rare political uncertainty.
05:25
Chancellor Olaf Scholz battled questions from German MPs in the Bundestag on Wednesday,
05:31
ahead of the vote of confidence.
05:35
Chancellor Olaf Scholz battled questions from German MPs in the Bundestag on Wednesday,
05:41
ahead of the vote of confidence that the Chancellor has called for December 16th.
05:46
Scholz has drawn the line at sending German soldiers into Ukraine after the foreign ministers
05:52
suggested that peacekeeping troops could be stationed in a demilitarised zone if a ceasefire
05:58
between Russia and Ukraine was agreed.
06:01
The Chancellor was gruelled about the shrinking economy, which has continued to deteriorate
06:05
over the past three years, while Scholz has been in power due to repercussions stemming
06:10
from Covid and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which have arguably been outside
06:15
the government's control.
06:17
While Scholz said that he would continue to work on policies over the next couple of months
06:21
ahead of the vote scheduled for February, it's clear that he's already in full election
06:26
campaign mode.
06:28
Liv Stroud, in Berlin, for Euronews.
06:41
It's quite a commotion for a former EU Justice Commissioner to be subject to an investigation
06:47
by the Belgian authorities for money laundering.
06:50
Didier Reynders is suspected of having bought tickets of the national lottery, for which
06:55
he was responsible during his term as finance minister, and transferring the laundered profits
07:00
to his private account.
07:02
Could these alleged misdeeds undermine the credibility of the European institutions?
07:08
Is the Commissioner responsible for justice and the rule of law?
07:14
So if he is implicated in money laundering or illegal activity, that would be a particular
07:21
blow.
07:22
On the other hand, he is now out.
07:25
There is a new Commission that started its work just this Monday, so it's also a bit
07:31
in a way the problem is already solved as far as the EU institutions are concerned.
07:38
As Justice Commissioner from 2019 to 2024, Reynders led the fight back against democratic
07:44
decline in Hungary and Poland, during which EU funds for these countries were temporarily
07:49
suspended.
07:52
I was a member of the LIBE Commission.
07:54
Many times Commissioner Reynders was on it.
07:57
He spread fake news about allegedly broken rule of law in Poland.
08:02
He demanded blocking of funds for Poland.
08:05
Today, I as a Pole and the people in Poland perceive the Reynders situation as a peculiar
08:11
hiccup from history.
08:13
The allegations span a period of several years and date back to his time as Belgian Federal
08:17
Minister for Finance and later for Foreign Affairs.
08:20
The investigation was opened last year, but the authorities waited with their raids until
08:24
the end of his EU mandate.
08:26
Five years ago, a former Belgian intelligence officer accused Reynders of corruption and
08:30
money laundering in connection with various projects, including arms deals.
08:34
At the time, the accusations were dismissed for lack of evidence.
08:42
The European Commission was unaware of the investigation into the alleged money laundering
08:46
by former European Commissioner Didier Reynders.
08:49
The Belgian politician was Commissioner for Justice until last Saturday.
08:53
So first of all, did you have any indications that Mr. Reynders was engaging in any malpractice
08:58
during his mandate?
09:00
We do not have any further information about this matter.
09:03
Of course, if the Belgian authorities were to contact us, we are going to collaborate
09:08
with them.
09:11
Reynders still enjoys a certain immunity linked to his former position.
09:15
If it were to be withdrawn, the decision would be up to the current College of Commissioners.
09:20
So indeed, members of the College are accorded immunity, but solely, only, in the interest
09:28
of the Union.
09:30
What does that mean?
09:31
It means that they benefit from immunity for acts performed by them in their official capacity.
09:37
So it's a functional immunity.
09:40
According to French daily Le Soir and investigative platform Follow the Money, Reynders' homes
09:46
were searched by police on Tuesday.
09:48
Apparently, following suspicions that he may be laundering money through the Belgian
09:52
National Lottery.
10:00
Starting this Christmas Eve, the Eternal City will welcome an estimated 35 million pilgrims
10:05
for the 2025 Jubilee.
10:07
And Rome is gearing up for the occasion with much of the city transforming into an open
10:12
air construction site for the past few months.
10:16
Monuments are being restored, roads repaired and pedestrian areas redesigned to prepare
10:22
for the stream of visitors.
10:25
Despite opposition claims that the city is falling behind on numerous projects, Rome's
10:30
mayor says the city will be ready in time.
10:34
We are moving forward according to the schedule.
10:37
We are very confident and this will be a Jubilee where many works will be completed first.
10:42
This will be the second Jubilee led by Pope Francis, following the one in 2015.
10:48
The central message of the Holy Year is to foster hope and trust.
10:52
The pontiff has called on clergy and religious orders to lead by example and to help tackle
10:58
the housing crisis.
11:04
From those who are more concrete, even if more difficult than peace, to those compared
11:09
to the poor, the young, the elderly, the sick, to all those who need hope.
11:23
The Jubilee will officially begin with the opening of the Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica.
11:29
Over the following days, the doors of Rome's major basilica will also open and will remain
11:34
so until the end of the celebrations.
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11:48
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