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00:00In an interview with Euronews, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili explained why she won't

00:06leave office when her term ends.

00:11The EU summit starts with Ukrainian leader Zelensky present in Brussels as the member

00:14states discuss how they can help Kiev if the U.S. withdraws its support.

00:26The pro-European president of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, won't leave office the day her

00:31term ends in late December.

00:33She considers the newly elected president, the pro-Russian former football player Mikhail

00:37Kavelashvili, not to be legitimate.

00:40That was one of her main messages during her intervention at the European Parliament.

00:45My legitimacy in a way comes from my election and it comes from the illegitimacy of the

00:53recent elections and it comes from the trust and confidence of the population, it doesn't

00:59depend on a building or on a security apparatus or on anything material that they will or

01:06will not provide.

01:09Zurabishvili claims that the elections were manipulated through several systems, such

01:12as ballot stuffing, intimidation or buying voters.

01:16There are many, many ways in these countries in which you can buy the fidelity, the loyalty

01:23of people which is not really fraud but it's administrative resource.

01:31But the president thinks Georgia is not at risk of a traditional Russian invasion due

01:35to the lack of resources from Moscow and their military presence in some Georgian territory.

01:41But she does fear something else.

01:43Russia is experimenting a new form of invasion, a hybrid invasion, through elections, through

01:50proxies, through authoritative government or persons.

01:55Zurabishvili, who has been president of Georgia since 2018, hopes the EU will act to avoid

02:01Russia deciding the foreign policy of the bloc.

02:04Dominique Pellicot has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in a historic rape trial

02:14that has turned the victim, his wife Giselle Pellicot, into a women's rights hero.

02:20Pellicot drugged and raped his wife for nearly a decade, also offering her unconscious body

02:26to strangers he had met online.

02:29In total, 51 men were convicted of rape or sexual assault.

02:34Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, Giselle Pellicot expressed gratitude for the

02:38support she received throughout the three-month-long ordeal.

02:41I think of the unrecognized victims whose stories often remain in the shadows.

02:50I want you to know that we share the same fight.

02:54I want to express my deepest gratitude to all the people who supported me throughout

03:02this ordeal.

03:03Your testimonies have shaken me, and I have drawn the strength to come back every day

03:10to face these long days of audience.

03:13The trial triggered protest rallies around France in support of Giselle Pellicot, who

03:18said she hoped that by making the trial public, she would help other women speak up.

03:24Crowds gathered outside the courthouse in Avignon on Thursday and cheered in response

03:28to the verdict.

03:30It also sparked a broader debate around consent.

03:33Activists are calling for the country's legal definition of rape to be expanded to include

03:38specific mention of it.

03:45Just a few weeks before Donald Trump begins his second term as President of the United

03:49States, EU leaders are meeting in Brussels for their last summit of the year to discuss

03:53how they can help Ukraine if the U.S. withdraws its support.

03:58The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for united support from both sides

04:02of the Atlantic.

04:03Good morning.

04:06We need very much unity between the United States and EU and countries of Europe.

04:14This is very important.

04:15We need this unity to achieve peace.

04:18I think only together the United States and Europe can really stop Putin and save Ukraine.

04:25But trying to do too much too soon might not help Ukraine, whose invasion by Russia will

04:29soon reach its three-year anniversary.

04:32According to the EU's new foreign policy chief, Bashar al-Assad's swift downfall in Syria

04:36is important in this context.

04:39Any push for negotiations too soon will actually be a bad deal for Ukraine.

04:45All the other actors in the world are carefully watching how we act in this case and therefore

04:52we really need to be strong.

04:55Syria shows us that Russia is not invincible and we shouldn't underestimate our own power.

05:01Aside from Ukraine, the EU's 27 leaders will also discuss the situation in Syria.

05:08Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union have initiated a border security agreement

05:14with EU border agency Frontex on Wednesday in Sarajevo, marking a key step towards EU

05:20integration as Brussels holds the EU-Western Balkans summit on the same day, intending

05:26on strengthening EU-Western Balkans integration.

05:29Luigi Soreca, the EU ambassador for Bosnia and Herzegovina, spoke on its importance.

05:35The agreement which is going to be initialed today attests to our partnership, the European

05:42Union and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and to our shared commitment to enhance security, stability

05:49and cooperation in this critical area in Europe.

05:55Director for Schengen borders Henrik Nielsen emphasised the importance of mutual respect

06:01and cooperation in the negotiation process.

06:08We have always listened to each other, we have always taken into account each other's

06:12concerns and that has now brought us here today where we have this fully agreed text

06:17which is really a pleasure for me to note.

06:20This agreement means that Frontex officers will now be deployed at Bosnia's borders helping

06:26identify security needs.

06:28According to officials, the agreement will be signed by the end of February or early

06:33March.

06:38After concluding a visit to Damascus and meeting the new administration, the UN envoy to Syria,

06:43Geir Pedersen, said the country needs a political transition that will be credible and inclusive

06:47for the Syrian society.

06:49According to the envoy, this process should take place under a UN resolution adopted in

06:532015 to help negotiate a political solution in the country.

06:57Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Pedersen also mentioned of forming a new constitution.

07:04There is a lot of hope that we can now see the beginning of a new Syria.

07:09A new Syria that in line with Security Council Resolution 2254 will adopt a new constitution

07:16that will ensure that it is a social contract, a new social contract for all Syrians and

07:23that we will have free and fair elections when that time comes after a transitional

07:29period.

07:30It is not yet clear if Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or HTS, the main former rebel group now in

07:35control of Syria, will pursue such a process.

07:38The group has set up an interim administration comprising members of its Salvation Government.

07:43It will oversee the country until March, but the new ruler, Ahmed al-Shara, have not made

07:47clear how the transition to a new fully empowered government would take place.

07:56Germany worries they will lose thousands of Syrian doctors after the fall of Bashar al-Assad

08:01in Syria, as some German politicians were quick to call for the return of at least some

08:07refugees.

08:08Gerald Gass, head of the German Hospital Federation, says there would be significant issues if

08:14Syrian doctors were to leave all at once.

08:17But assistant paediatric doctor Hiba al-Nayef says that many Syrians now living in Germany

08:40are very well integrated.

08:47Germany became a leading destination for Syrian refugees over the past decade.

09:11They have become a significant part of Germany's healthcare sector, which is currently struggling

09:17to find enough workers.

09:27Germany wants to increase the size of its armed forces up to 230,000 from the current

09:32target of 203,000.

09:35German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced the ambitious plan as he answered questions

09:41in the Bundestag.

09:44Germany currently has 180,000 active personnel, approximately 20,000 short of its current

09:50target.

09:53The German armed forces have been struggling to recruit people for years.

09:58The targets Pistorius wants to set will further complicate an already difficult objective.

10:05Pistorius says the plan to increase the number of permanent staff is to meet NATO's capability

10:10targets.

10:13NATO demanded its members to increase their defense capacities to boost the alliance's

10:17strength following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

10:27More and more Norwegians are facing increased poverty.

10:31The impact is seen at the increasingly long queues for the country's Salvation Army Christmas

10:36aid.

10:38According to their poverty index, one in five Norwegians struggles to make ends meet.

10:44This week, the Salvation Army will distribute food boxes with Christmas food to 1,400 Norwegian

10:49families.

11:01After years of high prices, more people are coming to the Salvation Army for help.

11:07Most people who come to them also receive benefits from the Norwegian Labor and Welfare

11:11Administration.

11:13The charity organization is now making an appeal to the government.

11:18We see that our queues are increasing.

11:22Many more need help, so the challenge is that the social assistance must increase.

11:28Financial struggles during Christmas this year are especially prevalent in families

11:32with children.

11:34Earlier this year, the Norwegian National Institute for Consumer Research released a

11:39report concluding that social assistance should be increased.

Latest news bulletin | December 19th – Evening

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