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00:00Russia launched a series of missiles towards Ukraine's capital, hours after Putin gave

00:06his end-of-the-year speech.

00:09EU leaders seek to guarantee Ukraine's security ahead of the incoming Trump administration

00:16but say the jury is still out on Syria.

00:21Renovation work continues at Berlin's Kommersant Opera, but what impact will drastic cuts to

00:26the city's culture budget have?

00:32Russia launched a series of ballistic missiles towards the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, killing

00:36at least one person and injuring nine others.

00:40It came right after Russia's President Vladimir Putin gave his end-of-the-year speech, in

00:45which he dismissed a temporary truce with Ukraine.

00:49All drones were reportedly intercepted by Ukrainian forces, but the debris caused widespread

00:54damage and sparked fires in three districts.

00:58The Russian Defense Ministry claimed the attack was a response to an earlier Ukrainian missile

01:03attack on Russia's Rostov border region.

01:15EU leaders met with Ukrainian President Zelensky for a two-day summit in Brussels, where they

01:19sought to guarantee Ukraine's security ahead of the incoming Trump administration.

01:25It's widely expected that Donald Trump will force Europe to take far more of the burden

01:29for its own security, including that of Ukraine's.

01:33But leaders were also clear that this could not mean pushing Ukraine into an unjust ceasefire.

01:39The European Union stands united in its support to Ukraine to win a comprehensive, just and

01:47lasting peace.

01:50Not any peace, not capitulation.

01:54Only Ukraine, as the aggressive country, can legitimately define what peace means and if

02:05and when the conditions are met for credible negotiations.

02:11The EU also gave cautious welcome to the fall of Assad in Syria, but said time will tell

02:16as to whether Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the group which has emerged, will keep up to its claims

02:21that it will respect minorities and act responsibly in the region.

02:27With the fall of Assad for the very first time in a decade, the people of Syria can

02:32hope for a better future, but we all know that for now the jury is still out.

02:39It is too early to say whether the new leadership will be able to deliver what they promise,

02:46whether the territorial integrity will be preserved, national unity will be preserved

02:52and minorities will be protected.

02:57Europe will do its part to support Syria at this critical juncture because we care about

03:03Syria's future.

03:05As much as EU leaders sought to reassure President Zelensky that they would protect Ukraine come

03:09month May, it's clear that the EU is still in a position to wait and see what Donald

03:15Trump will do regarding the fate of Ukraine, the future of Europe and other geopolitical

03:20matters including Syria.

03:22Shona Murray, Euronews, Brussels.

03:28The possibility of a ceasefire has been on the talks lately, but during his press conference

03:32in Brussels, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky quickly killed the idea.

03:37For the Ukrainian, there should be a clear plan on how the day after will look like,

03:41which is something that doesn't exist now.

03:45Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine.

03:50The ceasefire.

03:51We have to understand that we can't live with a frozen conflict.

03:55When it comes to a ceasefire, in any conflict, in any war, people know what will happen next,

04:03how it will end.

04:05You have to know what tomorrow will be in order to make a ceasefire today.

04:11And in another case, you just make a frozen conflict and that's it.

04:15And that's why Ukraine needs security guarantees.

04:18A strong position of Ukraine and security guarantees.

04:22Zelensky praised during his talk the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump.

04:27But he had not such kind words for Vladimir Putin.

04:31I think he's crazy.

04:34I think so.

04:37Really, I think he also thinks that he's crazy.

04:41No, no, it's true.

04:44He loves to kill.

04:48That's very dangerous for everybody.

04:51On February, it will be the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine,

04:54a date arriving at a critical moment for the conflict.

04:59Listen.

05:04Representatives from Germany, Finland and Denmark have boarded a Chinese cargo ship

05:09believed to be connected to the rupture of two data cables in the Baltic Sea in November.

05:15Swedish police and Chinese officials were also part of the inspection of the Ipeng-3 vessel

05:21which is anchored in international waters between Sweden and Denmark.

05:26Denmark's foreign minister said the visit was supposed to take place on Wednesday

05:30but was called off due to bad weather.

05:56The two cables, one running from Finland to Germany

06:00and the other from Lithuania to Sweden, were both damaged in Swedish waters.

06:05The Wall Street Journal reported in November that investigators suspected

06:09the Ipeng-3 had deliberately severed the fiber-optic cables

06:13by dragging its anchor along the seabed.

06:16The Ipeng-3 has been anchored in the Kattegat Sea for a month

06:21The Ipeng-3 has been anchored in the Kattegat Sea for a month

06:24while diplomats in Stockholm and Beijing discussed access to the vessel.

06:29It was being monitored by several vessels including those belonging to the Danish Navy.

06:35Chinese authorities said in November they had no information about the ship

06:39but denied any responsibility for the damage to the cables.

06:43Romania's long-awaited accession to the border-free Schengen area

06:46Romania's long-awaited accession to the border-free Schengen area

06:51is expected to boost the integration process between Romania and Hungary.

06:56The removal of the border checks on the 1st of January will make it easier

07:00for commuters to travel between the two countries.

07:03It was important in the life of Bihar Keresztes that many people moved here.

07:09They bought a house here, they wanted to continue their lives here.

07:14Of course, there are people who move to work,

07:17there are people who take their children to kindergarten and high school.

07:21But a lot of people live here every day.

07:25Hungarian real estate is often significantly cheaper than in Romania.

07:29A vendor in the Romanian city of Oradea said Hungarian real estate

07:33will become even more appealing with travel expected to become easier and faster.

07:40For 15,000 euros you can buy a 250-square-meter house in a half-hectare area.

07:49It has to be renovated, of course.

07:51You can buy it outside for half the price in Hungary.

07:56The difference is that the infrastructure is not built here,

07:59but the infrastructure is already built there.

08:03Many have been waiting a long time for Romania to join the Schengen area.

08:07Well, I think it's been long overdue, honestly.

08:12I think it's finally time that we enter Schengen.

08:15I think it opens a lot of possibilities, especially economical ones.

08:20And I don't know, I'm really looking forward to it,

08:23especially because for me personally it will be nice to not wait at the border for so long.

08:32Unlike Romanians, Hungarians do not cross the border for real estate.

08:36Instead, they go to Romania to go shopping or for cheaper petrol.

08:59The European Commission had already declared Romania ready to join the Schengen area in 2011,

09:05but Austria had been an ardent opponent.

09:08However, last month they finally lifted their long-held veto during a meeting in Budapest.

09:15Berlin's Komischer Opera House is likely to continue renovations

09:19despite drastic culture budget cuts across the city.

09:23The opera house has found a temporary new home at the nearby Schiller Theater,

09:27which has 20% fewer seats than its original home and means fewer ticket sales.

09:32Director Philipp Bröking says that the upcoming budget cuts are extremely painful

09:36and for many theaters difficult to implement.

10:02If the cultural budget cuts 2.5% of the country's total spending,

10:09that would actually be 75 million that could be saved in the cultural budget.

10:13In fact, 130 million would be saved.

10:16That's an overproportional amount.

10:18And for us, that comes to around 10% of our budget,

10:22so that's around 4 million.

10:24It's difficult to implement.

10:27Within a year, that's already completely planned.

10:31Berlin is regarded as extremely progressive and unique

10:34because of its generous art funding.

10:36But even if the renovation of the Komischer Opera,

10:39that is due to take six years, continues,

10:41the budget cuts still affect Germany's image.

11:01We have so many places here,

11:03theater houses, opera houses,

11:05where you can challenge the conditions of human life.

11:09So everything, where you gather,

11:11talk to each other,

11:13talk to each other and above each other,

11:15there are not so many places.

11:17And especially in times when democracy is threatened by the extreme edges,

11:22it is very, very important to reassure yourself

11:26who you are and where you come from.

11:29But it's not just the culture that will be affected by the cuts.

11:33The German economy, which continues to splutter,

11:36could use a little bit of acceleration from the arts and culture,

11:39which brings in tens of millions of euros worth of revenue per year.

Latest news bulletin | December 20th – Evening

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