Latest news bulletin | February 12th – Morning - video Dailymotion

euronews (in English)

Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.

Transcript

00:00Leaders of Austria's FBÖ and ÖVP met with President Alexander Van der Bellen after coalition

00:07talks seemed to stall.

00:11The European Union will respond to the 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminium imposed

00:16by U.S. President Donald Trump.

00:19U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance warned against what he called excessive regulation of AI

00:26at the AI Action Summit in Paris.

00:35Leaders of Austria's far-right FBÖ and conservative ÖVP met with President Alexander Van der

00:40Bellen on Tuesday after coalition talks seemed to stall.

00:45Critical voices from the ÖVP raised increasing doubts throughout the day about a successful

00:49conclusion of the talks.

00:52FBÖ's Herbert Kickl and ÖVP's Christian Stocker met at separate times with the President

00:57at his office in Vienna's Hofburg.

01:00Ahead of Tuesday's talks, Kickl still seemed positive.

01:21Points of conflict include the suspension of the right of asylum demanded by the FBÖ

01:33as well as Kickl's critical stance towards the European Union.

01:37Earlier, other parties that gained seats in the parliamentary election told the ÖVP it

01:42should end coalition talks with the FBÖ.

01:50The European Union will respond to the 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imposed by

01:55U.S. President Donald Trump.

01:59The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has assured in a statement

02:03that unjustified tariffs on the EU will not go unanswered and will be met with firm and

02:08proportionate countermeasures.

02:12According to von der Leyen, the EU will act to defend its economic interests and protect

02:16its workers and businesses.

02:20Von der Leyen has not yet specified how the EU will defend itself against U.S. tariffs.

02:25However, her message has received support from a large number of MEPs, but not the Patriots

02:31for Europe, who believe the Green Deal is partly to blame.

02:34I want to protect our oil producers, tomato producers, our fishing sector, the onion

02:42and steel, aluminum and cars.

02:45And what the von der Leyen Commission has done is to leave our people helpless.

02:49This is what we want.

02:50What is the best measure?

02:52Let those who govern take it.

02:53But in any case, let's not take measures that harm our people.

02:58In 2018, Brussels responded to Trump's tariffs with similar measures on U.S. steel and aluminium,

03:04something that could be done again.

03:12U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance warned against what he called excessive regulation of AI

03:18at the AI Action Summit in Paris on Tuesday.

03:22Vance's address challenged Europe's regulatory approach to artificial intelligence and its

03:26moderation of content on big tech platforms, saying it would cripple the fast-growing industry.

03:34We invite your countries to work with us and to follow that model if it makes sense for

03:38your nations.

03:40However, the Trump administration is troubled by reports that some foreign governments are

03:46considering tightening the screws on U.S. tech companies with international footprints.

03:51Now, America cannot and will not accept that, and we think it's a terrible mistake, not

03:57just for the United States of America, but for your own countries.

04:00European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that Europe will mobilize

04:05200 billion euros for investment in artificial intelligence.

04:09She stressed that AI is a force for good as long as its benefits are widespread and

04:14accessible to all.

04:16The summit underscores a three-way race for AI supremacy, Europe striving to regulate

04:21and invest, China expanding access through state-backed tech giants and the U.S. under

04:26Trump prioritizing a hands-off approach.

04:35During the weekend's cut from the Russian power grid, electricity prices in the Baltic

04:40region have started to rise rapidly.

04:43This is due to low wind, no sun and the increase in gas prices.

04:50Over the weekend, Estonia switched off from the Russian grid and hooked up to the European

04:55system.

04:56Since then, the price of electricity in Estonia has started to climb.

05:04Experts say the price hike is mainly due to less wind, higher electricity consumption

05:09due to colder weather and a slight increase in gas price.

05:13However, there are also fewer connections than usual in the Baltic region.

05:20An underwater cable between Lithuania and Sweden was damaged by an anchor and put out

05:25of service.

05:26If it were operational, prices would be significantly cheaper.

05:34Female genital mutilation is a reality in Europe.

05:46600,000 girls and women, mainly from Africa and Asia, have been subjected to it.

05:53Worldwide, the figure is around 230 million.

05:57FGM refers to the partial or total removal of female external genitals for non-medical

06:03reasons.

06:04Different ways of preventing this form of gender-based violence were explored at a conference

06:09held in the European Parliament.

06:10It would be wrong to say FGM is made in Europe.

06:13FGM can happen anywhere.

06:16People can have it done in their countries before they move over.

06:19People can be imported back to their countries to go and get cut.

06:23Some families are importing even the older cutters from their country to come and get

06:28cut in Europe.

06:29It can happen anywhere.

06:32That's the bottom line.

06:33It's a very harmful practice.

06:34It can happen anywhere.

06:35It needs to be eradicated.

06:39But despite progress being made in breaking the taboo, there is still a long way to go.

06:45Superstitions and social pressure remain deeply rooted in some societies, and families who

06:51oppose this practice risk ostracization.

06:54I do think that we are starting to really wake up and to know that that's something

07:02about it is wrong.

07:04Maybe not everyone, not every girl knows what specifically is wrong about it, but a lot

07:10of them, if not all of them, don't want this practice to be done to them.

07:14Given the scale of the issue, this Italian MEP calls for raising awareness on this subject

07:19in Europe, especially among education and health care workers.

07:23We absolutely need to train health care workers, because in the emergency room, in the hospitals,

07:31in the daily care by specialists, it is necessary to recognize the signs of violence, to report

07:40it and allow the woman not to be alone, and therefore to better face her health security,

07:45but also her safety, tranquility and psychological serenity.

07:49Last year, the EU adopted a directive that requires Member States to include FGM as a

07:55specific criminal offence in their penal codes.

08:02Hundreds of migrants were rescued off the coast of the Canary Islands.

08:07Most of the 389 migrants were men, but there were also 46 women and 5 minors on board,

08:14according to local authorities.

08:17Five of the rescued boats were heading to Lanzarote, while two were heading to the island

08:21of El Hierro.

08:23More than 43,000 migrants arrived to the Canary Islands in 2024, a record-breaking figure.

08:30Last year, European politics took a turn to the right, particularly after EU elections

08:35in June.

08:37As such, many EU Member States have started to update their migration policies, just as

08:42migration also comes to the top of the European Council's agenda.

08:47In a letter to EU Member States, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

08:51proposed speeding up the return of asylum seekers and opening detention centres in third

08:56countries.

09:01With the deportation debate fuelling polarisation in Germany ahead of the snuff election in

09:06less than two weeks, both established political and populist parties are promising quicker

09:12deportations and stricter migration controls.

09:16Christian Democratic Union interior politician Christoph de Vries says the current EU deportation

09:22model is dysfunctional and says change is urgently needed.

09:30The deportations are not working in any EU Member State that is truly satisfactory.

09:37And that leads us in the CDU to the realization that we have to stop the illegal immigration

09:43to Germany, but above all to Europe as a whole.

09:46Because we see how difficult the deportations are.

09:50And once people have arrived, the legal and actual hurdles for deportation are so great

09:56that we will never be able to do it as satisfactorily as it would be necessary and desirable.

10:03According to figures from the German Interior Ministry, 60% of deportations fail in Germany

10:09every year.

10:10The German Police Union say there aren't enough detention spaces to carry out deportations

10:15properly.

10:16We have to work in a European way.

10:18That means we have to get all countries in the European Union on the same page so that

10:23we ultimately have the same procedure, the same conditions for all people who apply for

10:29asylum and ultimately protection.

10:31We need a clear distribution key for everyone and we have to protect our European external

10:36borders much better.

10:37Here we need front-ex, which have to be heavily stocked, which protect the European external

10:42borders with the respective countries in order to ultimately not endanger the freedom of

10:47travel within Europe.

10:48Legal expert Daniel Theim says the system doesn't work because of poor inter-agency

10:53cooperation and high levels of cases.

11:18Live Stroud, in Berlin, for Euronews.

Latest news bulletin | February 12th – Morning

Category

Transcript

Recommended