Latest news bulletin | December 18th, 2025 – Morning - video Dailymotion

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00:00The EU is facing two major decisions to be made this week.

00:04European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the upcoming summit talks as pivotal for Europe.

00:11Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni backed France and agreed it is too early to seal the EU-Megosur deal.

00:20Greek MEP Nikos Papas has been suspended from left-leaning party Syriza and will be referred to the Ethics Committee

00:25after he allegedly attacked a journalist at a bar in Strasbourg.

00:30The UK issued a license to allow the funds from the 2.8 million euro sale of Chelsea Football Club to be transferred to a Ukraine fund.

00:41This week, the European Union is facing two major decisions that could shape its global image.

00:48First, it must decide how it can keep Ukraine economically afloat and able to withstand Russian aggression.

00:53Secondly, it must choose whether to seal a free trade deal with the South American Mercosur countries.

01:01European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the upcoming summit talks as pivotal for Europe's security and independence

01:08and warned of the dangers of the rapidly shifting world order.

01:13Europe must be responsible for its own security.

01:17This is not longer an option.

01:20This is a must.

01:22And we know the threats that we face and we will confront them.

01:31This means we need to be ready.

01:35We have to develop and deploy new capabilities so that we can fight a modern hybrid war.

01:41Here again, we are moving mountains.

01:44After decades of underinvestment, we are turning a corner.

01:49The two crucial talking points have resulted in division within the bloc.

01:54On Ukraine, von der Leyen is in favor of using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine's reparation loan.

02:00But Belgium remains unconvinced and continues to demand for the risks to be equally distributed between EU countries.

02:06And on the Mercosur trade deal, which needs the backing of the majority of member states,

02:12some countries remain undecided like Italy or have voiced their opposition like France.

02:22Italy's Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni backed France and agreed it is too early to seal the EU-Mercosur deal.

02:30Meloni clarifies that this does not mean Italy intends to block or oppose the agreement,

02:34but rather seeks to improve it.

02:37The Mercosur trade deal was struck by the European Commission in 2024 with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

02:45EU farmers argue that it would expose them to unfair competition,

02:50while supporters of the deal say it would unlock new markets vital for the EU economy.

02:56European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was hoping to finalize the deal this month

03:01and plan to travel to Brazil to sign it.

03:03However, this is not possible without the approval of all member states first.

03:09France, Hungary, Poland and Austria have opposed the deal,

03:13with France leading the opposition,

03:15calling for stronger safeguards to protect farmers from unfair competition,

03:19as well as a reciprocity clause that would require Mercosur products

03:23to meet the same production standards as within the EU.

03:26The EU member states are due to vote on the deal this week,

03:30but France sought to delay this to the new year.

03:38Greek MEP Nikos Popas has been suspended from left-leaning party Syriza

03:42and will be referred to the Ethics Committee

03:44after he allegedly attacked a journalist at a bar in Strasbourg.

03:48In a statement, Syriza president Sokratis Famelos said the MEP had also been expelled

03:56from the party's group in the European Parliament.

03:58The journalist Nikos Yanopoulos, a reporter for Greece's News 24-7 website,

04:07said he was attacked by Popas on Tuesday evening.

04:10He claimed that Popas deliberately tripped him

04:15and subsequently hit him twice on the head from behind

04:18as he was leaving the bar.

04:22Yanopoulos filed a complaint with Strasbourg authorities on Wednesday.

04:26Joining the EU is Kosovo's destiny.

04:36President Vio Sausmani told Euronews morning show Europe today,

04:39emphasizing its complete alignment with the bloc's values.

04:42In fact, as an identity, as a country, as a nation,

04:46we've been contributing to the values on which the European Union stands for centuries.

04:49So we strongly believe that, while it's a very complex process,

04:54if the merit-based criteria is used,

04:57Kosovo actually would have been a front-runner by now.

04:59Kosovo applied for EU membership in December 2022,

05:03but holds only potential candidate status.

05:06Its path to accession is complicated by non-recognition from five EU states

05:10and the need for a political agreement with Serbia,

05:14which refuses to recognize the independence of its former province,

05:18declared in 2008.

05:19Meanwhile, Russia and China have sought to expand their influence in the Western Balkans.

05:24The European Union, if the transatlantic relationship

05:27is not, of course, having its influence in the Western Balkans,

05:32someone else will come, not for charity,

05:34but because they have strategic interests there.

05:37In this year's assessment of candidate countries,

05:39the European Commission praised Kosovo's commitment to EU accession,

05:44but noted that elections and political deadlock delayed reforms.

05:47Kosovo has recently been mired in a political crisis

05:51after parties repeatedly failed to form a government following the February vote.

05:56It will hold snap parliamentary elections on the 28th of December.

05:59The European Union and United Kingdom have finalized a deal

06:08to reintegrate British students into the Erasmus Plus scheme in 2027.

06:12It takes place seven years after the UK formally left the EU,

06:18including all its institutions and bodies.

06:21The British government had been under considerable pressure from student bodies,

06:25including universities, to rejoin Erasmus Plus.

06:28Yet a history of proportionately lower take-up by British students studying in the EU

06:33made the British government reluctant.

06:36More than 100,000 people from the UK are likely to benefit from the programme in 2027,

06:42according to the British government.

06:44The deal is being held in London as a step towards greater EU-UK relations,

06:49but the recent failure to agree on UK involvement in the Safe Defence Fund

06:53has critics complaining about a piecemeal approach to Europe.

06:57The United Kingdom issued a licence to allow the funds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club

07:09to be transferred to humanitarian causes in Ukraine.

07:13Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich sold Chelsea in 2022 under pressure from the British government.

07:19The funds from the sale have since then been frozen.

07:22UK's Prime Minister Keir Starmer is now allowing him to use the money,

07:26but only to help Ukraine.

07:29Under the new licence, proceeds must be directed to humanitarian causes in Ukraine,

07:35but future gains may be spent more broadly on victims of conflicts worldwide.

07:40The UK sanctioned Abramovich in a crackdown on Russian oligarchs

07:45after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022,

07:49which had triggered the rushed sale of the English Premier League Football Club.

07:53The UK government has now promised to establish a foundation to disperse the funds

07:58headed by the former head of UNICEF UK.

08:05Police in Spain have cleared an abandoned school north of Barcelona,

08:09where around 400 mostly undocumented migrants were living.

08:12Many sub-Saharan migrants from countries such as Senegal and Gambia

08:19had occupied the empty building in Badalona town since 2023.

08:26Badalona's mayor, Javier Garcia Alveol, known for his anti-immigration stance,

08:31announced the eviction on social media.

08:34Most residents left ahead of Wednesday's winter operation,

08:37but lawyers warn many will now end up sleeping on the streets.

08:42Local authorities must offer access to social services,

08:46though they are not obliged to find housing for everyone.

08:51Community groups say a wider housing crisis is forcing even people with work permits

08:55into unsafe squads.

08:56The Louvre Museum will remain partially closed this Wednesday

09:08as employees voted to extend a strike.

09:11Union workers are protesting what they call untenable working conditions,

09:15including understaffing as well as recent management decisions.

09:19We would like to have more employees in our museum.

09:25That's our first revendication.

09:31So, more employees.

09:34We would like our direction takes really care of the building

09:41and of the security of our museum.

09:44And we would like our direction

09:50to quit the difference of prices to enter in our museums.

09:59The culture ministry had sought to ease tensions

10:02by announcing several measures.

10:04However, unions argue that these commitments fall short

10:07and instead call for long-term guarantees.

10:10On Monday, the Louvre didn't open as usual,

10:13leaving visitors, some who had travelled long distances

10:16during the busy end-of-year period,

10:18standing in front of the museum's closed doors.

10:21On Wednesday, the museum said visitors entered the building again

10:24but were limited to a certain route.

10:30The suspected gunman in Sydney's Bondi Beach Massacre

10:34was charged with 59 offences on Wednesday,

10:37including 15 counts of murder

10:39and one count of committing a terrorist act.

10:41Police said 24-year-old Navid Akram was charged

10:45after waking from a coma in a Sydney hospital,

10:48where he has been since police shot him

10:50and his gunman father, who died at the scene.

10:54Akram was also charged with 40 counts of causing harm

10:57with intent to murder in relation to the wounded

11:00and with placing an explosive near a building

11:03with intent to cause harm.

11:04The charges came as funerals began

11:07for the 15 victims of the massacre

11:09that targeted an event to mark the start

11:12of an eight-day Hanukkah festival at Bondi Beach.

11:15Hundreds of mourners gathered to honour the victims,

11:18all of whom identified so far were Jewish.

11:21They ranged in age from a 10-year-old girl

11:24to an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor.

11:26A heavy police presence was visible on nearby streets,

11:30with officers checking identification cards

11:33of people making their way to the service.

11:36Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vowed to take action

11:39to fight rising anti-Semitism

11:41and tighten the country's already strict gun laws.

Latest news bulletin | December 18th, 2025 – Morning

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