00:00German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in a letter to EU leaders has suggested Ukraine should become an associate member before becoming
00:08a fully-fledged member state.
00:10Lithuania's Defense Minister Robertus Kaunas told Euronews that Europe must be prepared for the high probability of drone incursions.
00:20A report by the European Commission stated the EU economy has been worsened by the conflict in the Middle East
00:26and the economic growth forecast will drop.
00:30German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has suggested Ukraine should become an associate member of the EU before becoming a fully-fledged
00:39member state,
00:40a proposal aimed at breaking the two-year deadlock in the country's bid to join the bloc.
00:46In a letter to EU leaders, Merz said,
00:49It is now time to boldly move on with Ukraine's EU integration through innovative solutions.
00:57Merz noted it was obvious the EU will not be able to complete the accession process shortly given the political
01:05complexities of ratification processes in various member states.
01:09The associate status, Merz argues in the document, would grant Ukraine access to the decision-making bodies,
01:17the European Council, the European Commission, and the European Parliament without voting rights or a dedicated portfolio.
01:25Crucially, it would enable Kyiv to request aid from other member states in the event of a new Russian attack.
01:32Merz first floated the idea during an informal summit of EU leaders in Cyprus last month
01:39where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed his push for fast-track accession
01:45and rejected any proposal for symbolic membership.
01:50According to Merz, the proposal of associate membership, which has no precedent in history,
01:55is set to raise a couple of questions.
02:02A day after Lithuania's capital of Vilnius was under a drone incursion and people were warned to take cover,
02:10Lithuania's Defence Minister Robertus Kaunas told Euronews that Europe must be prepared for the high probability that more will come.
02:19In the past three weeks, the region has seen at least half a dozen similar incidents.
02:26Kaunas says Lithuania is already increasing its air defence.
02:30We are investing a lot in our air defence capabilities.
02:34New radars are coming. Part of them are already in Lithuania.
02:38Interceptor drones, air defence experts from Ukraine arriving to Lithuania to help us enhance our air defence capabilities.
02:50Kaunas says that Lithuania needs to invest 5.3% of its GDP in its national defence,
02:58the highest amount among all NATO countries.
03:00Wednesday's drone incursion, which was a possible Ukrainian drone jammed by Russia,
03:06was the first major alert that sent residents and political leaders in a EU and NATO capital rushing to shelters
03:14since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
03:21Israel began deporting hundreds of activists on Thursday after they were captured in international waters near Cyprus and detained in
03:29Israel.
03:30The activists were part of the global Sumud flotilla that had set sail to attempt to breach Israel's naval blockade
03:36of Gaza.
03:37Italians that were part of the flotilla described details of mistreatment and violence as they arrived in Rome.
03:43When they brought us on the prison船, I was caught up from the beginning.
03:49So when I came out of this container of entrance, I found the others,
03:57also people who were caught up a lot more than me.
04:00There were people who did not stand up.
04:02To go to the bathroom, there were chemical baths, and they needed to accompany them in two.
04:08Even as the activists were released, international condemnation continued to pour in after a video shared by Israeli National Security
04:16Minister,
04:16Itamar Ben-Gavir, showed him taunting the detained activists who were handcuffed and kneeling.
04:22Insisto, ese tratamiento es monstruoso, es indigno, es un inhumano.
04:29Exijo disculpas públicas a Israel.
04:32He convocado urgentemente al Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores a la encargada de negocios de Israel
04:38para trasladarle todo nuestro rechazo, toda nuestra repulsa y toda nuestra repugnancia
04:44por ese trato absolutamente abominable e inaceptable.
04:51Italy, Ireland and Spain have called on the EU to sanction Ben-Gavir over the video
04:56showing the alleged mistreatment of the activists, many of whom are European citizens.
05:06U.S. Special Envoy to Greenland, Jeff Landry, is visiting the island for the first time since his appointment in
05:12December.
05:13And since a crisis over U.S. President Donald Trump's desire to annex the territory shook the NATO alliance earlier
05:19this year.
05:20While Trump backed down from his threats to seize Greenland,
05:24Landry says Washington needs to rebuild its presence in the Danish Autonomous Territory.
05:28I think it's time for the U.S. to put its footprint back on Greenland.
05:33I think that you're seeing the president talk about increasing national security operations
05:40and repopulating certain bases in Greenland.
05:44And I certainly will be sending that message back to the president
05:47that everyone that I've talked to here in Greenland would love to see the U.S. repopulate those bases.
05:53Trump has repeatedly argued the United States needs to control Greenland because of national security concerns,
05:59claiming that if it does not, the island risks falling into the hands of China or Russia.
06:04It is also believed to have untapped rare earth minerals.
06:08To calm Trump and address his concerns, a U.S.-Danish-Greenlandic working group was set up in January.
06:14During his visit, Landry met with Greenlandic officials, including Prime Minister Jens Frederick Nielsen,
06:20who said on Monday that the talks were constructive but noted there was no sign that anything has changed in
06:25the U.S. position.
06:27He said it was important the working group find a solution.
06:30A 1951 defense pact updated in 2004 already allows Washington to ramp up troop deployments
06:37and military installations on the island, provided it informs Denmark and Greenland in advance.
06:45Russia says it has delivered nuclear munitions to field storage facilities in Belarus as part of major nuclear drills.
06:54Authorities on both sides released what they described as, quote,
06:58video evidence, a clip showing military vehicles driving into a forested area at an undisclosed location
07:06and missiles being loaded onto launchers.
07:10The Belarus Defense Ministry said the video shows the delivery of nuclear munitions to field storage points
07:17in the operational area of a missile unit in the country as part of military exercises.
07:24The three-day nuclear drills which started on Tuesday are taking place across Russia and Belarus,
07:30at a time when the Baltic states continue to be rattled by repeated drone incidents.
07:36On Tuesday, Russia's defense ministry announced that the exercises, which ran until Thursday,
07:43involved 64,000 military personnel and 7,800 pieces of equipment.
07:50Ukraine Security Service said on Thursday that in response to the drills,
07:55Kyiv is stepping up security measures in the northern regions to prevent Russian and Belarusian forces
08:02from infiltrating border areas and carrying out, quote, sabotage and terrorist acts.
08:12The European Union has vowed to stand firm with its strategy to squeeze Russia's war economy
08:18as the United Kingdom scrambles to reassure its allies that its latest decisions fall short of lifting sanctions.
08:25London caused confusion on Tuesday when it published an open-ended license
08:29allowing the imports of diesel and jet fuel made from Russian crude and other countries,
08:34such as Turkey and India, where the oil is purchased at discounted prices.
08:39A separate license was also made available, which enables the provision of short-term service contracts
08:45with Russia's Sakhalin II and Yamal LNG projects until January 2027.
08:51The publication caught Brussels by surprise, who refrained from commenting on their allies' move,
08:57but stressed their continued commitment to banning Russian energy.
09:00We remain committed to our sanctions on imports of Russian oil and gas,
09:09and we need to reiterate the call for Russians not to be benefiting from the ongoing conflict in the Middle
09:25East.
09:25It's too ironic.
09:27The UK, however, sought to portray the debacle as a case of bad communication.
09:32What we announced yesterday was a strong new package of new sanctions,
09:37going well beyond existing sanctions.
09:41So it's a new package.
09:42This includes new bans on maritime services on LNG,
09:47and new bans on refined oil products from Russia.
09:50We also issued two targeted short-term licenses to phase the new sanctions in and to protect UK consumers.
10:00Ukraine said it was clarifying with the UK what the new move would entail,
10:05noting that it was concerned with the added revenues it may generate for Moscow's budget.
10:10The news from London also comes just one day after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant confirmed
10:16Washington will extend its waiver on Russian oil at sea for the third time this year.
10:25The EU economy has downgraded its economic growth forecast for 2026 from a 1.4% rise in GDP to
10:341.1%.
10:35A report by the European Commission stated the EU economy has been worsened by the conflict in the Middle East
10:43and a resulting surge in energy prices.
10:46Meanwhile, EU inflation is predicted to reach 3.1% this year due to the disruption around the Strait of
10:54Hormuz,
10:55one of the world's key oil and gas shipping routes.
10:58The report said that before the end of February,
11:01the EU economy was expected to keep growing moderately as inflation continued to fall.
11:07EU officials say the shock recalls Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine
11:13and warned that Europe's dependence on imported fossil fuels leaves it highly vulnerable,
11:19but that thanks to years of investment in renewable energy,
11:23the bloc is better prepared to face the crisis.
11:26The Commission also warned that shortages of refined oil products, fertilizers,
11:32and other industrial inputs could lead to the increase of food and manufacturing costs across Europe.
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