- 9 minuti fa
Europe Today: Von der Leyen in Lituania, condanna la Russia tra tensioni nel Baltico
Alla vigilia della sua visita di oggi in Lituania, dopo le recenti incursioni di droni nei tre Stati baltici, la presidente della Commissione europea Ursula von der Leyen ha dichiarato: «Le minacce pubbliche della Russia contro gli Stati baltici sono del tutto inaccettabili».
ALTRE INFORMAZIONI : http://it.euronews.com/2026/05/26/europe-today-von-der-leyen-in-lituania-condanna-la-russia-tra-tensioni-nel-baltico
Abbonati, euronews è disponibile in 12 lingue.
Alla vigilia della sua visita di oggi in Lituania, dopo le recenti incursioni di droni nei tre Stati baltici, la presidente della Commissione europea Ursula von der Leyen ha dichiarato: «Le minacce pubbliche della Russia contro gli Stati baltici sono del tutto inaccettabili».
ALTRE INFORMAZIONI : http://it.euronews.com/2026/05/26/europe-today-von-der-leyen-in-lituania-condanna-la-russia-tra-tensioni-nel-baltico
Abbonati, euronews è disponibile in 12 lingue.
Categoria
🗞
NovitàTrascrizione
00:14Buongiorno, è Tuesday 26th May, I'm Maeve McMahan and this is Europe Today.
00:21Your daily update from Brussels on all the news driving the day, live here on Euronews.
00:26Coming up, Russia has struck Ukraine with a hypersonic missile in one of the war's largest attacks on Kyiv so
00:33far.
00:33It comes as concerns rise in the Baltics over an ongoing drone crisis that even brought the Latvian government down
00:39recently.
00:40EU Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen and her defence counterpart Andrius Kobilius are flying to Lithuania today to offer
00:47a united response to the incidents.
00:49And more than 20 towns in France have recorded their hottest May temperatures on record, with extreme early summer heat
00:57reaching 40 degrees Celsius in parts of Spain.
01:00Experts warn that record May highs could still be challenged as the hot spell spreads across Western Europe.
01:06Meanwhile in Spain, fresh allegations targeting former Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
01:13A police raid has exposed pictures of luxury watches, bracelets and necklaces found in his safe.
01:20Zapatero, who insists their inheritance, will appear in court in early June.
01:25But first, ahead of her visit to Lithuania today, the European Commission boss Ursula von der Leyen has said Russia's
01:32public threats against the Baltic states are, quote, completely unacceptable.
01:37Her comments come as Russia says it will intensify strikes on Kyiv, calling on foreign diplomats and civilians to evacuate
01:45the city.
01:45For more on what exactly is going on, we're joined here in the studio by our very own Ukraine correspondent,
01:51Sasha Vakilina.
01:52Good morning. Just tell us first about the importance of the visit of Commission President von der Leyen.
01:56It's very important for her to be there in the Baltics with a clear message that the EU is not
02:00going to back off under Russia's threats,
02:03which have been coming from Moscow regularly over the past couple of weeks.
02:07Just a few days ago, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service accused the Baltic states of Russophobia, threatening them.
02:14Then on Monday, Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, signed officially the bill that practically allows him to invade other countries under
02:20the false pretext of protecting Russian citizens and Russia's speaking population.
02:25Now, mind you, this is exactly the same false pretext which Moscow and Putin used in all of their invasions
02:31of Ukraine back in 2014 with eastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea,
02:35and in 2022 with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine as well.
02:39That's something, these are the threats that we've heard already.
02:41Okay, Sasha Vakilina, thank you so much for that update.
02:45And for more on this, we can now cross over live to Kiev, where Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya joins
02:51us this morning.
02:52Good morning. Thank you so much for joining us this morning during your visit to Ukraine.
02:57And as you heard there, Russia has relentlessly been hitting Ukraine over the weekend with a massive missile and drone
03:02strike.
03:03What does this say, do you think, about any peace efforts to put an end to this war?
03:35Good morning, everybody.
03:37And we're going to talk about the peace and stability into our region.
03:39But this peace deal has to be just and long-lasting, not just, you know, short time for the Russian
03:46troops to regroup and start attacking again.
03:49And attacking again not only Ukraine, but also be our western neighbours.
03:54And indeed, you say you're in Kiev this morning, but Moscow is calling on foreign diplomats and civilians to evacuate
04:01the city, warning of more attacks.
04:02What is the situation there on the ground?
04:05I know two days before it was a harsh attack on Kiev last night where I rather come, but I'm
04:13sure we at any moment can expect the next attack on Ukraine.
04:18It shows that Russia, you know, killing civilians, you know, ruining cities just to put pressure on the Ukrainian government.
04:26But I'm so inspired by Ukrainians, by Ukrainian people, civilians.
04:31They are so strong.
04:33They are not giving up.
04:35And, of course, it's a huge example for other countries, you know, that you have to give to support Ukrainians
04:42in all their aspirations for freedom.
04:45And meanwhile, in quite an unusual move, we've seen France issuing a warning to Belarus not to join Russia's war
04:51in Ukraine.
04:51But my question to you is, can Lukashenko be influenced by anyone except Putin?
04:57Lukashenko and Putin have a symbiotic friendship.
05:00They support each other.
05:01They use each other.
05:02And, of course, it's an illusion that they can be splitted.
05:07Lukashenko is serving to Russia's interests, not to the interests of Belarusian people.
05:11He's ready to betray our sovereignty, our independence, just to stay in power.
05:19So, please, don't think that Lukashenko can be splitted.
05:24He will fulfill all the orders of Putin.
05:27But he's doing this against the will of Belarusian people.
05:31Okay.
05:31And we have seen also Belarus and Russia carrying out military nuclear exercises the other day.
05:36But we'll leave it at that.
05:36Svetlana Tsikhanovskaya, thank you so much for joining us here on Europe Today from Kyiv.
05:42But now, for more insights into what kind of missiles were used by the Kremlin in these latest ferocious attacks,
05:47here's our Jakob Janos.
05:51While most of Europe was unwinding over the long weekend,
05:54this is how millions in Kyiv spanned it.
05:58Russia unleashed a massive bombardment, one of the heaviest in a year,
06:02leaving nearly 90 civilians wounded,
06:05and severely damaging residential blocks across the capital.
06:08But this time, Moscow has deployed its experimental, nuclear-capable Orišnik ballistic missile.
06:14And traveling at nearly 10 times the speed of sound,
06:17its range puts virtually the entire European continent within reach.
06:21So should Europe be worried?
06:23Let's map out the mechanics together.
06:26Whether launch from Russia or fired from Belarus,
06:30the Orišnik flying roughly 3 kilometers per second
06:32can physically strike Warsaw, Berlin, Paris or London in minutes.
06:37And now Moscow claims this weapon is impossible to stop.
06:41Because of its extreme speed,
06:43it is indeed incredibly difficult for current air defenses to shoot it down.
06:48However, military experts point out a key detail.
06:51It still flies in a predictable straight line rather than changing direction mid-flight,
06:56like a typical hypersonic missile,
06:58making it less of a superweapon than the Kremlin claims.
07:02But does Russia really need these massive missiles to rattle the EU?
07:06Not necessarily.
07:07Just last week, the suspected drone incrusions
07:10ground the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius to a halt,
07:13forcing the country's top leadership into underground bunkers.
07:17And it all serves as a reminder that in Europe, war isn't a distant headline.
07:22Moscow uses these cheap gray zone tactics to test European security.
07:26So what is Europe's response?
07:29Berlin is leading the charge as Chancellor Friedrich Merz boost Germany's defense budget
07:33to a historic 108 billion euros this year.
07:37And on the tech front, Anglo-German startup Hypersonica
07:40recently successfully tested Europe's first sovereign hypersonic rocket in Norway.
07:45But in modern defense, it is not about sheer power or distance.
07:48And as the classic philosophy goes, the greatest victories require no battle.
07:53The real strength of these advanced systems lies entirely in deterrence,
07:58ensuring they are never triggered.
08:00But while Europe is building weapons to prevent a war,
08:03Russia is already using them to fight one.
08:10Jakub Yanis there.
08:11Now moving on, the US and Iran say they are on track to finalize the terms of an agreement
08:16to end the Middle East conflict, which could include Lebanon,
08:19where Israel has been waging a war on Hezbollah since the 2nd of March.
08:23But now US forces have since carried out strikes on southern Iran
08:26in what they call our acts of self-defense.
08:29For more on this breaking development, we can bring in your news's Jane Witherspoon,
08:33who's in Dubai for us this morning.
08:36Jane, just tell us, what is the latest?
08:37Because the US are now attacking Iran just as these talks get underway in Qatar.
08:42Good morning. Yes, the US is now using, including airstrikes basically,
08:47into its negotiating arsenal, pretty much to prove that it has the upper hand,
08:52but also, of course, pushing Iran into that deal that they want done on US terms,
08:58which is critical to President Donald Trump.
09:01Now, Iran are still to respond to last night's airstrikes.
09:06Meanwhile, in Qatar, they are firmly denying today reports of talks on releasing
09:11the billions of frozen Iranian funds, which, of course, is a key Iranian demand for peace.
09:18Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the deal with Iran
09:24is still being negotiated in Qatar despite those US strikes.
09:29However, he did say that specific language in the deal may still take a few days.
09:36Okay, Jane Witherspoon, thank you so much for that update.
09:39And, of course, we're reporting extensively on that on our website, uranus.com.
09:43But now we can move on to Hungary, where Prime Minister Petr Maillard is preparing
09:47to visit Brussels this week to seal a deal to unlock those 10.4 billion euros in recovery funds.
09:54They were, of course, frozen over the rule of law breaches
09:56during the previous government of Viktor Orban.
09:59For more, we can bring you now to Budapest and bring in our very own Zoltan Zibo-Shaggy.
10:04Good morning, Zoltan.
10:05So, look, Ursula von der Leyen is calling for tax and pension reforms in exchange for this cash.
10:10But Petr Maillard is not so much in agreement.
10:13How will they work through these issues?
10:16Good morning, Europe, today.
10:18So, actually, the main promise of Petr Maillard during the campaign was to release these EU funds.
10:24and he emphasized several times that they will take home this amount of money till the last cent.
10:30Two days ago, he had a TV interview and he admitted that maybe it will be a little bit difficult
10:36and that they can't get the 100 percent.
10:39But at least they will try.
10:40In the same interview, he told that there will be no holiday for governmental and politicians, workers,
10:48you know, from the parliament, and they will work till the deadline.
10:52Because now the biggest enemy for the government is time.
10:56The deadline is 31st of August.
10:59And what we know so far, what we see so far, that Ursula von der Leyen and Brüssel, of course,
11:04tries to help for the Hungarian government, but they emphasize several times that this is the deadline.
11:10They're not going to postpone it.
11:11And, of course, there are 27 so-called super milestone and they will not skip it.
11:18So, there are some arguments between Brüssel, how you already mentioned the pension and tax reforms.
11:24But we need to look a little bit behind of this.
11:28Because for years, there were campaigns against Brüssel from the Piedis government.
11:32So, even though people voted overwhelmingly for the TISA party,
11:40Peter Magyar has to act a little bit for them and show that he has power against Brüssel.
11:46He can argue with them.
11:47He don't have to say yes for everything.
11:50So, very probably, this is the broken point, what we see right now.
11:55And, of course, we can't forget that still Hungary pays 1 million euros fine because of the migration policy of
12:06Hungary.
12:07So, Brüssel and Ursula von der Leyen sent here three really high delegations.
12:13They have the intention to agree with the Hungarians.
12:16But we have a lot of work to do in Brüssel.
12:20Indeed, Sultan.
12:21Siboshegi, thank you so much for that update and for describing that tightrope that Peter Magyar will have to walk
12:27during his visit to Brussels.
12:28And now for the view from the former Deputy Mayor of Budapest,
12:31who now happens to be the President of the European Committee of Regions right here in Brussels.
12:36We can bring in Catna Tutto.
12:38She's just back from Spain where she received a very prestigious European prize from the Spanish King.
12:43So, congratulations for that.
12:44And thank you for joining us here on the programme.
12:46But first, now that we have you, we have to talk about Hungary.
12:49As the former Deputy Mayor of Budapest, are you confident Hungary will get these funds from the Commission and be
12:54able to take off that 27 super milestones that they have to reach?
12:59Nobody can be confident.
13:00I think what we have to do as Hungarians and the Hungarian government and, of course, all of the authorities,
13:06I'm still in the Budapest City Council, we have to do everything in our power to make it possible.
13:13This is what we can promise, that we will do everything that the money arrives, both cohesion funds and both
13:21the recovery and resiliency funds, both the grants and both the loans.
13:26We have the projects ready.
13:28Budapest contributed a lot with a lot of green transition projects, energy efficiency projects, public transport projects.
13:37So, we try to do our best, but, of course, it's up to cooperation.
13:42Indeed.
13:43And, of course, apart from the recovery funds, as you mentioned, there's 6.3 billion euros in cohesion funds for
13:48regional development that are also frozen.
13:50What impact is that having on the ground there in Hungary?
13:53We are really suffering.
13:55I mean, it's not just Budapest.
13:57Budapest is suffering a lot, but Budapest has been suffering in the past 16 years and especially in the past
14:05years when cohesion funds stopped arriving.
14:08Because, OK, what are we doing from cohesion funds?
14:11We are investing in public transport.
14:14We renovated the metro lines.
14:16We built water protection, flood protection system, clean water, circular economy elements.
14:25So, and, of course, all of our regions, and it's not just the Hungarian regions, all of our European regions
14:32grow and get stronger through cohesion policy.
14:36It's a very important mainstreaming tool of the European Union because how it works, it's a decentralized investment tool.
14:43It is designed by the local authorities, by regions, implemented by the regions, and it helps grow in the common
14:53directions of digital transformation, climate transformation, social cohesion.
14:59It's a very important investment tool, and we suffer a lot by not receiving it.
15:04And just looking ahead, of course, European affairs ministers are gathering in Brussels today for a big battle over the
15:09EU's long-term budget of 1.8 trillion euro.
15:12We know wealthy countries want to shrink it, though.
15:15What's in it now for the regions?
15:16What's your stake here for the Committee of the Regions?
15:19The stake is really high.
15:21We have been very vocal on all of our concerns about the new budget.
15:26OK, what is the big concern?
15:27That what we see, two things that concerns us.
15:31That there is a very big wave of centralization because of this crisis mode.
15:36Because this is what happens when there's a constant crisis.
15:39This is the instinct that you centralize power, you centralize resources.
15:44And this is what we see in the budget.
15:45So traditional, important European policies, like agricultural policy, which is a food security policy.
15:54So it's not just a general agricultural policy.
15:56It is what provides Europe food security so farmers don't stop making food in Europe.
16:03And the other big policy is cohesion policy, which is a decentralized investment policy, which is designed by the regions.
16:13It's a European regional policy.
16:15What's in the new budget?
16:16That the proposal disconnects the cohesion funds from the single market, although they are attached together.
16:24Because the idea is that together we have the market.
16:27We grow together.
16:28We are stronger together.
16:30But how the world manifests itself, if there's no intervention, the strong would get stronger and the weak weaker.
16:38But we want convergence.
16:40We want everybody to grow together.
16:42This is why we reinvest part of the gains of the single market.
16:46This is cohesion policy.
16:47We fight for a stronger cohesion policy.
16:48But of course, not everyone agrees with you.
16:50And that's why the battle is just getting started on that budget.
16:54Cate tutto, we'll have to leave it there.
16:55Thank you so much for joining us here on Europe today.
16:59But now moving on to other news.
17:01In a speech that has gained traction worldwide, Pope Leo has declared war on artificial intelligence,
17:06warning of the dangers surrounding the emerging technology and the threats to society that it poses.
17:11For more on why, the Catholic Church is getting involved here.
17:14We're joined here by our correspondent, Angela Scugins.
17:17So what spurred these remarks from the Catholic Church, Angela?
17:19Good morning, Maeve.
17:20So this could be an act of divine intervention or something a little bit more choreographed.
17:25Pope Leo XIV released his major manifesto, something called the Encyclical, on May 15th.
17:31Now, 145 years ago to that date, a former Pope Leo published his own letter,
17:36which clarifies the position of the Vatican, the Catholic faith, to its billions of followers.
17:41Now, his letter railed against the Industrial Revolution and the harms to society it posed.
17:46Now, this Pope Leo warned of the major technological advancement facing the 21st century AI.
17:52In this letter, he warned against the dangers posed to AI, particularly when it comes to the
17:57battlefield, warning that it can make war easier.
18:01What is very interesting is that the CEO of Anthropic, a major AI company, was in the Vatican
18:07on Monday, listening to this speech.
18:09It's important to point out that Anthropic is in a major legal battle with the U.S. government
18:14regarding its application on the battlefield.
18:16But let's take a listen to Pope Leo regarding his statements.
18:19I've listened to scientists and engineers, to political leaders and public officials,
18:25to parents and teachers.
18:27From this listening, matured a disturbing conviction expressed in Magnifica Humanitas.
18:34artificial intelligence needs to be disarmed, freed from logics that turn it into an instrument
18:43of domination, exclusion, and death.
18:47And the Pope also likened AI to slavery, Angela.
18:50Tell us more about this particular statement.
18:52Yes, so in the 42,000-word document he wrote,
19:07What is clear is that the pontiff wants to be on the front foot when it comes to calling
19:11out AI's potential relationship with slavery.
19:15We're talking about content moderators that have to sift through a large swathe of disturbing
19:20imagery, as well as the children that are often sent to collect critical rare earth minerals
19:25that produce things like our smartphones and our laptops.
19:28What is clear is that the Vatican wants to be on the front foot when it comes to AI,
19:32stating that this should be a tool that serves humanity and not the other way around.
19:36But of course, it's making regulators here in Brussels a bit nervous as they try to regulate,
19:39but also find a way to make this continent more competitive in that field.
19:43Angela Scudin, thank you so much for joining us.
19:45And thank you, of course, for tuning in to us here this morning on Europe Today.
19:48Any comments on any of the stories we're covering or anything that we're missing,
19:52do reach out to Europe Today at Euronews.com.
19:56But in the meantime, stay with us here on Euronews or visit Euronews.com for more news and analysis.
Commenti