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00:00Ukraine President Zelensky arrived in Rome on Thursday as part of a European tour aimed
00:06at securing more military and financial support from Western countries as USAID hangs in balance
00:13ahead of the next presidential election in November.
00:16As we know, Ukraine faces its toughest winter since the beginning of the full-scale invasion
00:22in 2022.
00:23Zelensky has had a full schedule in Europe.
00:26Earlier on Thursday, he met with British Prime Minister Starmer and NATO Secretary-General
00:32Mark Rutte in London.
00:34He outlined what has been described as his victory plan to defeat Russian forces.
00:40The plan was expected to be presented at a meeting in Germany this week, but the meeting
00:45was later postponed after US President Joe Biden had to cancel his visit.
00:51But the plan has been pretty much at the center of Zelensky's discussions in European capitals
00:57Later the same day, Zelensky travelled to Paris, where he met with French President
01:02Emmanuel Macron, who reaffirmed France's commitment to support Ukraine.
01:08On Thursday evening, Zelensky arrived here in the Italian capital at around 9pm.
01:14He met with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni.
01:17The two held a bilateral meeting and later joined a press conference, during which Meloni
01:22reiterated Italy's support for Ukraine, both in the military and in the energy sectors.
01:30Zelensky confirmed that he introduced his plan to Giorgio Meloni as well as part of
01:36the plan.
01:37We know that Zelensky is seeking approval to use long-range weapons deep inside Russia.
01:42This has been a controversial topic among countries supporting Ukraine.
01:47We know that Italy's government has been opposing the use of Italian weapons in Russia.
01:53On Friday, Zelensky is scheduled to have an audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican
01:57and later the same day, he is travelling to Germany to meet with German Chancellor Schultz.
02:03Giorgio Arlandi for Euronews in Rome.
02:13The European Union has given the green light to a loan of 35 billion euros to Ukraine.
02:19It will be gradually repaid through interest from frozen Russian assets.
02:23These Russian foreign reserves amount to approximately 270 billion euros, of which 210 billions are
02:29in the EU.
02:31The exceptional profits generated are estimated to yield between 2.5 and 3 billion euros per
02:36year.
02:37An initial agreement reached in June provided for the G7 to collectively provide 45 billion
02:43to Kyiv by the end of the year.
02:45In the end, the EU had to put more money on the table because Washington conditioned its
02:49participation on an extension of the EU sanctions against Moscow.
02:53There is a risk that at some point sanctions against Russian assets will not be extended
03:02because for extension there should be unanimity voting for this and so the future flows of
03:12revenues from Russian assets can be disrupted.
03:16These sanctions are voted on every six months unanimously, but the EU now would like to
03:21renew them only every three years for more stability.
03:25The US is concerned that a member state blocking these sanctions would sabotage the plan.
03:30Hungary has already declared that it will hold back any decision on changes in the sanctions
03:35regime until after the US presidential elections.
03:41The United States, for example, might be considering a supplemental towards the second
03:46half of the year after the elections, but there is no guarantee that that might move
03:50forward.
03:51There's a lot of hesitancy.
03:52In particular, if Donald Trump were to win the election, what might his plans be for
03:58both aid as well as for moving towards a ceasefire?
04:02Kyiv will be free to decide how these funds are used.
04:06The ball is now in the court of the European Parliament, which must give its consent to
04:11the 35 billion euro loan.
04:22The French government unveiled its draft budget plan for 2025 in Paris on Thursday, and it's
04:29quite a touchy subject considering that France's public deficit is expected to reach more than
04:34six percent of its GDP by the end of the year.
04:38That's higher than almost all other EU countries.
04:41And the government's goal is to slash 60 billion euros in 2025 alone.
04:46That's two percent of its GDP.
04:48It's quite an unprecedented amount.
04:50And to do this, the minister of the economy, Antoine Armand, announced an eye-watering
04:5640 billion euros in public spending cuts that will cover pretty much all ministries.
05:01So it's quite an unpopular measure among his own government.
05:05And local territories will also be asked to cut more than five billion euros, which
05:09has caused quite an uproar among France's mayors.
05:13And the rest of the 20 billion euros will come through exceptional and temporary tax
05:18hikes that will concern the wealthiest incomes and also the highest earning corporations.
05:24And the budget plan will also face intense scrutiny from the EU Commission that formally
05:29warned France back in June of its excessive public spending.
05:35And although the government claimed it's open to debate, well, the current fragmented
05:39political landscape could push Prime Minister Michel Barnier to adopt the text without a
05:44vote using the controversial Article 49.3 of the French Constitution.
05:49Sofia Katsenkova reporting from Paris for Euronews.
05:58Addressing issues related to family and demography will be at the center of the upcoming European
06:03Congress on Family, organized by the ISIA party in Croatia.
06:07In a briefing held in Rome, the party's Secretary General Antonio Giordano, alongside representatives
06:13of Brothers of Italy, explained the focus of the event and why these topics are central
06:18to the Conservatives' political agenda.
06:50A total of 300 delegates from around the world will attend the event, among them representatives
07:01from various right-wing forces.
07:04The ICR's party mission is to strengthen ties among Conservatives around shared values,
07:09acting as a mediator among different parties.
07:39Family and the fight against the demographic crisis gripping Europe have long been central
07:47to the ICR and FDI's political agenda.
08:05Giorgio Orlandi for Euronews in Rome.
08:09Hundreds of students in Budapest have been taught how to protect themselves against online
08:16fraud at a cyber-fest event organized by the police.
08:21Secret service officers showed young people how to be aware of the risks posed by hackers
08:25and some influencers.
08:26In the National Cyber Security Institute's area, one of the main lessons was that if
08:49you connect to public Wi-Fi networks, your data can easily be stolen with a device that
08:54anyone can legally buy.
09:19Although the tasks were mostly playful, the dangers of cybercrime are very real and young
09:24people aren't the only targets.
09:49Representatives of the Greek tourism sector are not concerned for over-tourism, but do
09:59believe mass tourism during peak periods could lead to over-concentration.
10:04They say popular tourist destinations need to be regulated in a way that protects the
10:08environment, local communities and the tourists themselves.
10:13The shipwreck on Navagio Beach is an example of such a destination, attracting 1.5 million
10:18visitors annually.
10:39Tour operators could promote alternative destinations, but such efforts would require additional
10:46and public infrastructure.
11:13To increase sustainability, Greek hoteliers introduced the Greek Breakfast Initiative,
11:18offering locally-sourced products.
11:222024 is expected to be another record year for Greece.
11:4135 million tourists are expected to have visited by the end of this year, almost three
11:45times the number of the country's own residents.