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00:00Newly revealed declassified information suggests a state actor may have been behind Georgescu's
00:07campaign.
00:11France's prime minister will submit his resignation to the country's president after being ousted
00:15by a no-confidence vote in parliament.
00:24Parliament demonstrations carried out for a sixth night in a row on Wednesday in Georgia's
00:29capital Tbilisi.
00:31Protesters showed no sign of backing down amid water cannons and arrests by riot police.
00:38The opposition is calling for new elections following the October 26 vote, which has been
00:42labelled as fraudulent.
00:44The election that returned Georgian Dream to power was also criticised by President
00:49Salome Zurabichvili.
00:50The ruling party's latest decision to pause EU accession has worsened the situation.
01:01Opposition parties in South Korea submitted a motion on Wednesday to impeach President
01:06Yun Suk-hyeol after he imposed a martial law.
01:11The law was lifted just hours after the president announced it, following mass protests and
01:16parliament opposition.
01:21Lawmakers that had managed to defy security forces and enter parliament unanimously voted
01:26against the law.
01:30Impeaching Yun would require the support of two-thirds of the parliament and the backing
01:34of at least six constitutional court judges.
01:38Voting is set for Friday or Saturday.
01:42Officials are also mounting for members of Yun's cabinet to resign.
01:48If Yun is impeached, he'll be stripped of his constitutional powers until the court
01:52can rule on his fate.
01:58The Romanian political scene embattled second round of the presidential elections have been
02:03thrown in disarray by the Romanian presidency decision to unseal the intelligence agency's
02:09reports indicating a foreign interference in the elections in favor of far-right candidate
02:15Kalin Georgescu.
02:17Romania's foreign intelligence service states in the released documents that Romania is
02:23the target of aggressive hybrid actions by the Russian Federation.
02:28The dramatic move by the Romanian state to release the National Security Council's secret
02:33documents showed that major sums of money together with an elaborate foreign operation
02:40on social media influencing lead to the unexplained rise of the obscure extremist candidate Kalin
02:46Georgescu.
02:47The secret documents from three Romanian intelligence agencies details that 797 TikTok accounts
02:55created in 2016 for Georgescu and left dormant were activated to maximum capacity two weeks
03:03before the elections.
03:06Telegram accounts created in 2022 coordinated the TikTok and offer operations in favor of
03:13Kalin Georgescu who called himself an independent candidate with zero campaign spending.
03:20The documents which list a wide array of show that 1 million euros were mobilized by
03:26foreign state actors to drive Georgescu's campaign and the TikTok LHD confirmed that
03:32it received over 300,000 euros from Kalin Georgescu campaign.
03:38But Georgescu always maintained that he did not spend one euro for his campaign which
03:45opens the door to allegation and investigation of illegal campaign financing.
03:51The major question following now is the fate of the second round of the presidential elections,
03:57the light of these revelations.
03:59For Euronews, Andrea Gourban.
04:06Barely in and already out, French Prime Minister Michel Barnier will formally resign to French
04:11President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday morning.
04:15Following a no-confidence motion which toppled his government the night before.
04:19After your fall, sooner or later there will be a budget for the state.
04:24The Prime Minister must submit to the President of the Republic the resignation of the government.
04:29The work of the National Assembly is up to date.
04:33Barnier pushed through the 2025 budget without parliamentary approval, saying it was necessary
04:39amid deep political divisions.
04:42Yet the proposed austerity budget only deepened those divisions and inflamed tensions.
05:02Both the left and right wing of France's National Assembly united in favour of Wednesday's
05:08no-confidence vote.
05:13French President Emmanuel Macron will speak Thursday evening in an attempt to set a course
05:18at a time of rare political uncertainty.
05:25Chancellor Olaf Scholz battled questions from German MPs in the Bundestag on Wednesday,
05:31ahead of the vote of confidence.
05:35Chancellor Olaf Scholz battled questions from German MPs in the Bundestag on Wednesday,
05:41ahead of the vote of confidence that the Chancellor has called for December 16th.
05:46Scholz has drawn the line at sending German soldiers into Ukraine after the foreign ministers
05:52suggested that peacekeeping troops could be stationed in a demilitarised zone if a ceasefire
05:58between Russia and Ukraine was agreed.
06:01The Chancellor was gruelled about the shrinking economy, which has continued to deteriorate
06:05over the past three years, while Scholz has been in power due to repercussions stemming
06:10from Covid and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which have arguably been outside
06:15the government's control.
06:17While Scholz said that he would continue to work on policies over the next couple of months
06:21ahead of the vote scheduled for February, it's clear that he's already in full election
06:26campaign mode.
06:28Liv Stroud, in Berlin, for Euronews.
06:41It's quite a commotion for a former EU Justice Commissioner to be subject to an investigation
06:47by the Belgian authorities for money laundering.
06:50Didier Reynders is suspected of having bought tickets of the national lottery, for which
06:55he was responsible during his term as finance minister, and transferring the laundered profits
07:00to his private account.
07:02Could these alleged misdeeds undermine the credibility of the European institutions?
07:08Is the Commissioner responsible for justice and the rule of law?
07:14So if he is implicated in money laundering or illegal activity, that would be a particular
07:21blow.
07:22On the other hand, he is now out.
07:25There is a new Commission that started its work just this Monday, so it's also a bit
07:31in a way the problem is already solved as far as the EU institutions are concerned.
07:38As Justice Commissioner from 2019 to 2024, Reynders led the fight back against democratic
07:44decline in Hungary and Poland, during which EU funds for these countries were temporarily
07:49suspended.
07:52I was a member of the LIBE Commission.
07:54Many times Commissioner Reynders was on it.
07:57He spread fake news about allegedly broken rule of law in Poland.
08:02He demanded blocking of funds for Poland.
08:05Today, I as a Pole and the people in Poland perceive the Reynders situation as a peculiar
08:11hiccup from history.
08:13The allegations span a period of several years and date back to his time as Belgian Federal
08:17Minister for Finance and later for Foreign Affairs.
08:20The investigation was opened last year, but the authorities waited with their raids until
08:24the end of his EU mandate.
08:26Five years ago, a former Belgian intelligence officer accused Reynders of corruption and
08:30money laundering in connection with various projects, including arms deals.
08:34At the time, the accusations were dismissed for lack of evidence.
08:42The European Commission was unaware of the investigation into the alleged money laundering
08:46by former European Commissioner Didier Reynders.
08:49The Belgian politician was Commissioner for Justice until last Saturday.
08:53So first of all, did you have any indications that Mr. Reynders was engaging in any malpractice
08:58during his mandate?
09:00We do not have any further information about this matter.
09:03Of course, if the Belgian authorities were to contact us, we are going to collaborate
09:08with them.
09:11Reynders still enjoys a certain immunity linked to his former position.
09:15If it were to be withdrawn, the decision would be up to the current College of Commissioners.
09:20So indeed, members of the College are accorded immunity, but solely, only, in the interest
09:28of the Union.
09:30What does that mean?
09:31It means that they benefit from immunity for acts performed by them in their official capacity.
09:37So it's a functional immunity.
09:40According to French daily Le Soir and investigative platform Follow the Money, Reynders' homes
09:46were searched by police on Tuesday.
09:48Apparently, following suspicions that he may be laundering money through the Belgian
09:52National Lottery.
10:00Starting this Christmas Eve, the Eternal City will welcome an estimated 35 million pilgrims
10:05for the 2025 Jubilee.
10:07And Rome is gearing up for the occasion with much of the city transforming into an open
10:12air construction site for the past few months.
10:16Monuments are being restored, roads repaired and pedestrian areas redesigned to prepare
10:22for the stream of visitors.
10:25Despite opposition claims that the city is falling behind on numerous projects, Rome's
10:30mayor says the city will be ready in time.
10:34We are moving forward according to the schedule.
10:37We are very confident and this will be a Jubilee where many works will be completed first.
10:42This will be the second Jubilee led by Pope Francis, following the one in 2015.
10:48The central message of the Holy Year is to foster hope and trust.
10:52The pontiff has called on clergy and religious orders to lead by example and to help tackle
10:58the housing crisis.
11:04From those who are more concrete, even if more difficult than peace, to those compared
11:09to the poor, the young, the elderly, the sick, to all those who need hope.
11:23The Jubilee will officially begin with the opening of the Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica.
11:29Over the following days, the doors of Rome's major basilica will also open and will remain
11:34so until the end of the celebrations.