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00:00Romania and Bulgaria finally received the green light on Thursday to become full members
00:07of the passport-free Schengen area.
00:11At their monthly Brussels meeting, European Home Affairs ministers are discussing what
00:15fate awaits the thousands of Syrian refugees in Europe.
00:20Three quarters of MEPs lead a double life, according to an analysis published by the
00:25NGO Transparency International EU.
00:30Bulgarian truck drivers are happy.
00:35They expressed their joy on the Greek border on Thursday after European Union ministers
00:40agreed to let Bulgaria and Romania fully integrate into Europe's ID-check-free travel zone, known
00:47as the Schengen area.
00:49We have been here for a long time, because we have been living here for two days.
00:53Not only here, but also in Vienna and Bulgaria.
00:59They won't have the fun, the nerves, and so on.
01:06Do you know what is the reason for this?
01:10I don't want to know.
01:12I just found out.
01:13And I am very happy.
01:15Bulgaria and Romania joined the Schengen area in March, allowing free air and sea travel
01:21but not land access due to Austria's opposition over illegal migration concerns.
01:27Ministers have now agreed to lift land border controls next year.
01:33Just days after the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, European Home Affairs
01:44ministers are discussing what fate awaits the thousands of Syrian refugees in Europe.
01:49European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, says that while
01:55voluntary returns are encouraged, it is too soon to discuss deportations.
02:01Austria's interior minister, on the other hand, wants to start preparing for such a
02:05scenario as soon as possible.
02:18On the other hand, KΓΆrner's German counterpart, Nancy Faeser, echoed Brunner in wanting to
02:23await how the situation in Syria unfolds.
02:26She also emphasized the important contributions Syrian refugees have made to her country.
02:57Germany has welcomed more Syrian refugees than any other EU country in recent years,
03:04but some conservative hardliners are now calling for their return.
03:11The EU needs to pick up the pace with sanctioning Russia, says Ukrainian sanctions expert
03:17Vladislav Vlasiuk.
03:19In an interview with Euronews, Vlasiuk spoke about new EU sanctions against the so-called
03:24Russian shadow fleet of ships that Moscow is exploiting to skirt restrictions on transporting
03:29oil and fuel.
03:31At this very moment, we should start working on the next sanctions package, and that should
03:37be adopted no later than the end of February, and that should include some more meaningful
03:44measures like sectoral sanctions and some others.
03:47So, thanks, but that is not enough.
03:51Vlasiuk added that Kiev wants to see additional financial as well as energy sanctions.
03:57We are trying now to extend the cooperation with the commissioner offices and with the
04:04different DGs on different sanctions stream.
04:08That would include financial sanctions, that would include, of course, energy sanctions,
04:13especially the LNG and especially the Rosatom sanctions.
04:19And that would, of course, include the Kayakalas office on the individual designations.
04:28The Biden administration is considering implementing harsher Russian oil sanctions ahead of Donald
04:34Trump's term, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
04:39Oil revenues are a crucial source of funding for Russia's war machine and have been repeatedly
04:44targeted by Western sanctions.
04:49President-elect Trump clearly said that this is the oil revenues which helps Putin to continue
04:58his war.
04:59So, I think that all the proper understanding of the situation is already very much there,
05:05and I'm hoping that we would continue our cooperation with the new U.S. government on
05:12the further sanctions measures targeted against the terrorist regimes.
05:18China and India are currently the main buyers of Russian oil, which is often refined in
05:23the countries and sold into the EU market with a different label.
05:32Amid growing concern that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump might withdraw Washington's crucial
05:37support for Kiev after he takes office in January, Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister says
05:43she believes the EU will step in and will continue its support of Kiev.
05:48Even more so with the backing of the new commission.
05:51She told Euronews that the expectations are high for the changes ahead.
06:18The Danish model initiated by Denmark funds Ukraine's defense ministry to bolster its
06:47self-reliance in arms production for its military.
06:50The funding mechanism aims to strengthen Ukraine's industrial base in Europe.
07:17Continued military and financial support for Ukraine is expected to be one of the main
07:28priorities of Poland for the next rotating EU presidency.
07:32But this won't necessarily mean Ukraine's EU accession.
07:35Poland has been one of the strongest supporters of Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale
07:40invasion, and a vocal supporter of Ukraine on the world stage, campaigning for Kiev to
07:45receive all of the required weaponry to win the war that Moscow unleashed.
07:53Three quarters of MEPs lead a double life, according to an analysis published by the
07:59NGO Transparency International EU.
08:0574% of MEPs have a side job, some of which provide additional income for elected representatives.
08:166.3 million euros have been allocated for renumerative activities.
08:2414 MEPs potentially earn more from their side jobs than their salaries as MEPs.
08:32Members of parliament on the right and centre are more likely to have paid secondary jobs
08:38than their counterparts on the left.
08:41German, Romanian and French MEPs declare the highest incomes.
08:45Of the 1,700 activities listed, most involve membership of company or NGO boards.
08:52Sometimes MEPs have activities linked to consultancy firms or law firms.
08:57For Transparency International, this is a conflict of interest.
09:10These side activities are not illegal, and the MEPs stress that they are useful for maintaining
09:35links with reality outside the chambers.
09:38Finally, they assure that there is no conflict with their daily duties as MEPs.
09:46A new business is booming in northern Nigeria, the mining for lithium.
09:51Filled by its growing demand for making batteries for electric vehicles and phones,
09:56the new frontier is however coming with a steep cost.
10:00The methods are as primitive as they are dangerous.
10:04Miners wield axes to hack through rocks, descending several feet into dark pits.
10:23The shadowy world of Nigeria's illegal artisanal mining thrives on informal networks of buyers and sellers,
10:30operating with minimal government oversight.
10:34It is dangerous.
10:50A business for the poorest and most vulnerable.
10:53Local merchants say a team of six children can sort and bag up to 10-25 kilograms a day.
11:05We are in a difficult position.
11:08We can't afford to lose our jobs.
11:11We have to work.
11:13We can't afford to lose our jobs.
11:16We have to work.
11:19We can't afford to lose our jobs.
11:22We have to work.
11:25Lithium mining began here about a decade ago.
11:28The work here feeds the stock of Chinese businesses who dominate Nigeria's laxly regulated extractive industry.