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00:00Russia launched a series of missiles towards Ukraine's capital, hours after Putin gave
00:06his end-of-the-year speech.
00:09EU leaders seek to guarantee Ukraine's security ahead of the incoming Trump administration
00:16but say the jury is still out on Syria.
00:21Renovation work continues at Berlin's Kommersant Opera, but what impact will drastic cuts to
00:26the city's culture budget have?
00:32Russia launched a series of ballistic missiles towards the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, killing
00:36at least one person and injuring nine others.
00:40It came right after Russia's President Vladimir Putin gave his end-of-the-year speech, in
00:45which he dismissed a temporary truce with Ukraine.
00:49All drones were reportedly intercepted by Ukrainian forces, but the debris caused widespread
00:54damage and sparked fires in three districts.
00:58The Russian Defense Ministry claimed the attack was a response to an earlier Ukrainian missile
01:03attack on Russia's Rostov border region.
01:15EU leaders met with Ukrainian President Zelensky for a two-day summit in Brussels, where they
01:19sought to guarantee Ukraine's security ahead of the incoming Trump administration.
01:25It's widely expected that Donald Trump will force Europe to take far more of the burden
01:29for its own security, including that of Ukraine's.
01:33But leaders were also clear that this could not mean pushing Ukraine into an unjust ceasefire.
01:39The European Union stands united in its support to Ukraine to win a comprehensive, just and
01:47lasting peace.
01:50Not any peace, not capitulation.
01:54Only Ukraine, as the aggressive country, can legitimately define what peace means and if
02:05and when the conditions are met for credible negotiations.
02:11The EU also gave cautious welcome to the fall of Assad in Syria, but said time will tell
02:16as to whether Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the group which has emerged, will keep up to its claims
02:21that it will respect minorities and act responsibly in the region.
02:27With the fall of Assad for the very first time in a decade, the people of Syria can
02:32hope for a better future, but we all know that for now the jury is still out.
02:39It is too early to say whether the new leadership will be able to deliver what they promise,
02:46whether the territorial integrity will be preserved, national unity will be preserved
02:52and minorities will be protected.
02:57Europe will do its part to support Syria at this critical juncture because we care about
03:03Syria's future.
03:05As much as EU leaders sought to reassure President Zelensky that they would protect Ukraine come
03:09month May, it's clear that the EU is still in a position to wait and see what Donald
03:15Trump will do regarding the fate of Ukraine, the future of Europe and other geopolitical
03:20matters including Syria.
03:22Shona Murray, Euronews, Brussels.
03:28The possibility of a ceasefire has been on the talks lately, but during his press conference
03:32in Brussels, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky quickly killed the idea.
03:37For the Ukrainian, there should be a clear plan on how the day after will look like,
03:41which is something that doesn't exist now.
03:45Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine.
03:50The ceasefire.
03:51We have to understand that we can't live with a frozen conflict.
03:55When it comes to a ceasefire, in any conflict, in any war, people know what will happen next,
04:03how it will end.
04:05You have to know what tomorrow will be in order to make a ceasefire today.
04:11And in another case, you just make a frozen conflict and that's it.
04:15And that's why Ukraine needs security guarantees.
04:18A strong position of Ukraine and security guarantees.
04:22Zelensky praised during his talk the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump.
04:27But he had not such kind words for Vladimir Putin.
04:31I think he's crazy.
04:34I think so.
04:37Really, I think he also thinks that he's crazy.
04:41No, no, it's true.
04:44He loves to kill.
04:48That's very dangerous for everybody.
04:51On February, it will be the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine,
04:54a date arriving at a critical moment for the conflict.
04:59Listen.
05:04Representatives from Germany, Finland and Denmark have boarded a Chinese cargo ship
05:09believed to be connected to the rupture of two data cables in the Baltic Sea in November.
05:15Swedish police and Chinese officials were also part of the inspection of the Ipeng-3 vessel
05:21which is anchored in international waters between Sweden and Denmark.
05:26Denmark's foreign minister said the visit was supposed to take place on Wednesday
05:30but was called off due to bad weather.
05:56The two cables, one running from Finland to Germany
06:00and the other from Lithuania to Sweden, were both damaged in Swedish waters.
06:05The Wall Street Journal reported in November that investigators suspected
06:09the Ipeng-3 had deliberately severed the fiber-optic cables
06:13by dragging its anchor along the seabed.
06:16The Ipeng-3 has been anchored in the Kattegat Sea for a month
06:21The Ipeng-3 has been anchored in the Kattegat Sea for a month
06:24while diplomats in Stockholm and Beijing discussed access to the vessel.
06:29It was being monitored by several vessels including those belonging to the Danish Navy.
06:35Chinese authorities said in November they had no information about the ship
06:39but denied any responsibility for the damage to the cables.
06:43Romania's long-awaited accession to the border-free Schengen area
06:46Romania's long-awaited accession to the border-free Schengen area
06:51is expected to boost the integration process between Romania and Hungary.
06:56The removal of the border checks on the 1st of January will make it easier
07:00for commuters to travel between the two countries.
07:03It was important in the life of Bihar Keresztes that many people moved here.
07:09They bought a house here, they wanted to continue their lives here.
07:14Of course, there are people who move to work,
07:17there are people who take their children to kindergarten and high school.
07:21But a lot of people live here every day.
07:25Hungarian real estate is often significantly cheaper than in Romania.
07:29A vendor in the Romanian city of Oradea said Hungarian real estate
07:33will become even more appealing with travel expected to become easier and faster.
07:40For 15,000 euros you can buy a 250-square-meter house in a half-hectare area.
07:49It has to be renovated, of course.
07:51You can buy it outside for half the price in Hungary.
07:56The difference is that the infrastructure is not built here,
07:59but the infrastructure is already built there.
08:03Many have been waiting a long time for Romania to join the Schengen area.
08:07Well, I think it's been long overdue, honestly.
08:12I think it's finally time that we enter Schengen.
08:15I think it opens a lot of possibilities, especially economical ones.
08:20And I don't know, I'm really looking forward to it,
08:23especially because for me personally it will be nice to not wait at the border for so long.
08:32Unlike Romanians, Hungarians do not cross the border for real estate.
08:36Instead, they go to Romania to go shopping or for cheaper petrol.
08:59The European Commission had already declared Romania ready to join the Schengen area in 2011,
09:05but Austria had been an ardent opponent.
09:08However, last month they finally lifted their long-held veto during a meeting in Budapest.
09:15Berlin's Komischer Opera House is likely to continue renovations
09:19despite drastic culture budget cuts across the city.
09:23The opera house has found a temporary new home at the nearby Schiller Theater,
09:27which has 20% fewer seats than its original home and means fewer ticket sales.
09:32Director Philipp Bröking says that the upcoming budget cuts are extremely painful
09:36and for many theaters difficult to implement.
10:02If the cultural budget cuts 2.5% of the country's total spending,
10:09that would actually be 75 million that could be saved in the cultural budget.
10:13In fact, 130 million would be saved.
10:16That's an overproportional amount.
10:18And for us, that comes to around 10% of our budget,
10:22so that's around 4 million.
10:24It's difficult to implement.
10:27Within a year, that's already completely planned.
10:31Berlin is regarded as extremely progressive and unique
10:34because of its generous art funding.
10:36But even if the renovation of the Komischer Opera,
10:39that is due to take six years, continues,
10:41the budget cuts still affect Germany's image.
11:01We have so many places here,
11:03theater houses, opera houses,
11:05where you can challenge the conditions of human life.
11:09So everything, where you gather,
11:11talk to each other,
11:13talk to each other and above each other,
11:15there are not so many places.
11:17And especially in times when democracy is threatened by the extreme edges,
11:22it is very, very important to reassure yourself
11:26who you are and where you come from.
11:29But it's not just the culture that will be affected by the cuts.
11:33The German economy, which continues to splutter,
11:36could use a little bit of acceleration from the arts and culture,
11:39which brings in tens of millions of euros worth of revenue per year.