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00:00EU leaders sign off on who they want to take the top jobs at the European Union for the
00:07next five years.
00:11The war in Ukraine dominates a TV debate with political leaders days ahead of the first
00:16round of France's snap elections.
00:21A heatwave spreads across Italy with weekend temperatures expected to peak at 42 degrees
00:27Celsius.
00:36EU leaders have finally signed off on who they choose to take the top jobs at the European
00:40Union for the next five years following a few weeks of tense negotiations.
00:45Ursula von der Leyen has been proposed as President of the European Commission for a
00:48second term, former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa as President of the European
00:53Council and Prime Minister of Estonia Kaya Callas as the EU's Foreign Policy Chief.
00:59Von der Leyen will now be presented to the European Parliament for voting where she needs
01:03the support of 361 MEPs to vote in favour of her to be re-elected.
01:08I would plain and simply like to express my gratitude to the leaders who endorsed my nomination
01:18for a second mandate as President of the European Commission and I'm very honoured
01:24and I'm delighted to share this very special moment, hopefully soon on screen, António
01:30Costa but also my dear friend Kaya Callas.
01:33However, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed strong dissatisfaction with the
01:38process saying it didn't fully take into account the rise of hard right parties like hers in
01:43the European Parliament elections.
01:46Meloni abstained in the nomination of von der Leyen and voted against the nomination
01:49of Kaya Callas and António Costa.
01:52This concern that her rejection is a sign of turbulent times ahead for the EU.
01:58Indeed, Giorgia Meloni abstained and I think it is very important to work well in the European
02:05Council with the Prime Minister, with Italy, like with all other Member States, so this
02:12is a principle for me which I followed all the time.
02:16The next hurdle for Ursula von der Leyen is the trickiest.
02:18The votes in the European Parliament for her re-election are wafer thin and nothing is
02:22guaranteed.
02:24She said she wants to work with the coalition of the Greens, the Socialists and the Liberals
02:27but she'll likely have to look further afield to potentially the far right led by Giorgia
02:32Meloni which will upset the coalition.
02:34It's a secret ballot and if she loses by even one vote it appears there is no plan B.
02:40Shona Murray, Euronews, Brussels.
02:47Just days before France's first round snap elections to choose all 577 members of the
02:53National Assembly, French television has hosted a debate featuring three major party and coalition
02:59leaders.
03:01Prime Minister Gabriel Attal of the ruling Renaissance Party, National Rally President
03:06Jordan Bardella and Olivier Faure representing the new Popular Front coalition took part.
03:12Purchasing power and domestic security were debated but it was the war in Ukraine that
03:17dominated.
03:19Jordan Bardella said he wouldn't let Russian imperialism absorb an allied state like Ukraine
03:25but ruled out sending French troops to fight.
03:50That was an apparent rebuttal to President Emmanuel Macron's remarks in May in which
03:54he said he hadn't ruled out putting French boots on the ground in Ukraine.
04:00Olivier Faure also blasted Macron's remarks saying not even the Ukrainians expected French
04:05troops to fight alongside them.
04:23He insisted that the new Popular Front coalition is against French troop deployments but isn't
04:29opposed to sending long-range missiles to Ukraine.
04:33But Macron's position was defended by his Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.
05:01The snap parliamentary elections were called by Emmanuel Macron on June 9th, the night
05:05his Renaissance Party lost big to the far-right National Rally in the EU elections.
05:12The first round of voting takes place on June 30th with the second round scheduled for July
05:177th.
05:23A heatwave is spreading across the Italian peninsula.
05:26Starting this weekend, temperatures are expected to hit 34 degrees Celsius in northern regions,
05:32around 35 degrees in central areas and 40 degrees in the south.
05:37The peak, 42 degrees Celsius, is expected in Sicily.
05:41After a recent spell of bad weather, the sun is returning and temperatures will spike with
05:46a change of up to 15 degrees in some areas.
05:49But in the south, people are used to the heat and know how to deal with it.
06:19Local health authorities are prepared, especially to protect vulnerable people such as the elderly,
06:30who are often referred to emergency rooms with heat stroke.
06:50For the elderly, free phone numbers will also be available where they can ask for assistance
06:54and advice.
06:55Even small precautions can make the difference between enjoying a tranquil summer day and heat stroke.
07:25Luca Palamara for Aeronews, Napoli.
07:56I'm suffering with health issues because of that I'm not able to have a normal life and I'm just a single mom.
08:07God forbid, God forbid, if anything is happening to me, who's going to take care of my son?
08:13He's underage.
08:15Smugglers or people along the way will give them bad information, including the idea that if you have a child in Cyprus or in the European Union,
08:29that child is automatically granted EU either residency or citizenship, and this is not the case.
08:46The number of asylum seekers in Cyprus still remains at about 7% in relation to the total number of the population.
08:57We have a huge problem here in Cyprus.
09:00We strongly believe that we should combat illegal migration because we think that member states should decide under international law
09:20who is going to cross their borders and not smuggling groups and traffickers.
09:30For more talks on Moldova's accession to the European Union are underway.
09:45Only now we start to have a really democratic and free society and we want to maintain that.
09:51And the European Union will make sure of that.
09:56The discussions are being held as historic.
09:59Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, the country applied for EU membership.
10:06Neighbouring Moldova, the poorest country in Europe, followed shortly after.
10:12The war sparked many Ukrainians to flee to Moldova, like Ola from near Odessa.
10:19She says being part of the EU is what's best for her daughter.
10:24Of course I want my daughter to be part of the EU.
10:30I want her to live in a developed, civilized country.
10:34I want her to have a chance to go to school.
10:36I want her to have a chance to speak freely.
10:38That's what I really want.
10:42Joining the EU is not a complete corruption.
10:47So it's not going to happen quickly.
10:50It's going to have to be done step by step.
10:54But Moldova remains much under Russian influence.
11:13Serbian police have banned a festival that promotes cultural exchanges with Kosovo.
11:19Belgrade police cited security concerns for stopping the event,
11:23saying they wanted to prevent danger to the security of people and property.
11:28Several dozen right-wing protesters staged a rally outside the Belgrade venue
11:32in a bid to prevent the event from going ahead.
11:35Kosovo is a former Serbian province and declared independence in 2008,
11:40a move Belgrade doesn't recognize.