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00:00In an interview with Euronews, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili explained why she won't
00:06leave office when her term ends.
00:11The EU summit starts with Ukrainian leader Zelensky present in Brussels as the member
00:14states discuss how they can help Kiev if the U.S. withdraws its support.
00:26The pro-European president of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, won't leave office the day her
00:31term ends in late December.
00:33She considers the newly elected president, the pro-Russian former football player Mikhail
00:37Kavelashvili, not to be legitimate.
00:40That was one of her main messages during her intervention at the European Parliament.
00:45My legitimacy in a way comes from my election and it comes from the illegitimacy of the
00:53recent elections and it comes from the trust and confidence of the population, it doesn't
00:59depend on a building or on a security apparatus or on anything material that they will or
01:06will not provide.
01:09Zurabishvili claims that the elections were manipulated through several systems, such
01:12as ballot stuffing, intimidation or buying voters.
01:16There are many, many ways in these countries in which you can buy the fidelity, the loyalty
01:23of people which is not really fraud but it's administrative resource.
01:31But the president thinks Georgia is not at risk of a traditional Russian invasion due
01:35to the lack of resources from Moscow and their military presence in some Georgian territory.
01:41But she does fear something else.
01:43Russia is experimenting a new form of invasion, a hybrid invasion, through elections, through
01:50proxies, through authoritative government or persons.
01:55Zurabishvili, who has been president of Georgia since 2018, hopes the EU will act to avoid
02:01Russia deciding the foreign policy of the bloc.
02:04Dominique Pellicot has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in a historic rape trial
02:14that has turned the victim, his wife Giselle Pellicot, into a women's rights hero.
02:20Pellicot drugged and raped his wife for nearly a decade, also offering her unconscious body
02:26to strangers he had met online.
02:29In total, 51 men were convicted of rape or sexual assault.
02:34Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, Giselle Pellicot expressed gratitude for the
02:38support she received throughout the three-month-long ordeal.
02:41I think of the unrecognized victims whose stories often remain in the shadows.
02:50I want you to know that we share the same fight.
02:54I want to express my deepest gratitude to all the people who supported me throughout
03:02this ordeal.
03:03Your testimonies have shaken me, and I have drawn the strength to come back every day
03:10to face these long days of audience.
03:13The trial triggered protest rallies around France in support of Giselle Pellicot, who
03:18said she hoped that by making the trial public, she would help other women speak up.
03:24Crowds gathered outside the courthouse in Avignon on Thursday and cheered in response
03:28to the verdict.
03:30It also sparked a broader debate around consent.
03:33Activists are calling for the country's legal definition of rape to be expanded to include
03:38specific mention of it.
03:45Just a few weeks before Donald Trump begins his second term as President of the United
03:49States, EU leaders are meeting in Brussels for their last summit of the year to discuss
03:53how they can help Ukraine if the U.S. withdraws its support.
03:58The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for united support from both sides
04:02of the Atlantic.
04:03Good morning.
04:06We need very much unity between the United States and EU and countries of Europe.
04:14This is very important.
04:15We need this unity to achieve peace.
04:18I think only together the United States and Europe can really stop Putin and save Ukraine.
04:25But trying to do too much too soon might not help Ukraine, whose invasion by Russia will
04:29soon reach its three-year anniversary.
04:32According to the EU's new foreign policy chief, Bashar al-Assad's swift downfall in Syria
04:36is important in this context.
04:39Any push for negotiations too soon will actually be a bad deal for Ukraine.
04:45All the other actors in the world are carefully watching how we act in this case and therefore
04:52we really need to be strong.
04:55Syria shows us that Russia is not invincible and we shouldn't underestimate our own power.
05:01Aside from Ukraine, the EU's 27 leaders will also discuss the situation in Syria.
05:08Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union have initiated a border security agreement
05:14with EU border agency Frontex on Wednesday in Sarajevo, marking a key step towards EU
05:20integration as Brussels holds the EU-Western Balkans summit on the same day, intending
05:26on strengthening EU-Western Balkans integration.
05:29Luigi Soreca, the EU ambassador for Bosnia and Herzegovina, spoke on its importance.
05:35The agreement which is going to be initialed today attests to our partnership, the European
05:42Union and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and to our shared commitment to enhance security, stability
05:49and cooperation in this critical area in Europe.
05:55Director for Schengen borders Henrik Nielsen emphasised the importance of mutual respect
06:01and cooperation in the negotiation process.
06:08We have always listened to each other, we have always taken into account each other's
06:12concerns and that has now brought us here today where we have this fully agreed text
06:17which is really a pleasure for me to note.
06:20This agreement means that Frontex officers will now be deployed at Bosnia's borders helping
06:26identify security needs.
06:28According to officials, the agreement will be signed by the end of February or early
06:33March.
06:38After concluding a visit to Damascus and meeting the new administration, the UN envoy to Syria,
06:43Geir Pedersen, said the country needs a political transition that will be credible and inclusive
06:47for the Syrian society.
06:49According to the envoy, this process should take place under a UN resolution adopted in
06:532015 to help negotiate a political solution in the country.
06:57Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Pedersen also mentioned of forming a new constitution.
07:04There is a lot of hope that we can now see the beginning of a new Syria.
07:09A new Syria that in line with Security Council Resolution 2254 will adopt a new constitution
07:16that will ensure that it is a social contract, a new social contract for all Syrians and
07:23that we will have free and fair elections when that time comes after a transitional
07:29period.
07:30It is not yet clear if Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or HTS, the main former rebel group now in
07:35control of Syria, will pursue such a process.
07:38The group has set up an interim administration comprising members of its Salvation Government.
07:43It will oversee the country until March, but the new ruler, Ahmed al-Shara, have not made
07:47clear how the transition to a new fully empowered government would take place.
07:56Germany worries they will lose thousands of Syrian doctors after the fall of Bashar al-Assad
08:01in Syria, as some German politicians were quick to call for the return of at least some
08:07refugees.
08:08Gerald Gass, head of the German Hospital Federation, says there would be significant issues if
08:14Syrian doctors were to leave all at once.
08:17But assistant paediatric doctor Hiba al-Nayef says that many Syrians now living in Germany
08:40are very well integrated.
08:47Germany became a leading destination for Syrian refugees over the past decade.
09:11They have become a significant part of Germany's healthcare sector, which is currently struggling
09:17to find enough workers.
09:27Germany wants to increase the size of its armed forces up to 230,000 from the current
09:32target of 203,000.
09:35German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced the ambitious plan as he answered questions
09:41in the Bundestag.
09:44Germany currently has 180,000 active personnel, approximately 20,000 short of its current
09:50target.
09:53The German armed forces have been struggling to recruit people for years.
09:58The targets Pistorius wants to set will further complicate an already difficult objective.
10:05Pistorius says the plan to increase the number of permanent staff is to meet NATO's capability
10:10targets.
10:13NATO demanded its members to increase their defense capacities to boost the alliance's
10:17strength following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
10:27More and more Norwegians are facing increased poverty.
10:31The impact is seen at the increasingly long queues for the country's Salvation Army Christmas
10:36aid.
10:38According to their poverty index, one in five Norwegians struggles to make ends meet.
10:44This week, the Salvation Army will distribute food boxes with Christmas food to 1,400 Norwegian
10:49families.
11:01After years of high prices, more people are coming to the Salvation Army for help.
11:07Most people who come to them also receive benefits from the Norwegian Labor and Welfare
11:11Administration.
11:13The charity organization is now making an appeal to the government.
11:18We see that our queues are increasing.
11:22Many more need help, so the challenge is that the social assistance must increase.
11:28Financial struggles during Christmas this year are especially prevalent in families
11:32with children.
11:34Earlier this year, the Norwegian National Institute for Consumer Research released a
11:39report concluding that social assistance should be increased.