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EU's Josep Borrell visits Kyiv to reassure Ukraine of bloc's support

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EU's Josep Borrell visits Kyiv to reassure Ukraine of bloc's support

EU High Representative Josep Borrell visited Kyiv in an attempt to reassure Ukraine of the bloc’s continued support in its fight against Russia.

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“This support remains unwavering. This support is absolutely needed, for you to continue defending yourself against Russian aggression,” Borrell said in a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha.

Borrell also urged “faster deliveries and fewer self imposed red lines” in getting Western weapons to Ukraine, echoing echoing his previous calls to allies to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied long-range to strike Russian military targets.

The European Union has already delivered €122 billion in military and financial support to Ukraine and has trained approximately 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers.

Borrell added that the bloc aims to increase this number to 75,000 by the end of winter.

However, he also emphasised the importance of Ukraine’s ability to produce its own armaments saying its “much more efficient that you produce your own weapons by increasing your industrial capacity”.

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Borrell’s visit to Ukraine is his last in his role as High Representative and follows the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States – a development that has sparked concerns over potential US cuts to financial and military aid for Ukraine.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow and Washington were “exchanging signals” on Ukraine via “closed channels.”

He did not specify whether the communication was with the current administration or Trump and members of his incoming administration.

Russia is ready to listen to Trump’s proposals on Ukraine provided these were “ideas on how to move forward in the area of settlement, and not in the area of further pumping the Kyiv regime with all kinds of aid,” Ryabkov said Saturday in an interview with Russian state news agency Interfax.

But Borrell has said “it is for Ukraine to decide when to sit at the negotiation table and under which terms.”

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Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told reporters that Ukraine is ready to work with the Trump administration.

“Remember that President Zelenskyy was one of the first world leaders […] to greet President Trump,” he said. “It was a sincere conversation (and) an exchange of thoughts regarding further cooperation.”

“Also during the telephone conversation, further steps to establish communication between teams were discussed and this work has also begun. Therefore, we are open for further cooperation and I’m sure that a unified goal of reaching just peace unites all of us,” Sybiha said.

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Video: Israel and Hezbollah Trade Deadly Attacks

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Video: Israel and Hezbollah Trade Deadly Attacks

Israeli strikes pounded areas in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a day after eight people were killed, according to the authorities, in the northernmost attack on Lebanese soil since the start of the war. Israeli officials said two men were killed in a rocket attack from Lebanon on Tuesday.

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Germany braces under collapsing government and looming Trump trade war

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Germany braces under collapsing government and looming Trump trade war

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With the re-election of former President Donald Trump to the White House and the collapse of the coalition government under German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Germany is bracing for an economically and politically dubious time. 

From the campaign trail, Trump pledged to increase import tariffs on friends and foes alike under the “Trump Reciprocal Trade Act” which would increase all U.S. tariffs to match the taxes enforced by each corresponding country.  

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“If India, China, or any other country hits us with a 100 or 200 percent tariff on American-made goods, we will hit them with the same exact tariff,” he outlined in his campaign agenda. “If they charge US, we charge THEM—an eye for an eye, a tariff for a tariff, same exact amount.”

Former President Donald Trump speaks to a rally crowd on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024 at the Dodge County Airport in Juneau, Wisconsin. (Jovanny Hernandez/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

GERMANY’S SCHOLZ REJECTS CALLS FOR NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE AS COALITION GOVERNMENT COLLAPSES

However, it is unclear if the president-elect still plans to push these specific tariff increases, as he has also suggested there should be a 10% tariff on imports from all countries, as well as 60% duties on imports from China, according to a Reuters report. 

China was not the only country in Trump’s crosshairs, as the now president-elect also referred to the European Union (EU) as a “mini China” and warned the bloc would have to pay up.

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“They don’t take our cars. They don’t take our farm products. They sell millions and millions of cars in the United States,” he told supporters at an October rally in Pennsylvania. “No, no, no. They are going to have to pay a big price.”

Some economic experts have warned that increasing tariffs – which are paid by companies importing the goods, not by government entities – could lead to rising costs worldwide, including in the U.S., as well as further inflation.

A report earlier this month by the German Marshall Fund (GMF) pointed to findings by Germany’s Institute for Economic Research in Cologne that said the promised Trump tariffs are estimated to cost the country roughly $127 billion over the next four years. 

Olaf Scholz

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz leaves the Bellevue Palace in Berlin on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

FEDERAL MILITARY DRAFT AGENCY REPOSTS MESSAGE SUGGESTING US IS BECOMING 1936 NAZI GERMANY: REPORT

“Trump’s victory does not bode well for a Germany that is dependent on U.S. security and thrives on open markets,” the GMF said in its report on how the U.S. election will impact Germany. “And uncertainty in Europe’s largest economy is not ideal when the EU needs to find its place in a world in which the U.S. president is not expected to support the traditional, rules-based international order.”

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However, it is not only Germany’s flagging economy that could spell uncertainty for Berlin’s international standing, as Scholz faces a vote of no confidence in January after he fired his Finance Minister Christian Lindner and his coalition government collapsed. 

A confidence vote is now set to be held in Germany on December 16 – which Scholz, given his minority status, is expected to lose. 

European Parliament drilling

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a debate at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Jan. 17, 2024. (Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images)

The most likely next step will be for German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to dissolve the parliament and call for elections which are not expected to be held on Feb. 23, 2025.  

The EU now stares down a potential trade war with the Trump administration while one of its leading nations, both geopolitically and economically, will essentially sit as a lame duck while Berlin waits to see who will be next to lead the country. 

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German opposition leader Friedrich Merz – who could find himself the next German chancellor – said he intends to cut a deal with Trump.

In an interview with Stern magazine, Merz reportedly said, “In Germany, we have never really articulated and enforced our interests well enough, and we have to change that.

“The Americans are much more on the offensive. It shouldn’t end with only one side profiting, but rather with us making good arrangements for both sides,” Merz said according to a Bloomberg report on the interview. “Trump would call it a deal.”

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There is no safe zone in Gaza, warns UNRWA

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There is no safe zone in Gaza, warns UNRWA

UNRWA’s Scott Anderson described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as critical and called on all sides to respect civilian safe zones.

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The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip remains critical and could deteriorate further, warns the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA).

Speaking to Euronews in Brussels, UNRWA Director in Gaza, Scott Anderson, called on all parties to the conflict to respect the sanctity of safe places for civilians.

“There’s nowhere safe in Gaza. Including the safe zones. And unfortunately, all parties to the conflict are not respecting the sanctity of sites that should be safe for civilians, including hospitals and schools.” said Anderson.

He stressed that both UNRWA facilities and Palestinian schools have been targeted, appealing to all sides to uphold the protection of these locations so civilians can find safety for themselves and their families.

Too cosy with Hamas?

Anderson also responded to past allegations that his agency was too lenient with Hamas, which the EU designates as a terrorist organisation.

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He underlined that UNRWA took swift action after discovering that some of its employees were linked to the group.

When asked if he could confidently say that UNRWA had removed all Hamas operatives, Anderson was frank in his reply:

“No, I don’t think anybody can say anything with certainty about their workforce anywhere. We have over 13,000 people. We do take ‘neutrality’ very seriously, as shown by the commissioner general’s very swift action. But no, I can’t with certainty say that’s done,” he said.

Anderson also reiterated that they don’t have any evidence of employing Hamas members, and if they did, the necessary actions would have already been taken.

You can watch the full interview on the situation in Gaza on Thursday and online at euronews.com.

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