[000:00:00;00] news this is the w news life from bourbon, pittman's prime minister and the president announced their support for nato membership. it's the 1st step to move that would end decades of military non alignment. popular opinion in the country has swung in favor of joining the western alliance. russia's invasion of ukraine also on the program. keep office the prisoner swap to get seriously wounded. the fighters out of the embattled steel planted maddie off both offering to hand over brush and prisoners of war and

exchange. north korea confirmed an outbreak of coby 19 for the 1st time a national lockdown is ordered after the 1st spreading comic con barons reported to the capital. john, yeah, ah, i'm feel welcome to the program. finland's president and prime minister have called for the country to apply for nato membership as soon as possible, and a joint statement, a solar new mr. and santa martin said nato membership would strengthen finland, security as a member of nato. finland would strengthen the entire defense alliance. finland must apply for nato membership without delay. this is the 1st step of the process that could see the country rollback decades of military non alignment announcement

is expect to put pressure on sweden, which is also considering applying to join the a defense the lives of finland. chef a 1300 kilometer border with russia. the mood in the country has changed dramatically since moscow's invasion of ukraine. ah. war games to secure the peace. more than 3000 finished troops and 700 vehicles took part in the arrow 22 military exercises in west and finland. the exercises were conducted to with nature as planned. last autumn. armed forces from 5 countries are taking part of this military exercises the host. finland is not a later member yet, but that could change soon. for the 1st time in their history, the majority of fence want to join nato at turning point in history. keenly felt by people in law, pandora, on the border with russia for decades,

that they have benefited from living in bees. within the boss, welcoming a steady stream of russian tourists from near by st. petersburg, says social worker, linda brandt up in my opinion. i never saw russia as a threat, but now i'm constantly thinking about our common border. it's over a 1000 kilometers. the vis near by border crossing is seeing little traffic from either side at the moment. this is partly due to corona virus or late that restrictions, but it's also a direct consequence of russia's invasion of ukraine. the war has dramatically changed to the fence attitude towards joining nato in just a few weeks. my, i got, i mean, at 1st i thought we shouldn't get involved and military alliances, but i am, but now i think we should have made the decision

a long time ago that my eyes have been opened and i no longer see nato, a, some kind of war association, but as a defense alliance leave that alone for the defense through deterrence has been the principle behind nita serene forest mint of its eastern flank. in recent months. the idea being a strong defense will not be attacked. meadow says it will benefit from the finish our miss military capabilities. i think we are ready ready to, to entertain a day if, if the system will be made. we have been training to get her with her with a good partners which are basically made apart as you know, exercises for, for, for yes. so that shouldn't be a problem. at the moment finland is a need to partner, but not a member of the block. so it may be promoting, nevertheless, finish forces have worked closely with nato for decades. ah, this deployment lately that those who are met, formulate them. i was,

i hope that we'll join nato as soon as possible in will end soon and that europe will live in peace and stability. i thought my little buckle my lie off for you know, you, linda brant asked, believes, joining later would help people, even the small, bold, a town of lump and rather feel safe. she says that that now at peaceful and stable in london is only possible as an they to member. wow. so look at these movement fenway for alexander stoke, who was finished by minister between 20142015. that welcome to d. w. a. there are lots of people who say that today's announcement from the president and prime minister, long overdue. what's your feeling? well, certainly, i've been an advocate the finish nato membership for the better part of 30 is probably one could say that better late than never. and i must say that this will go down in history of nato's 9th enlargement,

which is pretty much food larchmont without his attack or ukraine. i don't think the finish public opinion would have changed radically. i see the house. so what message do you think this tends to vladimir putin? well, i think the president of finland salinas that said it quite well yesterday. you know, all you need to do is in kremlin, look in the mirror. it sends a message that when finsen suites feel unsafe, they seek for security elsewhere. now the good news, of course, is that we're more data compatible than most nato states. we have reserves of 900000. we have mobility of 280000. we have a 62 f, a thieves and sued 64 f 35. so we're very much a security asset for the alliance. it's a win win for nordic security, bolt exceed security, european security, and the alliance. it's an interesting though, that but russia annex crimea in 2014 while you were prime minister. so what, why do you think it is it, it has taken bruton,

launching an all out war on ukraine photo failing to send this message to russia. finally, we should probably go a little bit further. i was foreign minister, 2008, the chairman of the a c. and together with french 4 minutes the questionnaire. we broke her to cease fire in georgia in 5 days. that was the 1st warning signal after that in a speech called 080808. i called for a reassessment to finish nate the membership but i got a very strong push back. 2014. i don't think europe and the west reacted strongly enough. but when you go into full scale conventional warfare, when you kill innocent human beings, women and children, that's what people react. and that's where i think that made a tactical and strategic mistake, which he's not paid for. and then let's look at the russian reaction to this news because we've heard from the russian foreign ministry a saying that finland joining night. so it's a radical change in the countries foreign policy. they go on to say,

russia will be forced to take retaliate 3 steps, both of a military, technical, and other nature in order to stop threats to its national security. what's your reaction to that? normal russian rhetoric, remember fin sort cool comb collected we don't get flustered by much. so we'll see a lot of cyber attacks and probably information wars in the next few days. information was the type of stuff that you just had there, but we'll get that in finland. in sweden and then also, and this is a warning to all of our future partners, there'll be a lot of this information about feeling joining nato, but we're not excessively worried. nothing is going to happen on the eastern flag because of feeling joining nato. this is an interesting mindset, but the, the close, the walk through potential danger that mo, you sort of get used to it because, as well as what the kremlin has said today, we've heard the moscow repeatedly warning that it might deploy nuclear weapons to finland and sweden, with a joint, nate, so,

so you see this is just more russian saber rattling, no, it's actually fake news. i mean, we need to remind president former president, but if the nuclear missiles are already there in clinic right around the baltic sea region. but this is the way in which rush rates trying to intimidate filament sweet and out of the position of joining nato. of course, the reverse will happen, so the more there are threats, the more popularity for nato membership increases. remember, when this war started, we were down to about 20 percent of the population. your favor makes a membership with russian action and threats. we're now up to 76 percent the now with the prime minister president coming out today, we're going to be north of 80 percent in favor of nato membership juxtaposed that with our e referendum, 99457 in favor. 43, not so don't mess with finished security, i guess is what the finish public is trying to tell russia. ok, and it's as, as neighbors, it's, it's, it's a really interesting and complex fixture. you have

a 1300 kilometers a border. the relationship has been fractious, but you have stayed out of the western military alliance this until now. so where do you see the relationship going from here? well, i think so the foreseeable future, so we're talking few years ahead. we will see an isolated russia and moralists 40 european democracies on the other side of the fast. but of course, as you said, we have 1340 kilometers border with russia. our security policy is always based on a careful assessment of 2 things. idealism and realism, ideal is, in the sense that bone off the day we want to cooperate with russia big part of the west. but realism, we upkeep one of the largest militaries in europe. that's the reality on the ground . you know, we've always reacted to situations in 18 o 9. we maximize thought on the 1970 were declared independence,

944. we reluctantly accepted peace and last 10 percent of our country in 1992. we applied for a you membership and now in 2022, we apply for nato membership. and the only reason for this is who this, who this aggression. so that's for headline, the headline is that it looks like the country is in favor of, of, of applying to join nato. do you anticipate any significant objections, domestically or indeed, amongst nato members? double answered no, and no domestic. this is a foregone conclusion. listen, all parties are now basically favorite parliament is going to vote in favor, i guess about a 18200 these next wednesday. so that is clear. on the 30 day to a member states, we accept a fairly rapid ratification. probably the quickest in the history of nato membership. and the reason for that is that finland and sweden are asked compatible

to nato asked, can't be. and i think all the countries in nato see us as a security asset rather than of course. and in that sense, we will, it's a win win for us, for the baltic sea region and for the ally. and so no problems with that. that's very clear. good talk to you. thank you so much for joining us. i understood a form of prime minister of finland when ukraine is proposing a prisoner swap to resolve a stand off of the as of style steel planted, mateo, paul, applying with al i wounded ukrainian soldiers to move to safety in exchange for ukraine, releasing russian prisoners of war, meanwhile, ukrainian forces say they successfully pushed back russian troops and on the northeast and city of hockey, and some residents who fled the fighting have begun to return to their villages. view my home at last. tatiana has returned to her village for the 1st time in 2 months,

but there's not much left of her house. her garden is littered with the aftermath of russia's invasion, touch on his goats, at least, survived the eyes, slight gimler with them. here russians are brothers as though i could never imagined anything like this. this aggression was victory and destruction. visual and when i came home, i kissed the ground. now i have nothing, floyd, where am i supposed to live and what should i do? was your neighbors in the village weren't spared either, and also came back to find piles of rubble, where their homes once stood. but perhaps nowhere are the ruins greater than mar you pull. after weeks of relentless bombardment, russian forces in their separatist allies are now in control of almost all of the

strategic port city. before rebuilding can begin, cruise must 1st clear massive amounts of rubble. i used to have 3 rooms now only half of one. when i came up from the shelter, i opened the door and there was no apartment any more. that was scary. residents who have remained behind are now trying to get on with their lives. and in many cases, that means improvising the loan hold out of resistance remains the us up style steel plant where fighters trapped under ground have been withstanding russian pounding the ukrainian government has proposed swapping them in exchange for russian soldiers captured during their invasion of ukraine. o date of news, i'm in s. f, as in levine, in west and ukraine astern. phobia yet latest on the ukrainian soldiers hold up the

mattie of old steel platt. a russia is determined as ever to annihilate that steel planted to take a victory there over the as of regiment which has been occupying the steel plant, holding up they're, they're basically the last defenders left in mar, you poll, which is a strategic city. they've said that ground troops are bombarding the plant with shells. they've also said that the worst problem is drones, which from russian drones, which they have no way to protect against. now there have been conflicting reports about whether or not they're civilians left in that steel plant. the ukrainian government said there weren't but then local authorities said there were, but it seems like what they're referring to is those wounded soldiers who are no longer fighting and they're considering them civilians. they want to get them out of there. now the government of ukraine has proposed a prisoner swap with russia. the russia at this point says, that's an unusual request that they won't swap prisoners of war for combatants who are no longer fighting,

but have not yet submitted to russian troops who have not yet given up their. so russia has so far denied that a prisoner swap could happen under those terms. okay. now that the ukranian president has recently a praise dies force his latest counter offensive. i'm just talk us through some of those claim to choose well, recently another village was liberated according to the ukrainian army from a russian forces. that's an addition to 8 that we're liberated so far since last week. basically what's happening is the ukranian troops are pushing russians away from her son, sorry, from harkey, which is the 2nd largest city in ukraine. and it's pushing so far away now that they're out of the city is out of range of russian artillery, which is a godsend. for a people living in that city who will no longer have to face shelling from russian ground forces. now, a zalinski also said not to expect a victory every single day. he's warned people to be patient and this kind of

confirms and echoes what the u. s. intelligence is said, which is we're seeing a stalemate in the east now with russia, claiming a new territory, new villages, even surrounding the city of sara done yet, which is in the east and not yet claimed by russia. so it's really one victory for ukraine. one victory from russia and really a stalemate there. we've also heard reports though that ukraine has a bombed across the border in russia. the mate, the governor of a territory on the russian side, said one russian was killed in an air strike that hasn't been confirmed by ukraine . ok, thank you for that. i'm safe in the v this is database use that live from but then i will go to belgium. now with the 1st ukranian refugees, us preparing to move into the special especially built at villages and cities like antwerp and michigan. and they're not meant to be a long term solution,

but meant to deal with the acute needs of people are fleeing violence. little evelyn is world just got a lot brighter. right. pretty the 3 year old ukrainian says in dutch and her grandmother era agrees. upper thumb is very, very good. good. good. thank you. then. good. then good lose. the family is moving into a newly built unit in antwerp, ukrainian village. the 1st of several emergency housing centers to be built throughout belgium era marvels at having their own kitchen and bathroom. after months in a shelter, things that once were normal can evoke extreme gratitude when war steals your stability. project manager, your anglin says the apartments are designed and furnished to make these families feel good. we want to have a fully self contained apartment, so everything that they need isn't it. the builders put up these screens symbolic of ukrainian independence to beautify the environment. while the village remains

under construction, but the families we met didn't seem to see anything except a safe space to call their own. the projects interpreter alona herself. her refugee says it's an amazing feeling, even for her in one moment. from nelson to own houses. it's really cool, 6 year old, a keen think so to his mother elisa can explain in one word with this apartment means for her family smoke boy the freedom for elisa and her best friend vida, it's their 2nd time as refugees. they fled eastern ukraine when conflict broke out there in 2014. now they must start over again. such trauma is one reason antwerp authorities decided to build the village even higher in ukrainian refugees to help. rather than spreading them throughout the city. give them a good feeling that they are welcome here, trying to get them, at least together to comfort each other and to have some a link with ukraine and all the other and integrate them in our city. but leaving

the ukrainian village to enter act was the wider antwerp community will be essential to truly integrate and to find work, says researcher fatty yeomans, who's been working with ukrainian new comers. so of course it might be difficult for them, but the government or the local authorities did to take some extra measures to organize, for example, language courses or some other activities. but in fact, the village is meant to be temporary. everything, even if sewage system can be removed, bart brilean says antwerp authorities will reassess geopolitical factors in the fall to determine whether the site is still needed. many ukrainians maintain, they want to go back to their country. 22 year old alika elise's daughter keeps a virtual eye on their house in keir every day. alika says as grateful as she is for this antwerp apartment, it reassures her to know their home in ukraine is waiting for them to. the north korea has vis,

reported its 1st case of covert 19 having previously claimed to have no infections during the pandemic. at the north korean leader kim jong on was seen wearing face mask the 1st time at a meeting at which he declared a national lockdown. this by the move, you still are refusing international offers of help with vaccinations and has kept the countries borders closed with that number of cases of possible sources of outbreak of not been disclosed. let's go through this with you and mr. frank smith in the south korean capital. so a welcome to d. w. and what do you think this admission tells us about at north korean efforts to deal with this pandemic? well, i think it tells us largely north korea's efforts to deal with the panoramic or have field. as you mentioned, for 2 years, it suggested it had 0 cobit 900 cases. that's not something the international

community and health officials around the world really believed. but it was still something of an admission to here. north korea say, now admit that it, it does have coven 19 in the country, and it pierces that invincible sort of. or that kim john wants to provide to his people. he was, you know, kind of trying to scapegoat health care officials in the country, blaming them for this outbreak and suggesting that it was their fault. and again, also calling on officials to work hard to eradicate covey 19 in the country filtered. so, do we presume that this admission means that the outbreak is likely to be very, very serious? yes, i think we could, we could say it's likely to be very serious. it's hard for us to know how much cove

in 1000 there is in north korea right now. north korea was one of the 1st countries to seal it's border with china when cobra 1900, broke out. this is january 2020. following that medical supplies daily, since necessities failed to get into kiln yang and there was no kind of panic around the world. so foreigners emptied out of pyongyang, embassy officials, and n g o. v are sources of information about what's going on in north korea. so knowing what's going on there right now, how serious the pandemic might be is kind of difficult north korea news. so based website reporter today, however, that multiple sources in pyongyang, i said there is panic, buying and shortages stores today. bill. right, so given what you said about the kim john own blaming the health system and health services for this, what do we know of the state of north korea's health infrastructure?

can it cope with an army outbreak? well, that's a, that's a really a broad concern that we're hearing from health care officials. 26000000 people. that's the population of north korea, largely unvaccinated. the on the kron variant that they have admitted has broken out in pyongyang, is highly, highly transmissible. and it has a built lap and aided health care system. if we look at how other developed countries coped with things, even with a robust system, they were challenge. there are a lot of factors involved. one thing is, certain north korea needs to get vaccines and medical supplies in the country as soon as possible. it's really a race against time to see how serious this outbreak for pyongyang in north korea

really is. phil. thank you so much for that. frank smith in so we're going to return to ukraine now in life, in the capital at 2 thirds of caves, inhabitants of return to restaurants that have returned to the city. beg upon a restaurants are open for business again. and so a box and jim's box. it is a much love sports in the country and he's helping some deal with the stress of war . weeks after russian forces retreated from the suburbs of cave gems have begun to reopen at the all star as boxing club. and susie stay in shape while warding off anxiety and stress has gotten us condensed each other with the curfew in the city and restricted movement we needed someplace to blow off steam and discharge emotional tension. i was naturally, this helps a lot. is that the we can from a high for the past 2 decades, ukraine has excelled in the boxing world with their fighter is gaining a reputation for speed, movement,

and fighting i q. the skills that also appear to have helped on the battlefield, assistance in our school books ethics, we have a strong boxing school, i believe. o sick lama, sankoh the click, go brothers for all our boxers who are world famous and have achieved impressive results, the decision perfectly. some thought of these amateur athletes said, boxing clears their head and keeps them ready for whatever lies ahead. don't forget, you can always get d w news on the go. just download our app from google pile from the app store and give you access to the latest news around the world as well as push notifications and a breaking news on your thought of a new story. you can also use it to send us photos and videos of what's going i set you up to date, i'll have whole world news at the top of the hour of next year on the w focus on

the europe take to look at some of the foreigners are fighting russian troops and you cracked the day. ah ah ah,

with the international legion in ukraine, thousands of on teens from old risk their lives fighting against clinton's war. we a company come from south america and saundra from new when a lot of bombing on the way to the product return. answer.

focus on your next on dw, into conflict with tim sebastian vladimir poacher, whose victory day parade in moscow brought no sign of the war. and ukraine is coming to an end. russia's leader flown didn't use power and these weapons. i'm blaming the way for his invasion, but wouldn't otherwise. we'll deal with him again. a question for ralph sprague, rather more social democrat member, the gentleman bundis todd, who joins me this week. conflict zone. in 60 minutes on d, w o, a julie wright fascinating worlds into uncharted deb, our guides know their way around a strictly scientific trip to some pretty wacky

places. curiosity is required to borrow today on d, w. a. so, taurus, a 100 german street on d, w. ah, this is focus on europe. nice to have you with us today. it's been more than 10 weeks since russia invaded ukraine, though poor may have expected a blitzkrieg. his army is advancing slower than many anticipated meeting. a fierce resistance from ukrainian forces and volunteers from abroad are signing up to fight