i think what she was trying to do is show that at least the european union -- europeans are ready to up efforts to achieve success during those important -- ramp up efforts to achieve success during those important climate talks ahead of us. >> this is urszula underline -- her second state of the union address. how was it received empowerment? >> my impression was the first one received -- was received in a more positive way, now we heard a lot of criticism. we also talked to the vice president of the european parliament and social democrats, let us listen to what she had to say. >> she gave good examples of what europe should be and can do, especially when it comes to strengthening our economies after the corona pandemic or when it comes to environment a policy. but of course there is still a lot of things lacking. and she always gives nice headlines, and then we lack action. we will have to see what she makes of it. >> is that what the other parties thought of the speech? >> i would say so, yes. we heard from members of the parliament from the green party criticizing her for not pr

there's a difference of view there, because within the european union, people like the european unions not an allegiance. it but an alliance is not an allegiance.— but an alliance is not an allegiance. but an alliance is not an alleiiance. _, , ,, ., allegiance. it sounds like what ou're allegiance. it sounds like what you're saying _ allegiance. it sounds like what you're saying is _ allegiance. it sounds like what you're saying is - _ allegiance. it sounds like what you're saying is - like - you're saying is — like president macron — that the europeans should increase their own military capacity, and that... ., . . , own military capacity, and that... ., ., ., , ., ., that... not against nato. i thinkthat _ that... not against nato. i think that a _ that... not against nato. i think that a strong - that... not against nato. i think that a strong nato i that... not against nato. i- think that a strong nato needs two legs. the american one and the european one. that's not the european one. that's not the case for the moment. you've not the case for the moment. you've got some — the ca

how does that affect the european union and nato? guest: 16 years in office, you accumulate a lot of experience. if you remember she was called the queen of the night. she was very good at sustaining long-running conferences and negotiations hide closed doors. she was very good. when she put her weight behind certain proposals, that really made an impact. when she is gone it, the european union has to look for another leader. who could that be? we just talked about who was running for the other parties, they are not looking that strong. the question, is it emmanuel macron who will be doing this? he probably could become the main trigger in the european union. in the years to come. he has elections coming up next year. we will see if he wins those elections. with regard to nato, we got in the crosshairs of donald trump. we i mean the germans, not meeting the 2% spending of gdp on defense. we are currently around 1.5%. we got criticized for that time and again. will that change in the future? that depends on the outcome of the election

there's a difference of view there, because within the european union, people like the us—european alliance like what you're saying is — like president macron — that the europeans should increase their own military capacity, and that... not against nato. i think that a strong nato needs two legs. the american one and the european one. that's not the case for the moment. you've got some people on one side of the argument like andreas mikaelis, german ambassador to the uk, saying the aukus partnership threatened the coherence and unity of the west. then you've got people like shal michele, saying the tra ns—atla ntic alliance between the eu and the us is paramount for security in the world. "we have never put it into question in europe." there's a slight differing of tone, isn't there, within the eu now? no. the quote of shal michele is correct. this alliance is necessary, including to face the new challenges in the world, including to face the terrorism in the world. precisely because we need this alliance, we need trust between us, and we need a balance and shared discussion between us, whi

what lessons do you think the european union must learn from what happened?or months we've been listening to the defence minister in spain warning us about the situation in afghanistan, but i think to all of us, it was a shock. frankly, it was quite unexpected, you know, that there would be such a fast development. because the americans hadn't consulted with european allies? well, i'm not informed about the different consultations that may have taken place, but i think we were all surprised about the rhythm of these developments and the tragic developments. there are two things that i would highlight from the european response. the first one is actually positive. i think we have responded quite fast in trying to evacuate our population in the country, but also those persons that were cooperating with us for decades. spain has been particularly efficient, i think, in bringing the people back. we offered to be the hub to take all the citizens and the afghan citizens, cooperating with the eu, and to treat them in an efficient and in a human manner when they arri

the european union who are a couple years ago wanted, saw the european union as a federation. wanted to sit in integrated federation, seen him, lead the battle against the european union, and he was commissioner twice war. and he has always defended the your opinion. this is coming as quite a surprise to lot of french people today. i suppose. when you put in that particular position, that's the job you go for. that's the line that you push. but when it comes to then trying to become president of france, where do you think vote is it going to see bonnie a level of sincerity? why think they won't see it? i mean unfortunately, that's not forget that french and politics. busy is, is always a bit complicated nicholas circle with the said that he was elected thing that he would a curb crime rates. and when he got out of his president the crime was worst. busy about for so long that his major enemy was the world of finance and he then he chose a mental macro as his ministry of economy and he's coming. he was a rough child banker, so we know that in france, candidates. busy say what t

the withdrawal from afghanistan has been described as a wake-up call for the european union.e eu going to learn from that experience? >> well, i have to say that many ministers that we spoke with told us how frustrated they were to see what was happening in afghanistan. as you said, the european union was not able to secure the airport in kabul without the help of the u.s. military. they had to rely on them. many told us it is now time to change it. now it is time for the european union to develop new capabilities to speed up the decision-making process and that they are ready for a more assertive defense and security policy. we have this proposal on the table proposed by the germans. they are trying to work on that to find out whether it will be possible in the future to build sort of ad hoc defense action coalitions of the willing when you have a crisis, for example, and you have member states already engaged there are already working together. they could say, hey, we are going to provide capabilities and to the forces, troops needed and the hours, don't need to contribute,

and france having a hissy fit— european union and france having a hissy fit -- — european union this is one _ hissy fit —— remain campaign. this is one of— hissy fit —— remain campaign. this is one of those. what we've got factually— is one of those. what we've got factually is issues, and i chair companies that have this problem, so i understand this — a lot of the supply—chain comes from europe and asia into _ supply—chain comes from europe and asia into europe, and that is bogged down _ asia into europe, and that is bogged down by— asia into europe, and that is bogged down by the necessary import bureaucracy at our ports of entry. the antithesis is also true, so the stuff— the antithesis is also true, so the stuff we _ the antithesis is also true, so the stuff we sell into europe, which there _ stuff we sell into europe, which there is— stuff we sell into europe, which there is a — stuff we sell into europe, which there is a lot more then we get credit— there is a lot more then we get credit for. _ there is a lot more then we get credit for, that has the same issue in europe

we can spend 2 hours talking about mistakes that the european union did. we always look at them as setting an example and look at the repeating and european union. now a lot of our new candidates in there that are leading to the disaster and then criticize each other openly. we do not want to repeat those mistakes. mistakes that we don't want to have this mistakes in our union state. so we are making conclusions. we aren't drawing conclusions, so maybe we are missing something we can talk about this week and maybe argue about this, but we came back to creating a foundation. so we need this foundation because you can build into great in house without the foundation, renounced building house, starting from the roof, but the long time ago was civil. thank you. thank you. thank you very much. that concludes our press conference at the kremlin in moscow. we've been listening into the presidents of russia above race, who announced this evening that they agreed and signed 28 roadmaps between the 2 nations. essentially, they would be developing deeper integration

i don't think it would have — the european union? a difference, - the european union? i don't think it would have made a difference, but| the european union? i don't think itj would have made a difference, but i do think they winter ahead is to be a tricky one. if it is warm, everything will be fine and crisis will come down to stop if it is very cold and called in at the wrong times, then this could be an issue. i truly hope brexit does not apply to energy. the bigger we are, the stronger we are, the more resilient we are. no change due to brexit yet,. but when that is a gash gas shortage, then situations can get tricky quite quickly.— tricky quite quickly. when you're talkin: tricky quite quickly. when you're talking about — tricky quite quickly. when you're talking about future _ tricky quite quickly. when you're talking about future proofing - tricky quite quickly. when you're - talking about future proofing energy into the future, does brexit help? i think in the medium to long term, it could help, because the uk has huge hygien

with the way neah is part of the european union -- with the way lithuania is part of the european unionbrent: the european union has unveiled universal plans for universal charger for mobile phones, headphones and portable speakers. concerns mount over electronic waste. apple, which makes one of three charging systems in use is expected to fight this plan. torrential rain in parts of southwestern spain has turned streets into rivers. in one western province, it has been badly hit by the flash floods. a number of roads have been cut off. there have been no reports of casualties. more than 300 homes on the spanish island of lipoma have an destroyed by a river of volcanic level. residents were safely evacuated after the volcano began to roped on sunday. they have been left to watch from a distance as their homes disappear. >> it looks like one imagines hello looks like. -- imagines hell looks like. one of the canary islands off africa. these scenes rival the scenery that brings the tourists. the lava has scorched homes and businesses. memories and livelihoods. >> i find myself in an intern

— difficulty with the european union over_ difficulty with the european union over the _ difficultye border- difficulty with the european | union over the border down difficulty with the european - union over the border down the irisn— union over the border down the irish sea — union over the border down the irish sea. joe _ union over the border down the irish sea. joe biden— union over the border down the irish sea. joe biden does- union over the border down the irish sea. joe biden does care l irish sea. joe biden does care very— irish sea. joe biden does care very much— irish sea. joe biden does care very much about _ irish sea. joe biden does care very much about this. - irish sea. joe biden does care very much about this. he's i very much about this. he's often — very much about this. he's often described _ very much about this. he's often described himself. very much about this. he's often described himself as| often described himself as irish. _ often described himself as irish. and _ often described himself as irish, and he— often described himself as irish, and he said - o

yes, but emmanuel— that the european union. yes, but emmanuel macron _ that the european union.on. yes, but emmanuel macron did not - that the european union. yes, but emmanuel macron did not want i that the european union. yes, but| emmanuel macron did not want the british there.— british there. brexit means brexit. i understand _ british there. brexit means brexit. i understand that, _ british there. brexit means brexit. i understand that, but _ british there. brexit means brexit. i understand that, but you - british there. brexit means brexit. i understand that, but you do - i understand that, but you do understand the point i am making. emmanuel — a strategic national interest in the uk not being part of it because it would have complicated a future european defence pact. that was a national strategic decision. again, if australia is changing its mind, it may do it in a more elegant way, because for instance, it is not on the scrapping a contract, it is excluding france. i do have a cooperation with only the us and the uk and not with france? so the political gesture was cle

those are not yet a member of the european union. and i think those are realistic projects that already paid, who we already have to point. i do want to put your point to all of the guess i'm going to start in belgrade. first with a joke. who crush dock is e u membership, that much of a deal for serbia that it's willing to solve it's complex with cost of in order to get it or the you membership, not even a thing that is worth even discussing loca, the un are famous for having all kinds of burning soon. agreements that basically say, but the thing is really different. i will give you an example. i'm not sure survey will live up fully recognized score so independent. but you can always science for a mutually by being agreed. that's it. so or so we agreed not to block, questionable bits to become member of you and so you can always have ways to find the solution. i'm only going to have to cut you off next. i do want to make this point to bother web as well. is your membership important for christina? just very quickly. it is important f

will continue _ and the european union will continue-— and the european union will continue. �nue. and that was interesting because all— continue. and that was interesting because all the _ continue. and that was interesting because all the three _ continue. and that was interesting because all the three top - continue. and that was interesting l because all the three top candidates to replace angela merkel have emphasised their desire to see germany recommit to the eu and deepen the work it does with its other member states. as for when we'll find out, the polls close on sunday evening. we'll know the outcome and the coalition talks start, because it won't get done on sunday. the coalition talks will begin, and only when a coalition is settled will be no who will replace angela merkel. settled will be no who will replace angela merkel-— settled will be no who will replace anuela merkel. ., ~ i. , . angela merkel. thank you very much, ros atkins- — angela merkel. thank you very much, ros atkins. you're _ angela merkel. thank you very much, ros atkins. you're watching _ angela m

and major european union countries recognize cause of his breakaway, but serbia refuses to do so. cause for his membership at the united nation is blocked by serbia. traditional ally, russia. about $4000.00 nato peacekeepers remain on the ground after the military alliance intervened to end the cost of a war in 1999. the you began that sponsoring talks between the 2 sides in 2013, but i made little progress. resolving the conflict is one of the main conditions for both countries to join the blog. the, let's bring it, i guess, in belgrade, jocko, crash format, deputy prime minister serbia in berlin bota where the senior associate at the democratization policy council and in brussels beach accept you. policy analyst and editor in chief of brussels report dot you welcome to the program. let's begin in belgrade, where the joker crash, the cost of the government is accusing your government of trying to provoke a serious, international conflict. why isn't that? well, it's obviously all based on completely and resolve relationships in belgrade and breached enough for the moment. they are

so were all the banks in the european union, including the british ones. to salvage them, like president obama did in the united states except unlike president obama, their paeans had given up on having a central bank, a national central bank. so they affected a cynical transfer of -- print the money, which is what timothy geithner barack obama did in the united states. instead of doing that, they transferred their losses under the shoulders of the weakest taxpayers, which were greeks and so on. so you had socialism for the very few, the bankers, and harsh austerity for everyone else. notches the greeks, but the germans, spanish. what happens? the banks are constantly being given money. the masses there's austerity. big business looks at the little people and says, oh, they will not be able afford the equivalent of a german -- so they don't invest. so investment is very low. the polity jobs disappear. there replaced by there's there replaced by the gig economy. your discontent, low levels of investment in the places that are religious like germany and on e

i'm a strong supporter of the european union and i'm from a unionist community background. that's why i call myself a european unionist, constructive ambiguity, i think, that's called, i've been a posed to brexit since the outset because i firmly believe that the european union membership enabled peace in northern ireland to happen, and of course the role of america was and still is vital. but if we're talking up the grass roots of putting, bringing communities together, the european peace program was vital to that end. saying that, i'm actually willing to accept the protocol as the best of a bad brexit deal. the problem is obviously the majority of the unionists don't think like wise but i'm a firm believer as monica well knows in constructive creative compromise. and i want to put four proposals to the committee. the first is regarding the protocol. it's a lobby for the extension of the protocol to scotland. this seems to be a very simple idea to a complex problem. it would mean most of the customs checks would move from the irish sea border to the scottish border with eng

also ahead . european union says it's ready to engage with the afghan taliban under certain conditions, but won't recognize its government. a man on a security watchlist dab several people in a new zealand supermarket. the prime minister says the attack was i so inspired japan as to get a new prime minister after yes he does to go said he will step down as leader of the governing par seat. ah, we begin an update on a stone. we're fighting is escalating between the charla bon, under resistance group and upon your valley. the mountainous enclave is about 150 kilometers north of the capital couple. it's been the only province to hold out against the taliban rule despite being entirely surrounded. charles stratford reports from global har. the gateway to that region. smoke rises over the town of gould, the hall, the entrance to the punchier valley in northeast af galveston. neither the soviets, during the 1980s war, nor the taliban has ever managed to control his mountainous region around a 100 kilometers north of cobble. a shells lance nearby taliban fighters, ready their weapons. men in

i mean, the european union and the other european member states are definitely be watching this and let you know. at the same time, i have to say foreign policy and even european politics wasn't really a big topic in germany during the election campaign. and i think it's frustrated quite a few of poor observers. i think one of the reasons why that is, is that despite the fact that there are some differences between the parties overall, we don't see a situation like, for example, we may need to see next year in france where you have a really, europe and you critical candidate against the very poor european candidate in my room hall in, in germany. all main parties are broadly speaking, pro european and for you. and so this one, the big topic. nevertheless, there are issues from europe in the pens and kind of fiscal union reform. that that, that may be approach differently depending on who wins on sunday and we'll finish and one will, given michael, seeming popularity. you'd think that her party, the christian democrats would be nominating someone who may be a shoe in for the position. bu

. —— european union court. his -- european union court. his charges _ -- european union court.e to _ —— european union court. his charges relate to this short lived bed by the northern region of catalonia to split from madrid back in 2017. he is accused of crimes against public order and national security. public order and national security-— public order and national securi . ~ ,, ~ , , security. translation: this is a eumpean _ security. translation: this is a european arrest _ security. translation: this is a european arrest warrant - security. translation: this is a european arrest warrant for l a european arrest warrant for which there has been an arrest. we cannot speak of illegality. but his treatment angered pro separatists outside the sardinian courthouse. translation: he has been arrested as soon as he put his feetin arrested as soon as he put his feet in sardinia that unfortunately is italian. it has fundamental —— violated a fundamental right, the self—determination of people. there were also protests in barcelona.— there were also protests in barcelona. �* ,, �* ,

will continue _ and the european union will continue-— and the european union will continue. .

and what the european union wants from cutter is how to contain a potential displacement of people from leaving the region in their reports that they are in fact planning on investing hundreds of millions of euro's towards keeping people in the neighboring countries around have gone to spend to make sure that the refugee crisis doesn't spill over and turn into what we saw in 2015, which was more than a 1000000 people making their way from conflicts owns like syria and of contest on towards europe. ok, same but solving bringing subsidies from has vain. thank you very much. indeed. the me while you're joining us here on the al jazeera news, our i'm, how am i here to israel know, where is really forces i've killed g palestinians in separate incidents. a woman was shot dead near alex most can occupied east jerusalem after allegedly trying to stop officers. and a 22 year old man died during don rates in the occupied at west spank israel says the man was a member of the could brigades and exchanged a gun far before being short. so we'll speak. so you need to abraham in ramallah by those rates

the french were quite outraged by it as were other voices within the european union . one of our member states has been treated in a way that is not acceptable friends and allies partners talk to each other. so this is clearly, this did clearly not happen. and i think we need to talk. there is a growing ceiling in europe, and i say this will regret that something is broken in our transatlantic relations . it's probably time to pause and reset our e u u. s. relationship. what we're seeing that has made a lot of things more difficult, and i'm afraid things will remain more difficult for a while. we understand very well the anger of our french friends. what was decided that the way this decision came about is irritating. it is sobering and not only for france. now, what's interesting is that after joe biden spoke on the official schedule of the un general assembly, we were supposed to be hearing from french president macross who was going to give a pre recorded statement. however, that pre recorded address from the french leader has been cancelled. france has not given an

the international see more and more, and that is why many in the you and now calling for the european union to become a lot more independent as a state in terms of defense and security, which is due to address m p. 's, members of the european parliament shortly, and he is expected, of course to talk about. i've got them. alright, thanks so much. we'll leave it then. natasha butler from paris moran. shara is out here as senior political analyst. he joins us by skype from paris to so model one, i guess, the discussions going on in slovenia right now. demonstrate that, that concern that we saw that you repeat the concern we saw flare up during the, the donald trump era, about america's reliability. that hasn't gone away on the by no, it has not. and clearly they are opinions and they are opinion in particular have been quite good at exploiting crises of various kinds in order to sort of consolidate their european union. having said that, i have been associated with the european thing, thanks for a good quarter of a century. now, if we're, every time i heard something about common defense and m

to engage in confrontation with survey european union, western politicians, calling on both sides to de escalate. when it's, as we said, only one side causing the country, and i actually had a chance to interview one of the officials of our courteous party. i'll be pretty being the prime minister of the so called republic. also with minute you started mary's name with mit. it, that was essentially a colony of the west. and this basically means that nothing that costs more does is done without approval of the united states. so it's basically an issue where constable does whatever it wants with the blessing of the united states. and in the west says, you know, you to present in belgrade need to figure out a solution of how to get out of this out of a situation that is caused by western interference. what we have here is a us attempt to up up. the answer is it. what seems to be happening is that things are too quiet for washington's chase, and they're encouraging the albanian leadership to the temperature so that the west come in, pressure serbia to lower the temperature. as always happ

and he basically used a european army to attack the soviet union. that is the sad truth, which a lot of people forget. so in my view, it will look at the recent history or the so called american was, there were also european was europeans went together with americans to gain stuff. they went together with them. but i don't think it was because they thought it was necessarily a just cause it just that it gave meaning to yes, we actually are a military, nothing is that actually they put it put flesh on bone. and i think that george, i mean, you know, i've talked about this quite a few times here. i mean, it's not that they, you know, they wanted to make a commitment to the trans atlantic security environment. he says, you know, this is a way to prove that, you know, the mind has some kind of meaning. ok. i don't think it had any real security value . i mean, i don't know why the european countries were involved in afghanistan for example. ok. i mean, again, it was, i think, more of a justification than a meaningful contribution. go ahead. george. how's

yes, it was ruined by the european union. it's sorry listed when you look now, how many greeks have left the country? it's an embarrassment how many young people have left the country. it's an embarrassment, the result is being depleted, but yet another attempt at dividing the world has become a major right among the modern agenda soviet russia up high that needs to be smartly divided. and even at all, settler, all russia is still a huge di and it's at the forefront of western sorts. dec, happy callous. most. most mac quantity and most foss, clintonian finished con. on done fool glove, we're not paying one stop and become most mindful out of a midterm. i have seen some creek in ah, we now have a situation where the united states has given to ukraine military guaranteed against russian intervention in the event. ukraine renews it's invasion of dumbass. so clearly yes, we are headed in the direction of war if the ukrainians take this guarantee seriously. as the pose took the british guarantee 1939, then surely war could break o

and the european union are struggling with it. of course, in the u. k. at the moment, people coming across the straits of dover into the boats. all those people are pretty much unregulated and real strong views in the community that there is no room for immigration, and it's going to be incumbent upon the governments all governments the work and how they're going to do that in a very difficult situation. still to come of vicious political backlash and union anger are rising against jo biden's expansive new vaccine order will tell you more among our stories after this the join me every thursday on the alex salmon show and i'll be speaking to guess in the world, the politics sport business, i'm show business. i'll see you then. me having alternate realities, experience, or even like say world war does my dear, you know, especially during the and damage where you can go anywhere in the game world, you know, everywhere. choose the game that you want. any open roll game to that. and you are now on a vacation in a place where you're like flying helicopters or

well now there's definitely a new reason for tension between the european union and bell roofs, which have already been locking horns for a while now because of many different issues in particular because of the attitude by brussels to the comp, think between the government and minsk, and the opposition there. now you can definitely add afghan refugees to that list. brussels has accused men's of taking advantage of this as a tool for pressure on the european blog. now, on the other hand, bell ruse is saying that the european union is turning a blind eye on how poland and lithuania are mis treating the african refugees and on how they are pretty much taking them out of the country, back into bellows. during the press conference, the journalists asked the 2 presidents whether moscow and mens were ready to react to all that's accordingly with some joint action. a lot of my potent replied that this is not a rush of business, because here we're talking about the border between poland and bell rouge, between lithuania and bruce, but the russian president did go on to criticize the european

now, on the other hand, bell roost is saying that the european union is turning a blind eye on how poland and lithuania are mis treating the african refugees and on how they're pretty much taking them out of the country, back into bellows. during the press conference, the journalists asked the 2 presidents whether moscow and mens were ready to react to all this accordingly. with some joint action, a lot of my potent replied that this is not a rush of business. because here we're talking about the border between poland and bell rouge, between lithuania and bruce, but the russian president did go on to criticize the european union. what he meant was that european countries are in touch with the taliban. however, they are refusing to talk to the bell, russian government directly, which never came to power as a result of an armed take over with you. my answer is go and talk to the bell original authorities, european countries talk about the catastrophe. enough chemist on blame themselves for leaving the people the but some african refugees have been pushed out of europe towards better versus

so in light of all that's taken place, the anger of france and the european union. the anger of china jo biden's words about the need to avoid a new cold war and not divide the world into blocks and the need and the promise of the united states to always stick by its allies. those words came across to many international observers as rather hollow. yeah, there are going to be some katie watch speeches that this general assembly and they will get you get back to it there in new york, caleb open. thank you. also, new york is journalist and commentator chadwick moore high that those words are president biden, then cooperation standing up for allies ready to assist any nations? how do you think that's going down in from europe and the people left behind and i've got to stand very poorly. it it's, it's rather shocking, actually, and it's very shocking. the members of the european union coming out and in no uncertain terms against the saying that a very strong ally of united states and of course, one of their most important member nations france, has been cast aside in thi