Latest news bulletin | June 12th – Midday

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hosted Southeastern European leaders in Odessa for a summit to discuss regional peace and the war in his country.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk narrowly won a parliamentary vote of confidence on Thursday after his political camp lost the recent presidential election.

Peace in the region and hybrid warfare were the main topics of the Odessa summit, which was attended by Ukraine, Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Serbia, Albania, Greece, Montenegro, Croatia and Slovenia.

Russian war plans point to this region, Odessa, and then toward the borders with Moldova,

And, of course, we need protection now.

But even more, we need long-term guarantees that this can never happen again.

Romanian President Nico Chordan accused Russia of undermining peace efforts.

Russia is constantly rejecting any constructive initiatives and works to undermine the path to peace.

Russia is coming up with unreasonable demands, knowing that they cannot be accepted.

The only language Russia understands is strength, and we must do our best in helping Ukraine to negotiate from a position of strength.

Moldova's president, Maya Sandu, has warned of the dangers of hybrid warfare aimed at influencing the country's parliamentary elections scheduled for this fall.

We do learn every day by new attempts and new ways through which Russia tries to interfere with our internal processes, political processes, democratic processes.

It is going to be tough, but we do want Moldovans to decide for Moldova at the parliamentary elections, not Kremlin.

The Black Sea port city of Odessa was shelled by Russian forces in the run-up to the summit.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government won a vote of confidence in parliament on Thursday.

453 lawmakers participated in the vote, with 243 of them voting in favor, while 210 voted against.

The vote was preceded by a parliamentary exposé where Tusk outlined a roadmap for his government for the remaining two and a half years of its term.

The Polish premier also answered questions from a record 269 MPs.

I think that many voters accepted this situation with relief and believed again that it is difficult, but it is not at all more difficult than it was and that we will go further, but we have to do much more to regain

Politicians from the ruling camp did not hide their satisfaction with the results of the vote.

Opposition lawmakers were disappointed with the outcome.

After winning the vote of confidence, Donald Tusk noted that a cabinet reshuffle is needed, which is set to take place in July.

He emphasized new faces will appear in government as to correct course and end the dysfunction.

Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in Berlin with a military honors reception.

The two leaders discussed a wide range of topics in their meeting, but topping the agenda was Russia's invasion of Ukraine and European security.

Mertz and Frederiksen condemned the latest Russian attacks on Ukraine and reiterated their support to Kyiv.

They also spoke about the need to bolster Europe's defenses, as they cited Russia posing a constant threat to the entire continent.

The two NATO countries also emphasized that an increase in defense spending is crucial for the stability of the entire alliance.

In two weeks, NATO leaders are set to convene for a summit in The Hague where they will discuss what Merz called a historic increase in defense expenditure.

Migration was also among the issues the leaders discussed in Berlin, where they both agreed on the need to tighten immigration policies.

Merz praised Denmark for its immigration system, saying Copenhagen is a model other nations should aim to replicate.

The EU and UK have reached a long-awaited agreement to ease cross-border trade and travel in Gibraltar following years of post-Brexit wrangling over the contested territory.

Britain and Spain have spent years negotiating a deal to ensure the free movement of people and goods across the British Overseas Territories land border with Spain.

Until now, one of the key sticking points was how the border would be managed.

The new agreement eliminates physical barriers, checks and controls on people and goods moving between Spain and Gibraltar.

Our shared and overarching objective has been to secure the region's long-term prosperity

particularly by removing all physical barriers, checks and controls on people and goods crossing between Spain and Gibraltar, while preserving the integrity of the Schengen area, the EU single market and the customs union.

All sides were keen to reach a deal before the EU's new entry-exit system takes effect later this year.

The British government said the deal resolves the last major unresolved issue from Brexit, while Spain's foreign minister hailed it as historic.

Europe's largest startup and tech fair, VivaTech, is back in Paris.

Over four days, 165,000 visitors and more than 13,000 startups from 50 countries are converging under one roof.

This year, artificial intelligence or AI is once again the undisputed star of the event.

Artificial intelligence is moving from science fiction to application and you will discover with 13,000 startups what it will mean in business, in our lives, in our democracies.

Secondly, there is a geopolitical context that is absolutely incredible in which tech plays a role and we will decrypt that for four days.

Among this year's standouts, innovations using AI to support mental health, like Emobot, a startup monitoring mood disorders passively and remotely.

It's an application that is installed on the phone and on the computer.

And we come to analyze facial expressions once per second.

We also analyze the voice when we talk to a colleague or someone else.

And then we aggregate actimetry data on the movements, which is one of the symptoms of depression.

And so all this data, we put them together and we make a dashboard for the doctor, which allows us to follow the evolution of the symptoms.

This is a spaceship.

Another solution to improve mental well-being comes from Amois, which merges neuroscience with scent to trigger emotional shifts in just a few minutes.

VivaTech innovation isn't just about faster processors or smarter apps.

It's also about caring for our minds, one algorithm or one cent at a time.

This week, Uzbekistan welcomed high-level European delegations strengthening its role as a key partner in Central Asia.

The diplomatic push centered on the Tashkent International Investment Forum, which opened on Tuesday.

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico and Bulgarian President Ruman Radev were among the important guests.

In his keynote speech, President Shevket Mirziyoyev highlighted the country's economic reforms and ambition to become an international investment hub.

The visit by Bulgarian President Radev focused on cooperation in IT, tourism and labor migration.

Meanwhile, with Slovak Prime Minister Fico, Mirziyoyev signed a declaration on a new strategic partnership on Monday.

There are two directions actually.

One direction is like to re-establish our existing supply chain for our companies located in Slovakia and on the other hand also to enter new markets in Central Asian part of the world.

So it means to invest in Uzbekistan.

Their talks included plans for industrial cooperation in green energy and automotive manufacturing as well as joint digital initiatives.

The meetings underscore Uzbekistan's strategy of deepening ties with the EU and positioning itself as an attractive emerging market.

South Korea's military stopped its anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts at the border on Wednesday.

The move is part of a new policy by Liberal President Lee Jae-myung, who took office last week to ease tensions and restore trust.

This reverses the hardline policies of the previous government, which resumed the broadcasts in June last year after a six-year pause.

The broadcasts started again after a balloon war, where North Korea sent rubbish south in response to anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent north.

President Lee had argued that the broadcasts caused unnecessary tension for border residents.

On Monday, Seoul's government also officially called for activists to stop sending leaflets north.

North Korea has not yet commented on Seoul's decision to halt the broadcasts.

Despite the gesture, dialogue is seen as unlikely as Pyongyang remains focused on its military partnership with Russia.