- 6 weeks ago
Europe Today: Drone nearly hits Zelensky's plane as Riga debates Russia threat
A drone nearly hit Zelenskyy's plane en route to Norway's royal funeral, hours after Putin played down any Russian threat to Europe in a call with Trump. Europe Today reports from the Riga security conference, and hears why an Anthropic researcher just quit, warning AI "is gambling with our lives."
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/09/10/europe-today-drone-nearly-hits-zelenskys-plane-as-riga-debates-russia-threat
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A drone nearly hit Zelenskyy's plane en route to Norway's royal funeral, hours after Putin played down any Russian threat to Europe in a call with Trump. Europe Today reports from the Riga security conference, and hears why an Anthropic researcher just quit, warning AI "is gambling with our lives."
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/09/10/europe-today-drone-nearly-hits-zelenskys-plane-as-riga-debates-russia-threat
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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00:14Good morning, it's Thursday, the 10th of September, you're watching Euronews and this is Europe
00:22Today.
00:22Coming up, the plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Oslo for the funeral
00:29of the King of Norway was almost hit by a drone when taking off from Moldova on Tuesday.
00:35That's according to the Norwegian Prime Minister.
00:38This comes after two people were killed after Russian drones struck a border crossing between
00:43Ukraine and Moldova.
00:45Meanwhile, in a one-hour phone conversation with Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir
00:50Putin dismissed speculation about the Russian threat to European nations.
00:55The Baltic countries are on the front line of growing Russian threats.
00:59And concerns are mounting over a deteriorating security situation in the region that comes
01:05after the CIA chief traveled to Moscow last month, reportedly warning Russia against testing
01:11NATO's resolve.
01:12At the International Security Conference in Riga, participants are increasingly worried.
01:17We'll hear from the foreign minister of Finland and a researcher who spent three years building
01:24the systems behind some of the world's most powerful AI models has quit the industry entirely,
01:30warning that the companies racing to build ever more capable artificial intelligence are gambling
01:36with our lives.
01:3827-year-old Jacob Coxon resigned from Anthropic yesterday.
01:42He claimed that many of the people building the technology privately fear it could prove fatal
01:49for humanity.
01:51Welcome to the program.
01:52I'm Stefan Grobe.
01:54Our top story on Europe Today takes us to Latvia.
01:57Our chief Europe editor Maria Tadeo is in Riga following a security conference.
02:02The Baltic countries are on the front line of growing Russian threats and concerns are mounting
02:08over a deteriorating security situation in the region that comes after the CIA chief traveled
02:14to Moscow last month, reportedly warning Russia against testing NATO's resolve.
02:19Let's go live now to Riga, where Maria Tadeo is standing by.
02:24Maria, you have been talking to officials there.
02:27What are you hearing?
02:30Yes, Stefan.
02:31Good morning.
02:31Because this security conference is underway, and the security picture in the Baltics is
02:37very much in focus, as you say, in the context of that trip, a very rare, unannounced trip
02:42from the CIA boss to Moscow, where he met with Russian intelligence.
02:47Reportedly, one of the messages that he conveyed was a warning from the United States to Russia
02:53against escalating tensions with U.S. allies in the region, namely Lithuania, Estonia, and
03:00Latvia.
03:01Of course, here, when you speak to Baltic officials, they tell you, again, and this is something
03:06that they have stressed, yes, Russia is a security threat.
03:10They also point to increased hybrid activity, but they still say the picture has not fundamentally
03:16changed.
03:17Of course, they would have to say that because they don't want to create a sense of panic
03:21here.
03:22But just to give you an idea of the preparedness and the reinforcements of some of those security
03:27points in this region, just yesterday, the Latvian prime minister announced that his
03:31country will need an additional 7 billion euros to reinforce its eastern border.
03:36Of course, inevitably, that money will have to come from the European Union.
03:40When you look at the European Union, there was also a letter sent by a number of commissioners,
03:45including the Baltic commissioners, saying that they believe there is, quote, a deteriorating
03:49security picture when it comes to this part of Europe, and that more action is needed.
03:54The message, however, is one of restraint and putting the focus on NATO deterrence and
04:00security.
04:01What, to me, Stefan, has been striking.
04:04I spent the whole day yesterday here in Riga.
04:06It's also the conversations that you have with everyday life, people who would tell you
04:11this is now normal life for them, that they are aware, hyper aware, of course, of Russia.
04:16But they also say, at this point, all you can do is be prepared.
04:20I did have conversations with some, again, every day at Latvians who told me at this point
04:25it's about being prepared.
04:26But also, if you can buy real estate outside of the country, some may do that.
04:30But there is a sense of resolve and also agency when it comes to the Baltics.
04:34One of the focus points in this conference will be about strengthening, of course, the
04:39defense and the army, the capacity to run production to protect that border.
04:44The stress, as I say, at this point continues to be, one, be in preparedness.
04:48But inevitably, this conversation over the past two weeks has certainly fed into the
04:53political debate here.
04:55Maria, you also caught up with Finland's Foreign Minister, Elina Valtonen.
05:00Her country, too, shares a border with Russia, actually the longest NATO border with Russia.
05:06What did she tell you?
05:09Yes, and we caught up with Elina Valtonen, who was participating at a business conference
05:13very much dedicated to the security sector.
05:16And she told me, plain and simple, at this stage, the security picture for Europe will
05:20remain unstable.
05:21It will remain volatile for as long as the war in Ukraine continues.
05:24And that is the assessment that they make.
05:26As long as the war continues, this will be the everyday reality for certainly the frontline
05:32countries.
05:33She also told me and reinstated that her country is in favor of using the Russian frozen
05:38assets.
05:38As you know, Shefan, this debate was shelved last year over Christmas.
05:43Instead, the Europeans decided that they would pay out of pocket with a loan, but it has been
05:47revived because the cost of the war keeps mounting.
05:51And at this stage, let's be clear about this.
05:53It is the Europeans who are, for the most part, paying for the war effort alongside the Ukrainians
05:58who are the ones doing the fighting.
06:00But they realize the bill is coming and it will be significant going into 2027.
06:05The other point that I would stress is she is a fluent German speaker.
06:09She keeps an eye on German affairs.
06:11And I asked her about the victory of the AfD.
06:13And this is relevant because the AfD has said they would want to reinstort ties with Russia
06:19diplomatically.
06:20She did tell me, however, this was not a case of Russia misinformation.
06:24This was not a case of perhaps Russia meddling in an election.
06:27It was an election that really tapped into some of the real issues that are happening
06:31in Europe and Europe has to deal with.
06:33Let's take a look.
06:35Certainly, I would not attribute the overall success of AfD to only disinformation.
06:41That would be totally unwise and also very much untrue.
06:46But how Russian disinformation campaigning actually functions is precisely to take those points of
06:53dissatisfaction in the society and amplify those and drive people against each other,
07:00but essentially and especially drive people against their own governments.
07:04I'm sure that Moscow is happy.
07:07But at the same time, there are true concerns of people behind that result.
07:12And I think it's extremely important we respect a democratic result, which this was.
07:18And first and foremost, I would say that, or at least based on what I hear around,
07:24is the concerns of a migration which are behind the election result.
07:30All right.
07:31Maria Tadeo there reporting from Riga.
07:34Thank you very much.
07:35A plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from Moldova to Oslo was nearly hit by a drone.
07:43Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Garstor said yesterday he did not provide further details about the incident.
07:50That's why we're now turning to our correspondent, Sasha Vakulina.
07:53Good morning, Sasha.
07:55So can you provide us with any more details?
07:58Stefan, recently Ukraine's president started using more Moldovan airspace, Kishinev airport,
08:05rather than Poland, as he used to do for years since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion.
08:09And that was the case on Tuesday.
08:10Now, at the moment, around the same time that President Zelensky was about to take off to go to Norway,
08:16this is also around the same time when a drone incursion was detected,
08:21first in Moldova and then in Romania.
08:23And the timeline says everything about the timing of when that happened.
08:28So the drone was detected in Moldova 4.20 in the afternoon.
08:33You can see it there.
08:34Then it crossed from Moldova to Romania, now, to NATO airspace.
08:38This is when the fighter jets took off to monitor.
08:42They spent over 20 minutes monitoring the situation and following the drone
08:46until a Romanian military lost the drone on its radars.
08:51And then it reappeared shortly after back in Moldova.
08:55And around the same time, this is when President Zelensky was ready to take off.
08:59And reportedly, according to monitoring channels, he did take off around 5.57.
09:05So with that drone incursion first into Moldova, non-NATO airspace,
09:10and then going into Romania and then returning to Moldova around the same time,
09:15well, that's one drone that was reported, and that's reportedly the same drone
09:18that was threatening Zelensky's plane, Stefan.
09:23Quite scary stuff there, Sasha Vakulina.
09:27As always, great reporting.
09:28Thank you very much.
09:29The European Commission has unveiled a legislative proposal allowing EU public authorities
09:35to favor European companies in public procurement for key public services,
09:41such as energy, water, railways, ports, airports, and postal services.
09:46A move that clearly targets Chinese companies in a market valued at 2 billion euros annually.
09:53This comes as European policymakers seek to shield the bloc's market from China
09:58amid heated trade negotiations as the EU grapples with a trade deficit with Beijing
10:04of roughly 1 billion euros a day.
10:08For more on this, let's head over to Paris, where I'm joined by Alicia Garcia Herrero,
10:13a Spanish economist with the think tank Bruegel and an expert on Asian economies.
10:18Good morning.
10:20Good morning.
10:21So, is this a long overdue act of European economic self-defense
10:26or simply protectionism with a European flag on it?
10:32Well, self-defense can be protectionist, so, you know, in a way it's everything.
10:36But I have to say that no matter how, you know, China may be reading the Industrial Selector Act,
10:44which is this legislation you referred to, it's actually not only for European companies.
10:51In fact, you only need to sign the international procurement agreement at the WTO to be part of the game.
11:00I.e., Korean companies can compete with European companies.
11:03Japanese companies can compete with European companies.
11:05So, China could just sign this agreement, which basically means that you reciprocate in your procurement.
11:12In other words, that European companies can also go to China under the same conditions for China's procurement.
11:20So, in that regard, I actually think this legislation has been heavily criticized as very protectionist,
11:27but in my view, it's very reciprocal.
11:29And I think that has to be taken into account.
11:32Great. Alicia, here's an uncomfortable question.
11:36Won't excluding cheaper Chinese companies simply make public projects more expensive?
11:43Because the idea of public procurement, as I mentioned, within this global agreement, WTO agreement,
11:53basically limits the amount of subsidies or other types of support that the companies can offer when going to procurement.
12:06I think that's fair, if you ask me, because if Chinese government wants to compete with our companies through subsidies
12:14or other means,
12:15our companies won't have a chance.
12:16So, in that regard, I think it's not only about being cheap, but about being fair.
12:21So, this is why this international legislation supposedly protects us from this reality.
12:28And the Industrial Selector Act, our legislation now, takes that on board, which we have not done in the past.
12:36All right. Alicia Garcia Herrero from the Think Tank Bruegel, thank you for breaking it all down for us.
12:42Now, Europe's housing crisis has reached emergency levels, with ordinary people in ordinary jobs struggling to afford somewhere to live.
12:53That's the warning from the European Commissioner for Housing, Dan Jørgensen.
12:57In response, the EU has unveiled new rules aimed at curbing short-term rentals, such as Airbnb, in areas under
13:05so-called housing stress.
13:07Our correspondent, Marek Gwynn, caught up with Commissioner Jørgensen and began by asking whether the new restrictions will offer relief
13:14to Europeans being squeezed by the housing market.
13:18So, prices in many cities in Europe are way too high.
13:22So, we see normal people with normal jobs not being able to find a place to live, being crowded out
13:28of the cities where they serve as police officers, nurses and teachers and so on.
13:32So, this is totally unacceptable and we need to act.
13:34What we propose today is to say where short-term rentals are a problem, because they are in some cities.
13:42They have crowded out normal people from their homes because there's more money to be made just having a short
13:47-term rental.
13:48And where that is the case, we are now giving the legal basis for member states to regulate this.
13:55So, we are now giving the member states the ability to actually do something about this important problem.
14:00I'm interested in knowing about the degree of concern you have about this.
14:06Do you fear we're moving towards a Europe where it will become impossible for a young person under 35, for
14:12example, to actually become a homeowner or even worse, to even afford a rent?
14:18Unfortunately, in many cities and member states, we are already there.
14:21It is, I would say, actually an emergency.
14:24Because if you don't have a roof over your head, if you don't have the opportunity to find a place
14:29to live, then, for instance, young people are not able to start a family.
14:32They're not able to get the job that they want.
14:34They're not able to take the education that they want and need.
14:37And, by the way, we as a society need that they take.
14:40So, really, it's important that we take this extremely serious.
14:44It's also important that we, from the European Union side, which traditionally maybe hasn't been the case, acknowledge that this
14:51is also a European problem.
14:52So, we need to provide solutions from Brussels.
14:55You and I both know that short-term rentals are just part of the problem.
14:59As the commissioner responsible for tackling this crisis, what more do you hope to be able to do in this
15:06mandate to help Europeans with this pressing issue?
15:11Short-term rentals is a big part of the problem in many cities.
15:15But, of course, this will not solve all problems.
15:17We also need to do more to build more houses, to renovate more houses, to find new purposes for buildings
15:25that are already existing so that they can become houses.
15:27We need to cut red tape so that it's easier to provide more housing.
15:31We need to mobilize more financing.
15:35We need to make it more feasible and easy to build social housing.
15:40All of these things, of course, need to be done.
15:42So, this is an important step, but it's not the only step.
15:44If I may, a final question on energy, because energy bill is also a major concern, of course.
15:49We know that international conflicts are upending the energy commodities markets.
15:55How worried are you about the winter facing Europe, especially given the fact that energy storage is actually lagging behind?
16:03I'm quite worried that if we don't see improvements in the Strait of Hormuz, that we can face a very
16:10difficult winter.
16:11So, my message to member states are very clear.
16:14The faster you can deploy more renewables, the faster you can electrify, so move away from gas broilers to district
16:22heating or electric heat pumps, for instance.
16:25The faster you can deploy more energy efficiency measures, the faster you can do all of these things, the more
16:31easy the winter will be to face.
16:33And, by the way, these things will also lead to lower prices.
16:35So, really, there's no reason to not do it.
16:42EU Housing Commissioner Dan Jørgensen speaking to Merit Gwynn.
16:46Yesterday, we heard probably the most striking warnings on artificial intelligence to date.
16:52AI is killing us all.
16:54This is particularly noteworthy because these warnings are coming not just from outside critics, but from AI safety researchers and
17:02insiders who argue that increasingly powerful systems could eventually become impossible to control.
17:10Do I get your attention?
17:12Joining me now to discuss this is Andrea Renda, Director of Research at the Center for European Policy Studies here
17:18in Brussels.
17:19Good morning.
17:20Good morning.
17:21So, let me start with a blunt question.
17:23Is this science or science fiction?
17:26Do I have to be worried?
17:27Do we all have to be worried?
17:29I think it's science, but we shouldn't be worried necessarily if we keep all this under control and we keep
17:37it public and open.
17:38The thing is, it's not the first time that we build something that can kill us all, right?
17:42We have the atomic bomb.
17:43We have several powerful technologies.
17:45It all depends on how we use them.
17:47And most importantly, we don't have to confuse this with an announcement that superintelligence is coming, because there are many
17:56ways we can all be killed with stupid technologies if we program them in the wrong way.
18:02I guess the fundamental question seems to be this.
18:06Are we building machines that we may eventually be unable to switch off?
18:11It depends on what kind of goals we give to these machines and what kind of powers, right?
18:15We can have a software which is self-contained, but a software that governs all our critical infrastructure, the railroads,
18:22the telecoms networks and everything, and has the ability to dodge some of our attempts to stop.
18:28Especially if programmed to achieve that goal at all costs, might be difficult, might be the genie out of the
18:34bottle.
18:35But it's a very, very stupid way of programming AI to give it powers that then cannot be controlled.
18:41So we have to keep this in check.
18:44What would have to happen for you to say, stop, AI development must not continue beyond this point?
18:52It's a very difficult question.
18:54I think, for now, we don't know enough what is going on inside those labs, because they are private.
19:00And imagine, you know, research on nuclear power happening behind private labs that no one can control, no one can
19:06observe, and people coming out of those labs and telling you,
19:09oh, listen, we're about to kill all humanity, but you don't know how to control that.
19:12I think we just have to open up and audit much more what is going on inside those labs and
19:17invest in public research on this.
19:19I guess we just wait and see. Andrei Render, thank you so much for coming on the program.
19:23That does it for us today. Thank you for watching. I'm Stefan Gobert. Take care and see you tomorrow.