Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap!
Lithuania’s prime minister has authorised the shooting down of smuggling balloons that cross the border from Russia’s ally Belarus, calling them “hybrid attacks” in an echo of the term used to describe Moscow’s destabilisation efforts (9:49).
Responding to the incidents which forced Vilnius airport to close four times last week, the Lithuanian government has also moved to close the country’s border with Belarus, a move criticised by Minsk as “a provocation” (11:34, 13:40).
Lithuania’s PM Inga Ruginienė called for a strong reaction from the EU and Nato, not ruling out Article 4 consultations within the alliance (10:03), warning that “our response will determine how far autocrats dare to go” (13:53).
Elsewhere,
An Italian court has approved the extradition of a Ukrainian suspect in the Nord Stream explosion case to Germany, with the man’s lawyer immediately saying he would appeal against the decision to the country’s supreme court (12:12).
In the Czech Republic, the country’s president Petr Pavel has tasked the populist billionaire Andrej Babiš with leading talks on forming the new government after recent parliamentary elections (12:23).
Over in Spain, the centre-right, pro-independence Junts party has decided to abandon its support for Spain’s socialist-led coalition government of Pedro Sánchez, raising further questions about the stability of the embattled administration (13:58, 14:33).
And, finally, Poland has detained two Ukrainians accused of collecting details of soldiers and critical infrastructure for foreign intelligence (10:43)
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at [email protected].
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
The Netherlands gear up for closely contested election this week
It’s also worth keeping an eye on the Netherlands as the country is preparing for a general election on Wednesday, just under two years from the last one, as voters could swap the most rightwing government in the country’s recent history for a more moderate, commonsense coalition.
Here is a brief explainer from our Europe correspondent, Jon Henley…
… and some colour on what’s at stake from our European affairs correspondent, Ashifa Kassam.
“As polls suggest that Wilders’ party could again emerge with the most votes, the election on 29 October has been recast as a broader litmus test for the country and its democratic ideals.
“It isn’t just about Muslims. What’s at stake is the very idea of what it means to be Dutch,” said Esma Kendir of the Collective of Young Muslims. “So will the Netherlands continue to stand for equality, for human rights, for freedom of religion, or will it move towards exclusion and fear?””
Prof Cas Mudde has this take on the campaign so far:
“Whatever the eventual outcome, one thing is already clear: despite the far right’s evident failure in governing the Netherlands, it retains a magnetic hold over the country.
Party politics remains fragmented yet dominated by the mainstreaming and normalisation of far-right frames and politicians.
Liberal democratic parties devote more energy to fighting each other than the far right.
As far as a cordon sanitaire holds, it does not extend to all far-right parties (like JA21) and rejects its behaviour rather than its ideology.
These are trends that we see both in the European parliament and in many other European countries.”
