Closing summary
As we are closing the blog now, here is a summary of what we know so far:
Two Ukrainian men have been identified as main suspects behind the rail sabotage incidents in Poland over the weekend, Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk said (13:34).
The perpetrators are believed to be working for Russian intelligence services, who had crossed into Poland from Belarus this autumn and fled to Belarus following the attacks.
The main incident in the village of Mika involved the use of a military-type C-4 explosive intended to blow up a train, Tusk said (13:40).
Speaking in the Polish parliament, Tusk said the two incidents were “unprecedented” and “perhaps the most serious, when it comes to the security of the Polish state, incidents since the beginning of the full-scale invasion on Ukraine” (13:46).
He further warned that “these acts of sabotage and actions of Russian services across … Europe, not only in Poland, are unfortunately gaining momentum,” calling it “an escalation” and an attempt to sow chaos and anti-Ukrainian sentiment (13:58, 15:05).
But Russia dismissed the Polish accusations, saying it was another example of Warsaw’s “Russophobia” (15:09).
Elsewhere,
Ireland’s longstanding finance minister Paschal Donohoe has stepped step down to join the World Bank (11:52), triggering a government reshuffle with deputy PM Simon Harris taking Donohoe’s old job, and Helen McEntee taking over as the foreign minister (16:01, 16:10, 16:53).
French president Emmanuel Macron said that Europe does not want to be a “vassal” that is dependent on US and Chinese tech companies, calling for a “European preference” in the sector (17:51).
Czechs (10:45) and Slovaks (10:34) took to streets last night to protest against populist leaders Andrej Babiš and Robert Fico as they marked the 36th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution of 1989.
Over in Greece, mass rallies have been held to mark the 52nd anniversary of the student uprising at the Athens polytechnic (17:21).
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.
New Slovenian law treats entire Romany minority ‘as a security threat’
Slovenia’s government has been accused of turning Roma neighbourhoods into “security zones” after the passing of a law giving police powers to raid and surveil homes in so-called “high-risk” areas.
At midnight on Monday, the country’s parliament backed the “Šutar law”, named after Aleš Šutar, who was killed in an altercation with a 21-year-old Romany man after rushing to a nightclub after a distress call from his son.
The incident outside the LokalPatriot club in Novo Mesto, in south Slovenia, last month led to huge street protests, police being stationed in Roma neighbourhoods and the resignation of two ministers.
The prime minister, Robert Golob from the centre-left Freedom party, responded by promising new security measures, which he described as being “not against any particular ethnic group but against crime itself”.
But critics said the changes were discriminatory and “treat an entire minority as a security threat”.
The Act on Urgent Measures to Ensure Public Security, which was first introduced two weeks after Šutar’s death, was watered down before the final vote on Monday, but it retained a series of controversial clauses.
The police will, without a court order, be allowed to enter a property or means of transport in a “security-risk area” if “it is unavoidably necessary for the protection of people to immediately seize firearms”.
They will also be able to use to use technical means for photography and recording, such as drones or licence plate recognition, if people’s lives or property are deemed at risk.
Under the legislation, the “security-risk areas” will be geographically demarcated by the director general of the police or the director of the police administration, based on a security assessment.
Mensur Haliti, vice-president of the Roma Foundation for Europe, said the law was discriminatory and called on the European Commission to examine its terms.
