Regional security dominates European talks in Dublin amid hybrid attacks

Leaders from more than 40 European countries have gathered in Dublin for a summit dominated by the growing number of hybrid attacks across the continent.

The biannual European Political Community (EPC), a regional group established in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, brought together heads of state and government officials on Thursday to discuss the region’s fragile security, amid a new United States-backed effort to revive talks between Russia and Ukraine to end the war.

The gathering comes after a series of hoaxes and cyberattacks that have recently targeted supermarkets, blood banks, passenger airlines, schools and media outlets in Europe.

Earlier on Thursday, more than 3,700 Italian schools received hoax bomb warnings, a day after 6,300 schools were affected by a similar widespread alert.

The Republic of Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheal Martin, known as the taoiseach, said those responsible for the attacks seek to “create confusion, sow division and weaken public confidence in our democratic systems”.

“We will not allow them to succeed. We will continue to use forums like this to share our experiences, learn from one another and to work together to protect our democracies,” he told reporters.

Europe joins negotiating table

A major topic of conversation was Europe’s quest for an envoy to represent it in peace talks after calls from Washington and Kyiv. It remains unclear who will be named as European representative.

Earlier on Thursday, US envoy Steve Witkoff said Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to let European representatives join the next round of Ukraine discussions following a meeting in Moscow.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham pledged his “complete support” to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and said he would push for European representation in the US-brokered talks.

Burnham co-chaired a group meeting on Ukraine with Zelenskyy at the summit.

Political upheaval

The EPC comes at a moment of growing political tensions in Europe, and a week after the US midterm elections that saw extensive losses for US President Donald Trump’s Republican Party.

While populist leaders have recently been ousted in Serbia and in Hungary, the far right is still on the rise in Europe and has made recent gains in regional elections in Germany. Voters will cast their ballots in the months ahead in the continent’s biggest countries, including Spain, France, Italy and Poland.

Meanwhile, two people were arrested during a protest organised by “Mothers Against Genocide” over Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in Dublin’s city centre, while the EPC was ongoing.

Those taking part in demonstrations carried Palestine flags and Irish tricolours and banners, including one calling for a boycott of Israel.