Poland detains several people in connection with rail sabotage as foreign minister condemns Russian ‘state terrorism’ – Europe live

12.28pm GMT Social Democrats in Denmark suffer sweeping election losses Nordic correspondent The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, has admitted that a fall in support for the Social Democrats was “greater than we had expected” after her party suffered sweeping defeats across Denmark and lost control of Copenhagen for the first time in more than 100 years. While the Social Democrats remain the largest municipal party in Denmark, the prime minister’s centre-left party lost more than five percentage points across the country in Tuesday night’s municipal and regional elections, dropping from 28.4% in 2021 to 23.2%. Support for the far-right Danish People’s party, meanwhile, rose slightly from 4.09% to 5.9%. In Copenhagen, Frederiksen’s close personal friend, Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil, who is understood to have been handpicked by the prime minister to run for lord mayor in the Danish capital, failed to get the votes she needed. The position of lord mayor, it was announced, will be held by Sisse Marie Welling from the Green Left (Socialistisk Folkeparti, known as SF), which won 17.9% of the vote. “We have written history at city hall,” she said. The Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten) remained the capital’s biggest party with 22.1% of the vote. Looking disconsolate after the historic defeat, Frederiksen said: “We had expected to go back, but it seems that the decline is greater than we had expected. We will consider what is behind this.” Frederiksen cited rising food prices, and an imbalance between rural and urban areas, for her party’s decline in popularity. She also pointed to crime committed by “people coming from outside”, reinforcing her hardline stance on immigration. As well as Copenhagen, the Social Democrats also took hits in the former dependable municipalities of Frederikshavn, Køge, Fredericia, Gladsaxe and Holstebro. Related: Social Democrats in Denmark suffer sweeping election losses Updated at 12.33pm GMT 11.49am GMT 'All facts indicate Russian trace' behind Polish rail sabotage incidents, Zelenskyy says Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has spoken with Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk this morning, discussing the overnight Russian attacks on Ukraine and the recent rail sabotage incident, which Warsaw blamed on Russia. “Our information is the same: all the facts indicate that there is a Russian trace behind all of this,” Zelenskyy said. He added that Ukraine faced similar attempted sabotage acts “on a daily basis,” and “put in place proper [measures] to counteract against such” activities. “Ukraine is ready to work with Poland at various levels and to share all information,” he said. The two countries will also set up “a Ukrainian-Polish group that will work to prevent similar situations from the Russian side in the future,” Zelenskyy said. 11.40am GMT Lithuania to reopen Belarus border after balloon incidents Lithuania will reopen its border crossings with Belarus, ending a closure imposed in response to airspace disruptions by smugglers’ balloons, the Baltic republic’s government said as reported by Reuters. Lithuania last month said the two crossings on the border would remain closed until the end of November in response to incursions by weather balloons flying from Belarus that have disrupted air traffic and caused closures at Vilnius airport. It was not immediately clear how soon the border crossings would reopen, Reuters noted. 11.04am GMT Death toll from 'barbaric' overnight Russian attacks on Ukraine rises to 19, foreign minister says Meanwhile, the Ukrainian foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said the death toll from overnight Russian “barbaric” strike on Ternopil has gone up to 19, with 66 further people injured. “This is how Russia’s ‘peace plans’ look like in reality. This terror can only be met with collective strength and pressure on Moscow,” he said. Updated at 11.07am GMT 10.56am GMT 'We know what you're doing,' UK defence minister says in response to Russian about spy ship activities near UK There is also an emerging news line from the UK, with the country’s defence minister John Healey disclosing that a Russian spy ship called Yantar is on the edge of British waters and had been mapping undersea cables, and shining lasers at RAF pilots, which he said was “highly dangerous”. He said: My message to Russia and to Putin is this: We see you. We know what you’re doing. And if the Yantar travels south this week, we are ready. Asked about this in the Q&A, Healey says this is the first time Yantar has done this. The government is taking it extremely seriously. He says he has changed the terms of engagement, so that the UK can follow it more closely when it is in British waters. He says he will not give details, but he says the government has “military options ready”. More on our UK politics live blog with Andrew Sparrow here: Related: Minister says MoD looking at security risk from Chinese cars, with staff told to avoid secret talk in vehicles – UK politics live 10.45am GMT Here is the full quote from Jacek Dobrzyński, the spokesperson for Poland’s security services minister. “The Polish [security] services have much more information. They are on the trail of the principals; they are on the trail of the perpetrators. I confirm that, indeed, the first arrests are now taking place. The people involved are being detained by the Internal Security Agency and by the police, and at this stage, I cannot provide you with more details.” He later added that “several people are being detained” and “questioned” about their role in “this terrorist attack, because we can call it that.” 10.40am GMT Poland detains 'several' people over rail sabotage incidents Poland has detained “several” people linked with the rail sabotage incidents over the weekend, a spokesperson for the Polish security services minister said. More to follow. Updated at 10.40am GMT 10.23am GMT Dutch minister defends original Nexperia decision as he suspends controversial decision The Dutch economy minister said he had moved to take effective control of Nexperia to ensure Europe was not locked out of chip production “in an emergency”. He said the decision to lift the legal move to prevent Nexperia from moving intellectual property and physical assets from its European factory in Hamburg and its corporate headquarters in Nijmegen was the “right step” after consultation with the European Commission and others. “The Netherlands has considered it the right moment to take a constructive step by suspending the order under the Goods Availability Act, in close consultation with European and international partners. The Netherlands will continue to engage in constructive dialogue with the Chinese authorities in the period ahead.” He also indicated that the Dutch would maintain its right to repeat the move if any threat to the production or intellectual property reoccured. The intelligence the government received about Nexperia “showed there was a threat to the continuity on Dutch and European soil of crucial technological knowledge and capabilities,” he said. Last week Karremans told the Guardian in an exclusive interview he had no regrets about the extraordinary move, using never-before invoked Cold-War law, the Goods Availability Act, designed to protect European production in emergency or war situations. Related: ‘I’d do it all again,’ says Dutch minister at heart of car chip standoff with China In turn the Chinese expressed its “extreme disappointment” in the minister, in a fiery rebuke on Friday evening. Related: China voices ‘extreme disappointment’ with Dutch minister at centre of car chip row Karremans has suspended the ministerial order which used the Goods Availability Act earlier today. 10.16am GMT The Netherlands suspends plans for Nexperia takeover The Netherlands has suspended it seizure of the Chinese owner chip maker Nexperia which was at the heart of a bitter six-week battle between the EU and China that threatened to halt car production. Dutch economy minister Vincent Karremans said in a statement on Wednesday that the government would suspend its decision to take supervisory control, made on 30 September, as a gesture of “goodwill” towards Beijing. “In light of recent developments, I consider it the right moment to take a constructive step by suspending my order under the Goods Availability Act regarding Nexperia,” Karremans he said. The decision comes as a delegation from the Netherlands met with officials in Beijing to try and resolve matter after a bitter war of words erupted last week between the economy minister and the Chinese ministry of commerce. “In the past few days we have had constructive meetings with the Chinese authorities. We are positive about the measures already taken by the Chinese authorities to ensure the supply of chips to Europe and the rest of the world. We see this as a show of goodwill. We will continue to engage in constructive dialogue with the Chinese authorities in the period ahead,” added Karremans. Updated at 10.18am GMT 9.51am GMT Relations with Poland 'have completely deteriorated,' Russia says Here are the full quotes from Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, via Reuters. Asked about the consulate closure, he said: “Relations with Poland have completely deteriorated. This is probably a manifestation of this deterioration – the Polish authorities’ desire to reduce any possibility of consular or diplomatic relations to zero. “One can only express regret here … This has nothing to do with common sense.” Updated at 9.51am GMT 9.36am GMT Poland’s decision to close Russian consulate ‘lacks sanity,’ Kremlin says We are just getting a line from the Kremlin, responding to Poland’s decision to close its last remaining consulate in Gdańsk by saying they regret this move and it “lacks sanity,” Reuters reported. 9.29am GMT Russia says 'massive' attacks on western Ukraine are in response to 'terrorist attacks' on Russia Russia’s defence ministry said that Moscow had launched “massive” overnight strikes on targets in western Ukraine in response to what it called “terrorist attacks” on Russian territory. Ukrainian authorities have said that 10 people were killed and 40 wounded overnight in the attacks, including on a residential building in the western city of Ternopil (9:26). Updated at 10.08am GMT 9.08am GMT Slovakia wants Nato to bolster air defence on eastern flank Meanwhile, Slovakia has asked Nato to boost its air defences, the Slovakain prime minister, Robert Fico, said after a meeting with the military alliance’s chief, Reuters reported. Fico, in talks in Bratislava with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte, also defended Slovakia’s plans to decide on its own pace and structure of defence spending in the years ahead as most Nato members lift investment into defence. “During the joint discussion, [Fico] also asked the secretary general to strengthen the air defence of Slovakia,” the Slovakian government office said in a statement after the meeting on Tuesday evening, without providing more details. Updated at 9.11am GMT 8.51am GMT Poland’s Sikorski says he will speak with Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte later today, and will “brief” the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union tomorrow about the latest on the rail sabotage incident. He says he will urge other EU countries to restrict movements of 2,000 Russian diplomats accredited in the bloc, as he says “up to 40% of them perform tasks inconsistent with their diplomatic status,” suggesting they may be involved in intelligence work. Updated at 9.01am GMT 8.48am GMT Poland to withdraw consent for Russia's last consulate in Poland Speaking at a press conference after his speech in Sejm, Sikorski says that responding to the rail sabotage incidents, Poland will withdraw consent for – effectively close down – the last remaining Russian consulate in Poland, the northern Polish city of Gdańsk. The previous two, in Poznań and Kraków, were closed in response to previous incidents of sabotage, which Poland alleged were inspired by Russia. Updated at 8.48am GMT 8.31am GMT Rail sabotage incidents 'act of state terrorism' by Russia, Poland's foreign minister says Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, is now speaking in the Polish parliament. He calls the rail sabotage incidents over the weekend “an act of state terrorism” from Russia adding “the clear intention was to cause human casualties”. He also warns against a “tsunami” of disinformation about the attack. He says that Poland will respond to the sabotage, “not only diplomatically”, without offering more detail. He then shifts the focus of his speech, mounting a passionate defence of Poland’s membership in the EU against the Eurosceptic opposition. He pointedly uses Britain as the prime example that being outside the union is worse, as he talks about the negative consequences for the UK economy, while “migrants still keep coming in as before – just not from the EU, but from the poorer regions of the world”. “Nearly ten years after Brexit, the promised benefits still haven’t realised for the British people. And we are talking about one of the world’s largest economies, after all. Do you really believe that Poland will fare better outside the community?” Updated at 9.05am GMT 8.26am GMT Morning opening: Nine dead after intense Russian strike on western Ukraine At least nine people died in a Russian attack on western Ukraine overnight, with dozens wounded, the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said. Zelenskyy said that Russia launched more than 470 attack drones and 48 missiles overnight. “Every brazen attack against ordinary life proves that the pressure on Russia is still insufficient,” he warned. “Russia must be held accountable for its actions, and we must stay focused on everything that strengthens us and enables us to shoot down Russian missiles, neutralise Russian drones, and stop assaults,” he added. The attack comes just hours before Zelenskyy is expected in Turkey as he hopes to reinvigorate frozen peace talks, which have faltered after several rounds of Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul this year failed to yield a breakthrough. Related: Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv seeks $44bn from Russia for climate-warming war emissions The overnight attack was so intense that neighbouring Poland was forced to close two airports and scramble its fighter jets to patrol airspace near the border with Ukraine as a precautionary measure. Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, is due to speak in the Polish parliament in the next few minutes, outlining the country’s diplomatic response to the alleged Russian rail sabotage attacks over the weekend. Related: Ukrainians working for Russia were behind rail blasts, alleges Polish PM We will also look at the latest defence and AI announcements from the European Commission, the latest on Danish local elections, and monitor Lithuania as the country is expected to review its decision to close its borders with Belarus. Lots for us to cover. It’s Wednesday, 19 November 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live. Good morning.