European Political Community summit in Dublin focuses on hybrid attacks and Ukraine peace talks

Leaders from more than 40 European countries convened in Dublin on Thursday for a European Political Community summit dominated by a surge in hybrid attacks across the continent and a fresh push to secure European representation in Ukraine peace talks.

The biannual gathering of the EPC — the regional body established in 2022 following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine — came after a series of hoaxes and cyberattacks targeting supermarkets, blood banks, passenger airlines, schools and media outlets across Europe. On Thursday alone, more than 3,700 Italian schools received hoax bomb warnings, a day after 6,300 schools were hit by a similar widespread alert.

Ireland's Taoiseach Micheal Martin said those responsible "seek to create confusion, sow division and weaken public confidence in our democratic systems" and pledged that European democracies would work together to protect themselves. European officials have accused Russia of being behind the disruptive attacks on key infrastructure, an allegation Moscow denies.

A central question at the summit was who will represent Europe in Ukraine peace negotiations. Earlier on Thursday, US envoy Steve Witkoff said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to allow European representatives to join the next round of Ukraine discussions following a meeting in Moscow. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged his "complete support" to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and co-chaired a group meeting on Ukraine with him at the summit.

The EPC met a week after US midterm elections that produced extensive losses for President Donald Trump's Republican Party. The summit also unfolded while populist leaders have recently been ousted in Serbia and Hungary, though the far right has made recent gains in regional elections in Germany, with elections ahead in Spain, France, Italy and Poland.

Two people were arrested during a protest by "Mothers Against Genocide" in Dublin city centre while the summit was under way.