Burnham committed to deeper EU cooperation, he tells Merz – Europe live

In a post to social media, Ukraine’s president, who included graphic footage from the scene, has said that a Russian strike on public transport in Kramatorsk which has left at least ۳۰ dead “will not go unanswered”.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted to say:

Doctors are now fighting to save the lives of people injured in the Russian strike on Kramatorsk. As of now, ۳۰ people have been confirmed killed, and sadly, that number may rise. The Russian bomb effectively hit two city minibuses. Some of those killed have still not been identified because of the severity of their injuries. My condolences to all their families and loved ones. Another ۱۸ people were injured in the strike. Residential buildings and cars were also damaged.

This strike will not go unanswered. Russia is trying to destroy all life in Donbas, and a response from the world is a must. A forceful response – exactly as the Russians deserve for all the deaths they have brought. May all those killed rest in peace.

Back to France, education minister Édouard Geffray said his ministry would prepare a plan to address on of the key demands of the students’ movement on providing cover for absent teachers “in a few hours or a few days,” Le Figaro reported.

He is expected to meet with the three main student groups later today to discuss details (۱۰:۱۰).

In the meantime, protests continue across the country, and AFP notes that while they have been largely peaceful, some demonstrators resort to acts of violence or clash with police officers.

Burnham also talks about rebuilding the UK’s relationship with the EU after Brexit.

He says their meeting in Berlin comes ahead of the UK-EU summit later this year – expected in late November – as he says he is “very committed to securing deeper cooperation” with the EU at the summit.

He wants to see “if we can bring the UK closer to Europe, particularly in the interest of economic growth and collaboration on irregular migration,” he says.

In terms of more symbolic gestures, he says he will take part in talks with German business leaders later today, and hopes to host them in the UK next year – alongside the full German cabinet to show that “this treaty is not just words on a page, left on a shelf,” but a meaningful document.

He then turns to students standing somewhat awkwardly behind the pair throughout their exchange, and they briefly chat about their experiences with the UK, with someone mentioning their visited Scotland.

Aaaaaand that’s it.

In his response, Burnham focuses on broader cooperation with Germany.

He says that in these “challenging times, we need the highest quality collaboration with our closest partners.”

He says their talks also looked at defence and security issues, including their preparedness and ability to counter hybrid threats.

He also says the UK is open to Germany joining GCap programme of work on the next generation fighter jet, together with Italy and Japan.

He also flags cooperation on quantum, AI, and tech more broadly.

Merz is speaking now.

His remark focus exclusively on the bilateral British-German Kensington Treaty, as the pair exchange the documents and formally complete its implementation.

He says the treaty “opens up new opportunities” between the two countries, following Britain’s “regrettable” exit from the European Union.

He focuses on a particular element of the treaty that gives better access to both countries, with no visas required – even for extended stays by school pupils and university students – and for student exchanges between the two countries.

“That is precisely why we are doing this: so that the younger generation, within the context of bilateral relations between Germany and Great Britain, can simply see just how well we Europeans work together and how closely we belong together,” he says.

Back to Berlin, Germany’s Merz and UK’s Burnham are about to speak after their talks.

Annoyingly, it’ll be just statements, with no questions from the press.

You can watch along below, and I will bring you the key lines here:

Rubio gets pushed on allegations of misconduct by US ambassador to Greece

Helena Smith

in Athens

Over in Athens, Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, has been forced, yet again, to address allegations of misconduct by Kimberly Guilfoyle, America’s ambassador to Greece.

At the end of an action-packed trip, topped by what US diplomats called an historic policy speech before the Acropolis, Marco Rubio was brought face-to-face, once again, with the grubby allegations of improper behaviour by his top diplomat in Athens.

For the second time in the space of ۱۲ days the Wall Street Journal had run a report detailing misconduct by Guilfoyle – the former fiance of the US president’s oldest son Donald Trump Jr.

The report was published late Wednesday as Rubio was holding talks with Greek premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

It alleged the former Fox News channel host had asked Eric Deters, a Republican donor and supporter of president Trump, to pay off a $۱۰۰,۰۰۰ American Express credit card bill ahead of her confirmation hearing on ۹ July ۲۰۲۵. In exchange, Guilfoyle reportedly promised direct access to the White House and high profile officials in the Trump administration.

Early Thursday as he was about to board a plane for Portugal – the last stop in his three-day tour of Europe – Rubio was asked to comment.

Acknowledging he was aware of the report – and as Guilfoyle looked on – he told reporters:

“You guys walk around thinking that because some source told you something and you reported it, it’s the gospel. It’s not the gospel. It’s not the gospel for me. That’s not the way we do things.”

It was not the first time the foreign policy chief has been forced to address reports of misconduct swirling around Guilfoyle – or alluded to fake news in debunking them.

On Wednesday, at a press conference with Greece’s foreign minister, he was asked if he remained confident in the envoy amid mounting congressional scrutiny of Guilfoyle’s tenure following earlier allegations detailed by Journal.

Visibly irritated, Rubio shot back saying: “This is not the forum to address this, as simple as that. Suffice it to say, our embassy here is doing a great job. Our ambassador here has been a strong ambassador here.”

Late last month the Wall Street Journal ran a report accusing the high-profile ambassador of improper behaviour around the sale of US natural gas exports to the region via Greece.

The paper reported an incident in which Guilfoyle was also said to have boasted about America’s ability to undermine governments, including the Greek government, if they didn’t comply with US wishes.

Meanwhile, UK’s prime minister Andy Burnham has now arrived in Berlin, and is taking part in a formal welcome with German chancellor Friedrich Merz.

The pair have a long list of issues to talk about, including defence, foreign policy, business, the EU, trade defences against China and the implementation of the bilateral Kensington Treaty.

Some parts of the German media claim it as Burnham’s first stand-alone overseas visit, arguing that both his trips to Ukraine and the UN were part of a broader group. Not sure that really works, but either way his early trip to Berlin shows the importance he attaches to this relationship.

Curiously, there will be no press conference – Politico reported that it was a decision made upon the UK’s request – but the two leaders will deliver some press statements.

I will bring you the key lines when they step up to the microphones.

The French protests are also spilling over the border to Belgium, particularly Brussels and Liège, Reuters and broadcaster RTBF reported.

In Liege, local media have reported more than ۲۰۰ arrests in connection with student protests this month, and authorities have imposed a ban on public gatherings of more than three people until ۱۶ October, Reuters reported.

But Belgium’s foreign minister, Bernard Quintin, said hard-left activists had infiltrated the Liège school protests and were causing damage to property.

Julien Doeche, a member of the Liège Antifascist Front, told RTBF Quintin’s claims were “fantasies“.

Meanwhile, we are getting sad news from Ukraine, where at least ۳۰ people were killed in a Russian attack in the proximity of a bus stop in the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine.

At least ۱۸ people were also injured.

Responding to the strike, the region’s governor Vadym Filashkin suspended the operation of public transport, warning it was “an attractive target” for Russia given “a single strike can kill the highest number of people.”

“Russia consciously disregards all conceivable rules of warfare and norms of international humanitarian law. It selects targets where it can inflict the greatest suffering on civilians,” he warned.

“Under these circumstances, we have no right to risk the lives of passengers and drivers. The safety of the residents of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk is paramount,” he added.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier that the strike targeted “an ordinary public transport stop.”

Back to France, let me bring you more pictures from this morning’s high school protests, which are taking place not just in Paris, but also in other cities, including Nantes and Bordeaux.

We are getting reports of another knife attack at a school in Poland.

The incident took place in Leszczydół-Nowiny, east-central Poland, leaving one person dead and two injured. A ۱۵-year-old boy was apprehended at the scene.

It comes just a day after a ۱۷-year-old boy injured nine people in a separate school stabbing attack (Europe Live, yesterday). An improvised explosive device was discovered in his backpack.

Elsewhere in the country, another ۱۷-year-old has been detained on suspicion of planning a similar knife attack.

In response to the wave of incidents, Polish police said they will step up spot checks near schools to scan for knives and identify suspicious behaviour.

Aisha Down in London, Joseph Gedeon in Washington and Jennifer Rankin in Brussels

In other news, the Trump administration pressured multiple countries to withdraw their sponsorship of a leading European conference on disinformation, with Canada, Lithuania and the EU’s diplomatic service subsequently agreeing to do so, the Guardian understands.

The conference, #Disinfo۲۰۲۶, taking place Wednesday and Thursday, is the annual meetup of Europe’s counter-disinformation community and has drawn hundreds of researchers, journalists, technologists and policymakers to a hotel in Vilnius, Lithuania. It is run by an independent Brussels non-profit, EU Disinfo Lab.

Days before the conference, the logos of its main supporters – the Lithuanian ministry of foreign affairs, the European External Action Service (EEAS) and Global Affairs Canada, the country’s foreign ministry – were wiped off its website.

Photos of the event shared with the Guardian also show white stickers affixed over the logos of these organisations printed on official conference materials, appearing to indicate they were struck from the program in haste.

Three persons familiar with the matter, including European officials, confirmed that the US state department had been in touch with multiple governments over their support for the conference.

Internal state department documents seen by the Guardian also show US officials thanking Lithuania for “taking US concerns seriously”. The document says Washington was “grateful” Lithuania supposedly found a panel framing the US as a foreign information threat “reprehensible and surprising” and welcomed its decision to limit involvement in the conference.

French education minister Édouard Geffray has invited the three leading high school students associations for further talks at the ministry later this afternoon.

This comes as a recent opinion poll showed that the French public broadly supports the protest – with three-thirds agreeing with the students’ demands, and ۵۵% backing the demonstrations – but is divided on whether they should continue (Europe Live, yesterday).

Morning opening: French high school protests continue despite PM’s promise of action

Jakub Krupa

High school protests across France show no sign of slowing down, with nearly ۴۰۰ educational establishments facing disruptions this morning.

Demonstrators have rejected a promise by prime minister Sébastien Lecornu to present a plan to fix the country’s education system by the end of the month, demanding he fully engages with their demands sooner than that.

In a televised address last night, Lecornu said the country could not be “indifferent” to their concerns, and acknowledged that their anger “does not come from nowhere,” but did not make any immediate headline-grabbing announcements.

“We want real action, and until we get it, we’ll keep mobilising,” a high school student named Marilou in Fontainebleau told AFP.

I will keep an eye on today’s events in France as they unfold.

Over in Spain, I will look at reactions after last night’s death of María del Carmen Abascal, the ۸۷-year-old whose eviction set off a nationwide wave of protests against Spain’s housing crisis.

Elsewhere, Britain’s prime minister Andy Burnham will meet with Germany’s Friedrich Merz in Berlin for political talks. Unusually, however, the pair will not hold a joint press conference.

Lots to cover.

It’s Thursday, ۸ October ۲۰۲۶, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.