Poland’s justice minister says investigation into Kraków shooting will aim to establish if the ۲۴-year-old acted alone – Europe live

In an earlier post, we mentioned that US-mediated peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are set to take place in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday and Wednesday.

According to the Financial Times, the national security advisers of France, Germany and the UK and the chiefs of staff to the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and Nato secretary-general, Mark Rutte, will take part in sections of the negotiations, despite the Kremlin insisting this morning that no European officials will be present.

The apparent European demand for at least some involvement in the discussions will stem from concerns that without their input Russia will leave with favourable terms.

The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, has accused European governments of not knowing who speaks for them – but has conceded that security talks will require Europe’s involvement at some point.

After speaking with Von der Leyen, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X this morning that they had “coordinated our positions regarding the meeting in Abu Dhabi”.

“We are doing everything to ensure that the trilateral format delivers results,” he said, without providing any further details. Von der Leyen confirmed after their exchange that “the EU will be present alongside our partners” for the Abu Dhabi talks, echoing weekend statements by France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot.

Andrew Sparrow

The British prime minister, Andy Burnham, says he wants the UK to move to a closer relationship with the EU after the next election and one option would be to join the single market. This would significantly boost trade with the EU, but it would involve Britain accepting free movement rules. Norway is in this position – not in the EU, but in the single market.

At one point before the ۲۰۱۶ Brexit referendum, even Nigel Farage would sometimes say that the Norway option would be a good choice for the UK. But today Burnham is being advised to think twice before copying Norway – by the Norwegian PM.

In an interview with Tim Ross from Politico, Jonas Gahr Støre pointed out that being in the single market but not in the EU means accepting regulations decided by others. He said:

After Brexit, British friends called me and said, tell us about the Norwegian way of doing it. And I said, if you left the EU because there was too much Brussels, don’t take the Norwegian version. Because here, you know, basically we are taking most of their decisions, we implement them.

You can keep up with the latest UK political developments in our live blog here:

Angela Giuffrida

We have some more details on the deadly Kraków shooting from my colleague, Angela Giuffrida. Here is an extract from her story:

Wearing military-style clothing and a bulletproof vest, the gunman drove at high speed into the square in the heart of the old town, which is usually packed with tourists, and started shooting at random in a “wild ride” around the square, the Kraków police spokesperson Katarzyna Cisło said.

Karolina Gałecka, an ⁠interior ministry spokesperson, told radio TOK FM ​on ​Monday: “There ​were many different emblems on the perpetrator’s clothing that have been partially examined and interpreted.

“These patches were ​associated with various motifs that ​are currently ‌being analysed ​by ​specialists,” she added, declining to comment further as the investigation was ongoing.

Police said the suspect, who had no criminal record and held a firearms licence, initially continued shooting even after he was wounded by police during the exchange of fire.

The two injured police officers – Jakub Kulik, a former paratrooper and volunteer firefighter, and Artur Morański– were hailed as heroes for their rapid response and for preventing further casualties.

At least ۲۰ people have died over the weekend trying to reach Greece’s island of Crete, authorities confirmed earlier today.

Eight bodies were found on one boat and ۱۲ on another, while an estimated ۴۰ people were rescued off both, according to the Greek coast guard.

Greece receives a large number of undocumented migrants through the Mediterranean, often from nearby Turkey and countries in northern Africa.

Last month, Frontex, the EU’s border agency, said that the eastern Mediterranean was the busiest route for migrants attempting to enter the EU, although irregular border crossings into the bloc were down by a third so far this year.

Greece has been accused by human rights groups of forcibly returning migrants ⁠and ​asylum seekers on its sea and land borders, a ​practice it denies.

Many of the people making these dangerous journeys are trying to escape rapid climate change, famine, oppressive governments and war, and are often not eligible to apply for asylum from their home countries.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has said some progress had been made on what the “security infrastructure” of Ukraine and Europe could look like after the war with Russia.

Rubio’s comments on Sunday come as Russia-Ukraine negotiations under US mediation have been set for Tuesday and Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, with the talks expected to focus on postwar security arrangements, de-escalation, humanitarian efforts and steps to end the war.

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who is also Trump’s son-in-law, will represent the US during the talks. The Kremlin insisted this morning that no European ​officials will be there, rebuffing France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, who said French representatives would ‌be present.

In an interview ‌with CBS’s “۶۰ Minutes” broadcast on Sunday, the US president, Donald Trump, said he believed the war would end ‌soon and suggested Ukraine could emerge from a settlement with altered borders. “I think we’re gonna have it done, and I think it’s gonna happen and they’re gonna end up with a little bit different shape Ukraine,” Trump said.

Despite Trump’s apparent optimism, no major breakthrough is expected at the talks as Vladimir Putin has consistently been sticking to his maximalist positions and both sides remain far apart, particularly on territory. But the US hopes the Russian president may be more willing to compromise after Trump struck ​a deal in October with the ⁠Kremlin to resume diesel exports to ​international markets.

A Ukrainian drone attack has hit Russia’s second-largest oil refinery in Kirishi, in the Leningrad region, the regional governor, Aleksandr Drozdenko, said.

A fire broke out at the refinery after the overnight Ukrainian drone strike, but has since been extinguished, he ​wrote on Telegram, adding that one ⁠woman had ​been killed ​by ​falling drone ​debris.

Ukraine has been targeting Russia’s oil industry, from pipelines ​and ports to refineries and tankers, in an effort to undermine ⁠Russia’s war economy.

The Kirishi refinery, about ۸۰۰km (۵۰۰ miles) from the Ukrainian border, has suffered several Ukrainian drone attacks ​this year.

The facility, one of the key suppliers of diesel to ​the domestic market and for export, is reported to produce more than ۶% of Russia’s total refined oil.

We are restarting our live coverage of European news after the mass shooting in Kraków, Poland’s second-largest city, over the weekend in which six people were killed.

In an update this morning, the authorities said the ۲۴-year-old Polish attacker, who had been injured in a shootout with police, has died in hospital.

Polish prosecutors had opened a terrorism investigation after the man, from the town of ‌Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski in ‌southeastern Poland, opened fire on Kraków’s popular Main Market Square on Saturday afternoon, killing six people, including a Briton, and injuring ۱۷ others.

On the first of two days of national mourning declared after the rare mass shooting, police confirmed yesterday that three people found dead at the gunman’s home after the attack were his father, ۵۳, mother, ۵۲, and sister, ۲۱.

Five of the injured are foreign nationals from Britain, Austria, Germany, Portugal and Russia. Two police ⁠officers were also among the injured, one of whom was in a serious condition.

The interior minister, Marcin Kierwiński, said the suspect was fascinated with far-right ideologies and held “very radical” and “ultra-nationalistic” views.

But officials appeared to backtrack from these comments as nationalist opposition politicians questioned the grounds on which they were based.

“Until the matter is fully clarified and the authorities are in ‌possession of complete information, it is best to refrain from making comments, even if there are ​some initial indications,” government spokesperson Adam Szlapka told TVN۲۴.

Meanwhile, the justice minister, Waldemar Zurek, said despite the attacker’s death, the investigation will continue, aiming to establish if he ⁠acted alone. Main Market Square reopened on Sunday evening after a security cordon was lifted.

Stay with us for the latest developments on the police investigation and other news from around the continent.