Europe Today: Rare Oleshky truce holds in Ukraine, Albania imposes heavy fines on protesters

Good morning, it's finally Friday, October 30th. You're watching Euronews and this is Europe Today. Our top stories. A Russian drone killed at least 14 people at the main railway station in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, hitting a platform crowded with people boarding a train, officials said. The commuter train was preparing to depart for the nearby southern city of Zaporizhzhia. Meanwhile, a rare humanitarian ceasefire brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump in Oleshky seems to be holding. The ceasefire is supposed to save people trapped in this Russian-occupied Ukrainian town and to stay in place until Sunday. A delegation of European lawmakers has warned China that its export-driven economic model is unsustainable for Europe. The group demanded curbs on cheap imports across more industrial sectors. Warning came during a visit to China by 12 MEPs who urged Beijing to build on a deal reached earlier this month to limit Chinese hybrid car exports to the EU. The EU's trade deficit with China has reached a record 360 billion euros and continues to widen as low-cost Chinese imports flood the European market. And Christine Lagarde will leave her post as president of the European Central Bank in February, around nine months before her eight-year term was due to end. While the ECB gave no reason, speculation about Lagarde's early departure had been building for months. Rumor had it that Lagarde planned to leave early so that French President Macron and German Chancellor Merkel could oversee the choice of her successor before France's presidential election in April of next year. Welcome to the program, I'm Stefan Grobe. Humanitarian aid is expected to reach the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky today as a rare localized ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv enters its fourth day. The truce, which began on Tuesday, has allowed military units to clear landmines ahead of the humanitarian operation. But concerns remain over the fate of civilians trapped in the devastated town, and whether those evacuated will be allowed to reach Ukrainian-controlled territory. For more on this, our correspondent Sasha Vakulina is joining me now in the studio. Good morning, Sasha. So what do we know about this humanitarian operation expected to begin today? And what about the evacuation of civilians? It is the first operation like that in years, Stefan. Now, first, let's look at Oleshky. Oleshky is a small town in southern Ukraine. It's across the river from So when Kherson was liberated by Ukrainian forces, Oleshky remained occupied and all the territory around it is heavily mined. And this location is something that makes it very, very complicated. People in Oleshky, there are about 2,000. ...of residents who stay there, they don't have access to food, they don't have access to medical help, no health services, there is nothing there. Oleshky was also severely flooded when the Russians blew the Kakhovka Dam in Kherson region. Now they have just a few hours to decide whether they want to leave, given that they might have to go through harsh interrogations and filtration camps to reach first Russia-occupied territory before they can go back. to Ukraine-controlled territory. They have to make the decision before 2 o'clock in the afternoon local time. If not, if they stay starting from 2.30, they will receive humanitarian aid, but then it is not clear how it will be controlled, how it will be observed. And also, after today, when will be the next humanitarian aid delivery, if there will be any? Now, I discussed this operation with Ukraine's former prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who is very skeptical about what's happening in Oleshki today. They actually took all these civilians as hostages and now they are trading these hostages. They launched a stage operation that those who hold them in captivity gonna provide them some kind of survival. So they brought to this special operation the first lady of the United States, which is Melania Trump. And the good news is that at least they've announced a partial ceasefire. But the bad news is that once again, that they are using these human beings as a shield, as hostages, as those who would be depicted by the Russian propaganda that have been saved by the egregious Russian military. And in this way, they try actually to buy some kind of positive attitude from the White House. That's my take. Do you trust the fact that the Russian army will allow Ukrainians who are trapped in Oleshka to not only to evacuate, but finally also to evacuate to the territory under Ukrainian control and not to be forcefully deported into Russia? There is no way to trust Russians, period. And they will conduct it as a special propaganda operation. It depends on the White House, whether the White House would be really ready to provide a humanitarian support for the Ukrainians and to give the Ukrainians chance to decide whether they want to go back to Ukraine. There is no information so far about About any sort of official U.S. mission slash U.S. observers on the ground in Oleshki. Well, there is Newsmax. Fox News will participate in covering this operation. So let me deliver a very clear message to the journalists of Newsmax and Fox News. We kindly ask you folks to be journalists and to tell the truth, but not to parrot the Russian propaganda. This operation, the planned operation in Oleshki, Overstretched, but still. Could that be the first step towards any possible ceasefire that is now back on the diplomatic table? My answer would be very short. No. Russia will not agree to the ceasefire? No way. And that's an issue. Look what Russians are telling. They've told that they are ready to resume so-called technical talks What the hell is technical talks? Putin is ready to end the war on his terms. He is ready to get the peace deal. Which is similar to capitulation. Everything he's doing right now is a real way how to buy the time, how to pretend that they want to cut the peace deal, how to bypass sanctions, circumvent sanctions, Yeah. how to drive the wedge between Americans and Europeans, and actually how to outwit us. This is the plan of Putin. Where is Europe? Is it at the table or on the menu? We need to have Europe at the table, and it's up to Americans, let me once again reiterate, Americans, to have their closest ally, which is the European Union, sitting at the table. Who shall represent the European Union? Should it be Antonio Costa? Should it be Kaya Carlos? Who shall be that voice? You remember this notorious phrase of former Secretary of State, whom should I call in Europe? Wow. It's up to the European Union to decide. It could be the president of Finland. It could be the president of the European Commission. We're going to hit the wall because Russians object this. Who cares? But Russians object to anybody. Correct. Sasha Vakulina speaking to former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Albania introduced heavy fines for people present at demonstrations that turn violent, as the government seeks to manage daily protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama in the capital Tirana. The fines can go as high as 5,500 euros, quite a number in a country where the average pre-tax monthly salary stands at 930 euros. The pecuniary penalties are not limited to people directly engaged in violence. They will be imposed on anyone who chooses to remain in a crowd that is carrying out acts of violence or looting. Is this government overreach or legitimate punishment for destroying property? Joining me now in Tirana is our correspondent Ardit Toksha. Good morning, Ardit. Good morning. So, these fines, what was the public reaction to them? So, it was expected that the public reaction would be a little bit high on the street, but what we have seen in these two days, especially yesterday, when the fines were approved by the parliament, was a little bit low. And I said this because... In the square we saw yesterday only few people protesting, so after the government made the decision, it was approved yesterday in the parliament, and the people that protested, even in front of the parliament, but also in front of the prime minister's office, were only like 200 or 300. So the expectations now are for the Saturday when it's called like a national protest, a huge protest like it was in the previous Saturday. And we will see if the reaction this time will be like huge and will cause even more damages or the fines will make the effect and the people... We fear from them and we will not go into squares or cause any problems or damages like we have seen in the previous weeks. And could these massive fines actually backfire, provoking even more anger and bigger demonstrations? Yeah, this is a fear and one of the expectations to all people here that this kind of fines, but also the other decisions that the government has notified that all people who provoke violence and made this kind of violence in the streets, they can also have the ban to entry in the EU country. Together with the fines, these are very repressive measures by the government against the protesters that may also backfire. Ardit Hoxha in Tirana, thank you very much. Israel has voted, but the political deadlock continues. Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting for survival, his opponents are struggling to form an alternative government, and Arab parties have emerged as potential kingmakers after historic electoral gains. But will any of this make a difference for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank? Or is Israel's political establishment fundamentally united in rejecting their aspirations for statehood? Let's bring in Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Good morning and thank you for joining us. Good morning to you. So, Dr. Barghouti, Benjamin Netanyahu has lost his parliamentary majority, but he's far from politically finished. From a Palestinian perspective, is this election a victory, a disappointment, or simply more of the same? No, unfortunately it's a combination. First of all, the fact that Netanyahu's bloc has lost This is important. Second, the unfortunate thing is that all Zionist parties in Israel, whether in government, with Netanyahu or in opposition to Netanyahu all share the same views of rejecting Palestinian rights including rejecting a Palestinian state, rejecting the right of the Palestinians to have self-determination, rejecting the idea of ending the Israeli illegal occupation and most importantly all these parties support the continuation of illegal settlement activities. Which are destroying any potential for peace. That is the problem. And they all are supportive of continuing the genocidal war on Gaza. On the other hand, none of these two blocks can form a government without the third factor in these elections, which is the very big rise of the number of seats that Palestinian Arabs in Israel hold, 19 seats. They are the decision-maker in this case, and I hope this will have an impact on removing at least the most fascist ministers in the Israeli government, like Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, who have been responsible for terrible attacks, including ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. Let me follow up on this. Gadi Eisenkot could replace Netanyahu, but he's a former Israeli military chief. Would a government led by Eisenkot really be any better for Palestinians? It would be better if they remove these fascist ministers like Smotrich and Ben-Gvir and if they have the sufficient courage to rely on the votes of the Arab members of the Knesset who are ready to provide this support. So that a change can make and end this whole era of Netanyahu's administration. Netanyahu has been responsible not only for slaughtering Palestinians in Gaza and for enhancing ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, but he has been responsible for creating wars with Lebanon, with Syria, threatening Jordan. And trying to impose Israel as an imperial force controlling the Middle East. Removing Netanyahu is the most important thing today. So if Eisenkot have the courage, he can do it. On that note, Arab parties have made historic electoral gains and could now hold the balance of power. Isn't that an extraordinary opportunity for Palestinians to influence Israeli politics? Yes, and it shows you that the Palestinians, many of whom have been passive and worried and afraid because of oppression they are subjected to and because of the terrible racism in Israel. Where they speak about Israel as a Jewish-only state, ignoring the rights of the 20% of the population. Now they are not passive, they are active. Now they believe in themselves. They believe that they have the strength and they have the power to demand their rights. And that's an important addition to the overall Palestinian struggle, whether in the occupied Palestinian territories or among Palestinian refugees in the diaspora, or now inside Israel. I think this is a very positive factor. And it shows that the Palestinian community inside Israel will defend its rights and defend itself in democratic means, of course. But the most horrible thing is when you see Israeli parties, whether in governments or in opposition, using racist terms like the votes of the Arabs should not count and they should not have a right to have a power inside the Knesset. That is absolute racism. And it brings back the main question. How could Israel claim to be a democracy when it is practicing apartheid against another nation? And how can Israel be a Jewish-only state when 20% of its population are Palestinian Arabs? Let me ask you about the two-state solution. Is it politically dead in Israel, regardless of who becomes prime minister? The only way to save Palestinian statehood and what they call two-state solution is to remove illegal Israeli settlements from the West Bank, which are now more than 560. Netanyahu has made every possible effort and his government to create as many settlements to kill the idea of a Palestinian state. In my opinion. Maybe they have already killed the idea of two-state solution because of the lack of response from international community which should have imposed sanctions on Israel to stop this terrible attack on the possibility of peace and justice. But if a two-state solution is killed, what is the solution? For these extreme Israeli parties who reject two-state solution and reject one democratic state solution, the only solution for them is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. But we are not leaving. We are here. We're going to stay. We will resist and try to stay in every possible way. And that's why, in my opinion, the only alternative that is really possible and that is really brings the minimum of justice is one democratic state where everybody has equal rights and equal duties. All right, Mustafa Barghouti, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, thank you for sharing your thoughts with us this morning. And now I want to go back to Sasha. You're not only our Ukraine correspondent, also our Israel specialist. You've heard Barghouti and his remarks. What's your first impression? Well, Stefan, it is no doubt that our reporters indeed emerged as kingmakers with 19 seats. This is very, very significant. But I think, you know, we've got to be careful regarding the Netanyahu result, because 53 seats, this is still the largest result for his bloc. This is still... Very significant. Yes, it is short of the 61 seats of majority, but it is the largest and the most successful and the highest result emerging after the elections. Now, when it comes to Gadi Eisenkot, we're talking about 48 seats. This is... Such a deadlock for Israeli politics. When we discussed the elections this week, we said that, you know, we are going to see a couple of weeks, between two weeks to two months, more or less, of the negotiations about how to form the new government for Israel. I think we are now looking at a month or two months because this deadlock, it's also about not only whether Netanyahu or Gadi Eisenkot Are willing to speak to the Arab parties, but also from we now heard from Mustafa Barghouti, whether the Arab parties are ready to speak to any of them and which conditions would be there to join the forces? Like we've heard now from Mustafa Barghouti that it's about ministers like Smotrich and Ben-Gurion not to participate. Would that be enough, though? Would that be the only condition they're going to put out to Netanyahu? to join forces. So we're talking about three parties and the three sides that are not really willing to communicate and work together as of now. And the other option is still on the table, another election and another vote. Do you feel this is coming? We'll see. Okay, Sasha, thank you so much for that comment. And that does it for us today. Thank you for watching, I'm Stefan Grobe, take care and I see you on Monday!