Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Thursday that Europe risks being cut off from any negotiations aimed at bringing peace to Ukraine unless it puts an end to competing diplomatic initiatives and agrees on a single representative authorized to speak on its behalf, according to what was reported by Reuters.
In a letter to European Council President Antonio Costa, Meloni said that the multiplicity of different negotiating formats and paths weakens Europe's credibility and gives the impression that it is moving "randomly" without coordination or a clear vision.
It stressed that it is not seeking a seat at the negotiating table for itself, or for Italy, but Rome will not accept to negotiate commitments without authorization from the European Union.
She called on European Union leaders to determine who will represent the bloc in the negotiations, and what powers they should have. It also requested that this issue be discussed at an informal meeting of the European Council in Dublin next week, with an official decision being taken at the December summit after coordination with Britain, Norway, and other European partners.
On Thursday, European airports witnessed a series of bomb warnings on board civilian aircraft, which led to the diversion of a number of flights and the emergency landing of planes.
The Italian news agency ANSA reported receiving two reports of the presence of bombs on board two planes, the first belonging to the Finnish company Finnair, which was heading from Helsinki to Rome, and the second belonging to Wizz Air, which was heading from Milan to Warsaw, before diverting its course to Vienna.
A spokesman for Rome Airports confirmed to Agence France-Presse that military fighters escorted the Finnair plane until it arrived at Fiumicino Airport in the Italian capital.
In France, the authorities announced that an Airbus A320 civilian plane, belonging to the Irish company Aer Lingus, was heading from Dublin to Rome, and its course was diverted to the Evreux Air Base in the northwest of the country, after a warning of the presence of a bomb on board.
The French Prime Minister confirmed that the plane's 151 passengers and six crew members were safe, while teams specialized in dismantling explosives began searching the plane. The French Air Force explained that fighter jets took off to intercept the plane and accompany it until it landed at the military base.
In Belgium, Reuters quoted a source as saying that a plane belonging to the Polish company LOT, coming from Warsaw, landed safely at Brussels Airport after a report of a suspicious matter. Airport spokespeople confirmed to local media that there was no need to take additional security measures.
In Bulgaria, local media reported, citing government officials, that three planes were forced to land following bomb threats, explaining that two planes coming from Copenhagen and Madrid landed at Sofia Airport, while a third plane coming from London landed at Plovdiv Airport.
These developments come after a series of similar warnings that affected about ten civilian aircraft heading to European airports on Tuesday, including flights belonging to the companies “Rainair,” “SAS,” “LOT,” and “Wizz Air,” which required the rerouting of some of them and subjecting them to security inspections.
No explosives were found on any of the planes that were inspected following Tuesday's alerts, while it is not yet clear whether the new reports are related to these incidents.
On Monday, a Wizz Air plane heading from Luton Airport in Britain to Sofia was forced to land in Budapest accompanied by two Hungarian fighter jets, following a similar warning.
On Wednesday, the Internal Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced the dismissal of two senior officials named in an investigation linked to fraudulent call centers.
The Internal Security Service said that its head, Oleksandr Poklad, relieved two senior officials in the agency from their duties after their names were included in an investigation conducted by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABO).
He added in a statement via Telegram that Boklad expects a “transparent, objective and fair” investigation to be conducted by the office, despite the tension between the two institutions. The dispute between them worsened last year after President Volodymyr Zelensky tried to reduce the independence of the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
For its part, the Anti-Corruption Bureau said that a security official “threatened to use a firearm” and prevented investigators from entering sites where they were carrying out inspections on Wednesday.
According to the office, senior officials in the Security Service, the Public Prosecution Service, and the police paid bribes to members of law enforcement agencies in exchange for turning a blind eye to the activities of fraudulent call centers.
He added that the fraud operations targeted Ukrainians and foreigners, and included the sale of drugs, the production of counterfeit cigarettes and counterfeit foreign currencies.
He accused a criminal group of at least 12 people of organizing “assaults, kidnappings and planned attacks.”
The investigations prompted Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko to resign in September after his offices were searched, noting that he denied committing any violations.
According to the Global Initiative to Combat Transnational Organized Crime, based in Switzerland, the fraudulent call center sector in Ukraine provides jobs for about 60,000 people, equivalent to about two-thirds of workers in the banking sector.
The initiative estimates that these activities generate revenues that could reach $1 billion per month.
