Welcome to the liveblog for Sunday, 4 January. There are a lot developments across Europe today, so we are providing live updates throughout the day. This article will be continuously updated. Tips are welcome via our contact page or social media channels.
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18:30 Liveblog has been closed, thanks for reading today!
15:22 Berlin is still suffering from a major outage, hitting tens of thousands homes. Mayor of Berlin Kai Wegner: “Berlin will declare a major damage situation. We will use this to tighten coordination once again today. The Bundeswehr is currently reviewing its support capacity.”
14:35 Finnish police have released footage of the seizure of the cargo ship Fitburg, which is suspected of cutting undersea cables in Estonian waters. The vessel, which departed from Saint Petersburg, was sailing with a lowered anchor and likely damaged a telecommunications cable between Finland and Estonia as a result. The incident came as a surprise after months of relative calm around damage to undersea cables. You can read more about this in our recent article on the return of disruptions in the Baltic Sea.
14:22 Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, has welcomed Bulgaria in recent days as the newest country to adopt the euro as its currency. According to von der Leyen, Europe becomes stronger with another member using the single European currency.
“It will further strengthen Bulgaria’s voice in Europe. This step is good for Bulgaria, and it strengthens Europe as a whole. It makes our economy more resilient and competitive globally”, she says.
13:42 Jesper Møller Sørensen, Denmark’s ambassador to the United States, responded to a post showing Greenland covered with a large American flag. The image was shared by the wife of the White House deputy chief of staff, accompanied by the caption “soon”.
The Danish ambassador replied: “Just a friendly reminder about the US and the Kingdom of Denmark: We are close allies and should continue to work together as such. US security is also Greenland’s and Denmark’s security. Greenland is already part of NATO.”
He concluded his message with a warning: “And yes, we expect full respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark.”
13:26 Several of the C-17 aircraft that earlier arrived at Fairford now appear to be continuing on to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, a major US military hub. The reason for the movement remains unclear. The build-up resembles the early stages of last year’s operation against Iran. President Trump warned the Iranian regime last week against using violence against protesters in the country. Read the start of our liveblog to check what aircraft are operational.
13:10 Berlin is suffering from a serious blackout in its energy system. 38000 homes are without power for hours now. Authorities believe the power outage may be the result of deliberate action. “Evidence has been found,” BZ-Berlin reports, describing the incident as a “power attack.”
12:22 Greece is dealing with a major disruption in its airspace, with almost no flights currently flying over the country. The problem is said to affect nearly “all communication systems”.
11:18 France and the United Kingdom carried out air strikes in Syria overnight, according to the French Ministry of Defence. Aircraft from both countries bombed ISIS targets to prevent the group from regaining ground in the country.
10:45 The United States has sent a large fleet of C-17 transport aircraft to the United Kingdom, according to several OSINT accounts on X. The fleet, believed to consist of around ten cargo planes, arrived at Fairford this morning. The reason for the deployment remains unclear, and some of the aircraft were only partially visible on Flightradar.
10:02 European airlines have resumed flights to islands near Venezuela, one day after the United States detained President Maduro in a show of force. One of the airlines restarting services is KLM, which operates many holiday flights to Curaçao, Bonaire and Aruba.
