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Europe Today: patthelyzet Izraelben a választás után, ritka Putyin-hívás az északi vezetőktől
Az izraeli választás patthelyzetet hozott, Netanjahunak és Eisenkotnak sincs többsége. Európa Putyinnal egyeztet, Szerbia szavaz, közeleg az amerikai félidős voksolás, valamint Mbappé kínai vitája.
BŐVEBBEN : http://hu.euronews.com/2026/10/28/europe-today-izrael-patthelyzetben-a-valasztas-utan-ritka-putyin-hivas-az-eszaki-vezetokto
Iratkozzon fel: Az Euronews elérhető 12 nyelven
Az izraeli választás patthelyzetet hozott, Netanjahunak és Eisenkotnak sincs többsége. Európa Putyinnal egyeztet, Szerbia szavaz, közeleg az amerikai félidős voksolás, valamint Mbappé kínai vitája.
BŐVEBBEN : http://hu.euronews.com/2026/10/28/europe-today-izrael-patthelyzetben-a-valasztas-utan-ritka-putyin-hivas-az-eszaki-vezetokto
Iratkozzon fel: Az Euronews elérhető 12 nyelven
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00:14Good morning, it's Wednesday, October 28th. You're watching Euronews and this is Europe Today.
00:22Our top stories. Israel's election ended in an apparent deadlock yesterday. Exit polls by
00:29major television networks showed, with neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his main
00:34rival Gadi Eisenkott on track for a majority in the Knesset. The stalemate could work in Netanyahu's
00:40favour, allowing the long-serving Prime Minister to remain in power in a caretaker capacity,
00:46while parties try to forge a governing coalition. Final results could take days.
00:52Finnish President Stupp and Norwegian Prime Minister Störe held a surprise phone call with Russian
00:57President Putin, signalling Europe's increasing willingness to engage directly with Moscow to
01:03end the war in Ukraine. The two leaders urged Putin to commit to meaningful negotiations to reach a
01:09stable, peaceful settlement. The call was made at the initiative of the two Nordic leaders.
01:15Afterwards, they exchanged with Ukrainian President Zelensky. And French football superstar Kylian Mbappé
01:22has lost several of his biggest sponsorship deals in China, after a video circulated online in which
01:29he appears to joke about Mao Zedong, the founder of the People's Republic. His comments led to a
01:35backlash that the Real Madrid forward has now apologized for. In China, jokes about Mao, who died in 1976,
01:43are seen as disrespectful and touched on a sensitive political and national issue.
01:49Welcome to the programme, I'm Stefan Krober. But first, to the election in Israel, where no alliance
01:55of parties has secured the necessary majority. That is not unusual, as no single party has ever won
02:0161 seats outright in the 120-member parliament, making coalitions the norm. In their first reactions,
02:09Netanyahu and Eisencott attacked each other for playing with Israel's security. Take a listen.
02:17It is forbidden, simply forbidden, to endanger Israel by forming a government that relies on
02:23anti-Zionist Arab parties.
02:28Netanyahu, do not dare to use Israel security for your political needs. To all the citizens of Israel,
02:35Israel. I say already now, I can assure you, the era of evasion has ended.
02:42Joining me now is Eilon Levy, a former spokesman of the Israeli government. Good morning, Eilon.
02:49Good morning.
02:50So, simple question. What just happened and what happens next?
02:55That is not a simple question. It's an excellent question. Israelis are waking up this morning,
02:59scratching their heads and asking what happened. I mean, let's bring you an update now from the
03:04partial votes that have been counted, with about 52% of the votes counted. Netanyahu's bloc has 55 seats
03:12in the 120-seat Knesset. The change bloc has 49 seats, and the Arab parties have surged to a historic
03:2116
03:22seats. It means now there are really three options, a unity government, a minority government,
03:29or fresh elections. And all of those are going to require someone to surrender on some very serious
03:36coalition promises. The prospect of a minority government headed by Eisencott with the tacit
03:44support of the Arab parties is looking a lot less likely now that it seems they have dramatically
03:50underperformed. There is still a risk that Netanyahu's bloc could pull off that magic number of 61 seats.
03:57The votes are still being counted. But until we have a clearer picture, it would be pointless to speculate.
04:03Yeah, obviously a very complex situation. Is this the beginning of the end of the Netanyahu era,
04:09or are we underestimating his extraordinary ability to cling to power?
04:15Oh no, this is an extraordinary comeback for Netanyahu. Despite the October 7th massacre that happened on his
04:20watch, despite three years of war since then, despite huge public unrest and dissatisfaction over his
04:30alliance with the ultra-Orthodox parties and their demand for an exemption from military service,
04:35Netanyahu is the leader of the largest party by a wide margin. His bloc has a commanding lead over the
04:44change bloc if we put the Arab parties to one side and we can talk about why those are considered
04:49somewhat problematic. Netanyahu has lost his majority. It seems it's unlikely that he will hold
04:56on to a majority. But unless someone else manages to form a government, he remains the caretaker prime
05:01minister. Either we go back to elections or someone folds and sues for peace and joins his coalition.
05:07Right. Aylan, I have to ask you this. You mentioned the Arab-led parties. They could hold the balance
05:14of power. But how conceivable is it really that they will decide who becomes Israel next prime minister?
05:20I mean, despite the refusal of several opposition leaders to govern with them.
05:25The possibility of a minority government headed by Eisenkot, at least temporarily, with the support of
05:32some of the Arab parties was floated as an option. Leaders within the change bloc are warning that
05:39would be extremely unpopular and would backlash and end up giving Netanyahu an even bigger majority
05:44in the next election. As much as anyone wants to see the integration of Arabs into Israeli life,
05:50I think most European listeners would not want to have an Islamist party or an Arab communist party
05:56sitting in their own government. Mansour Abbas made big steps to come towards the change bloc.
06:02And yet still refuses to call Hamas a terrorist organization. The Joint List, one of its newly elected
06:08candidates, dedicated their victory to the people of Gaza and occupied Jerusalem. So they are still
06:14kryptonite for most of the mainstream parties. It's possible that Eisenkot could rely on them to try to form
06:22a minority government. It would be very unpopular and definitely unstable. All right, Aylan Levy, former
06:27Israeli government spokesman. Thank you so much for your analysis this morning.
06:32Now, America is heading for a political showdown, and the stakes could hardly be higher. In just one week,
06:38voters will decide who controls Congress in what is widely seen as a referendum on Donald Trump's
06:43presidency. With Republicans fighting to hold on to power and Democrats hoping for a comeback,
06:49the outcome could reshape Washington and Trump's last two years in the White House. For more on this,
06:55I'm now joined by Keith Branham, senior advisor on U.S. politics at consulting firm Green Lane,
07:00with more than a decade of experience as a Democratic strategist and campaign manager.
07:05Good morning and thanks for coming on.
07:08Good morning.
07:08So, right now, Democrats have a huge polling advantage. On the generic ballot, likely voters
07:14prefer Democratic candidates over Republicans by 11 points in their congressional districts.
07:20But when it comes to Senate races, the Democrats' lead narrows to just five points. Is there still
07:27some nail-biting, or do Democrats have it in the back?
07:32There's definitely some nail-biting, but this is far more nail-biting than Republicans would have
07:37wanted. When we came in to 2026, it was understood that the House, because of history, was probably in
07:46play for Democrats. Democrats probably had a really good chance of winning it. And the Senate was out of
07:51reach. The map was just not in their favor. That is how much the politics has changed between January
07:58and now. And there's a few reasons for that. One, Democrats have recruited really fantastic
08:03candidates across some really difficult states that Republicans are used to winning. And that Donald
08:09Trump in 2024 won by high single digits, sometimes double digits. And for example, you had a great
08:17candidate in Tallarico, in Texas, who won a really competitive primary and is going up against a
08:26Republican candidate who is belated by scandal. And this is... Keith, if I may, I have to ask you this.
08:32Over the past decade, pollsters understated Trump's and Republican strength. Are the polls overestimating
08:39Democrats yet again? I would say the polls are not overestimating. In fact,
08:45most polls are within the margin of error. So it is a coin talk across so many of these districts.
08:52Again, where we started in January, that is just how much this landscape changed. So just like in
08:592024, where you had a bunch of states that you could have said one way or another would have gone
09:05for Kamala Harris or for Donald Trump in the presidential election, now you have the same
09:09situation here. Again, that's just how much the map has shifted again.
09:13And briefly, Keith, to what extent would the Democratic Congress have the ability to roll
09:17back Trump's policies?
09:20That is a really good question. Because right now, this Congress has been, I would say,
09:26very subservient to the president. And the president has shown little interest in governing with Congress.
09:31Now, with Democratic majorities, Democrats will certainly, and they have been very vocal
09:36about holding the president accountable and using their powers of oversight and investigation to try
09:42to do so. I think we are in uncertain times because the president normally in these next two years would
09:48go into what we call the lame duck status. And we're probably not get a lot done because,
09:53again, we're looking forward to the next presidential administration because we have another presidential
09:57election coming up next year.
10:00Thank you so much, Keith Branham, U.S. election campaign insider. Thank you for your time this
10:06morning. In a major diplomatic development, two of Ukraine's closest European allies have opened a
10:12direct line to Vladimir Putin as efforts to end Russia's war gather pace. The leaders of Finland and
10:18Norway initiated the call, which could pave the way for peace talks in Abu Dhabi next month with Europe
10:25seeking a seat at the negotiating table. But the move has also raised the politically sensitive
10:30question in Brussels, who speaks for Europe in negotiations with Moscow? Joining me now is our
10:36correspondent Sasha Bakulina. Good morning, Sasha. So what came out of this phone conversation with
10:42Putin? And does that bring peace talks any closer? It does, actually. It was a huge diplomatic step.
10:48But at the same time, it was as delicate and as sensitive, diplomatically speaking, as it gets,
10:53Stefan, because both leaders say that they do represent only their national governments and
10:58they do not speak for the European Union. But still, the question is there and the tension is here.
11:02What about the EU? Do they represent the European Union? Do they represent Europe? They say no,
11:06but they did insist that they consulted both Ukraine and the European Union before going into those
11:10negotiations. Let's take a listen to what Alexander Stoop had to say, commenting on it.
11:16The discussion with President Putin was professional and direct. And we, of course, as Norway and Finland
11:25continue to support Ukraine and work towards a lasting and just peace. Now, the road towards
11:35a meeting with the United States, Ukraine, Russia and Europeans have been paved for Abu Dhabi sometime in
11:46November. President Zelensky has also spoken about the next round of negotiations. What is he expecting
11:55and what conditions is he setting?
11:58Kyiv wants two things. Kyiv wants a ceasefire in any shape or form of it. And Kyiv wants to have
12:03direct
12:03talks with Russia. Both of those things Moscow has been rejecting for a very long time. Also,
12:08Moscow has been rejecting any possibility of direct talks with Europe as well, Stefan. So this is major.
12:14If the first time they allow the possibility of having European negotiations. At the same time,
12:18it's not clear whether Europe will be or the European Union will be represented at the talks in Abu Dhabi.
12:23So far, it is trilateral format still that is on the agenda. This is what Volodymyr Zelensky said about it.
12:32It is important that Europe is involved in all diplomatic efforts. Ukraine has always insisted that Europe
12:38must be present and must be involved in decision making. And this applies to everyone in Europe. No one
12:45should be left out of the process. I would like to thank everyone who is actively involved and who
12:50is helping us.
12:54Our correspondent Sasha Vakulina, thank you very much. A political earthquake in Serbia and potentially
13:01the end of an era. After years of protests, mounting anger over corruption and growing opposition to
13:07President Aleksandar Vucic, last Sunday's parliamentary elections have delivered a stunning upset,
13:13with the student-led opposition emerging victorious. But bringing down an entrenched
13:18political establishment is one thing. Governing a deeply divided country is quite another. So,
13:25is Serbia finally turning a page? Joining me now is Marco Prelek, senior Western Balkans analyst with
13:31the International Crisis Group. Good morning and thanks for being with us.
13:36Good morning. It's a pleasure to be here.
13:38So, the student movement united people from very different political backgrounds. Now that their
13:44common enemy is gone, what is holding them together?
13:49That really remains to be seen. I mean, I think the most important thing to keep in mind about the
13:55student movement is that it is not a political party in any sense. This is really a totally unprecedented
14:02thing. The people that won, none of them are professional politicians. That was one of the
14:09criteria for being listed on the student movement's campaign list. There's no single leader. There's no
14:18charismatic figure. They really won the elections purely on the strength of their promise to turn the
14:25page after 14 years of the government of President Vucic.
14:30Serbians voted for change, obviously, particularly an end to corruption. How quickly can the new
14:36leadership deliver and what happens if it fails?
14:40I think this will take a long time. I mean, there's a lot, you know, it is 14 years of
14:44an entrenched
14:45system to, first of all, understand and investigate and then dismantle and replace with something else.
14:53I think it's maybe premature to start worrying about what happens if they fail. They haven't
15:00even taken office yet. I think it's also likely that we overstate the extent to which the society is
15:08divided. A lot of people clung to the President Vucic's party because of the patronage system.
15:16So, as that is dismantled, quite a few of them will fall away, leaving a smaller ideologically
15:22committed core, as happened with other parties in similar positions in the past.
15:27Brussels has welcomed the result, but is the EU celebrating too soon? I mean,
15:32do we actually know whether Serbia's new leaders want to bring the country closer to Europe?
15:37Well, they've said they do. They have been somewhat ambivalent about whether they
15:43mean that to mean eventual membership in the European Union, something which is
15:47really under a question mark for a variety of reasons. But they clearly do seek better relations
15:56with the member states of the European Union and with the EU itself, and constructive relations
16:02with their neighbors, which is also very important.
16:04All right, Marco Preleg from the International Crisis Group, thank you for your insights.
16:10Now, if you're a football fan, you might have heard about it. Kylian Mappé, the captain of the French
16:15national team and one of the sport's global superstars, is in hot water. What got him there is his
16:21unfortunate nickname on social media, the dictator, over his huge influence on and off the pitch.
16:28While he was on a French talk show, the Real Madrid forward was asked about the funny online memes about
16:34him. He then said, the one that makes him laugh most is this picture of a man he thinks is
16:40a Chinese
16:41dictator. Those who didn't laugh were Chinese officials. Mbappé found himself quickly at the
16:47center of a diplomatic storm and a fierce backlash. Sensing that something was wrong, Mbappé then issued the
16:54following apology. My comment was ill-judged and I now understand that it hurt many people in China
17:00and in Chinese communities around the world. I apologize to everyone. My words have upset. I'm
17:07sincerely sorry. Is that the end of it? Let's bring in Irish sports journalist and football expert,
17:14Ken Early. Good morning and good to see you, Ken. Good morning. Good to see you too.
17:19So, is the lesson learned here that when you're a football star, never joke about leaders who died
17:25half a century ago? Well, it's not a rule that many players have actually broken before now. And I'm
17:36sure Mbappé was as surprised as anybody to discover that his comments made some six months ago had caused
17:43such a such offense in China. But it's not the first time that something along these lines has
17:49happened. The German player Mesut Ozil, who played for Arsenal at the time in 2019, posted on social
17:57media about the the plight of the Uyghur people in China. And unlike what Mbappé has done, his was
18:03actually direct political criticism of China over what's happening with the Uyghur people there.
18:10And in that instance, well, they said, OK, Arsenal won't be on Chinese television anymore.
18:16And Mesut Ozil will not be mentioned on Chinese social media. And Arsenal, his club, quickly issued
18:22a response distancing themselves, saying this is his opinion, not ours. And Ozil was, in fact,
18:27sold not long after that, although I don't think it was for that reason. But these types of things
18:31have happened before. And Ken, at least three Chinese companies have already cut ties with Mbappé.
18:37How much money could this controversy cost him? And how serious is the damage to his global brand?
18:43I don't think it's going to cause serious economic problems for Kylian Mbappé. Obviously,
18:50nobody wants to lose sponsors. I did see that Javier Tebas, who is the head of La Liga in Spain,
18:56went to visit the Chinese ambassador in Spain to apologize, which suggests that he at least
19:03sees it as potentially a problem if Real Madrid games aren't going to be shown on Chinese television.
19:08Now, I'm sure they will be. What usually happens is there's an angry response from China,
19:15and then there's an institutional apology, and then things get smoothed over. But it sort of shows
19:22this situation, clubs, sports leagues want to market to a global marketplace. But that global
19:27marketplace is divided into different political regimes. And increasingly, political statements of
19:34any kind, and Mbappé's wasn't even a political statement. He was simply laughing at a meme someone
19:39had presented to him, which had some satirical political content, that any political statement
19:46is going to cause commercial issues.
19:48Okay. Ken Early, Irish sports journalist. Thank you very much for your thoughts on this,
19:52this morning. And that does it for us today. Thank you for watching. I'm Stefan Grobe, and I see you
19:59tomorrow.