Back in Brussels, the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, has issued an open invitation to the new US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, to attend a meeting with the bloc in Brussels, officials said.

“In my letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, I offered an open invitation for his participation in one of our meetings at his earliest convenience,” Kallas wrote to EU foreign ministers, AFP has learned.

Officials said there had so far been no response.

Oops.

The latest attempt to engage with the new US administration comes as Donald Trump ramps up his criticism of the EU. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos yesterday, he raised several about what he sees as imbalances or unfair approach from the EU, and said he would “do something about it” (yesterday’s blog 17:43).

There is also plenty to talk about regarding Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, but also China and the Middle East, among others.

So far, the only chat we know of between a senior US administration official and a senior EU official was Rubio’s phone call with Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski, which the Pole revealed in a social media post.

Speaking of Ireland, here is the latest as the country battles Storm Éowyn from our weather blog.

Over 715,000 homes and business were without power as a result of the storm.

Unsurprisingly, a large number of flights scheduled to operate to, from or between airports in Ireland and the UK have been cancelled, too. Dublin was the worst affected airport, with 119 departures and 109 arrivals cancelled, the PA news agency reported.

You can follow live updates from Ireland and the UK here:

And here’s a news story from our Lisa O’Carroll in Dublin:

As promised, let’s also catch up on the new Irish government after yesterday’s delayed confirmation of Micheál Martin as the country’s new prime minister.

Of the 15 senior ministers, it’s worth noting some of the key appointments:

Martin’s direct predecessor, Simon Harris, takes on the role of minister for foreign affairs, defence, and trade. Under the terms of the coalition arrangement, he will get the top job again in 2027.

Other notable names include finance minister Paschal Donohoe, who also chairs the Eurogroup, health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, and home and justice minister Jim O’Callaghan.

Helen McEntee, well known on the international stage having burnished her credentials as Europe minister during the Brexit crisis, is the new education minister.

However, the Irish media pointed out that only three out of 15 senior jobs went to women, with the Irish Independent noting that “the number of women at the table has actually reduced, down one in comparison to the outgoing government.”

Aldagh McDonogh, chair of the Women for Election group, said “this decline in women’s representation is concerning.”

It is perplexing that the taoiseach and tánaiste would reject the opportunity in forming the Cabinet to ensure that women’s expertise and lived experience are equally represented at the heart of government decision-making.

This comes after the last year’s election resulted in the lowest proportion of female parliamentarians in western Europe, with a 75:25 ratio of men to women.

Before we look at some other events in Europe today, here’s my Guardian colleague Pjotr Sauer’s story on this Sunday’s vote:

In 2020, accusations of electoral fraud triggered months-long demonstrations, drawing hundreds of thousands of Belarusians to the streets. The authorities detained more than 35,000 people, many of whom were tortured in custody or forced to flee the country.

Since then, the Lukashenko regime, backed by Vladimir Putin – whom Minsk in turn supports in the war in Ukraine – has intensified its repression of even the smallest acts of dissent, charging critics with extremism and terrorism for actions as minor as leaving critical comments on social media or following so-called extremist Telegram channels.

European Commission spokesperson on foreign affairs, Anitta M. Hipper, has just been asked about Belarus at the commission’s daily press briefing.

This is what she said:

This is an exercise that is totally undemocratic. These elections are a total sham. It is not elections if you already know who is going to win.

The EU is continuing to support the Belarusian people. We are also continuing to put pressure on the regime. We have done so last December with the latest package of sanctions, targeting those responsible for human rights violations.

We have also continued to raise awareness on all political prisoners and those unjustly detained. We are calling on the authorities to release all … people facing repression.

When it comes to our support for the Belarusian people … we have adopted a package of 30 million euros in support of the civil society. This brings our total EU support to 170 million euros mobilised since 2020.

Speaking of Ukraine… here is our daily war briefing for you:

• Russian crews were responding to an air attack in the Ryazan region south-east of Moscow over Thursday night.

• Donald Trump has told the Davos World Economic Forum conference that he wants to meet Vladimir Putin soon and “stop this ridiculous war”.

• “We do really welcome such strong messages from President Trump and we believe that he will be the winner. And we believe that we have an additional chance to get new dynamic in diplomatic efforts to end this war,” said Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha.

Read in full:

Tsikhanouskaya, the head of the exiled Belarusian opposition, spoke with Reuters earlier this week.

Here is what she said:

“What in the democratic world you call elections has nothing in common with this event in Belarus. Because it’s mostly like a ritual for dictators, when they are reappointing themselves.”

She argued that Lukashenko was playing his “usual game” of drip-feeding prisoner releases in the hope of winning rewards from the West.

She said the exiled opposition was counting on further support from what she called the “democratic world” in its efforts to weaken Lukashenko and bring change to the country.

“Our fight is not just only for Belarus, it’s a fight against dictatorship,” she said. “We need allies in this fight.”

If you are not familiar with her story, here is her profile from 2023:

So let’s go straight to Minsk, where Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 15 prisoners in what state media called a humanitarian gesture, two days before an election in which he is set to extend his 31-year rule.

State media said Lukashenko had pardoned eight people convicted of extremist activity and seven sentenced for drug crimes. It did not give any of their names. Earlier this week, he signed a decree raising pensions by an average of 10%.

Political analysts say Lukashenko is hoping to use the election and successive batches of prisoner releases to try to repair relations with the West, which has imposed waves of sanctions on Belarus over its human rights record and support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

His efforts have become more urgent, they say, as he contemplates the likelihood of Ukraine peace talks this year and tries to secure gains for himself and Belarus if the conflict comes to an end, Reuters reports.

Morning opening: Stay safe Ireland and focus on Belarus

Jakub Krupa

Over 700,000 premises are currently reported to be without power in Ireland this morning as Storm Éowyn, expected to be one of the most dangerous in history, makes landfall.

The entire island of Ireland is under a red weather warning this morning. Later today, tricky weather conditions could also affect parts of continental Europe, including northern France.

We are covering the weather situation on our special blog:

Elsewhere in Europe, it looks like a fairly quiet day, which, given the intensity of the world this week, is good news.

We will take a look at Belarus, where Alexander Lukashenko will undoubtedly hail another hollow victory on Sunday.

I will also keep you up to date on:

• the Irish government formation process,

• the situation in Germany, where the campaign heats up ahead of next month’s parliamentary election,

• and all other key news stories from across the continent.

It’s Friday, 24 January 2025, and this is Europe live. It’s Jakub Krupa here.

If you are in Ireland, let us know – email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com or message on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social or on X at @jakubkrupa.