PM Mitsotakis to address the UN General Assembly
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as part of his participation in the High-Level Week of the 80th United Nations General Assembly, will give an interview to Bloomberg Television and to John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, at 15:15 (Athens time). At 18:45 (Athens time), the prime minister will address the 80th Session of the UN General Assembly, in New York.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/935936/PM-Mitsotakis-to-address-the-UN-General-Assembly
Party leaders to hold parliamentary debate on foreign policy by mid-October
Party leaders will hold a special parliamentary debate on foreign policy, Greek-Turkish relations and developments in Gaza by October 15.
Farmers struggling as livestock disease spreads
Sheep and goat pox is spreading rapidly in the country, with new outbreaks reported daily, authorities said. More than 1,200 farms are under quarantine, and over 270,000 animals have been culled.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1281904/farmers-struggling-as-livestock-disease-spreads
Primary surplus at €8.5 bln in Jan-Aug
The State Budget Primary Balance on a modified cash basis amounted to a surplus of 8.5 billion euros in the first eight months of the year, against the primary surplus target of €4.93 billion and the primary surplus of €7.57 billion recorded in the same period of the previous year, the Economy and Finance Ministry said on Thursday.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1282014/primary-surplus-at-e8-5-bln-in-jan-aug
ATHEX: Significant decline on high turnover
The main index of the Greek stock market came off Wednesday’s month-highs on Thursday, owing to pressure on blue chips that was in line with the decline recorded on most other eurozone bourses. This followed five consecutive sessions of growth for the benchmark at Athinon Avenue. The market was also concerned by the statement of the head of Greek industrialists, who warned that energy costs may be about to lead to the shutdown of two factories in Greece.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1282038/athex-significant-decline-on-high-turnover
KATHIMERINI: Trump in search of a formula to give F-35 jetfighters to Turkey
TA NEA: The Sultan got everything from the White House
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: The slaughter of the lambs
RIZOSPASTIS: Tens of thousands of people attended the festival of the Greek Communist Party Youth Department
KONTRA NEWS: OPEKEPE scandal: Ruling party New Democracy is hiding Mylonakis from the parliament’s inquiry committee
DIMOKRATIA: Greek PM in league with the butcher of Christians
NAFTEMPORIKI: “Down-payment” of taxes before tax alleviations
DRIVING THE DAY: DOCKING ISRAEL
PORT WORKERS HATCH PLAN TO HAMPER ISRAEL: While EU capitals squabble over their response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the people who can directly influence whether Israel stays connected to the world are uniting to take concrete action.
Starting today, dockworkers will converge in Genoa, Italy, to plot ways to block shipments of weapons that could be used in Gaza.
Workers of the Med, unite: As my colleague Hannah Roberts reports, the effort could balloon into a wider trade blockade of Israel. “Looking ahead, it could mean coordinated industrial action in European ports against not just weapons, but all goods directed to Israel,” said Francesco Staccioli of Italy’s USB union, which is hosting labor organizers from ports in Spain, France, Greece, Cyprus, Morocco and Germany.
Reminder: Earlier this year, dockers in Marseille blocked a shipment of military materiel bound for Israel, while Greek workers at Piraeus staged demonstrations to prevent arms shipments.
The first order of business: How to react to the Global Sumud Flotilla — a humanitarian aid convoy involving climate activist Greta Thunberg as well as some MEPs.
MEPs want Frontex protection: Italian Left group MEP Danilo della Valle and 57 lawmakers from the Socialists & Democrats, Greens, and The Left want the EU agency for border management, Frontex, to protect the Sumud flotilla, Max Griera reports. Following what organizers characterized as an attack by Israeli drones, the lawmakers said in a letter to the Commission that Frontex “must guard the vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla in order to guarantee protection for the European citizens on board and prevent new and probable attacks by the Israeli navy.”
MORE PROBLEMS FOR ISRAEL: On Thursday, the board of the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes Eurovision, said it would host an extraordinary general meeting in early November when member broadcasters will vote on whether to allow Israel to participate next year, the New York Times reports. And the Times reports UEFA will decide next week whether to suspend Israel from European football, with most members of its executive committee in favor.
QUIET TRANSFORMATION 1: Back in August, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he would halt exports of weapons to Israel that could be used in Gaza. But as my colleague Chris Lunday reports, since then Germany has not approved any new arms exports to the country, going further in practice than his pledge suggested.
QUIET TRANSFORMATION 2: U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed POLITICO’s report from earlier this week that he would block Israel from annexing the West Bank. “I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen,” Trump said.
AGAINST THAT BACKDROP, BIBI JETS IN TO UNGA: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will deliver his address at the U.N. General Assembly at 3 p.m. Brussels time today. He’s vowed to “condemn” the leaders pushing for Palestinian statehood. His flight to the U.S. avoided European airspace, per the Times of Israel.
MAKING RUSSIA PAY
COMMISSION UNVEILS €140B REPARATIONS LOAN: The European Commission suggested using sanctioned Russian cash to fund a new €140 billion loan for Ukraine in a note seen by POLITICO’s Bjarke Smith-Meyer. The idea was shared with national capitals ahead of a meeting of EU ambassadors today, where they will lay the groundwork for next week’s gathering of European leaders in Copenhagen.
The thrust of the plan: The broad outline has been discussed informally for weeks. Ukraine would only pay back the loan once Russia ends the war and pays post-war reparations. Should that happen, the EU would repay Euroclear, the Belgium-based financial firm that holds the assets, according to the note.
The new details: The Commission said the loan should be handed out in tranches and used for “defense cooperation” as well as supporting Kyiv’s ordinary budget needs. It also suggested changing the sanctions renewal rules from unanimity to a qualified majority to reduce the risk of Hungary blocking the process and handing back the assets to Russia. Bjarke and Gregorio Sorgi have more details for Financial Services and Defense Pro subscribers.
Berlin’s blessing: Friedrich Merz backed this idea in an op-ed in the Financial Times on Thursday — although he said the loan should only finance military aid.
Sanctions are also on the table at today’s Coreper II meeting, as the Danish presidency races to have the 19th package ready for the Copenhagen leaders’ summit. My POLITICO colleagues have the details of what’s in it.
Now read this: But sanctions alone will never stop Putin, argues Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former Russian political prisoner, in this op-ed for POLITICO. “The only way to force Putin to stop the war is through a massive and sustained military build-up by NATO,” he writes. “Nothing else will be as decisive.”
TRUMP TALKS TURKEY: Meanwhile, Donald Trump urged Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to stop buying oil and gas from Russia during a White House meeting in which he said the Turkish president “knows about rigged elections better than anybody.”
#REALTALK
TRUMP FRUSTRATION BUBBLES OVER: Puncturing the euphoria from Trump’s suddenly pro-Ukraine messaging, top EU figures from bordering countries basically told Trump to put up or shut up.
“This surprising optimism conceals a promise of reduced U.S. involvement and a shift of responsibility for ending the war to Europe. Truth is better than illusion.”
— Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, on social media.
“He was the one who promised to stop the killing. So it can’t be on us.”
— Kaja Kallas, EU foreign policy chief and former Estonian prime minister, in an interview with POLITICO’s Felicia Schwartz and Nick Vinocur.
Russia’s take:
“NATO and the European Union want to declare, in fact, have already declared a real war on my country and are directly participating in it.”
— Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, echoing a line we hear more and more from Moscow, to state media.
PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW: RUSSIAN OPPOSITION
NATO IS NOT DETERRING PUTIN, SAYS TOP KREMLIN CRITIC: Russian President Vladimir Putin is “ready for escalation,” especially in the wake of Alexei Navalny’s death, warned Ilya Yashin, one of Russia’s main opposition politicians. Speaking to POLITICO’s Eva Hartog during a visit to Brussels on Thursday, Yashin said NATO’s restrained response to Moscow’s drone incursions “leaves a fairly high likelihood of new attacks.”
What NATO should have done: “If I were the person taking the decisions after the attack on Poland, I would’ve closed the skies over western Ukraine as a safety measure,” he said.
Up to the limit: Putin “does not want a nuclear war, he does not want to burn in nuclear ashes,” Yashin said. But the Russian leader “wants to change the world order” and “is ready to go to that maximum point.”
Russian war fatigue — and why Putin keeps going: Yashin, who was part of the same high-profile prisoner swap in August last year that freed the journalist Evan Gershkovich, said that most everyday Russians are getting pretty tired of the war — especially now that Putin is having to hike taxes to pay for it. Only a narrow band of hardcore hawks want to see the fighting continue, Yashin said. “It’s a small group, maybe 7 to 10 percent, but it’s dangerous for the Kremlin. These are Putin’s main allies in this war. And if he stops the war, they will become his enemies.”
LISTEN UP — LATVIA VS. AUSTRIA ON NEUTRALITY: This week’s episode of the EU Confidential podcast features a warm yet candid exchange between Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs about life on the Russian border and Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen on Austria’s devotion to formal neutrality. Plus, Clea Caulcutt and Nick Vinocur Zoom in from UNGA. Listen and subscribe to EU Confidential here.
TRADING BLOWS
BIG BUSINESS TAKES A BREATH AFTER TRADE DEAL: In what political players called a “humiliation,” transatlantic corporates are seeing salvation. A survey of American companies in Europe out this morning finds that pessimism is still high: Some 46 percent expect EU-U.S. trade to worsen. But that’s down compared to in January, when 89 percent of respondents to the poll by the American Chamber of Commerce in the EU feared the worst.
Matter of perspective: While much of the public debate has focused on the deal’s downsides, the businesses “actually experiencing the day-to-day realities of the transatlantic marketplace … see it as having averted unprecedented damage to transatlantic trade and investment,” said Malte Lohan, AmCham EU’s CEO.
TIME TO HYPERVENTILATE AGAIN? The EU is eying new protective tariffs against Chinese steel, “Buy European” rules for transit contracts and European EV quotas for corporate fleets, Handelsblatt reports. “Europe has no choice but to find a new balance,” Industry Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné told the German daily, including “protective measures to restore balance with partners who no longer respect any rules.”
FOLLOW-THROUGH FROM WASHINGTON, FINALLY: The White House moved to formally implement the deal on Thursday, imposing 15 percent duties on autos and auto parts and granting tariff exemptions to some aircraft, pharmaceuticals and chemical products, as well as natural resources.
HACKS AND FLACKS
THE GREAT JOURNALIST SEDUCTION: Journalists are lovable, difficult creatures. Just ask our very own Gerardo Fortuna, reporting from the front lines of an institutional charm offensive aimed squarely at winning the hearts (and headlines) of Brussels hacks. We’re a needy bunch — a little ego massage here, a strategic leak there … but breakfast usually does the trick.
Feed them and they’ll come: The EU Council is buttering up the Brussels press pack this morning with a rentrée petit-déjeuner, courtesy of its comms team. Officially, it’s to “introduce new faces” and “look ahead to future key developments shaping the EU’s agenda.” Unofficially? Let’s just say croissants speak louder than press releases.
COMMISSION CATCHES ON (SORT OF). Not to be outdone, the Commission is hosting a similar charm offensive today. Except — and this may shock many — without food involved. Midday briefing? Canceled. Instead, the press corps is invited for background chats with spokespeople, flanked by press officers. Same concept, fewer carbs.
Jealousy brewing between Berlaymont and Justus Lipsius? Not quite. This format was already tested last May and, per POLITICO’s intel, is meant to return every five to six weeks — a brainchild of chief spokesperson Paula Pinho. “Hopefully this could reduce a bit the tension,” said Dafydd ab Iago, boss of the foreign correspondents’ club (API).
Tension lingers. The push toward cozier chats follows recent frosty moments — including this week’s minor meltdown reported on Tuesday’s Playbook, resulting in Commission spokesperson Olof Gill’s now-legendary line: “Gimme a break.” For the record, Gill has his defenders. “He’s the perfect EU spokesperson. He can say nothing so eloquently and with great humor,” ab Iago said. “And the worst thing is you usually get a quote from him.”
Remember that thing called human contact? Both the Council breakfast and the Commission background chat come with one condition: in-person attendance only. After Covid-19 and the rise of Interactio — the platform that lets you lob questions at the midday briefing from your kitchen — spontaneity has waned, so institutions are going old-school. Croissants optional (but highly encouraged).
TECHIES ARE NOT IMPRESSED BY VDL’S DELETED TEXTS: Speaking of tension between the Berlaymont and the press corps… the Commission’s explanation that President von der Leyen is auto-deleting texts to save storage space got a huge eye roll from the tech sector. “It’s not the 1990s,” cybersecurity expert Lukasz Olejnik told Ellen O’Regan and Antoaneta Roussi.
Make it work: EU Ombudsman Teresa Anjinho is investigating the Commission’s failure to keep von der Leyen’s texts with French President Emmanuel Macron. In an interview with Marianne Gros in the latest edition of the EU Influence newsletter, Anjinho argues the Commission needs new infrastructure to manage access to document requests.
LOOKING AT YOU, THE ECONOMIST: European governments want publishers to put journalists’ bylines on articles to strengthen public trust and help fight misinformation, POLITICO’s Eliza Gkritsi reports for Tech and Cyber Pros. Though the theory has its limitations — Russia has created an army of fake “journalists” as part of its disinformation campaign, as the New York Times reported last year.
PARTY POLITICS
EPP KICKS CAN DOWN THE ROAD ON SERBIAN MEMBER: Europe’s dominant, center-right political party isn’t exactly rushing to sever ties with its Serbian ally, despite mounting complaints about President Aleksandar Vučić’s crackdown on protesters, Max Griera reports.
Swift, thorough and “open-ended”: Two weeks ago, European People’s Party leader Manfred Weber announced a “scrutiny process” into Serbia’s ruling SNS party, an EPP associated member. On Thursday, the EPP confirmed it won’t take immediate action on whether to suspend or expel the party. The EPP didn’t provide a timeline, beyond calling it “a thorough and swift internal investigation,” nor did it clarify the possible outcomes, saying results could be “open-ended.”
Orbán echoes: The European Greens, who initiated calls for Vučić’s party to be expelled after he referred to them as “scum,” warned that the EPP risks making the same mistake it did during its excruciating break-up with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s party.
“It took them years to clean up their relationship with Orbán,” Greens Co-Chair Vula Tsetsi told POLITICO. “They shouldn’t repeat the same pattern.”
FAR LEFT AND FAR RIGHT LAUNCH FOUNDATIONS: After missing the Parliament’s deadlines last year (background here), the new far-left party“European Left Alliance for the People and the Planet” has launched its “For the People!” political foundation. That will give it access to around €850,000 in EU funds to spend on political research, training and conferences to spread the party’s ideology. Its co-directors are Clémence Guetté, co-president of France Unbowed think tank Institut La Boétie, and Finnish MEP Li Andersson.
AfD’s European foundation: The new far-right Europe of Sovereign Nations, led by Alternative for Germany (AfD), also missed the deadline to create its foundation a year ago because of bureaucracy. Now it’s trying again with an application to create the “Sovereignty Foundation” and get up to a €1 million in EU funding for its political research activities. The director is Alexander Sell, an AfD MEP.
IN OTHER NEWS
DON’T QUIT POLITICAL ADS, NGOs TELL BIG TECH: Faced with EU rules on political advertising, Google and Meta plan to stop serving paid ads related to elections and social issues in the coming weeks. In letters to both companies shared with POLITICO, more than a dozen civil society groups warn the move will leave voters less informed — while leaving extreme content to flourish through the algorithms’ recommendations.
Do it, but do better: “[A] broad but inconsistently moderated ban of certain types of ads may disproportionately disadvantage moderate and non-partisan political actors, who rely on reasoned argument rather than divisive speech when publishing paid content on Meta platforms,” reads the letter to Facebook and Instagram’s parent company. Instead, the NGOs — led by the Civil Liberties Union for Europe — ask the platforms to sell political ads without tracking and profiling, as well as disclose how their algorithms affect political content.
Approaching elections: The Dutch snap election on Oct. 29 will be the first affected by the ban, the NGOs note, with Hungary’s major vote in April also at stake.
BIG TROUBLE IN ROME: Three top Italian officials in Giorgia Meloni’s government helped a Libyan warlord escape justice earlier this year and concealed secret meetings about his case from parliament, according to a report to the legislature summarizing the prosecution’s case seen by POLITICO’s Hannah Roberts.
BIG TROUBLE IN BERLIN: Friedrich Merz’s fight to fix the German economy is already on the ropes, write James Angelos and Nette Nöstlinger.
FROM ONE DOWN-AND-OUT POL TO ANOTHER: Nicola Sturgeon, writing in the Observer, is not impressed with Kamala Harris’ election memoir.
FRIDAY FEATURE: The U.N.’s tiny Ikea table has taken center stage at the General Assembly, writes Paul Dallison in this week’s Declassified humor column.