Severe storms batter Greek islands for a second day, with Crete hardest hit
Severe storms battered islands in Greece for a second day Tuesday, with Crete experiencing the heaviest rainfall. Authorities on Paros and Mykonos, meanwhile, worked to clear overturned cars and debris following hailstorms and torrential downpours.
Greece unveils 12-year defense plan
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is set to unveil a long-term defense strategy in Parliament on Wednesday, outlining a 12-year plan to strengthen the country’s armed forces while mandating the participation of domestic industries in all future military procurement programs.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1265869/greece-unveils-12-year-defense-plan
Greece will ban having children via surrogacy for single men and male same-sex couples
Men in Greece will be barred from having children via surrogacy if they are single or in a same-sex relationship, the justice minister said Tuesday, asserting that it’s intended to eliminate legal ambiguity over the concept of inability to carry a pregnancy.
Fitch upgrades Greece’s systemic banks
Fitch rating agency upgraded the four largest banks of Greece on Tuesday, citing as reasons the improvement of their standalone credit profile and in the operational environment in Greece.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/894280/Fitch-upgrades-Greeces-systemic-banksrn
ATHEX: Moderate rebound for most stocks
Greek stocks recovered on Tuesday some of the ground lost on Monday, though that was not enough to bring the benchmark back above the 1,700-point level. Banks and mid-caps outperformed, as did Piraeus Port after issuing its record results for 2024, so rising stocks outnumbered the losers at a two-to-one ratio. However the rebound was rather weak, with reduced turnover, and showed that the profit taking of the previous sessions may not be over just yet.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1265876/athex-moderate-rebound-for-most-stocks
KATHIMERINI: Collaboration with private entities [debt collectors] for debts to the single social security fund EFKA
TA NEA: Tax office places garages and parking spaces under surveillance
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Trump opens the door to chaos
RIZOSPASTIS: Strike uprise on April 9 for wage increases and modern rights
KONTRA NEWS: Alternate Minister of Transport Kyranakis arbitrarily cancels the Supreme Council for Civil Personnel Selection (ASEP)
DIMOKRATIA: Justice Minister: “Greece has become a country were trading of infants takes place”
NAFTEMPORIKI: IRIS transactions under scrutiny
DRIVING THE DAY: TARIFF ROLLOUT
MAKE AMERICA WEALTHY AGAIN: President Trump will unveil new reciprocal tariffs on imports to the United States today, in a dramatic escalation of a trade war that has sent markets tumbling and U.S. trading partners priming retaliatory action.
Dubbed “Liberation Day” by Trump, today’s announcement has been billed by the White House as an event to “Make America Wealthy Again.” The aim is to “make America the manufacturing superpower of the world,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declared on the eve of the announcement.
The choreography: Trump teased details of his proposed plan over the past few weeks in a build-up worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster. Today, the former “Apprentice” star will stage the big reveal in the White House Rose Garden, the setting for some of the most momentous announcements of the first Trump presidency, including America’s exit from the Paris Climate Agreement.
The details: As POLITICO previously reported, European officials expect a flat, double-digit tariff to be imposed, though details remain elusive. Trump said Monday he had settled on a final plan, and was huddling with his trade officials in the White House on Tuesday. The Rose Garden event is scheduled for 4 p.m. Washington time (10 p.m. in Brussels).
EU response: Don’t expect immediate countermeasures, though some form of statement by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is anticipated on the back of the White House announcement. The EU is likely to take time to analyze the package, officials indicate, with ambassadors due to meet at a special Coreper meeting Thursday to prepare ahead of Monday’s meeting of trade ministers.
There’s a plan, there’s always a plan: Von der Leyen has made it clear that the EU is prepared, whatever comes. “We do not necessarily want to retaliate, but we have a strong plan to retaliate if necessary,” she told the European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg on Tuesday, in a speech that leaned heavily on trade. She underscored the fact that the EU has “the largest single market in the world.”
Speaking Trump’s language: “Europe holds a lot of cards,” the Commission chief said, deploying a metaphor favored by Trump as a subtle warning of the EU’s relative power when it comes to trade vis-a-vis the United States. (Reminder: Trump memorably chastised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with the putdown “you don’t have the cards right now” during their infamous Oval Office clash last month.)
Reality check: Former DG Trade official Ignacio García Bercero, who was in the trenches during Trump’s first term, put today’s announcement in stark terms. “What Trump is doing is basically trying to totally, just totally destroy the global trade order. He is going to put a tariff at a level we have not seen since the 1930s,” he told POLITICO’s Camille Gijs. “The economic impact of increasing tariffs from a very low level to 20 to 25 percent is going to be huge. We are really facing an enormous amount of disruption.”
Use the tools: García Bercero argued Brussels should respond to the reciprocal tariffs with its Anti-Coercion Instrument, a new tool in the EU’s trade arsenal that can hit third countries hard but has never been used. Because the ACI’s procedure is quite “burdensome,” he said, “the sooner you trigger it, the better.” Read the full interview with Camille in Morning Trade.
Time to act tough: The EU must retaliate against Trump, Bank of Finland Governor Olli Rehn (a former European commissioner) told my colleague Johanna Treeck. “There is an economic and a political logic,” Rehn said in the interview. “Many economists advocate non-retaliation, because [retaliatory] tariffs would harm oneself. But … it’s not only about economics, it’s also about politics, and politics does affect the economy.”
Ribera goes to Washington: As Trump unleashes a global trade war, the Commission’s Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera, who holds the competition brief, is in D.C. for the American Bar Association’s annual Antitrust Spring Meeting, POLITICO’s Francesca Micheletti reports. Looming over her visit is an imminent decision on whether Brussels will fine U.S. tech giants Apple and Meta under the Digital Markets Act.
Up in smoke: Meanwhile, Gabriel Gavin outlines how Europe’s efforts to stave off tariffs with a promise to buy more LNG from the U.S. have failed. Ironically, new data reveals Europe is actually buying American gas at record rates, Gabriel reports — not because of Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” strategy but as a result of a cold winter and the long-term shift away from Russia.
HUNGARY LATEST
NETANYAHU JETS IN: Benjamin Netanyahu is tonight due to visit Hungary on his first trip to a European country since The Hague-based International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the Israeli PM and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for their actions in Gaza. As a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the ICC, Hungary is obliged to arrest Netanyahu if he steps foot on its soil — but PM Viktor Orbán appears to be getting a step ahead of the game.
Report: Budapest quitting ICC. RFE/RL’s Hungarian Service reported last night that Hungarian Justice Minister Bence Tuzson told diplomats at a meeting held at the foreign ministry last week that Budapest is withdrawing from the ICC.
Brussels watching: On Monday, a European Commission spokesperson, responding to Netanyahu’s planned trip, warned that all states should ensure “full cooperation with the courts including by the prompt execution of outstanding arrest warrants.”
“The EU supports the International Criminal Court,” the spokesperson said. “The EU respects the court’s independence and impartiality.”
Awkward: The EU’s stance could prove problematic for Germany, a staunch supporter of Israel and also an ICC signatory. Its likely new leader, Friedrich Merz, caused a stir last month when he said he would find “ways and means” for Netanyahu to visit Germany.
EU PARLIAMENT DEBATES ORBÁN’S PRIDE BAN: EU lawmakers will today debate the Hungarian government’s ban on LGBTQ+ Pride events, under the vague title of “recent legislative changes in Hungary and their impact on fundamental rights.” The EPP avoided name-checking LGBTQ+ rights in the title to help its new Hungarian member party Tisza and its leader Péter Magyar, an MEP.
Realpolitik: Tisza, the Hungarian opposition party which currently leads in polls ahead of the 2026 general election, wants to avoid getting tangled up in identity and culture issues to ensure it can attract voters on the left and right of the spectrum, Max Griera reports.
Better together: With Tisza polling ahead of Orbán’s Fidesz, it’s not surprising that Hungary’s otheropposition forces want to be let into the tent. “If Péter Magyar would say, ‘let’s go and sit down and talk about the coalition,’ then I think all of us [in the opposition] … would be ready to sit around the table,” Hungarian Social-Democrat MEP Klára Dobrev told Max and other reporters in Strasbourg.
Knocking on the door: “I am not avoiding the question, he is avoiding the question” on whether to build an opposition coalition, Dobrev said. She argued that the best way to defeat Orbán would be to create a common front among all opposition parties, but still remain separate — like Donald Tusk did in Poland to defeat Law and Justice — instead of absorbing all voters under one party as Magyar intends to do.
THINK TWICE: The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty urged Hungarian MPs to reconsider their support for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, Šejla Ahmatović reports. “It is the lack of information relating to same-sex relationships and gender identity, and the continuing stigmatisation of LGBTI people in society, that is harmful to children,” O’Flaherty wrote in a letter seen by POLITICO.
HUAWEI IN FOCUS
OLAF NEEDED “SOMETHING MORE CONCRETE” ON HUAWEI: Ville Itälä, the director of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), stands by his decision not to open a probe into Huawei’s alleged lobbying practices in the European Parliament back in 2022, even though the Belgian authorities have now done so. His comments come in an interview with POLITICO’s Elisa Braun.
Background: Belgian prosecutors are investigating whether Huawei made illegal payments to have an open letter written and signed by eight European lawmakers in support of the tech company’s interests, according to judicial documents seen by POLITICO. While getting support from lawmakers through public comments is common practice in the lobbying world, paying for it is illegal in the EU.
The tipoff: Transparency International Europe alerted OLAF to the alleged Huawei scheme through an online form in 2022, and raised the allegations in a meeting with the watchdog in December of that year, its head Nick Aiossa said. But OLAF decided that it didn’t reach the threshold to open an investigation.
The reasoning: OLAF receives more than 4,000 tips every year, Itälä told Elisa. The Huawei tip, he said, lacked details and was sent two years after the alleged offense. “We need something more concrete to act upon.” Read more in Elisa’s full story.
LATEST ON THE CASE: A hearing on Tuesday involving five people arrested and preliminarily charged in relation to Huawei’s alleged lobbying activities was postponed until this afternoon after Brussels’ Palace of Justice experienced massive delays due to security problems, Elisa reports. Huawei said in an earlier statement that it “takes these allegations seriously” and “has a zero tolerance policy towards corruption or other wrongdoing.”
THE DAY AFTER
LE PEN FALLOUT: A judge who oversaw Marine Le Pen’s trial for misappropriating funds from the European Parliament, Bénédicte de Perthuis, has been placed under police protection, the French foreign ministry said Tuesday. It comes as a court in France said it would rule on the National Rally politician’s appeal by the summer of 2026 — meaning that if she’s successful, she could still run in the 2027 presidential election.
BARDELLA KEEPS HIS OPTIONS OPEN: As the ramifications of Monday’s explosive court ruling continued to play out, National Rally President Jordan Bardella said he would stick by Le Pen’s side — but declined to say if he would seek to replace his mentor in the 2027 race. “The least I owe her is to continue the fight with her until the end,” Bardella said in an interview.
Reality check: Le Pen herself acknowledged the long odds she faces to overturn the verdict in a primetime interview Monday evening, despite the National Rally coming out swinging and accusing the three-judge panel that heard the case of undermining democracy. “Jordan Bardella is a tremendous asset for the movement. I hope we won’t have to use this asset any sooner than necessary,” Le Pen said.
Small fries: Kinga Gál, the vice president of the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament (of which Le Pen is a member), played down the conviction during a press conference in Strasbourg Tuesday. The Hungarian MEP said she doesn’t count the embezzlement case as a noteworthy EU corruption scandal. And when asked by our own Max Griera why her group is blocking the implementation of the EU ethics body meant to standardize transparency requirements across institutions, Gál appeared to have no clue what he was talking about.
Cut through the noise: Here’s a great explainer on the Le Pen saga by our Paris-based reporter Victor Goury-Laffont, including what’s next for the National Rally. And Clea Caulcutt has this piece explaining who’s up and who’s down in France now.
STRASBOURG DISPATCH
STRASBOURG WEATHER: High of 18C, sunny.
RIGHT-WING TIE-UP: The far-right Patriots for Europe and Europe of Sovereign Nations groups have helped the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and the center-right EPP push forward their positions on a variety files during the European Parliament’s Strasbourg plenary. Until recently, this alignment — branded the “Venezuela majority” after a vote on that country’s disputed presidential election — seemed exceptional. Now it’s commonplace.
No more taboos: As Max reports from Strasbourg, so far, the right-wing groups have managed to add migration control conditions to a €4 billion financial assistance package for Egypt; push through a fast-track procedure for the delay of green reporting rules; and water down international aid commitments in an opinion feeding into the EU’s long-term budget.
Gear up for another budget fiasco: Today, lawmakers will vote on the guidelines for the Commission’s 2026 budget. The EPP, ECR and Patriots have submitted amendments to include clauses on the controversial deportation hubs and defunding the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. If those pass, the Socialists and Democrats, Renew and Greens will vote against the file as a whole and the bill will fall apart.
FRONTEX BOOST: The Commission on Tuesday called for border agency Frontex’s headcount to rise to 30,000 staffers, in a proposal unveiled in Strasbourg that seeks to protect Europe from hybrid attacks, cybercrime, organized crime and terror threats. “A national response only is not enough,” Commission EVP Henna Virkkunen told POLITICO’s Sam Clark.
SO MANY GATES: Tensions in the Parliament are high amid the Huawei corruption allegations, the Le Pen ruling and scrutiny of the Commission’s controversial funding of green NGOs. Lawmakers are rushing to put their spin on the various scandals and raising accusations in press releases left and right. Playbook heard them all in just one day: “Huaweigate,” “Reyndersgate,” “LePengate” and “Timmermansgate.”
SPEAKING OF NGO FUNDING: Giorgia Meloni’s ECR group announced on Tuesday that it has enough signatures to propose creating an inquiry committee into the Commission’s funding of green NGOs to lobby EU institutions. Political group leaders will need to approve the motion at a closed-door meeting on Thursday, with EPP Chair Manfred Weber casting the deciding vote.
SPARE A THOUGHT … for the EU’s chief diplomatKaja Kallas, who, after being slammed by group leaders for not attending debates in the last two plenary seasons, found herself talking to an empty hemicycle during a debate about Gaza.
IN OTHER NEWS
HOW MUCH FOR GREENLAND? The White House is preparing an estimate of how much it would cost to take over Greenland, the Washington Post reported overnight. The Trump administration wants an estimate of how much it would need to spend to provide government services to the island’s population of around 55,000, and what income can be generated from its natural resources, per the report. The paper notes the scenario being considered assumes Greenlanders vote to join the U.S.
TRUMP’S MAN IN NATO: The U.S. Senate overnight confirmed former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, a national security newcomer, to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO.
POLITICAL SPORT: Ukraine’s government hit out at remarks by the incoming president of the International Olympic Committee opening the door to Russia returning to the Games.
BEIJING ON MANEUVERS: China said it carried out live-fire drills using long-range weapons in the East China Sea today, escalating a surprise flurry of military exercises around Taiwan that came on the back of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s visit to Asia. CNN has the details.