PM seeks ‘significant boost’ in Greece-India partnership
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, speaking Wednesday during an official visit to India, said he aims to give the Greece-India strategic partnership a “significant boost.” In an interview with English-language television channel Times Now, Mitsotakis said bilateral ties are “definitely moving in the right direction,” citing “obvious and significant synergies” that extend beyond strong cultural links.
Greece working with four EU partners on migrant deportation
Greece is working with another four European Union members to set up detention centers for deported migrants outside Europe, most likely in Africa, Migration Minister Thanos Plevris said Wednesday.
Civil protection ‘Red Code’ alert in Evros due to high flooding risk
The General Secretariat for Civil Protection has placed the Evros regional unit on “ Red Code” alert from Wednesday until Monday due to a high risk of flooding in the area as a result of the Evros River rising so that it overflows its banks.
Culture ministry designates WWII photographs posted for sale on eBay a monument of Greek history
The 12 photographs posted for sale on eBay (e-Bay.de) showing Greeks being executed by German occupation forces, and the entire collection they belong to, were declared a monument of Greek history by the ministry of culture, the ministry said on Wednesday. The ministry provided directions for the possible acquisition of the photographs as soon as it was notified, minister Mendoni said, and the relevant directorate contacted the collector immediately. Specialists will be visiting him on Friday at his home base of Evergem in Belgium to see the collection in person and talk with him.
ATHEX: Stock buyers bounce back on bourse
Athinon Avenue recovered from three days of decline in spectacular fashion on Wednesday, with credit and industrial stocks leading the recovery of blue chips. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 2,327.44 points, adding 3.30% to Tuesday’s 2,253.06 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index expanded 3.52%, ending at 5,934.41 points, though mid-caps improved only 1.26%.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1295741/athex-stock-buyers-bounce-back-on-bourse
KATHIMERINI: PEW Research Center survey: Greeks are proud of their history and hospitality
TA NEA: Real estate assets: This year’s objective tax criteria will be reduced by up to 35%
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: The big heist of incomes
RIZOSPASTIS: Youth Organization of the Greek Communist Party to rally at Kesariani shooting range
KONTRA NEWS: US President Trump to visit Greece
DIMOKRATIA: Trump praises Greece
NAFTEMPORIKI: BANCAPP: Access to bank deposits with just one click
DRIVING THE DAY
DIPLOMATIC TIGHTROPE IN D.C.: The EU’s Mediterranean Commissioner Dubravka Šuica is in Washington today for the inaugural meeting of Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, having left behind a storm of criticism in Brussels. The question being asked by diplomats and lawmakers: Why is the Commission taking part in an initiative that many European capitals have refused to sign up to?
The commissioner’s attendance was debated at Wednesday’s gathering of EU ambassadors, with France and Belgium particularly vocal, three diplomats told Playbook. Their objections focused on two points: that the Commission doesn’t have a mandate from member countries, and that participating risks legitimizing a forum that could sideline the United Nations. Some said the European Council’s legal service had raised concerns about the Commission’s duty to uphold international law.
Ask around the Berlaymont and you’ll hear three arguments defending Šuica’s trip:
— We’re just there to take notes. The Commission isn’t sending President Ursula von der Leyen to the peace board, even though she was invited (as her spokesperson confirmed on Monday). Instead, it’s sending a lower-ranking commissioner to observe and report back. It can be present without giving credibility to a process that raises legal and political questions, the argument goes.
— We can contain the scope. The executive is concerned that the board’s remit could morph to include other conflicts, including the war in Ukraine, said one EU official, noting that many of the invitees have no direct stake in the Middle East. By sending the Mediterranean commissioner, the bloc is signaling that it’s there to talk about rebuilding Gaza — and nothing else. Šuica’s presence “is not random at all,” a Commission official said.
— We’re already invested. As a key financial and political supporter of the Palestinians, the EU insists it can’t sit out talks about Gaza’s future. “If we’re talking about recovery and reconstruction, it’s important to be part of the conversation,” the Commission official said. In this view, the legal and political qualms about the peace board don’t outweigh the need to have a seat at the table.
“Europe is not a bystander,” Šuica told Playbook before she departed for D.C. “The European Union is a central actor in the Middle East — politically, financially and strategically.”
Maybe they’ll come to Brussels next time? Šuica pointed to the EU’s own diplomatic track, which included bringing together the Palestine Donor Group in Brussels in November to coordinate international support for a reformed Palestinian Authority. “We will convene another meeting soon and look forward to even broader participation, including from the U.S.,” she added.
Reality check: The Trump administration has shown little sign it is interested in a parallel diplomatic track. The U.S. didn’t send a representative to the donor conference in Brussels in November and the Palestinian Authority has been left out of top-level decision-making on the Board of Peace.
Critics in Brussels aren’t buying the Commission’s justifications for Šuica’s attendance in D.C. “She should not be there among invited autocrats and dictators,” said the Socialists and Democrats MEP Bando Benifei, who heads the European Parliament’s U.S. delegation. “There is no added value really, not even for the Gaza issue. Period.”
WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Proceedings at the recently renamed Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace in Washington will start at 8:30 a.m. (5:30 p.m. in Brussels) with remarks from the chair — that’s Trump, of course, self-appointed to the role — and are expected to wrap up around midday, according to a Commission official. Trump’s 20-point plan for Palestine, including demilitarizing and reconstructing Gaza, will be front and center — although, as one official cautioned, when Trump has the floor you can’t exclude other topics popping up.
Who else will be there: More than 20 countries have confirmed attendance, according to the White House. Among EU countries, Bulgaria and Hungary are expected to be there, having participated in a signing ceremony in Davos last month, and Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Romania may attend as observers. Many others are staying away — as is the Vatican, after Pope Leo XIV said Tuesday that crisis situations should be left to the U.N.
BADGEGATE
SECURITY SHOWDOWN: One of the European Parliament’s top lawmakers has been accused of verbally “humiliating and demeaning” a security guard in a clash over an expired entry pass. Budgets Committee Chair Johan Van Overtveldt, a former Belgian finance minister from the governing New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), is named in a complaint from the USPE parliamentary staff union obtained by Playbook’s Gabriel Gavin.
Allegations: The union letter, sent to Parliament President Roberta Metsola, claims Van Overtveldt “asked to see the badge of the security officer in charge in order to identify her, then angrily threw her document on the floor … Subsequently, when the security guard asked him to be respectful, pointing out that he was talking to a human being, the MEP responded with an offensive remark, comparing her to a pet (his own dog).”
Responding to the claims, Van Overtveldt said the officer had been “quite offensive to say the least” when challenging the credentials of a person he was accompanying into the building in Brussels. He added that he is “practically sure I didn’t use that kind of words. If I did so, then certainly that was not appropriate either, that I will immediately admit. But I cannot remember at this moment, it’s a week ago now, what exact words I used.”
Parliamentary services are looking into the incident and assessing the facts, they confirmed in a statement.
MIDTERM SPECULATION
SPICING UP THE AGENDA: The Financial Times set tongues wagging Wednesday by suggesting European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde could leave before her term ends in October 2027. The horse trading on who could succeed her has already started, suggesting Brussels may soon find itself at the center of its favorite — yet also most dreaded — scenario: the package deal.
Remember 2019? After that year’s EU elections, leaders were meant to decide on just two top jobs: European Council president and Commission president. Instead, in a development partly orchestrated by French President Emmanuel Macron, the talks ballooned into a four-job bundle, adding the ECB presidency and the European Parliament presidency to the mix.
When’s the midterm, again? Precedents suggest March 2027 for a renewal of António Costa’s mandate (Charles Michel was reappointed in March 2022; Donald Tusk in March 2017). Metsola’s midterm renewal would likely fall in January 2027 (Antonio Tajani was appointed midterm in January 2017; Metsola first took office in January 2022).
Cue the speculation: An early ECB vacancy could easily clash with that calendar — and that’s where the fun begins. Brussels could slide into appointment dealmaking … though whether leaders actually want to reopen that Pandora’s box is another question entirely.
Could it trigger a new package? One EU diplomat sees Lagarde’s early farewell as fertile ground for leadership deals. “Many options would open up — that’s the beauty of the European political scene,” they said. Another diplomat was more cautious, saying they doubted there would be much “jostling for jobs at midterm this time.”
This is not how it’s supposed to work, of course … The ECB is an independent institution, formally detached from political bargaining. And the chatter about Lagarde’s future has already raised concerns that the central bank’s credibility could be undermined, Bloomberg reported last night.
Paris calling: Some frame the Lagarde speculation as part of Macron’s effort to ensure “his” people remain in place, in case Marine Le Pen’s National Rally wins power. But the logic of that is unclear. “How does [Lagarde’s resignation] help that plan?” one diplomat asked. “There’s no guarantee the next ECB president would be French.”
NORDIC COMBINED
EU SCANDINAVIAN COMBO: As the hybrid event of ski jumping and cross-country known as Nordic combined wraps up at the Winter Olympics, Brussels is staging its own Nordic double with parallel visits to Norway and Sweden. The theme of the trips? Defense — underscoring how central the Nordics have become to the EU’s security calculus.
Costa bound for Oslo: European Council President António Costa is in Norway — a country that, while not an EU member, is one of Brussels’ closest and most like-minded partners. It was also among the first to sign a Security and Defence Partnership (SDP) with the bloc, which in turn opened the door for participation in initiatives such as the SAFE loan program.
His schedule: Costa will meet Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, followed by a visit to an Oslo University Hospital facility where hundreds of Ukrainians evacuated from the war have been treated. At Kjeller, Costa will tour the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), a key player in EU-funded defense projects and drone innovation, with live outdoor drone demonstrations expected — weather permitting.
Kallas in Sweden: Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is in Stockholm. She’ll have meetings with senior Swedish ministers centered on recent geopolitical developments and transatlantic relations, her team told Playbook. Russia’s war against Ukraine will dominate discussions, taking in hybrid threats, undersea-cable security and Moscow’s shadow fleet.
A broader Nordic push: This is not a one-off. Kallas was in Oslo and Tromsø two weeks ago, then Helsinki last week. From Greenland to drones to deep-sea cables, the EU’s northern flank is no longer peripheral — it’s central to Brussels’ security map.
CLIMATE CLASH
EU PUSHES BACK: Talks will resume at the International Energy Agency (IEA) ministerial in Paris today after Washington ramped up pressure on the agency to dial back its climate focus.
Quick recap: U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright had a blunt message when he arrived in the French capital Tuesday: The IEA should abandon climate advocacy and refocus on “energy abundance” or risk losing the world’s largest energy consumer — i.e. the U.S. — as a member.
Behind closed doors: During Wednesday’s private sessions, Wright doubled down on that position. Diplomats in the room told my colleague Ben Munster that Wright urged the agency to scrap its influential net-zero modeling, saying the targets are unrealistic and distort policy choices.
But Europe is standing firm. Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen told POLITICO from Paris that for more than 50 years, the IEA has been “a trusted pillar of the global energy community — delivering reliable data, rigorous analysis and policy guidance … It is proof that multilateralism works.”
“In a time of mounting energy crises and complex global challenges, we need more [modeling], not less,” Jørgensen said, stressing the EU stands firmly behind the IEA’s mission and its role in guiding the world toward a secure and sustainable energy future.
MEANWHILE, IN BRUSSELS: IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol is due at the College of Commissioners on March 6 under a new format listed in the Commission’s freshly published “liste des points prévus” — the tentative agenda for meetings of EU executive members.
This is the new stuff: The agenda published yesterday introduces three “orientation debates,” covering energy prices, the EU Inc. proposal and merger guidelines. Three Commission sources told me they had never encountered this orientation-debate definition.
A fraction of the friction: Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho said the inclusion of orientation debates in the College agenda is simply a transparency measure. Another Commission official said the format stems from new working methods agreed after the recent seminar triggered by friction among cabinet members.
How does it work? “The College meets, commissioners present ideas and debate.” It’s as simple as that, the official said, adding that the aim is to prepare cross-portfolio files more strategically.
IN OTHER NEWS
LANGUAGE SETTINGS: As EU trade ministers meet in Cyprus tonight and tomorrow, Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič is expected to nudge them towards a fast-track approval mechanism for trade deals. The Commission’s proposal is to prioritize the English-language version of agreements, Camille Gijs and Koen Verhelst report.
VÁRHELYI BACKS RFK’S FOOD CAMPAIGN: Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi gave a thumbs-up to U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s stance on ultra-processed foods on Wednesday, saying in a LinkedIn post that Europe was ready to cooperate with the U.S. on its “shared ambition.” The comments follow Várhelyi’s appearance at the USA-EU Transatlantic Business Summit in Brussels.
PARALYMPICS BOYCOTT: Sports Commissioner Glenn Micallef will skip the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Paralympic Winter Games after a decision to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete under their national flags. “I cannot support the reinstatement of national symbols that are inseparable from [the Ukraine] conflict,” the commissioner wrote on X.