Tsipras touts rapid growth of new political movement
Former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Thursday that his newly launched political movement aims to win power and fill what he described as a void in Greece’s center-left opposition landscape. In an interview with Alpha TV, Tsipras said the movement had attracted tens of thousands of members within less than a month of its launch and had established a 350-member national council and a 50-member leadership team.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1307804/tsipras-touts-rapid-growth-of-new-political-movement
Avramopoulos seeks annulment of European arrest warrant
Greece’s former European Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos on Thursday formally requested that the Supreme Court should block execution of a European arrest warrant issued against him by Belgian authorities. In his appeal to the Supreme Court, Avramopoulos argued that the warrant did not specify in the required detail the place, time and circumstances under which the acts attributed to him were allegedly carried out, as it should under Greek and European law.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1307798/avramopoulos-seeks-annulment-of-european-arrest-warrant
Mitsotakis: Greece to prioritise advanced technology to safeguard national security
Greece must remain at the forefront of global technology advances and expertise in order to safeguard national security, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday during a visit to the Hellenic Naval Academy. Mitsotakis was briefed on a training programme developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), titled “MIT TRITON Summer School: Marine Robotics & Autonomous Systems Training Program”, which is being held at the academy’s facilities. The prime minister praised Defence Minister Nikos Dendias and Hellenic Navy personnel for, as he said, embracing new technologies.
Schinas: Seven support measures for fishers; pufferfish fishing subsidy in Crete and South Aegean
Seven measures to support professional fishers have been announced by the Ministry of Rural Development and Food. These measures aim to reduce operating costs, protect incomes, and create a more stable regulatory framework for the sector. The initiatives were presented following a meeting between Rural Development and Food Minister Margaritis Schinas, representatives of the fishing sector and officials from the relevant services. Schinas stressed that Greek fisheries are facing significant pressures linked to climate change, rising costs and illegal practices.
ATHEX: Bourse keeps its downward trend intact
The Euronext Athens (ATHEX) general index closed at 2,451.62 points, shedding 0.78% from Wednesday’s 2,470.95 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index contracted 0.84%, ending at 6,216.60 points.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1307814/athex-bourse-keeps-its-downward-trend-intact
KATHIMERINI: Trump’s gifts to Ankara
TA NEA: University threshold grades for this year announced
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Minors at war with themselves
RIZOSPASTIS: Our alignment with the Greek Communist Party is the response to the dilemma “profits or our lives”
KONTRA NEWS: F-35 jetfighters gifted by Trump to Erdogan
DIMOKRATIA: Guilty silence on behalf of the government
NAFTEMPORIKI: 3-billion leap for Aktor with “fuel” worth 1 bln
DRIVING THE DAY
GETTING THE SHOW ON THE (SILK) ROAD: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is heading to the South Caucasus to strengthen the EU’s ties with partners in the contested region — and to counter Russia’s attempts to regain its grip.
Hotspot diplomacy: The Commission will announce today that von der Leyen and enlargement chief Marta Kos are to travel to Armenia and Azerbaijan next week, three officials with knowledge of the trip told Playbook. My colleague Zoya Sheftalovich and I first reported the plans on Tuesday.
Geopolitical crossroads: The two countries are “strategically vital” for the EU as waypoints between Europe and Asia on the historic Silk Road, one of the officials said. They said the trip will focus on bolstering trade and other connections, as well as helping counter Moscow’s efforts to influence the former Soviet states.
Bouquet deal: The EU is amping up support to Armenia after its pro-Western government secured another parliamentary majority earlier this month, triggering threats from Moscow. When Russia imposed a ban on Armenia’s lucrative flower exports in May, threatening to tank the industry, Brussels raced to help find European buyers to replace it before shipments wilted. Latvia stepped in to take delivery.
Shoes on the ground: An EU-Armenia civilian task force set up over the row “is now working and already doing a lot,” said a second official, with a focus on shoring up the country’s economy against coercion by helping diversify trade links toward Europe. But the Kremlin’s threats to shut off the flow of discounted oil and gas could require additional support from Brussels, they said.
On the agenda: Von der Leyen will meet Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, whose country is a major energy supplier for the EU. They’ll talk about the shifting power balance and connectivity through the region, which has become more important because of the war in the Middle East. Von der Leyen is expected to make a series of as-yet unconfirmed announcements.
The foray comes as von der Leyen eyes a more active role in geopolitics — despite resistance from some quarters. The region is also a personal focus of the president’s chief diplomatic adviser, veteran foreign affairs fixer Simon Mordue.
Also on the travel schedule: The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas — along with Kos and Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner — is planning a joint trip to neighboring Turkey in the coming weeks, three officials confirmed to Playbook. The visit would be a major overture to Ankara, whose cooperation the EU sees as crucial in several areas, including stopping irregular migration.
BIG AND BREAKING
GRADUAL INTEGRATION: The Commission is drawing up plans to let EU candidate countries earn benefits usually reserved for members while they wait for their applications to be completed, Nick Vinocur and I report this morning.
STUBB SPEAKS: Finnish President Alexander Stubb told POLITICO’s Dasha Burns that the push for peace between Russia and Ukraine should follow Donald Trump’s approach on Gaza and Iran: “Get that ceasefire and make it unconditional and overarching.” The full interview is well worth your time — listen here or watch on YouTube.
GAS FLARE-UP: A group of countries including Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands and Poland will urge the EU at today’s energy ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg to reopen and delay its methane regulation — a win for the fossil fuel industry and U.S. government, which have been pushing to postpone the rules.
HORMUZ HOLD: The U.N.’s International Maritime Organization last night paused an effort to evacuate ships stuck in the Persian Gulf after a vessel was attacked crossing the Strait of Hormuz, threatening the fragile ceasefire signed by Iran and the U.S. last week.
GANG WARFARE: Europe is fighting criminal gangs that have global reach and billions of euros at their disposal, according to a report due to be launched today by Europol and Magnus Brunner. Law enforcement agencies say they’ve had success in neutralizing three-quarters of them in the past two years.
SCOOP — NO TURBULENCE: The EU will keep the freeze on retaliatory aviation tariffs imposed on the U.S. as part of the long-running dispute between Airbus and Boeing, cooling the prospect of another transatlantic trade war.
A MESSAGE FOR EUROPE: Festivities marking the 250th anniversary of America’s founding should be seen by Europe as a moment of friendship, not tension, the U.S. ambassadors to the EU, Andrew Puzder, and to Belgium, Bill White, write in an op-ed this morning.
REBUILDING UKRAINE
UKRAINE’S SALES PITCH: As the Ukraine Recovery Conference enters its second day, the focus shifts to investment, Zoya Sheftalovich reports from Gdańsk. One of today’s headline announcements is a €1.1 billion risk-sharing package between the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Fund and Ukraine’s state-owned PrivatBank to boost lending to Ukrainian businesses.
Mikael Björknert, CEO of PrivatBank, told Zoya the message to investors is clear: “It is now that they should invest … If you wait four years, the ground is taken.” Compared with last year’s conference in Rome, he said, “the optimism is higher this time,” with foreign banks and investors becoming “more curious about Ukraine.”
Hedge your bets: UNDP administrator and ex-Belgian PM Alexander De Croo cast Ukraine as a laboratory for European innovation. “The Ukrainians have rewritten the playbook,” he said, pointing to the country’s decentralized renewable energy system as a model for European energy security. “Energy and stability are linked. If you see the war in the Gulf, one choke point in the world is destabilizing energy provision.”
Not so fast: But the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty urged leaders not to let ambition obscure reality. Attendees in Gdańsk risk being “distracted by elements of a kind of disaster capitalism” while millions of Ukrainians can’t return home safely, he said. O’Flaherty said Europe’s welcome for Ukrainian refugees is slipping, citing Denmark’s decision to exclude military-age men from temporary protection.
TURNING THE PAGE: Organizers hope the focus on investment will shift attention away from the spat between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Polish President Karol Nawrocki over the legacy of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which killed tens of thousands of Poles during World War II in what Poland regards as a genocide.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk alluded to the dispute in his opening remarks Thursday, saying: “The future can only be built on truth, mutual respect and an understanding of history … The condition for true and complete unity has always been an understanding of one’s own history and a genuine willingness to reconcile.”
Focus on the present: Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko tried to lower the temperature, telling the audience: “Dear Poles, thank you very much for the help you provided when it was needed most.”
20-SECOND PLAYBOOK PRIMER
The EU wants to boost the powers of Europol and Eurojust, which are both based in The Hague. But what do they do, and what’s the difference between them? Both are EU agencies (independent bodies set up by the EU to perform specific tasks) that help combat cross-border crime. Europol supports investigations between national police forces in EU countries, by helping them share data and also helping to analyze that data. Eurojust deals with judicial cooperation among prosecutors and magistrates in EU countries.
AI JOB THREAT
AI COMES FOR THE BUBBLE: Is artificial intelligence going to threaten the jobs of junior consultants in Brussels? Yes, according to half of the respondents to a survey on the future of the public affairs industry, conducted by Best in Brussels. A report on the findings was shared with Mari Eccles for our sister newsletter, EU Influence.
Worry, but don’t panic: Of the 500 people spoken to, fewer than 20 percent said they don’t think AI will reduce the number of jobs in the sector … though just one in seven said they’re expecting the number of roles to be significantly reduced.
The kids might not be all right: The report points out that the public affairs tasks most at risk are those that have historically been done by junior workers — such as monitoring, first-draft writing, research and summarizing. That’s an issue when it comes to developing staff.
Something to cling on to: The report does go on to say that the sector may prove resilient because the human skills you need to be successful can’t be replaced by technology. AI can’t “feel the tension in a room,” said Isabelle De Vinck, managing partner at Political Intelligence. Carmen Bell, managing director at APCO, said: “In a field where trust is built over years and can be lost in a moment, that human layer was never optional — it’s just become even more valuable.”
DASHBOARD
DANGEROUS HEAT: More than 200,000 people died across the EU because of excessive heat between 2022 and 2025, and nearly all of those deaths were preventable, Hans Kluge, director of the WHO’s Europe office, said earlier this month. Research suggests the death toll from extreme temperatures had been going up nearly everywhere in the bloc before 2020.
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6 MORE THINGS GETTING US TALKING
WHEN ARE WARS JUSTIFIED? Pope Leo XIV will gather the world’s cardinals to hash that out behind closed doors today — and the White House probably won’t like the answer.
HEAT SUMMIT: Europe’s Greens have called for an emergency meeting of EU leaders to address the heatwave gripping the continent.
FAR RIGHT FRAZZLED: France’s Marine Le Pen is in a sticky situation because of the record temperatures, given her longtime opposition to green policies.
IT’S THE CLIMATE, STUPID! The heatwave is not an anomaly — it simply wouldn’t be possible were it not for the effects of climate change, researchers have confirmed.
EUROPOL JOBS RACE: Three top law enforcement officers are now on the shortlist in the race to become Europol’s next executive director, my colleague Antoaneta Roussi reports this morning for subscribers.
NEW-LOOK COMMISSION: If the European commissioners were celebrities, who would get the most interesting jobs? Paul Dallison puts together a top team in this week’s Declassified column.