PM Mitsotakis on public broadcaster ERT
Greece will roll out joint government-refinery support measures next week to keep heating oil prices well below € 1.75 per litre, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced in an interview with public broadcaster ERT, on Thursday.
Poll finds stronger backing for ND to govern alone
Marginally more Greeks would prefer conservative New Democracy to govern alone to the alternative of a broad coalition led by Socialist PASOK and left-wing ELAS, according to a new poll published Thursday. The Marc survey for private Antenna TV found that 27.8% of respondents would like the current governing party to continue in power alone following the next national elections, set for next spring. Nevertheless, 27.1% said they would like a coalition of PASOK, former prime minister Alexis Tsipras’ new ELAS and smaller left-wing parties. Another 9.6% voiced preference for an ND-PASOK coalition, and 8% said ND should cooperate with smaller right-wing parties. Based on responses, Marc projected that ND would win 31% of the vote were elections to be held now, followed by ELAS at 16% and PASOK at 11.5% – while a total nine parties would exceed the 3% parliamentary threshold.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1315618/poll-finds-stronger-backing-for-nd-to-govern-alone
Anti-fascist rally to mark 13th anniversary of Pavlos Fyssas murder
The 13th anniversary of the murder of anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas will be commemorated Friday with a rally in Keratsini, Piraeus, where Fyssas was fatally stabbed by a supporter of the now-defunct neo-Nazi Golden Dawn group. The rally is scheduled to begin at 5.30 pm at the monument dedicated to Fyssas, also known by his stage name Killa P. Fyssas, 34, was murdered on September 18, 2013, by Giorgos Roupakias following an altercation at a local cafe. The killing prompted Greek authorities to launch a crackdown on Golden Dawn, which ultimately led to the conviction of the group’s entire leadership for running a criminal organization.
Former EU commissioner Avramopoulos’ immunity lifted over corruption scandal
Parliament on Thursday lifted the immunity from prosecution of former European commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, wanted in Belgium in connection with an alleged corruption scandal involving European Union officials and Qatar. Avramopoulos, 73, was the EU’s top official for migration between 2014-19, and is a member of Greece’s Parliament for the Ilia region in the Peloponnese with the country’s governing, conservative New Democracy party. A total 264 of the 266 lawmakers present in Thursday’s session voted to lift Avramopoulos’ immunity, while two voted “present.” Avramopoulos has denied wrongdoing in the so-called Qatargate scandal, in which EU officials allegedly took bribes from Qatar to influence the 27-nation bloc’s policymaking.
ATHEX: Big Friday comes for local bourse
The Euronext Athens (ATHEX) general index closed at 2,687.91 points, shedding 0.40% from Wednesday’s 2,698.76 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index contracted 0.43% to end at 6,899.77 points, though mid-caps expanded 0.38%.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1315619/athex-big-friday-comes-for-local-bourse
KATHIMERINI: In search of 2 million vanished voters
TA NEA: Fuel” 5 interventions
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: The “snake” is biting the youth
RIZOSPASTIS: The people and the youth in the first line! Everybody join today’s rallies!
KONTRA NEWS: Heating oil at 1,70 euro and horizontal increase of the relevant benefit
DIMOKRATIA: Tens of millions to government friends with direct contract awards – Judicial noose for thousands of simple loan debtors
NAFTEMPORIKI: AI: The suspended step of technology
DRIVING THE DAY
NOT ANOTHER MEETING: Ursula von der Leyen’s pitch to launch a European Security Council is being greeted with profound skepticism in parts of the EU — including in Denmark, where Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, touted as a potential leader of the council, has signaled she wants nothing to do with the idea.
The Security Council was a key point in the Commission president’s State of the Union speech Wednesday, billed as a platform where Canada, Norway, Ukraine and the U.K. could discuss shared threats. It would be a safe space outside NATO at a time when Washington is often at odds with its allies.
But some EU officials and diplomats have responded with brutal feedback, telling Playbook that it would merely add more meetings to leaders’ schedules without fixing problems of confidentiality in the EU.
“Can’t see it coming to life in reality,” deadpanned one senior EU official.
An EU diplomat riffed on Europe’s seemingly ever-expanding list of discussion formats: “After Ukraine, Canada, Norway and the U.K. meet at NATO, they pop over to the European Council, grab a coffee with the Coalition of the Willing, join the UDCG [Ukraine Defense Contact Group], reconvene at the European Political Community, and then finally gather in the European Security Council to act decisively.”
“Clearly,” the diplomat added, “what’s been holding Europe back on the world stage all these years … [is] a shortage of meetings.”
Unlike the proposal to offer Canada “associate member” status, this initiative didn’t come as a surprise. European Council President António Costa pitched the Security Council to several leaders during a recent huddle in Finland, including Frederiksen. That fed speculation in local media that she could lead the group.
Which made sense: Tensions between Copenhagen and Washington over Greenland might make Denmark an obvious candidate for a group that doesn’t include the U.S.
But a Danish official doused the idea, telling Playbook: “The Danish prime minister is very into all things involving security in Europe, but we are quite skeptical about this [Security Council] construction. Basically, we have a lot of meetings.”
Another complaint: That EU meetings are ripe for eavesdropping. “The fact is that our defense officials don’t feel comfortable discussing sensitive matters in EU formats,” said a third EU diplomat. “Why would this be any different?”
The bottom line: EU diplomats can be harsh critics, especially when they’re speaking off the record. But when even Denmark isn’t interested — despite its interest in holding security discussions away from the U.S. — it suggests this could be another von der Leyen idea that struggles to become reality.
BIG AND BREAKING
CRUNCH TIME: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is bracing for another brutal election result on Sunday — and for more questions about whether he can stay on as leader.
STEEL SCOOP: The Trump administration is quietly pushing to build a coalition to counter China’s massive steel overproduction, even as it hammers those same allies on trade.
CANADA PUSH CONTINUES: European Investment Bank chief Nadia Calviño is heading to Ottawa to establish a bank presence in Canada and kick-start critical minerals projects.
FROM MFF TO PM? Romanian President Nicușor Dan has proposed MEP Siegfried Mureșan as prime minister — potentially taking one of the European Parliament’s key budget negotiators out of Brussels just as the fight over the Multiannual Financial Framework heats up.
EVERYTHING’S FINE: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is urging “responsible optimism” in the face of growing tech anxiety, reassuring wary crowds at King Charles’ AI gathering yesterday that civilization isn’t about to collapse.
Mark your diaries: Huang will join OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Qualcomm’s Cristiano Amon at a state dinner with Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping next Thursday, my stateside colleagues report.
FISCAL FACE-OFF
THE €2 TRILLION OP-ED WAR: Germany and Spain have turned to separate POLITICO opinion pieces to spar over the scale of the EU’s next seven-year budget, setting the stage for fraught negotiations ahead of an informal end-of-year deadline.
EU governments are battling to preserve pet projects and curb the sums they send to Brussels. But after nearly a year of negotiations they’re still a long way from a deal, Playbook’s Gregorio Sorgi reports from Dublin after European Council President António Costa stopped there on his tour of 25 capitals yesterday.
The competing articles on our site this morning expose their widening differences:
Op-ed No. 1: Spain’s Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo argues that the budget should rise to 2% of EU gross national income, while proposing a delay to post-Covid debt repayments to release €11 billion annually for agriculture, defense and competitiveness.
“The next framework should have a ceiling equivalent to 2% of EU GNI — enough to support both the economy and society,” Cuerpo writes.
Op-ed No. 2: Germany’s Friedrich Merz and the leaders of Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria and Finland push back against increasing the budget, insisting that additional money and borrowing are not the solution. “We cannot just add every new priority to every old one and send the bill to taxpayers,” they write.
The five countries are urging Ireland, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, to remove hundreds of billions of euros from its next negotiating document — though officials anticipate there will be a compromise involving less severe cuts.
20-SECOND PLAYBOOK PRIMER
The U.N. General Assembly kicks off in New York next week. How does the European Union participate? Since 2011, the EU has had what’s known as enhanced observer status. That means it can participate in debates, make statements and proposals, and address the General Assembly. Crucially, the EU can’t vote, although all 27 member countries can, and the EU can help coordinate those votes.
EU STAFF ON THE MOVE
EUROCRATS GO NORTH: More EU officials are set to decamp to Brussels’ Northern Quarter after national capitals approved the rental of new office space earlier this month. That’s unlikely to be welcome news for hundreds of well-heeled Eurocrats who are reluctant to swap Schuman for the gritty Quartier Nord.
Leading by example: The EU’s own running costs have attracted increasing scrutiny during negotiations over the next seven-year budget, with EU governments heaping pressure on the Commission to save money.
The EU executive insists that it is tightening its belt. A Commission official said it is delivering on its promise to cut office space by a quarter between 2021 and 2030. Three EU agencies have already relocated to Boulevard Simon Bolivar in the Northern Quarter, with others set to follow suit.
The Belgian authorities have encouraged moving some EU buildings outside of Schuman to gentrify poorer neighborhoods. During a meeting of EU government officials earlier this month, the Belgian representative dismissed concerns around the Northern Quarter’s safety, noting that several Belgian government departments are based there.
Cristiano Sebastiani, president of the Renouveau et Démocratie trade union, slammed the move north as “entirely unjustified.” He told Playbook: “The health, safety and security of our staff must, now more than ever, remain the institution’s first priority.”
6 MORE THINGS GETTING US TALKING
BATTLE OVER THE BAN: Ursula von der Leyen’s plan to restrict kids’ access to social media will require a whole new level of ambition to bring to life, Eliza Gkritsi and Ellen O’Regan report.
TRAIN HUNTERS: Russia is increasingly targeting Ukraine’s railways, which are a lifeline for its troops, civilians and economy.
PRESIDENTIAL GAMBIT: Renew is leaning toward dropping its own bid for Parliament president and instead striking a deal with the European People’s Party to stop it allying with the far right, Max Griera hears.
S&D MAKES ROOM: Top Socialists and Democrats lawmakers have approved expanding the group’s leadership team to give an eastern delegation a senior post.
QATARGATE UPDATE: Greek lawmakers have lifted the immunity of former EU Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos after Belgian authorities issued an arrest warrant in connection with the Qatargate scandal.
CENTRISTS UNITED: As Carney fever rolls across Europe, Paul Dallison looks at the centrist dads ready to take on Donald Trump in this week’s Declassified column.