Turkish moves may signal new tension
A Turkish government-leaked consultation paper referring to a so-called “Blue Homeland Law” that will presumably be voted on in Parliament in early June and a minor naval incident – the fourth of its kind this year – have left officials in Athens wondering whether Ankara wants to return to a strategy of tension like the one that prevailed between the two nominal allies before February 2023.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/foreign-policy/1303703/turkish-moves-may-signal-new-tension
FM says Ukraine war spilling over into Mediterranean ‘will not be tolerated’
Greece on Wednesday escalated diplomatic pressure on Kyiv after a suspected Ukrainian naval drone was discovered off the island of Lefkada last week, with Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis saying that “any transformation of the Mediterranean into a theater of military operations will not be tolerated.” Following talks in Athens with his Croatian counterpart Gordan Grlic Radman, Gerapetritis added that “Greece will ensure that the Mediterranean remains untouched by military operations and remains a sea of peace, a sea belonging to its peoples.”
Mitsotakis: Greece will no longer be the most heavily indebted country in Europe
The developments in the US-Iran war were the first issue addressed by Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a discussion with Ben Hall, Europe Editor at the Financial Times, held on the sidelines of the “Energy Transition Summit: East Med & Southeast Europe” conference on Wednesday.
Ryanair charges Fraport Greece with ‘monopoly’ that made Greek aviation ‘hopelessly uncompetitive’
Ryanair attacked Fraport Greece on Wednesday and accused it of operating as “a monopoly”, calling on the Greek government “to break up the Fraport Greece monopoly, which will bring much-needed competition to the Greek aviation market.” The low-cost Irish company called Fraport Greece as a “monopoly airport operator” and charged that “the Fraport Greece monopoly has made Greece aviation hopelessly uncompetitive compared to other European countries,” as well as that it “pocketed this tax reduction [by the Greek government] to further line the pockets of its German shareholder.”
ATHEX: Mid-cap index keeps bourse in the black
Wednesday’s mixed session at the Greek bourse had mid-caps keeping the benchmark in the black, just as banks and the blue-chip index closed the day in the red. Traders continue to appear reserved, with highly targeted moves, both in sales and in purchases.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1303707/athex-mid-cap-index-keeps-bourse-in-the-black
KATHIMERINI: Ankara legislates “grey zones”
TA NEA: Banks: ruling against illegal commission
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: The disastrous consequences of the Mitsotakis governance: Autocratic downhill
RIZOSPASTIS: Breathing air and hope after the victory of the Greek Communist Party’s faction at the university students’ elections
KONTRA NEWS: Turkey is arbitrarily delineating the continental shelf and claiming Greek islands
DIMOKRATIA: The government is now eliminating subsidies for organic meat and honey, punishing the honest producers
NAFTEMPORIKI: Automatic Income Tax Return Statements and fines
DRIVING THE DAY
BRITISH INVASION: U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s push for a post-Brexit reset with the EU is being seen by Brussels as a chance to get London to reconsider its red lines on closer trade and economic ties.
Starming the beaches: Two officials said they were surprised to see the embattled British leader use a speech Monday to say he will put his country “at the heart of Europe” — when his negotiating position hasn’t changed in practice as an all-important summit looms.
The EU is open to closer collaboration on a range of mutually beneficial technical issues. But officials, diplomats and politicians say London will have to relax its positions on trade and economic integration if it truly wants a more ambitious deal.
On the agenda: The two sides are set to hold a landmark sit-down, likely in July, to discuss issues such as youth mobility, agricultural standards, emissions trading and sharing of migration statistics. But none of those policy settings are likely to be dramatically overhauled, the EU is warning. And the summit has already been delayed multiple times, fueling frustration.
A U.K. government spokesperson told Playbook: “Our deals will tear down unnecessary barriers to trade, which will drive economic prosperity on both sides of the channel and ease cost pressures for U.K. families.”
Not everyone is convinced: “How revolutionary can it be without revisiting their red lines?”asked one senior EU official. “The Labour government isn’t doing this and if they hype up the message of revolutionary change with the EU then everyone will be disappointed and they’ll say ‘Brussels is punishing us.’”
Some in Brussels are openly pushing for a bigger reset than Starmer might have planned. “If Britain truly wants to make a difference, it should go further: join the single market and help found a European Security Council,” the chair of Parliament’s delegation to the U.K., Sandro Gozi, told my colleague Max Griera. “The world has changed since those red lines were drawn. History moved on. Time to widen the horizon.”
Not everyone’s a skeptic: Parliament President Roberta Metsola, meanwhile, is positioning herself as a leading voice for a reset on this side of the Channel. “Recent polling shows a clear majority of Brits now support closer ties with the European Union. My discussions with British counterparts confirm this shift,” Metsola told Playbook.
“The upcoming summit with the U.K. offers a real window of opportunity to move from post-Brexit management to a genuine strategic partnership — starting with the areas where citizens and businesses can feel the difference most: trade, energy, security, mobility and investment,” she said.
Takeaway: But with reports swirling Starmer could face a leadership challenge as soon as today, it remains to be seen whether he’ll have time to think about any of this before the summit — or whether he’ll still be the leader Brussels is negotiating with.
BIG AND BREAKING
TRUMP IN CHINA: China and the U.S. should be partners rather than rivals because confrontation harms both countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping told U.S. President Donald Trump as they began two days of talks in Beijing. They were meeting behind closed doors as Playbook went to pixel. The AP has a live blog.
SANCTIONS OVERTURNED: A U.S. judge has blocked the Trump administration’s sanctions against U.N. official Francesca Albanese over her calls for war crimes charges to be brought against Israeli officials, my colleagues in Washington report.
HEY, BIG SPENDER: Frugal EU countries are fuming at socialist Spain over alleged misuse of Covid recovery funds as an argument over the bloc’s borrowing heats up.
IF IT INTERESTS YOU: The European Central Bank could raise interest rates to try to limit the economic impact of the war in Iran, Malta’s central bank governor told Johanna Treeck.
MAKING PARLIAMENT FUN AGAIN
EXCLUSIVE ― PLENARY REBOOT: Metsola will seek final approval from political group leaders on May 21 for reforms to spice up plenary debates, currently seen across the political spectrum as painfully dull. The plan is to adopt all the changes in the June plenary session. The proposals stem from wishlists Metsola requested from political groups late last year.
Less is more: One of the key measures, according to three Parliament staffers and a working document obtained by POLITICO, includes ending debates at 8:30 p.m. on Mondays and 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays — as opposed to ending at 10 p.m. or even 11 p.m., as can be the case now. The curfew is designed to improve attendance. Debates will have a set start and end, instead of the current flexibility, and can only be added to the agenda on a “one-in, one-out” basis.
Question session: Another proposal is to increase direct scrutiny of the executive by holding debates on Tuesdays after College meetings, allowing MEPs to question commissioners on newly adopted plans, the working document says.
Ping-pong: During the debates, commissioners would be required to respond to lawmakers’ interventions throughout, rather than speaking only at the opening and close. Lawmakers will be given more time to respond to their colleagues’ statements after they speak and have an impromptu back-and-forth before the next speaker takes the stage.
Minimum attendance: Groups will also need to ensure a certain number of their lawmakers are present during debates.
20-SECOND PLAYBOOK PRIMER
What is hantavirus and — more importantly — will it kill us? There are more than 20 different types of hantavirus (named after a river in South Korea), which are usually spread when people come into close contact with the droppings, urine and saliva of infected rodents. The strain that’s been spreading on a cruise ship is the Andes virus. Health experts say the risk of infection for the global population is very low, although it can cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which starts with fatigue and fever and can lead to serious breathing problems, with a mortality rate of 20-40 percent.
DASHBOARD
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TAK, PROSZĘ: As governments in Poland, the Baltic countries and Romania angle for U.S. troops that could be redeployed to their territory from Germany, new polling for the Democracy Perception Index shows public support for U.S. military bases in Europe is mixed — with the exception of Poland. While respondents in most countries surveyed in the poll showed significant opposition, almost 51 percent of Polish respondents favored having a U.S. military base in the country. Subscribers can read more.
5 MORE THINGS GETTING US TALKING
CONFUSED ABOUT THE COMMISSION? So are campaigners, who don’t know who to talk to about equality and green issues, Mari Eccles reports.
HANDS UP: A person close to Emmanuel Macron’s wife Brigitte categorically denied claims that she slapped the president over texts to an Iranian actress, Clea Caulcutt writes.
MILLION MARK: The EU has passed the buck to national capitals to ban unscientific “conversion therapy” designed to change LGBTQ+ people’s identity and sexual orientation, after 1.1 million people signed a petition calling on the Commission to outlaw it.
DON’T BE AFRAID: That’s the message from defense tech firm Palantir to the German government, hitting back at Berlin’s fears that depending on an American company could come with long-term risks.
TREATY TIME: Montenegro is entering the endgame for joining the EU, after ambassadors green-lit the start of the treaty drafting process.