Kimberly Guilfoyle tenders her resignation as ambassador to Greece; full letter on X
US Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle announced her resignation on Tuesday, following allegations of improper conduct and a request by the White House. Guifoyle, who was officially sworn in as US ambassador to Greece on September 30, 2025, posted her resignation letter on her personal account on X. She called the allegations against her false and said she would defend her name, reputation, and integrity. She also referred to the accomplishments of her tour of duty and the strengthening of Greek-American cooperation, and she expressed her gratitude to the Greek people for their hospitality.
Ankara appears to delay ‘Blue Homeland’ bill
Ankara appears to be postponing the submission of a bill linked to its “Blue Homeland” maritime doctrine, according to assessments based on several converging sources. The Turkish government had planned to introduce the bill in the fall, with the stated aim of safeguarding Turkey’s rights in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean and the Aegean. However, the legislation has yet to appear on the Turkish Parliament’s agenda, pointing to the possibility of developments from November onward. With October considered a critical month for the Greece-Cyprus electricity interconnection project, the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI), Ankara is believed to be waiting to see how Athens proceeds. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in remarks on Monday that “mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity is our fundamental principle.”
Severe weather phenomena across Greece; 58 calls in Attica and Evia for assistance
Severe weather phenomena are sweeping across Greece, bringing heavy rain, thunderstorms and gale-force winds to several areas, causing flooding and traffic disruption, particularly in Skiathos, Evia and Attica.
PASOK leader: Party bill on private debt is comprehensive, provides borrowers with fair solutions, opportunities
The private debt bill to be tabled in Parliament by PASOK-Movement for Change (KINAL) is a comprehensive intervention providing opportunities to borrowers that are socially just, party leader Nikos Androulakis said in Parliament on Tuesday. In his presentation of the bill, Androulakis said, “Private debt rose to € 238 billion due to the government’s intertia – and under its policies, there is no opportunity of a fair regulation, nor the prospects for a development prospect of small and medium-sized enterprises.” There can be no growth when society is mired in debt, the main opposition leader added. “The people will judge. Will we follow the same path as New Democracy, or the path of social sensitivity with a plan for a strong economy?,” he asked. The bill will be tabled in Parliament by the party’s parliamentary group.
ATHEX: Traders keep cards close to their chest
The Euronext Athens (ATHEX) general index closed Tuesday at 2,598.72 points, adding 0.16% to Monday’s 2,594.52 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index expanded 0.25% to end at 6,656.36 points.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1318070/athex-traders-keep-cards-close-to-their-chest
KATHIMERINI: End titles for US Ambassador Guilfoyle
TA NEA: Guilfoyle: the backstage of an “eviction”
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: The IMF refutes the government’s predictions included in the draft state budget
RIZOSPASTIS: Now is the time of workers to speak: Strike today at Motor Oil in protest of fatal “employment crime”
KONTRA NEWS: Metron Analysis poll: 82% of Greeks do not get by
DIMOKRATIA: Domino of developments after the “ousting” of Guilfoyle
NAFTEMPORIKI: “Arm wrestling” for real estate assets in the grey zone
DRIVING THE DAY
READY TO RUMBLE: The EU is expecting Pedro Sánchez to come to the European Council spoiling for a fight on migration, five diplomats and one official told Playbook’s Zoya Sheftalovich and me.
The gloves are off: “Of course” there will be a fight, said one senior EU diplomat, adding that it will likely get “quite bloody.” Another said they wouldn’t be surprised if there’s an “intense” debate. They were granted anonymity to speak frankly about their national leaders’ expectations ahead of the two-day summit.
The Spanish leader is expected to take on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni over migration. Taking a stand over the issue is seen as something that will play well with their domestic voter base, two of the diplomats said.
Prime time: Sánchez is behind in the polls ahead of a snap election on Nov. 29, while Meloni faces a tough election next year as far-right challenger Roberto Vannacci gains momentum, one of those diplomats said. “It will be helpful for Sánchez to pick a fight,” according to the other EU diplomat. “And it might be helpful for Meloni too.”
The ground is laid: The clash comes as EU leaders — and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen — push for faster returns and tighter border controls. That has put Sánchez, whose government has pushed more liberal migration policies, at odds with the bloc’s harder line. The Spanish prime minister came under fire from Meloni and other EU leaders after the mass arrivals in Ceuta.
Sánchez will arrive prepared, two Spanish government officials told our Madrid Playbook colleague Ángel Villarino Perez. He has been briefed through meetings, weekend crisis sessions and ministerial discussions, they said, and will point to results on returns, border management and arrivals. He’s expected to defend his record by citing a 74% fall in arrivals on the Atlantic route, which Madrid attributes in part to cooperation with Mauritania and Senegal.
I think I’ve seen this film before: At the June European Council, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen steered discussion toward the EU’s new returns rules. Sánchez criticized the bloc’s hard-line approach, while Meloni backed Frederiksen and attacked Spain’s decision to regularize undocumented migrants.
When all is said and done: Diplomats expect the row to produce little tangible change. “They’ll say lots of things to each other, and then probably go for a drink after,” one said. A lot of work has gone into getting leaders on the same page on the migration pact, the EU official said, meaning they don’t expect the broader agreement to be derailed by a diplomatic dust-up.
BIG AND BREAKING
NOW FOR THE HARD PART: EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič secured a breakthrough deal in Beijing to sharply reduce imports of Chinese hybrid cars — but now faces a tougher task convincing EU leaders that talking to China can deliver more.
SCOOP — HOW THE EPP PLANS TO WIN: The EPP Group will brainstorm how to beat the far right in the 2029 European Parliament election at its retreat in Sicily this morning. Read the internal document circulated to MEPs to spark a policy discussion … and an annex detailing what the group says it has delivered from its 2024 program.
BUDGET BLIND SPOT: The EU’s next budget could make corruption harder to detect, the head of the European Court of Auditors has warned — not exactly the kind of simplification Brussels was aiming for.
READY FOR A FIGHT: Ahead of her trip to Brussels today, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen tells the FT she’s gearing up for a “trial of strength” over the EU’s budget and powers if she wins the French presidential election.
NO TIME TO FOLD: Donald Trump once said Kyiv had “no cards” to play against Moscow, but its energy strikes on Russian refineries changed that calculation. Now European leaders are urging the U.S. president not to torpedo Ukraine’s leverage.
CAN’T BEAT ’EM? USE ’EM: Europe is quietly abandoning its dreams of beating the U.S. and China at building the smartest AI models. The new Brussels mantra: You don’t have to own the models if you can put them to work.
NEWS FROM THE VATICAN: Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with lung cancer after undergoing surgery to remove part of his right lung yesterday.
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PARLIAMENT’S GAME OF THRONES
PRESSURE COOKER: Tensions are high in the European Parliament as its midterm jobs reshuffle unfolds, Max Griera writes. The EPP, Socialists and Democrats and Renew groups elect their leadership teams next week, while MEPs are fighting over who does what.
Burn short, burn bright: With nobody emerging to rival Renew chief Valérie Hayer for her job, Belgian lawmaker Hilde Vautmans briefly threatened a bid — only to change her mind the next day.
She lashed out at colleagues at a dinner in Strasbourg last week for failing to challenge the group’s five-year French dominance and said she would run herself, according to four Renew insiders.
She backed down the day after. “She has no intention of putting forward her own candidacy,” her office said.
But it continues: Bids from Malik Azmani and Abir Al-Sahlani have kicked off a crowded contest for the vice chairs, with all eight incumbents also seeking reelection.
Meanwhile, over at the EPP: Manfred Weber is trying to calm his troops after the group descended into all-out war over its vice chairs. He tried to roll over all 10 incumbents, but surprise attempts by Hungary’s Eszter Lakos, Portugal’s Sebastião Bugalho and Czechia’s Danuše Nerudová have upset the balance of power, according to six MEPs and officials.
French guillotine: Weber is lobbying to save close ally François-Xavier Bellamy from being ousted, according to three of the people above, because he is the center-right group’s leading French figure ahead of the presidential election. But detractors point to the French delegation’s 26% rebellion rate against the group line, the highest in the EPP this term.
Weber’s chess: “France is the key,” one EPP MEP said, adding Weber needs people “like Bellamy who can deliver with the radical right on our content.” Bellamy led on the returns regulation, passed with far-right support. The offices of Bellamy and Weber did not respond to requests for comment.
Over in the S&D, Tuesday’s deadline to challenge Iratxe García passed uncontested, and today’s vice chair deadline also currently sees no challengers. To head off infighting, the group added a vice chair for its eastern delegations. Biljana Borzan is set to take the post, according to two S&D officials.
20-SECOND PLAYBOOK PRIMER
Today there’s a meeting of the European Parliament’s Conference of Presidents … but what is that? It’s the top political body in the Parliament, in which the president and the chairs of the political groups meet to set the legislative agenda, decide the responsibilities and membership of committees and delegations, and discuss relationships with other EU institutions and national parliaments. The CoP normally meets twice a month.
BRUSSELS’ BUBBLE OF FEAR
MEAN STREETS: First, EU officials were relocated to Brussels’ Northern Quarter, which many consider unsafe. Now, a fatal shooting near the Parliament has brought the concern closer to home, EU staff unions and lobbyists told me.
Right on the doorstep: The person was shot dead around 6 p.m. on Monday on Rue Wiertz, in Ixelles, which is near the Parliament, the European Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee. A resident of the street — granted anonymity over fears for their safety — told Playbook they first mistook the gunfire for construction noise. Police cordoned off the street, collected evidence overnight and kept a patrol there until morning. Officers were reassuring but vague when asked if it was safe to stay, the resident said.
The working theory: Investigators suspect a possible settling of scores linked to organized crime, though that remains unconfirmed. “Organized crime in general is a threat for our institutions, but the incident is not related to the EU,” Brussels Public Prosecutor Julien Moinil told Playbook.
But it has still alarmed people who work nearby. “We have received many reactions of fear and concern, just as there have been almost every day for our colleagues in the northern neighborhood,” said Cristiano Sebastiani of the Renouveau et Démocratie EU staff union.
It’s a familiar worry: EU staff raised safety concerns about the Northern Quarter after a stray bullet hit an EU building there last year, outside working hours. In 2023, an EPP parliamentary assistant was shot and injured on Avenue de la Toison d’Or.
“The situation has gotten worse in a way that’s almost visible,” said a lobbyist who works 300 meters from Monday’s shooting. Incidents like this, they said, make “people get paranoid” and wonder whether their street could be next.
DASHBOARD
While Pedro Sánchez prepares to meet EU leaders in Brussels, Spain’s King Felipe VI is due in the country’s North African exclave of Melilla today. The king yesterday visited Ceuta, the scene of the mass arrivals that fueled widespread criticism of Sánchez’s government and aggravated tensions between Spain and Morocco.
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7 MORE THINGS GETTING US TALKING
FAMILY FEUD: A rebellion against the Industrial Accelerator Act started with three center-right lawmakers and quickly spread through Ursula von der Leyen’s own political family. Here’s how a small EPP mutiny became a big headache for the EU’s flagship industry law.
GIVE BIG OIL AN INCH … The Commission is preparing to delay its methane rules by a year under pressure from the fossil fuel industry, Washington and EU capitals. Big Oil’s response? Thanks, but we’d like more.
START STUDYING: The date that thousands of aspiring EU officials have been waiting for is finally here: The first round of AD5 competition tests will take place Nov. 9-13.
HANDS OFF 1: The Committee of the Regions, which votes today on a new Agenda for Cities, will warn that plans to dismantle the Commission’s regional policy department (DG REGIO) risk sending a “deeply worrying political signal.”
HANDS OFF 2: Fifty-eight MEPs want von der Leyen to stop Washington’s sanctions against the International Criminal Court, calling the sweeping measures a “foreign attack on EU territory.”
AWAY FROM HOME: Ukraine’s top football team, Shakhtar Donetsk, is playing its home Champions League fixtures at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge. Ali Walker talked to the club’s top executives about why they’re playing for much more than on-field success.
LAGARDE’S BOOK CLUB: Christine Lagarde encouraged journalists to buy her memoir at an ECB press conference. Now the bank’s staff committee wants to know whether the sales pitch broke its ethics rules.