Mitsotakis at Bloomberg conference: Greece will not engage in any military activity in the Middle East
European leaders, including Greece, have adopted a firmly negative stance toward any potential naval mission or broader military operation near the current theater of war, following days of consultations that weighed both operational limitations and political considerations. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated this position in an interview with Bloomberg, stating that “Greece will not participate in any operation near the theater of current operations,” while adding that he doubts there is significant European appetite for such a mission at this time. He noted that Greece would not act alone in the absence of a European-backed initiative and assessed the likelihood of such a mission as “very low.”
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/foreign-policy/1298371/pm-no-greek-involvement-in-war-theater
Trial opens over diaspora Greeks’ email address leak
Four people went on trial in Athens Tuesday over the alleged Interior Ministry leak of emails belonging to diaspora Greeks to a governing New Democracy party politician canvassing for votes in the June 2024 European parliamentary elections. The list of email addresses harvested from Greeks abroad who had registered to vote through the post in the elections was allegedly subsequently used by former ND European Parliament lawmaker Anna Michelle Asimakopoulou to solicit their backing.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1298359/trial-opens-over-diaspora-greeks-email-address-leak
Collective labor agreements signed in food services & tourism, baking sectors
Employers and employees met at the offices of the Hellenic Confederation of Professionals Craftsment and Merchants (GSEVEE) on Tuesday to sign two new sector collective bargaining agreements, related to food services & tourism and to bakeries.
Bank of Greece: Budget shows surplus in January and February
The budget showed a surplus of 328 million euros on a cash basis in January-February, compared to a surplus of 836 million euros in the corresponding period of 2025. According to data from the Bank of Greece, this development reflects the decline in regular budget revenues to 10.972 billion euros, from 11.636 billion euros last year. As for regular budget expenditures, they amounted to 11.009 billion euros, from 10.781 billion euros in the period of January-February 2025.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/energy/1298281/extra-measures-on-energy-cost
ATHEX: Traders take day-by-day approach
Local oil companies are eyeing significant profits – until another tax gets imposed on them – so their stocks led the Greek bourse to more gains on Tuesday, in the face of considerable fluctuations and unpredictable developments on the global geopolitical and economic level. Investors mostly choose to tread carefully, without major exposure, and the domestic stock market tends to follow the swinging moods of its European peers on a day-by-day basis.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1298379/athex-traders-take-day-by-day-approach
KATHIMERINI: Trump’s “epic rage” against NATO
TA NEA: OPEKEPE scandal vol. 2: 14+3 MPs mentioned in the new case files
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Trump is naked
RIZOSPASTIS: Communist Party Union “Pame” calls for participation, organization and counter-attack
KONTRA NEWS: New package of targeted support mesures underway
DIMOKRATIA: Full pension at 62 with pensionable service buyback
NAFTEMPORIKI: Which stocks are “paying” for the war
DRIVING THE DAY
PIPELINE TO ORBÁN’S HEART: Two days before Thursday’s European Council summit, Brussels played what looks like its final card to coax Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán into dropping his blockade of the €90 billion Ukraine loan: the revival of the Druzhba pipeline-fix scenario. Now the question is: Will it be enough?
Cards on the table: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President António Costa went public Tuesday with what sounded like a breakthrough: Ukraine has now accepted an EU-backed plan to repair the pipeline. That could open the door to restoring Russian oil flows to Hungary and Slovakia, addressing one of Budapest’s main complaints.
Orbán vs. everyone, recap: Hungary’s PM, facing a crucial election next month that could end his 16 years in power, took the rare step of backtracking on a European Council agreement in December and blocked elements of the Ukraine loan that require unanimity among EU members.
You’ve got to know when to hold ’em: The EU’s latest move isn’t entirely new — the key development is Ukraine’s acceptance. But it does suggest Brussels wants to call Orbán’s bluff, with the prime minister’s stonewalling seen as driven by his electoral priorities. The problem is that in hoping Orbán will fold, Brussels risks exposing its own weak hand, after weeks of signaling stronger options were on the table.
Introducing OACO: The phrase “Trump Always Chickens Out,” or TACO, has been used for U.S President Donald Trump’s pattern of backing away from his notoriously disruptive tariff threats, often in response to plummeting markets (hence: TACO Tuesdays). Orbán has a similar track record, often lifting vetoes at the last minute — cue the famous “coffee break” during the decision about opening Ukraine accession talks. It has become a working assumption in Brussels: Orbán Always Chickens Out .
It’s a good assumption, until it isn’t: Orbán has recently held firm, vetoing both the 20th sanctions package against Russia and the Ukraine loan. Costa spoke to him again on Tuesday morning — long call, no breakthrough. The message from Brussels remains blunt: Commitments made by Orbán in December must now be honored … and fast.
The off-ramp theory: Some officials believe the pipeline investigation could provide a face-saving way out of the impasse. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also “lowered the tone,” one EU official told me, after his veiled threat against Orbán earlier this month prompted a rebuke from the Commission. Three senior EU officials told POLITICO’s Zoya Sheftalovich they think Orbán may now be looking for a way out.
The skeptic’s view: Others aren’t buying it. When asked, one diplomat admitted to being very pessimistic, pointing to Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó dismissing von der Leyen’s pipeline move as “political theater.” Budapest is in no mood to blink, the diplomat said.
Reality check: “Everyone got what they wanted — meaning nothing, so far,” as another diplomat put it. The situation, they said, boils down to multiple scenarios. The December consensus on the loan could theoretically remain in place, but without being implemented; or it could remain blocked until the elections. Both scenarios are riven with uncertainty.
Room to say no: Hungary may choose to continue the tactical standoff. In an interview with POLITICO’s Max Griera before Tuesday’s announcement by von der Leyen and Costa, Hungary’s EU Minister János Bóka signaled openness on technical aspects of a pipeline investigation and to the Commission’s leadership, but insisted Hungarian and Slovak experts must be involved. These are details Brussels will have to deal with.
Eyes emoji: Orbán has recorded an in-depth interview with right-leaning U.K. news network GB News, scheduled to air at 10:30 a.m. Some of the conversation will cover run-of-the-mill Orbán talking points, such as the future of Christian civilization, the birth-rate crisis and migration. But he’s also expected to talk about the escalating global oil crisis and “Europe’s attitude towards strong leadership.”
EPP-Y BIRTHDAY
MERZ ULTIMATUM SPARKS SOUL-SEARCHING: When the European People’s Party uncorks the champagne at a big event to celebrate its 50th anniversary this evening, the mood will be more introspective than celebratory. That’s because German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has issued the party with an identity-defining challenge: Choose principles over pragmatism and stop cooperating with Europe’s far-right parties.
So, at the very time the EPP is celebrating its past, Merz’s challenge — sparked by media reports about WhatsApp chats involving EPP staffers and far-right operatives — will force the center-right party to confront its future. MEPs can either adhere to the German line and isolate an at times unpalatable far right, or embrace a political reality in which cooperation on sensitive files is already paying political dividends.
Brief appearance: That may create some awkwardness tonight, with Merz expected to drop by the anniversary event in northern Brussels — a gathering that mixes the EPP’s old guard (à la Jean-Claude Juncker, José Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy) with its new leadership (European Parliament President Roberta Metsola). Merz will then head off to meet French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of the EU summit.
Merz’s perspective: There’s a very German backdrop to the chancellor’s EPP remarks. With a regional election looming in Rhineland-Palatinate at the end of March, any perceived proximity to the far right is politically toxic. Merz’s pointed comments about the responsibility of the EPP’s chief Manfred Weber in the party’s openness to working with the far right is part of this context.
Reality check #1: Merz’s challenge goes against the grain of how things have been working in the European Parliament. The EPP already cooperates with right-wing groups — including the far right — to shape agendas and pass legislation. This quiet cooperation ranges from agreeing to alternative texts on deregulation files to backing tougher migration rules, including deportations to third countries.
Reality check #2: The gap between idealism and pragmatism is even starker at national level. In Spain, conservatives govern regions with the far right and could transpose this model to national politics. In Italy and the Netherlands, EPP-affiliated parties are already in power alongside the populist right. While in France lines are blurring. That makes Merz’s principled stance more the exception than the rule.
Pushback from far right: Alternative for Germany MEP Alexander Sell dismissed the criticism of Weber as “profound ignorance of European politics.” Sell told POLITICO the real question is whether EPP members will remain bound by Germany’s Brandmauer — the cordon sanitaire excluding the far right — or “find the courage” to reach out to the right.
Inside the EPP this is now an open debate. The issue is expected to come up at a group meeting next week, according to party officials who spoke to Max Griera. What’s already clear is that not everyone will take Merz’s line. “Some wonder why we can’t work with these far-right groups,” one EPP MEP admitted privately.
Don’t pin it all on Weber: Internal divisions run deep. “There are different political cultures,” one MEP said, with delegations from countries like Spain more open to cooperation, while Germans remain firmly opposed. That leaves Weber, a German, less as the architect of a shift than the manager of an unresolved forces within the group.
Pressure from the center: Socialists and Democrats, liberals and Greens are capitalizing on the EPP’s identity crisis to push the party back in their direction. “Manfred Weber bears responsibility for dodgy backroom dealings,” said Greens Co-President Terry Reintke, urging the EPP to rule out any such cooperation in the future.
Metsola’s line: Meanwhile, Metsola is keeping her distance from the controversy, stressing during a trip to Berlin that cooperation choices belong to political groups. But she added a hint of a personal preference: stable majorities, she said, are “best when they are from the center outwards” because “they give you more predictability” — an apparent nod to looking leftward before embracing the far right.
A mother’s heart: Just as she was being called on stage at a conference in Berlin, Metsola paused to take a call from her son — currently serving in the Finnish military. She ended up not taking the call, promising to call him back later.
28TH REGIME
EU INC.(EPTION): It’s College day in Brussels and commissioners are set to rubber stamp a proposal for a pan-EU corporate regime designed to supercharge startups. The pitch: the ability to set up a fully digital company in 48 hours for a maximum of €100. Impatient to find out more? POLITICO’s Pieter Haeck got his hand on a draft.
Timing: Right after College (usually a little after midday), von der Leyen will deliver a statement (no questions), followed by a press conference with Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen, Consumer Protection Commissioner Michael McGrath and Startups Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva.
One regime, many names: In Brussels, the idea has been floating around under different labels: “European Delaware” — a nod to the U.S. corporate haven — or the more technical “28th regime,” meaning an EU-wide corporate framework sitting alongside national systems (which remains the basic concept). Officially, it’s now EU Inc., although some found that a bit too American for comfort and wanted an original Latin name: Societas Europaea Unificata.
Wait for reactions: The tech world seems to like what it has seen so far. But early feedback on the leaked draft points to gaps — notably the absence of an EU-wide company register and a dedicated EU court for dispute resolution. Reception is cooler in the European Parliament and with organized labor, with European Trade Union Confederation General Secretary Esther Lynch writing to McGrath to warn of the risk of “letterbox companies.”
Brace for Parliament pushback: Battle lines are already forming. POLITICO’s Jacob Parry reports that René Repasi, the German Social Democrat leading Parliament’s work on the file, accuses the Commission of “legal acrobatics” — notably for choosing regulation over the directive Parliament had called for.
Council more aligned than usual: The Commission now has backing from the so-called E6 (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Poland) that are all broadly supportive of a common corporate framework. Berlin and Paris are also exploring closer alignment on stock-option taxation.
What’s not coming: Von der Leyen won’t present her “One Europe, One Market” roadmap to journalists today and to EU leaders on Thursday, according to two Commission officials. The plan, linked to the EU’s competitiveness agenda, was expected to set timelines for deeper integration in telecoms, energy and capital markets — unfinished business for the single market.
Read the delay: It isn’t just scheduling. Holding back the roadmap gives leaders room to shape it before it lands. It also lessens the risk of the Commission overreaching ahead of the summit, with the EU executive accepting to move ahead where it has clear competence (EU Inc.) while treading carefully on more politically sensitive ground.
KEEP ICELAND CLOSER
EU TO SIGN DEFENSE DEAL WITH ICELAND: Top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas will today sign a security and defense partnership with Iceland as the country ponders whether to hold a vote on restarting EU membership as early as August.
Delayed, then derailed: The deal has been a long time coming. Von der Leyen first announced defense talks last July, promising closer cooperation on hybrid threats, civil protection and secure communications. The signature was initially penciled in for November — until it wasn’t. EU tariffs on ferroalloys that same month triggered a sharp backlash from Iceland (and Norway), which together supply nearly half of the bloc’s imports. Talks were effectively frozen.
The Trump effect: Geopolitics did the rest. Washington’s tariffs on Iceland — coupled with Donald Trump’s renewed threats to annex Greenland — have accelerated Reykjavik’s re-engagement with the EU, with Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir even suggesting Iceland could conclude accession talks with the EU within “a year and a half.”
Regional ripple effect: The partnership is about more than defense and, as POLITICO’s Jacopo Barigazzi reports, diplomats are already gaming out the knock-on effects. If Iceland moves toward EU membership, Norway could come under pressure as the last Nordic country outside the bloc. And if Reykjavik eventually adopts the euro, that could reopen the debate in Sweden.
ENLARGEMENT PROSPECTS: And Iceland may not be the only country that could soon become a candidate for EU membership — “maybe Canada at some point” could join too, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot suggested yesterday in Berlin, only half joking.
Why not Norway, then? That suggestion came from German counterpart Johann Wadephul, who stood with Barrot on stage at the Europe 2026 conference. Wadephul called for a “more dynamic enlargement process” and said there was “a concrete and realistic chance” of admitting one to three new members in the next two years.
And Ukraine? It could soon become a member if Kyiv carries out the necessary reforms, Wadephul reckons. “Then I am absolutely certain that they will join us very soon. I would assume that this will be the case in a few years.”
IN OTHER NEWS
MIDDLE EAST LATEST: Iranian missiles carrying cluster warheads struck Tel Aviv overnight in retaliation for the killing of Tehran’s powerful security chief Ali Larijani … the U.S. said it dropped multiple 5,000-pound deep penetration bombs targeting Iranian missile sites along the coast of the Strait of Hormuz … and a senior U.S. intelligence official appointed by Donald Trump resigned, saying on X: “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation.”
ONE TO WATCH: Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides speaks at an event in Brussels at 10 a.m. — officially on the his country’s EU presidency and the Middle East, but he’s also expected to touch on Cyprus reunification and what role the EU could play.
ANOTHER ONE TO WATCH: U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres is in Brussels ahead of the invitation for the EU summit’s lunch on Thursday — one of his last appearances before EU leaders as his mandate winds down. An EU official said Guterres’ presence matters “at a time when multilateralism and international law are under strain.” He’ll meet Ursula von der Leyen — awkward timing after her recent remarks suggesting the world can’t always rely on international law.
HAPPY COLOMBIAN ENDING FOR FRIES: After six years, Colombia has lifted anti-dumping duties on frozen fries from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany — reopening a market worth about €19.3 million annually. It’s good timing: Belgium — the world’s top exporter of frozen pommes frites — is sitting on a surplus after a bumper 2025 potato harvest, compounded by U.S. tariffs and rising Asian competition. (Recall farmers dumping potatoes in Brussels, including at the Grand-Place, before Christmas.)