Rubio says Guilfoyle exit will not weaken US-Greece ties, highlights energy cooperation
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would seek a new ambassador to Greece who has the confidence of President Donald Trump, stressing that the resignation of Kimberly Guilfoyle would not signal a weakening of bilateral ties. In an interview with Breitbart News conducted days after Guilfoyle’s departure, Rubio described Greece as a key US ally whose role in energy security, regional stability and NATO was becoming increasingly important. “In no way should any of this be viewed as sort of a de-emphasizing of the Greek relationship,” Rubio said. “On the contrary, I think it’s so important to us that it is important that the person that’s there have the complete support and confidence of the president.” Rubio’s comments also underscored Greece’s importance to US efforts to expand the flow of American natural gas into southeastern and central Europe through the so-called Vertical Corridor, a network of pipelines and other infrastructure intended to carry supplies northward, including toward Ukraine.
Rising prices weigh on New Democracy ratings
Rising prices are eroding support for governing New Democracy party, according to the latest polls, while the government hopes new energy assistance measures and potential European Union support will reverse the decline. Polls by Alco for Flash and Marc for ANT1 both recorded a slight drop in support for New Democracy compared with the previous surveys by the same companies. Alco put New Democracy at 23.8% of respondents’ voting intentions, while Marc’s adjusted estimate was 30.4%. Government officials attribute the decline to inflation squeezing disposable incomes despite coordinated efforts to address the problem. They hope new energy crisis measures will help restore support. Meanwhile, polls indicate that a party associated with recently released extreme right leader Ilias Kasidiaris could enter Parliament under the name “Alliance of Greeks,” securing 4% in the Alco survey and 4.2% in Marc’s adjusted figures.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1318468/rising-prices-weigh-on-new-democracy-ratings
Greece inaugurates national supercomputer “DAEDALUS” on Monday
The inauguration of Greece’s national supercomputer, “DAEDALUS”, will take place on Monday, at 10:30, at the Lavrio Technological and Cultural Park of the National Technical University of Athens, in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. DAEDALUS has a measured computing performance of 85.69 petaflops, ranking 31st worldwide in the TOP500 list and 23rd in the Green500 ranking of energy efficiency. It is housed in the new data centre in the historic building of the former Lavrio power station and represents a major national computing infrastructure. The project is being implemented by the National Infrastructures for Research and Technology (GRNET), with a total budget of € 58.9 million.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/1032103/Greece-inaugurates-national-supercomputer-DAEDALUS-on-Monday
Annual inflation in eurozone at 3.8% in Sept; at 5.1% in Greece
Annual inflation in the eurozone accelerated to 3.8% in September 2026, up from 3.2% in August, according to final data released by Eurostat on Friday, confirming its preliminary estimate. A year earlier, in September 2025, inflation stood at 2.2%. In Greece, the annual inflation rate was confirmed at 5.1%, while prices rose by 1.9% month on month, slightly above the preliminary estimate of 1.8%, according to the EU’s statistical office.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/1031591/Annual-inflation-in-eurozone-at-38-in-Sept-at-51-in-Greece
ATHEX: Notable rise for stocks at end of week
The Euronext Athens (ATHEX) general index closed Friday at 2,613.49 points, adding 1.22% to Thursday’s 2,582.10 points. On a weekly basis it advanced 2.12%.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1318472/athex-notable-rise-for-stocks-at-end-of-week
SUNDAY PAPERS
KATHIMERINI: What does election guru Greenberg suggest and what he fears
TO VIMA: Athens-Ankara-USA: The war of ambassadors
REAL NEWS: The French “wrench” for the electricity cable
PROTO THEMA: Tsipras vs. Androulakis: Young men killing each other
MONDAY PAPERS:
TA NEA: Flu: Epidemic ante portas
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Social uprising in Europe
KONTRA NEWS: Friendly fires within the PM’s office
DIMOKRATIA: Poverty is tearing Europe apart
NAFTEMPORIKI: The 4 profiles of the investment piggy-bank
DRIVING THE DAY
FRANCE’S UNREST STOKES EUROPE’S MIGRATION FIGHT: Shock footage from protests in France over the weekend is pouring fuel onto a bitter European row over migration, with the leaders of Hungary and Poland warning that the chaos justifies their countries’ hardline policies.
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar said on X yesterday that the chaos that engulfed several French cities makes it “clear to everyone why Hungary advocates the strictest possible approach to migration.” U.S. President Donald Trump also weighed in, posting on Truth Social: “Close your Borders and take control, before it is too late!”
Polish PM Donald Tusk (though he didn’t mention the situation in France directly) joined the fray soon after with a defense of his own strict migration stance, posting: “Poland will not repeat the mistakes of other European countries, nor will it pay for them.”
The EU leaders’ comments point to the increasing divisions on this issue around the European Council table heading into a pivotal election year. Magyar and Tusk were fresh from a debate on migration at last week’s leaders’ summit in Brussels that one diplomat described as “horrible.”
Two EU diplomats, granted anonymity to discuss closed-door exchanges among leaders, said Friday’s migration debate was “heated,” “ugly,” “very direct” and “not worthy of a European Council setting.” One of the diplomats said that European Council President António Costa should have intervened to cut it short.
Accounts vary as to what was said, but the two diplomats agreed that Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš used “highly charged language” linking migration policies to the “defense of European civilization.” A third diplomat said the exchanges were impassioned but “political” and “necessary to bring the debate closer to voters’ real concerns.” A spokesperson for Czechia in Brussels declined to comment.
Rewind: The debate followed an attempt led by Denmark, Italy and Poland to sharply toughen language on migration in the summit’s conclusions. The push won support from more than a dozen countries, according to three diplomats, but it was ultimately defeated when Emmanuel Macron, Luxembourgish Prime Minister Luc Frieden and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez refused to sign on.
In that sense, yesterday’s social media posts by Magyar and Tusk (both of whom backed the harder line) bring the tensions out into the open, just as EU leaders need to strike a deal on the bloc’s long-term budget and funding for Ukraine.
The bottom line: Migration is a powder keg for Europe — even more so as leaders from France to Germany and Spain face emboldened right-wing and far-right challengers. Rioting and looting could provide the spark that brings them to power.
PARIS IS REELING: Macron appealed for calm in a national address last night, promising “full transparency” as his government investigates how mass demonstrations over the cost of living spiraled into arson, looting and clashes with the police. But the violence has given way to a fierce political debate over who is to blame, with the far-left accused of amplifying the unrest and Macron’s administration blasted for losing control, Victor Goury-Laffont reports.
For Macron, the fallout isn’t just domestic … the weekend’s protests further weaken the French president’s position around the European Council table, two diplomats told Playbook. “This just limits his ability to act,” one of them said.
BIG AND BREAKING
THE COMING STORM: Europe is heading into a political maelstrom with elections looming in Spain, France and Italy amid high energy prices and spiraling economic prospects, Sebastian Starcevic reports.
INSIDE NATO’S WAR PLAN: The military alliance is beginning talks this month on what allies need to defend against a Russian attack — and how they would pay for it.
DIVERTED: An Austrian Airlines flight from Tel Aviv carrying 57 people was diverted to Sofia last night after a threat was made against the aircraft, Reuters reports.
FRANCE CONDEMNS WEST BANK ATTACK: France called on Israeli authorities to take “all necessary measures” to “stop these acts of terror” following an attack by masked Israeli settlers against European diplomats in the West Bank on Saturday, Jacopo Barigazzi reports.
WHY EUROPE’S PUSH TO SAVE NATURE IS FAILING: The EU’s Nature Restoration Law — once a flagship of its green rules — went from top priority to bogeyman with the help of two wars and an economic crisis, Marianne Gros reports.
LIBERALS GET TOUGH
NO COALITION DEAL, NO PRESIDENCY: Renew Europe chief Valérie Hayer told Playbook’s Max Griera the liberal group won’t support any candidate for Parliament president unless there’s a comprehensive coalition agreement with the European People’s Party and the Socialists and Democrats.
“A majority needs a program before it needs a president … and no coalition agreement would mean no leadership deal,” Hayer said. Although she didn’t name-check EPP incumbent Roberta Metsola, Hayer’s comments are a clear warning to the conservatives that if they want a third term, they’ll have to play ball. Read the full interview here.
Déjà vu: The three centrist group leaders signed a two-page deal committing to work with each other after the 2024 EU election, but the EPP has nonetheless occasionally voted with far-right groups, irking its partners.
What’s different this time? Hayer wants not only leaders but all “key members” of the groups, including vice chairs, whips and coordinators, to negotiate and endorse a deal.
What’s in the coalition? “I want us to be very concrete, I want a midterm agreement that binds us to delivery on the budget, on the IAA, for example, on EU Inc.,” Hayer said, referring to the Industrial Accelerator Act (a proposal to steer public procurement and subsidies toward European manufacturers) and a plan to give startups a single set of rules.
Homework: Hayer wants any presidential candidate to be hands-on to ensure the center holds because “you can’t say I’ve been elected and then I don’t care about the majority and the people who elected me.”
Hayer said the three centrist leaders have already discussed the idea and she is “confident” it would advance, though nothing is settled. Formal talks are expected after Hayer, the EPP’s Manfred Weber and the S&D’s Iratxe García are re-elected this week, though the real talks might only start after Spain’s Nov. 29 election, two EPP and S&D officials said.
20-SECOND PLAYBOOK PRIMER
Now that the European Council is in the rearview mirror, the next scheduled meeting of EU leaders is an informal summit in Dublin on Nov. 13. But what is an informal summit? Sometimes referred to as retreats, informal summits allow for discussion but without adopting the formal, legally binding conclusions (documents setting out what the leaders have agreed on, or the common positions they have reached) that are issued at the end of formal summits.
WAKE ME WHEN THE MIDTERMS END
READ THE ROOM: EU leaders, diplomats and officials have been talking down Donald Trump’s latest pronouncements on Ukraine, arguing that he’s playing to his audience back home — voters worried about the cost of living, Zoya Sheftalovich reports.
Trump’s Republicans stand to lose the House and the Senate in the midterm elections on Nov. 3. That helps explain the president’s diesel deal with Russia … his demands that Kyiv stop striking Russian oil refineries … and the administration’s reported consideration of easing sanctions on Russia’s shadow fleet.
“He’s talking to Iowa,” said one EU diplomat at the summit last week. “He’s talking to Michigan and Ohio.”
Stay calm and stay the course: Another diplomat said they’ve been cautioning their capital since August that Trump will keep lashing out until the midterms are over if it helps him win voters. An EU official said the bloc is now used to Trump’s capricious Truth Social outbursts and will stay the course.
Trump’s fall guy? Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was asked during a press conference on Friday whether Trump is using him as a scapegoat for his political woes. There was a long pause. Then Zelenskyy smiled. “This is my answer,” he said — and left the room. Watch the clip here.
Trump last night defended waiving sanctions on Russia and lashed out again at Zelenskyy, saying the Ukrainian President “doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did.”
3 MORE THINGS GETTING US TALKING
WHAT’S BEHIND A MAJOR CYBERATTACK ON SUPERMARKETS: A cyberattack that forced hundreds of retailers to throw away defrosted food and spoiled milk was mostly a reminder of the importance of old-school cybersecurity in safeguarding essential goods and services, Sam Clark and Ketrin Jochecová report.
TRUMP HELPS CHINA ON DRUG PRICING: Donald Trump wants to bring down medicine prices at home but his fight over drug pricing is likely to have an unexpected winner — China, Caroline Hug and Stephanie Bolzen report.
PATRIOTS LEVEL WITH ECR: Laurent Castillo’s move to the French Senate leaves the Patriots for Europe and European Conservatives and Reformists each with 84 MEPs, and both right-wing groups are scouting for new members to become the third-biggest in the European Parliament. The ECR is expecting Branko Grims, expelled from the EPP, to join them, two people told Max Griera.