Acrimony as wiretapping case shelved
The decision on Tuesday by the Prosecutor’s Office of the Supreme Court to shelve the complaints about the wiretapping case related to the National Intelligence Service (EYP), or any other state agency for that matter, caused a storm of reactions and acrimony between the government and opposition parties, who denounced it as a cover-up.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1245175/acrimony-aswiretapping-case-shelved
Mitsotakis: The government intervenes to improve the citizens’ daily life
The interventions of the government aim at the immediate improvement of the daily life of the citizens and concern important reforms that correct long-standing problems which hinder the way forward, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Tuesday during a cabinet meeting.
Greece records 22 cases of PPR goat and sheep plague in total so far, most in Thessaly
Greece has recorded so far a total of 22 cases of small-ruminants plague (Peste des petits ruminants, PPR) nationally, authorities said on Tuesday.According to data so far, 20 of these cases were identified in Thessaly, 1 in Corinth, and 1 in Attica. A total of 10,768 animals have been slaughtered and another 2,000 are expected to take place soon.
Larissa prosecutor files charges against four more people in Tempi train collision case
The prosecutor’s office in Larissa, central Greece, filed charges against four persons in relation to the deadly train collision at Tempi in 2023.
Electricity bill subsidies to be lower as wholesale prices ease
The final amount of the subsidy on so-called “green” electricity rates will be announced on Friday, August 2, that is, one day after the providers announce their own retail prices.
ATHEX: Local bourse session grabs attention
The Greek bourse revealed a very interesting picture on Tuesday as there was a general trend for sales almost the entire session, but certain blue chips (most notably Eurobank) and a large number of other stocks resisted, leaving the rising stocks almost on at the same level as the decliners. Trading volume also showed some welcome improvement, a day before the end of the month.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1245198/athex-local-bourse-session-grabs-attention
KATHIMERINI: Acrimony as wiretapping case shelved
TA NEA: Wiretappings – Provocative ruling: 7+1 questions expect answers
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: The big cover-up
RIZOSPASTIS: University students’ housing is ultra expensive – Counter-measures are needed immediately
KONTRA NEWS: Regulation of debts owed to social security funds and the tax office collapse
DIMOKRATIA: Wiretappings: The biggest cover-up ever
NAFTEMPORIKI: Inflation of… controls against price hikes
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING: Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, the militant group and Iranian state media said in the early hours of this morning. In a statement, Hamas said Haniyeh was killed in “a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran,” and vowed revenge. AP has the latest. Israel has yet to claim responsibility for Haniyeh’s killing, but had vowed to avenge Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, in which the militant group killed some 1,200 Israelis and took around 250 others hostage.
That makes 2: The news about Haniyeh’s alleged assassination came after Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the IDF had “eliminated” Fouad Shukur, a top Hezbollah military commander, in the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Tuesday. The IDF said it had targeted the commander responsible for a rocket attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday that struck a football pitch, killing 12 children and youths. Tensions have been growing between Hezbollah and Israel since Oct. 7 and Israel’s ensuing military assault on the Gaza Strip, which has now led to the death of almost 40,000 people.
Didn’t want this: It marks a significant escalation in the Middle East, which Washington and European capitals fear could quickly snowball into a regional conflict. The stakes are particularly high for Paris and Rome, which have hundreds of troops stationed in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Laura Kayali reports. Leaders and officials in France, Germany, Italy and the U.K. have been reaching out to counterparts in Lebanon, Israel and Iran to forestall a wider regional war.
Also happening: Israel urges NATO to expel Turkey over threats to “invade.”
THE STATE OF MELONI-VDL RELATIONS
MELONI’S PRESS FREEDOM REBUTTAL BAFFLES BRUSSELS: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s feud with her country’s domestic press is complicating her frayed relationship with the Berlaymont.
Playbook’s TL;DR take: Meloni is mad that journalists embarrassed her in a Commission report. And her response — a letter to von der Leyen that was immediately made public — risks causing even more embarrassment by posing a distraction during her trip to China and (further) alienating Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as she deliberates on distributing top jobs.
Nothing to see here: Speaking in Beijing on Tuesday, Meloni insisted to reporters that a letter she sent to von der Leyen complaining about parts of the Commission’s rule of law report had nothing to do with the Commission. “I do not see any negative repercussions for Italy, I do not think that relations with the European Commission are getting worse,” she said, as reported by ANSA, during her trip to China, which concludes today.
Quick background: At issue is the latest iteration of the Commission’s annual stock-taking exercise, published last week, which pointed to some failings in Italy on media freedom. A new recommendation urged the government to guarantee the autonomy of the country’s public broadcaster RAI, saying guarantees of its independence are a “long-standing source of concern.” The report also cited complaints from stakeholders (ie journalists) about shrinking press freedoms and safety — though it was hardly a condemnation.
Beat the press: Meloni said the missive to von der Leyen was a “reflection” on the “manipulative use of a technical document,” and not a criticism of the Commission itself. Who were those manipulators? “Stakeholders,” she said, specifically mentioning the newspapers Domani, Il Fatto Quotidiano and La Repubblica (as reported by La Repubblica).
Open letter, open wound: Meloni signed the letter on Sunday. While it was immediately passed on to von der Leyen’s staff, it was also quickly made public on the Italian newswire ANSA — hardly a low-key, reflective approach. La Repubblica (yup) reports that von der Leyen did not read the letter before it hit the papers.
“Dear Ursula”: Meloni’s letter began by expressing general support for the rule of law exercise. But she then said the report had been “distorted for political use” by critics of the Italian government. “It is regrettable that even the Commission’s report on the rule of law and in particular on freedom of information on public broadcasting has not been spared by the professionals of disinformation and mystification,” Meloni said.
Domestic dispute: All this suggests that the letter was intended more for a domestic audience than as serious food for thought for the Commission. For its part, a spokesperson for the EU executive told the Brussels press corps Tuesday that the letter had been received and would be assessed.
Behind the scenes: Von der Leyen’s team is a bit confused about what, exactly, they’re supposed to do with this. Especially since it doesn’t directly criticize the Commission. “Why write to von der Leyen, then?” a European People’s Party source wondered aloud to Pietro Guastamacchia in Il Foglio.
Shrugging it off: Meloni dismissed suggestions that her Brothers of Italy party’s refusal to back von der Leyen in the European Parliament election — not to mention her own abstention in the Council on the Commission president’s second term — could hurt Italy’s chances of getting a powerful commissioner portfolio. “I am talking with Ursula von der Leyen,” Meloni told reporters in Beijing. Choosing nominees is something she wants to “deal with as soon as I get back,” she said, adding that she needs to consult the other parties in the ruling coalition.
Right on cue: Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, whose Forza party is both part of the Italian ruling coalition and in von der Leyen’s European People’s Party family, was quick to defend Meloni on Monday. Those who warn of risks to the rule of law, he said, “do not know the Italian situation.”
EUROPE IN THE WORLD
HUNGARY BLOCKS VENEZUELA CRITIQUE: EU countries failed to agree on a joint statement criticizing the dubious election outcome in Venezuela after Hungary issued yet another veto, two officials familiar with the discussions told our Berlin Playbook colleague Hans von der Burchard.
The diplomatic failure, which happened on Monday, led to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell issuing a statement in his own name, instead of on behalf of the EU. Realizing that Hungary would keep imposing its veto, Borrell issued a follow-up statement Tuesday evening, also in his own name. “The election results as already declared cannot be recognized,” Borrell said, until Nicolás Maduro’s regime provides more evidence and transparency underlining his victory claims.
German lawmakers mull sanctions: Such a step “must be thoroughly examined,” Green Party politician Johannes Wagner, the chair of the Bundestag’s delegation to South American countries including Venezuela, told Hans. His deputy Konstantin Kuhle, from the liberal FDP, also argued that the EU should “consider tougher sanctions against the Venezuelan leadership — this applies in particular to Venezuela’s military apparatus, which protects the dictator.”
The problem: Sanctions must be agreed unanimously — here the Hungarian blockage bites again. During a first discussion among EU countries on Tuesday, sanctions were not yet considered as countries argued that the EU should first press Maduro to provide more transparency on the election, Hans reports.
MICHEL’S PUSH FOR ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN DEAL: European Council President Charles Michel is renewing efforts to bring lasting peace to the South Caucasus, as tensions rise in the war-torn region, my colleague Gabriel Gavin reports.
Two senior diplomats confirmed to Gabriel that Michel had bilateral meetings with the leaders of both Armenia and Azerbaijan on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in the U.K. earlier this month. He’s also written to the two sides urging them to return to the table to finalize an agreement. Frustration has been growing in Brussels after months of delays and diplomatic deadlock that has seen a long-awaited truce fail to materialize.
NOW READ THIS: EU countries fail to probe beatings, sexual assaults on migrants by police, report says.
IN THE CAPITALS
GREEK ‘PREDATORGATE’ CASE CLOSED: Two years after Greece’s spiraling spyware scandal broke out, the case is closed, Nektaria Stamouli writes in to report. Greek prosecutor Georgia Adeilini said Tuesday that her probe had not uncovered evidence that politicians or state services were involved in purchasing or using the illegal software known as Predator, which was found on the phones of dozens of opposition politicians, journalists and entrepreneurs.
Backstory: The “Predatorgate” scandal broke in the summer of 2022 when reports surfaced of an attempt to plant spyware on the phone of opposition leader Nikos Androulakis. It was then revealed that his phone had also been tapped by state surveillance, a move the government described as legal but wrong. A labyrinthine tale unfurled revealing Greek state services had an ever-expanding network of politicians — including half the government Cabinet — and journalists under surveillance, while Predator was being planted on the phones of some of them at the same time by as-yet-unknown perpetrators.
Coincidences: The fact that around one-third of the politicians or state officials placed under state surveillance were also bugged with Predator was a “coincidence,” the investigation concluded. It was never explained why these officials — most of them still ministers — were considered a threat and had to be placed under surveillance.
“Disgrace”: Opposition parties and victims called Adeilini’s decision a “disgrace” and a “dark day for democracy.” Media watchdog RSF said it “regrets” the Supreme Court’s decision. Androulakis has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. Meanwhile, Grigoris Dimitriadis, PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ nephew who resigned from his post as the government’s general secretary following the revelations, posted on social media on Tuesday: “Today’s decision puts an end to all speculation and other fanciful scenarios.”
INVESTIGATORS ON FICO PROBE FACE CHARGES: Four Slovakian investigators who worked on an alleged corruption case involving Prime Minister Robert Fico have been charged with abuse of power. Read more from Ketrin Jochecová.
YOU THINK YOUR OFFICE IS HOT? Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof has to vacate his office at the Tower in the Binnenhof due to fire safety issues, VRT reports.
BUNDESTAG TO SHRINK: Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe cleared the way for Germany’s parliament to reduce its ranks by around 100 lawmakers, down to a lean 630 MPs.
And now … here is Annalena Baerbock on a trampoline.
TOP JOBS
IT’S OFFICIAL: Paris wants to see Commissioner Breton, Part Deux. Not everyone is best pleased.
BUILDING A COLLEGE, 1 LETTER AT A TIME: Ursula von der Leyen’s letters to 25 countries asking them to submit two nominees for commissioner — one male, one female — have been made public by the Council of the European Union, and Playbook’s Eddy Wax looked at all of them. Von der Leyen signed all the letters and added personal greetings in her own hand to all but two EU leaders: Croatia’s Andrej Plenković and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán.
Time to blame Bpost? The letters are all dated July 24 — and the Council’s cover note says that they were sent on July 24 — but the Commission did not communicate about them until July 25, saying they had been sent that morning.
Thanks but no thanks: “Let me start by expressing my deepest gratitude for the renewed trust that the European Council has placed in my candidacy for a second term as President of the European Commission,” von der Leyen wrote at the start of each of the letters. It takes on a particularly ironic note in the letters sent to Hungary and Italy, neither of which backed her. (Meloni abstained, Orbán voted against.)
IN OTHER NEWS
GANGLAND SWEDEN: With some of the highest rates of shooting deaths in Europe, Sweden has emerged as a cautionary tale of a European country that failed to recognize an emerging threat from internationally linked drug gangs. It is now scrambling to react to an escalation in violence as those gangs wage war for control of lucrative local narcotics markets. Charlie Duxbury reports from Södertälje on the cruel summer that could spell trouble for Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and his right-wing allies.
TRUMP’S DIPLO CONTENDERS: Former President Donald Trump is considering two of his runners-up in the veepstakes for the job of secretary of state: Senator Marco Rubio and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Axios reports. Senator Bill Hagerty (Trump’s former envoy to Japan) and Senator Tom Cotton are also in the running.