Famellos elected SYRIZA leader
Sokratis Famellos was elected SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader on Sunday. A total of 70,152 persons voted in the elections. Based on 99% of votes counted, Sokratis Famellos received 49.41%, Pavlos Pollakis 43.51%, Nikolas Farantouris 5.09% and Apostolos Gletsos 1.99%.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/865390/Famellos-elected-SYRIZA-leader
Gov’t boosting massive investment program and tax reductions from surplus revenues fighting tax evasion
The positive circumstances for the massive investment program funded by the Recovery Fund and NSRF, as well as from the significant rise in revenues due to the curtailment of tax evasion, create conditions to cover the investment gap in Greece and reduce tax burdens for taxpayers, the government’s financial team say.
Androulakis: The gov’t used the Greek people’s troubles to produce high revenues
The same people who have condemned the country to a decline, who led Greece to bankruptcy and memorandums, “are trying to smear us as populists, unable to produce results for the country,” PASOK-Movement for Change (KINAL) leader Nikos Androulakis told Skai TV on Saturday morning.
Karamanlis rules out presidential role
Former prime minister Kostas Karamanlis decisively ruled out any possibility of running for the presidency of Greece, following recent speculation fueled by ex-PM Antonis Samaras.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1254196/karamanlis-rules-out-presidential-role
Fitch reaffirms Greece’s BBB- credit rating with stable outlook
Fitch Ratings reaffirmed Greece’s credit rating at ‘BBB-‘ with a stable outlook, maintaining the rating it had assigned six months ago.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/865112/Fitch-reaffirms-Greeces-BBB–credit-rating-with-stable-outlook
ATHEX: Blue chips shake off bank drop
Blue chips at the Greek stock market offset the pressure on banks and overturned the early losses to see the benchmark end the week with daily gains. However, that was not enough to reverse the overall negative result of the week. The majority of stocks ended in the red, always affected by the international concern on European geopolitics, but turnover recorded a moderate increase.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1254224/athex-blue-chips-shake-off-bank-drop
SUNDAY PAPERS
KATHIMERINI: Cyprus’ plan to join NATO
TO VIMA: War and the missiles crisis
REAL NEWS: 10 new measures for Healthcare
PROTO THEMA: New regulation by Justice Minister Floridis to block early releases of prisoners
MONDAY PAPERS:
TA NEA: All wills will enter the digital age
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: SYRIZA leader elections: Restart message
KONTRA NEWS: Extraordinary taxation of banks’ profits
DIMOKRATIA: Mockery regarding the increase of the minimum wage
NAFTEMPORIKI: Tax office acknowledges cash hidden by taxpayer
DRIVING THE DAY: ROMANIA’S SHOCK ELECTION
HUGE UPSET: Romanian ultranationalist Călin Georgescu was on track to make it to the final round of the presidential election alongside current Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, as Playbook went to press, with more than 99.8 percent of precincts reporting.
An early exit poll suggested that reformist candidate Elena Lasconi was set to qualify for the presidential runoff against Ciolacu, but Georgescu surged as votes were counted overnight, heralding a result that is set to upend Romanian politics — and ripple across a continent already reeling from a surge in support for far-right, nationalist, pro-Russia Euroskeptics.
At 6:56 a.m.: Georgescu was in first place with 22.91 percent of the vote … followed by Ciolacu in second on 19.18 percent and Lasconi less than 4,000 votes behind on 19.15 percent. As Playbook was being sent, Lasconi was seeing a late surge in votes, though the question is whether that’ll be enough for her to overtake Ciolacu and make it to the runoff.
What they’re competing for: Romania’s president, who serves a five-year term, has significant powers over foreign policy and security and represents the country abroad, while the prime minister leads the government and is in charge of the budget. Incumbent President Klaus Iohannis is standing down after a decade in the role.
Georgesc-who? The 62-year-old is a university professor and international consultant on sustainable development, who worked for different United Nations organizations for more than a dozen years. Although he was previously floated as a potential prime minister for the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), Georgescu is contesting the presidency as an independent. He wasn’t considered among the frontrunners; one opinion poll earlier this month had him in sixth place with the support of just 5.4 percent of those surveyed, according to Reuters.
What’s worrying Brussels: Georgescu is largely unknown outside Romania, but his radical public statements about security and foreign policy will provoke plenty of anxiety among Romania’s European partners this morning. Georgescu has praised Putin as a man who loves his country and said he felt close to Russian culture. He has said that the EU and NATO don’t represent Romania’s interests. In 2022, Georgescu claimed the U.S. anti-missile shield located in the southern Romanian village of Deveselu was confrontational to Russia, not a peaceful measure, echoing Putin’s arguments.
There’s more: Georgescu has sparked controversy in the past by openly voicing support for Corneliu Codreanu, founder of the fascist, antisemitic ultranationalist Iron Guard movement, and Ion Antonescu, who led Romania’s pro-German government in World War II and was executed for war crimes. In the presidential election, Georgescu campaigned mostly on reducing Romania’s reliance on imports, supporting farmers and increasing the domestic production of food and energy.
Awakening the aggrieved: Georgescu appears to have tapped into a wave of anti-establishment sentiment that, before the election, some observers thought would benefit another far-right leader, the AUR’s George Simion. In a Facebook post after casting his ballot on Sunday, Georgescu said he stood “for those who feel they do not matter and actually matter the most.” After the polls closed in Romania, he called the result “an amazing awakening” of the people.
What happens next: The second round presidential election runoff is on Dec. 8, with the top two candidates going head to head. Before then, Romanians will go to the polls next Sunday to decide which party or parties will lead the government for the next four years.
SERBIA AND THE EU
BID TO ADVANCE SERBIAN MEMBERSHIP: The Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU is convening an extraordinary Coreper II meeting today to try to get countries to agree to send a formal letter requesting Serbia prepare a position on opening the next phase of ascension talks, the so-called Cluster III which covers competitiveness and inclusive growth.
Promises: A draft letter circulated by Hungary and seen by Playbook says Serbia is committed to fulfilling benchmarks for the rule of law by the end of 2025, aligning its media legislation with that of the EU, doing its “utmost” to play nice with Pristina and to not making any moves that are not consulted on with the EU.
However, according to two diplomats who spoke to Playbook, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the Baltics all indicated that they will not agree to open this cluster. They pointed to Serbia’s dismal track record regarding the rule of law and refusal to align with the EU’s Russia sanctions.
VDL 2
CHANGING OF THE GUARD: This Wednesday, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will front up to the European Parliament to present her incoming College of Commissioners. After that, MEPs will vote on the whole team of 27, with a simple majority required for it to pass.
Here’s where we stand: While most European People’s Party, Socialists and Democrats and Renew lawmakers will vote in favor, the majority endorsing the College will look different from the one that supported von der Leyen in the summer.
Buh-bye Greens? With Italian far-right politician Raffaele Fitto in line to become a Commission executive vice president, the Greens are considering voting against the entire College on Wednesday, despite having supported von der Leyen in July. The group is poised to decide on what it will do today, according to Co-Chair Bas Eickhout. The mood is “not positive at the moment,” Eickhout warned last week.
Hello Conservatives? But while the European Conservatives and Reformists group voted against von der Leyen in the summer, it now appears ready to support her College on Wednesday, after voting yes to almost every single commissioner. “We do not anticipate any obstacles from our side,” the ECR spokesperson said on Friday, adding the group is satisfied with von der Leyen’s College because “we are witnessing a shift in Europe’s political landscape from center-left to center-right.”
NOW READ THIS: Since 2004, control of the European Commission’s EU market and industrial briefs has nearly always been in the hands of France, Germany, Italy or Poland. Hanne Cokelaere has crunched the stats.
CLIMATE TALKS
COP OUT: Two weeks of contentious talks at the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, closed on Sunday with countries agreeing to a deal under which wealthier nations will pay at least $300 billion to help developing countries shift their economies away from polluting fuels.
It didn’t come easily. The figure is short of what developing countries were calling for, let alone the trillions they’ll actually need over the next decade. But it was likely the best they could get at a time of geopolitical turbulence and hardening divides between wealthier and more impoverished nations, with a second Donald Trump era looming in Washington.
Political opportunism: Some countries immediately expressed dismay, with Chandni Raina, India’s negotiator, telling the plenary hall that the delegation was “extremely, extremely disappointed,” and that the sum pledged by the richer nations was “abysmally poor.” Tina Stege, the climate envoy of the Marshall Islands, denounced the climate talks as a display of “political opportunism.” More reactions in today’s Global Playbook (which also features a heart-wrenching interview with the wife of an Azerbaijani political prisoner).
Old and new world: In the end, it came down to a deal between old and new powers, an unswerving Saudi petrostate and a Democratic U.S. government that has staked its legacy on climate leadership but knows its priorities will be shunted aside when Trump returns to the White House. Even now, the U.S. is already on track to miss Biden’s target of halving its greenhouse gas pollution during this decade, relative to 2005 levels.
NOW READ: This year’s U.N. climate summit tested people’s hopes like few of the 28 before it. My colleague Karl Mathiesen has a must-read piece out this morning exploring where environmental diplomacy goes from here.
RUSSIA’S WAR
TOP READ — WHY ISN’T EUROPE FIGHTING BACK? Moscow is escalating so-called hybrid warfare against European countries, using disinformation campaigns, hacking, cyberattacks and other tactics to destabilize countries and undermine support for Ukraine. But even as these attacks become more audacious and violent, the collective response from the EU and NATO has been notably tame. My colleague Laura Kayali, in partnership with reporters from our sister publication Welt, takes a deep dive into the Kremlin’s escalating offensive and the limitations of Europe’s meek response.
NATO CYBER DEFENSE: NATO will hold its second cyber defense conference at Lancaster House in London today and Tuesday. But the details have been scarce — as have the invitations, with none of the EU institutions reportedly invited.
Wave of attacks: U.K. Cabinet Minister Pat McFadden, who has responsibility for national security, has warned Moscow is preparing to launch a wave of cyberattacks against NATO allies that could leave millions without power. Russia is “exceptionally aggressive and reckless in the cyber realm,” McFadden is expected to tell participants.
Palm Beach besties: Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte met Donald Trump on Friday in Florida. NATO said the two met in Palm Beach and discussed “the range of global security issues facing the alliance.”
NOT JUST NORTH KOREANS: Russia is not only deploying North Korean soldiers, but artillery and even ballistic missiles from Pyongyang. Moscow has also recruited hundreds of Yemenis to fight in Ukraine, the FT reports.
NETHERLANDS WANTS ACTION ON SANCTIONS: The Dutch government has circulated a paper on why it’s time to reflect on the effectiveness of EU sanctions, calling for EU states, the Commission and the Council to “step up and structurally strengthen” the enforcement across the bloc.
Some ideas: The Dutch suggest a risk assessment to identify the greatest risks from circumvention; propose expanding the function of the Sanctions Information Exchange Repository by adding information on individuals’ ownership and control structures; setting up a private sector sounding board group on implementation and using the Internal Security Fund to allocate resources to combat the circumvention of restrictive measures, among other things.
“Although Member States are ultimately responsible for implementation and enforcement, the European Commission also has a leading role, specifically in monitoring the correct and uniform implementation of EU sanctions, to provide guidance to economic operators and ensure a level playing field,” the paper seen by Playbook reads.
Now read this: Private companies need to get better at monitoring threats, argues Elisabeth Braw in this opinion piece for POLITICO.
SWISS UNIMPRESSED: The Swiss government is barring exports to a Polish military hardware supplier after finding that about 645,000 rounds of Swiss-made small-caliber ammunition ended up in Ukraine in violation of Swiss law, the AP reports.
IN OTHER NEWS
WELCOME TO THE CLUB: Romania and Bulgaria might finally get the green light to become full members of the EU free-travel zone from the turn of the year, after a meeting in Budapest on Friday between the internal affairs ministers of the two countries as well as Hungary and Austria concluded positively.
Illegal immigration on the mind: A joint declaration dated Nov. 22 and seen by Playbook states that the countries acknowledge the progress reached in reducing illegal migration to Europe and that all four will continue working together and “do their utmost to prevent illegal onward transit of migrants through their countries.”
In a statement to Playbook, Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said following Vienna and The Hague vetoing Romania and Bulgaria’s Schengen accession, the two countries’ efforts to protect external borders and to combat smuggling crime had “gained momentum.”
ICYMI — POLISH ELECTION UPDATE: Historian Karol Nawrocki will take on liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski in next year’s Polish presidential election, the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party said Sunday.