ND, PASOK clash over coalition speculations
Tensions escalated Sunday between the ruling New Democracy party and opposition PASOK as both sides sparred over the issue of political coalitions and governance priorities.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1259099/nd-pasok-clash-over-coalition-speculations
PM to meet with outgoing president on Monday
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is to meet with President Katerina Sakellaropoulou on Monday, four days after he announced he would be not nominating her for a second term.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1259065/pm-to-meet-with-outgoing-president-on-monday
High performance for the Greek economy
The Greek economy will continue to have a high performance and in 2025 according to estimates of international rating agencies and investment firms.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/877569/High-performance-for-the-Greek-economy
Primary surplus of 8.6 billion euros against a target of 4.6 billion
There was a primary surplus on an adjusted cash basis of 8.629 billion euros during the execution of the budget in 2024, against a target for a primary surplus of 4.635 billion euros and a primary surplus of 3.920 billion euros in 2023, the national economy and finance ministry announced on Friday.
ATHEX: Bourse ends week at new 13-year high
The Greek stock market had a day to remember on Friday, as both stock prices and turnover jumped and the main index reached a new 13-year high, climbing to a level unseen since April 2011. Most blue chips, including banks, which served as the market leaders, enjoyed significant gains, while mid-caps begged to differ. This has been the fourth consecutive week of rise for the benchmark.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1258970/athex-bourse-ends-week-at-new-13-year-high
SUNDAY PAPERS
KATHIMERINI: Insurance companies complain about excessive billings for hospitalizations of privately insured individuals
TO VIMA: Greek Presidential Election: the compromise and the risk
REAL NEWS: Erdogan “torpedoes” dialogue between Turkey and Greece
PROTO THEMA: Donation by the Onassis Foundation: 22 experimental schools in working class neighborhoods
MONDAY PAPERS:
TA NEA: For the first time in Greece: Inheritance agreements
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Middle East ceasefire: celebration over ruins
KONTRA NEWS: Drillings within the Cypriot EEZ begin
DIMOKRATIA: The increase of wages is fairy-tale
NAFTEMPORIKI: Wave of court appeals against tax criteria
DRIVING THE DAY: TRUMP INAUGURATION
EU SHIVERS AS DONALD TRUMP SWORN IN: Here we go. At 6 p.m. Brussels time, on what’s forecast to be a bitterly cold day in Washington, Donald Trump is due to be sworn in as the 47th U.S. president.
Brrrr: Due to the cold — it’s expected to be minus 4C — organizers have moved the ceremony inside the Capitol building to avoid people freezing outside. It’s the first time a presidential inauguration will be held indoors since Ronald Reagan began his second term 40 years ago. The last-minute change has prompted a scramble to fit hundreds of dignitaries into the Rotunda for the oath-of-office ceremony. But many loyal Trump fans who’ve traveled to Washington for the inauguration will be left out in the cold.
Sneak preview: Trump appeared at a victory rally at a basketball arena in Washington last night that had the feel of one of his MAGA campaign events, according to a write-up by the AP. He promised swift action on restricting border crossings, promoting oil drilling and eliminating diversity programs. “We’re going to give them the best first day, the biggest first week and the most extraordinary first 100 days of any presidency in American history,” he promised. The Village People closed the rally with a rendition of “Y.M.C.A.,” with Trump dancing onstage.
What will Trump say in his inaugural address? Back in 2017, Trump freaked out many of his guests by delivering the now infamous “American Carnage” address penned by his advisers Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller, prompting George W. Bush to quip: “That was some weird shit.” Bannon told ABC that his speech this time will strike a less sinister tone and aim to “bring the country together.”
Day 1: Trump on Sunday promised to enact “close to 100” executive orders on his first day back in the Oval Office, CNN reported last night. But for all the bluster about the sweeping changes he’s planning, Trump’s advisers are still debating key aspects of many of his top policies and there are significant impediments to carrying out his executive orders. My U.S. colleagues have a handy guide to major actions expected in the early days, including on immigration, foreign policy and trade.
What is Europe expecting? Friedrich Merz, the frontrunner to be Germany’s next chancellor, said over the weekend that Trump would bring “clarity” for the EU as well as various challenges. “I think Trump is very predictable,” Merz said. But Robert Habeck, Germany’s economy minister, and the Greens’ lead candidate for chancellor in the Feb. 23 election, warned that Trump’s threatened tariffs would “particularly hit the German economy.” And Germany’s diplomats are bracing for “maximum disruption” of democratic norms, according to a confidential memo written by Andreas Michaelis, Germany’s ambassador to the U.S., and obtained by Reuters.
No go zone: What’s clear at the outset of Trump’s second term is that he isn’t focused on the EU per se. Despite invitations to the inauguration going out to leaders ranging from Xi Jinping to El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, none of the EU’s top representatives — including Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa or top diplomat Kaja Kallas — were invited. The EU’s representative to D.C., Jovita Neliupšienė, will be present.
Reading the room: Instead, Trumpworld opened its arms to right-wing populist and far-right politicians from Belgium to Portugal. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — a “fantastic woman,” per Trump — is by far the highest-profile European politician to have confirmed their attendance. (Hungary’s Viktor Orbán won’t be there, as his team said he never got an invitation, and neither will France’s Marine Le Pen.) Read this for the names of every far-right politician who will be in D.C. today.
Icy start: Here in Brussels, officials are braced for a return to trade war with the United States, with a truce on retaliatory tariffs set to expire at the end of March. “In case things get nasty, the EU can resort to its growing arsenal of trade defense tools,” writes my trade colleague Camille Gijs. “This trade ‘bazooka’ could be used in response to any threat by Trump to trigger tariffs.” Don’t miss her global roundup of how countries from Canada to China are preparing for relations with Trump 2.0.
Busy signal: The looming trade war …. Europe’s recent exchanges with Trump over Greenland … the absence of EU leaders at the inauguration … all highlight the disconnect between Trump and the EU establishment. Von der Leyen and her top aide, Björn Siebert, had strong ties with President Joe Biden’s administration, particularly with national security adviser Jake Sullivan. But those relationships could work against VDL’s team during Trump 2.0, as the president shuns Biden-era figures and boosts populists.
Indeed: Top EU officials are scrambling to figure out who to speak to in Trumpworld: “At the moment we are trying to map out who within the White House and the State Department actually has access to Trump. People have an interest in talking up how close they are,” said an EU diplomat.
Easy does it: For now, the EU is being ultra-cautious, avoiding any big flare-up over Greenland or Elon Musk’s interference in EU politics and taking a slowly-slowly approach to enforcing digital rules against Big Tech. (It’s the wrong approach to use against “Darwinists” like Trump, Brussels’ former top diplomat Josep Borrell argued in El Pais over the weekend.)
The bottom line: Trump’s inauguration may not feature a repeat of the bizarre “Carnage” spectacle from 2017, but it’s still full of peril for the EU. Trump’s allies have made crystal clear whom they consider to be allies in Europe. The EU has its work cut out not just in devising a strategy to deal with Trump but also in figuring out how to communicate with the new administration.
GERMANY’S EPP TAKEOVER
SCOOP — WEBER TO SEEK REELECTION AFTER PRO-MERZ RALLY: Fresh off a display of power in Berlin, European People’s Party (EPP) chief Manfred Weber plans to seek reelection as president of the influential center-right party, Playbook’s Eddy Wax hears from a well-placed EPP source.
Seeking your support: Weber (who is both president of the pan-European party and chair of the EPP’s parliamentary group) informed EPP heavyweights at their leaders’ retreat in Berlin over the weekend of his intention to extend his time as president at the party’s congress in Valencia, Spain, in April.
Germany wins: In Berlin on Friday and Saturday, Weber hosted a gathering of center-right titans that included Ursula von der Leyen and the leaders of nine EU countries. “This was a show for Weber to prove that he has the OK of the Germans to run again as president and that he’s the top dog in Brussels,” said another EPP insider.
Red-tape bonfire: Following the meeting, the Brussels Bubble has been poring over an EPP statement adopted in Berlin which basically takes an axe to the past five years’ work on the Green Deal.
A close look shows the EPP is demanding further commitment to deregulation, taking aim explicitly at the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which were dubbed “excessive and burdensome.” The statement also calls for the taxonomy regulation and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism to be put on hold for at least two years while rejecting renewable energy targets, renovation obligations for homeowners and fines for companies that fail to reach 2025 emissions targets.
Where did this come from? The Christian Democratic Union, Merz’s party. Per the same EPP insider, the CDU took control of the statement and “reminded everybody who’s boss.”
Merz incoming: That may be a tough pill to swallow for von der Leyen, who’s ostensibly bound by the EPP statement. It speaks volumes about how things are likely to change in Europe after Germany’s Feb. 23 election, when Merz looks set to become the most powerful conservative at the EU leaders’ table.
ECOFIN
TRUMP CASTS A SHADOW OVER ECOFIN: The EU’s finance ministers will wargame the bloc’s future relations with President-elect Trump over dinner in Brussels while his inauguration unfolds in Washington.
“This is a great occasion to reflect on this matter,” Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domański wrote in a letter inviting fellow ministers to the informal dinner ahead of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting Tuesday. Ministers will be treated to salsify with walnuts and a hollandaise sauce, Polish duck confit parmentier, orange salad and apples. “It’s a Slavic hospitality fest,” said an EU diplomat.
Polish wishlist: “Increased economic cooperation with the U.S. in energy, trade, or defense seems to be worth exploring,” Domański wrote in the invitation letter. But some of his colleagues are likely to convey a less pro-American message and insist instead on the EU’s need to cut dependence on Washington, my colleague Gregorio Sorgi writes in to report.
It’s economic security, stupid: Ministers will also brainstorm how to bring down energy prices across the bloc, informed by a report by the IMF’s Alfred Kammer. “We stand no chance competing with the rest of the world,” Domański wrote in the letter, and breathed new life into the decades-old idea of an “energy union.” Ukraine’s Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko will join his EU peers on Tuesday morning.
DAVOS
TO THE SKI SLOPES: The annual gathering of the global elite kicks off at the World Economic Forum in Davos despite being overshadowed by Trump’s inauguration. (He’s due to address delegates virtually on Thursday). As our own Suzanne Lynch writes, the Davos set arrives on the Magic Mountain this year with a newfound swagger. Even as the rest of the world frets about Trump’s threats of a trade war, Wall Street has never had it so good.
Europe’s lose-lose choice: As they head to the Swiss Alps, EU leaders are anxious about Trump’s saber-rattling and their China-reliant economies. Camille Gijs and Giovanna Coi report.
The haves and have-nots: Oxfam published its annual Davos report this morning and the result ain’t pretty if you’re not super-rich. Billionaire wealth grew by $2 trillion last year — three times faster than the year before. Meanwhile, the number of people living in poverty — about 3.5 billion — has barely changed since 1990.
A question of trust: Edelman’s annual trust barometer also contains some warnings for our political leaders. The majority of respondents to the annual survey, which charts the level of trust among the public for institutions, believe that government and business harm them and serve narrow interests — and four in 10 approve of hostile activism to bring about change.
To follow all the news from Davos throughout the week, make sure you’re signed up to Global Playbook.
IN OTHER NEWS
TIKTOK (BRIEFLY) GOES DARK: TikTok stopped working in the U.S. late on Saturday, in compliance with a federal ban that the Chinese-owned platform hopes the incoming administration will reconsider. But last night it was back, restoring access to American users hours after President-elect Trump promised to issue an executive order that would allow its parent company more time to sell its U.S. operation. The company thanked Trump “for providing the necessary clarity and assurance.”
Europe urged to consider ban: After the app briefly went dark in the U.S., Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the EU should consider following in Washington’s footsteps and ban TikTok on the Continent. “There is a legitimate concern that the data could end up in the hands of Chinese authorities, Tsahkna said, pointing to last year’s annual report by the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service (EFIS) that said the information collected by TikTok could be used for intelligence gathering, blackmail or cyberattacks.
Just buy it: The potential sale of TikTok’s U.S. service is an “ideal opportunity” for the EU to buy the app, the German Green MEP Sergei Lagodinsky argued in a paper seen by POLITICO. “The EU Commission should immediately establish a public-private partnership consortium equipped with the financial resources and legal framework needed to acquire existing platforms like TikTok,” Lagodinsky wrote.
TRUMP’S “VIETNAM”: Donald Trump is in danger of being sucked into Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine and it could be just as damaging to his presidency as the Vietnam War was to Richard Nixon’s, his former chief strategist Steve Bannon said in a wide-ranging interview.