PM Mitsotakis meets with EU VP Fitto
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms Raffaele Fitto on Thursday afternoon at the Maximos Mansion. According to reports, during the meeting, the high absorption and utilisation of European funds by Greece was highlighted.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/884019/PM-Mitsotakis-meets-with-EU-VP-Fitto
Androulakis accuses Gov’t of cover-up in Tempi train collision
The leader of PASOK-Movement for Change Nikos Androulakis, in an interview with the ALPHA TV station, reiterated the accusations against the government for covering up the responsibilities in the train collision in Tempi.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/884045/Androulakis-accuses-Govt-of-cover-up-in-Tempi-train-collision
Families of Tempe victims sue investigating judge over missing evidence in case file
Maria Karystianou, president of the Tempe Victims’ Association, along with other relatives of the victims, has filed a lawsuit against appellate investigator judge Sotiris Bakaimis, accusing him of failing to include numerous audio and video recordings in the case file related to the Tempe railway disaster.
GSEE announces 24-hour nationwide strike on February 28
The General Confederation of Employees of Greece (GSEE) has decided to declare a 24-hour nationwide strike on Friday, 28 February, two years after the tragedy of Tempi.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/884003/GSEE-announces-24-hour-nationwide-strike-on-February-28
ATHEX: Historic day on stock market
Greek stocks had a rare day of major growth on Thursday, thanks to global geopolitics as well as the 2024 results of Coca-Cola HBC, taking the main index to levels unseen since late March 2011. It also captured the psychologically significant level of 1,600 points, while turnover soared over 210 million euros. Observers agree that the only way is up for the local bourse.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1261647/athex-historic-day-on-stock-market
KATHIMERINI: Bargain about Ukraine’s future without Europe
TA NEA: Political polarization to extremes; in search of maturity before it is too late
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Facts insist [regarding the Tempi fatal crash]!
RIZOSPASTIS: The battle of construction workers continues
KONTRA NEWS: Europeans are Trump’s useful idiots
DIMOKRATIA: The government continues unabated the cover-up of the Tempi fatal crash
NAFTEMPORIKI: Trump escalates his trade war
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DRIVING THE DAY: FACING TRUMP DENIAL
EU LEANS INTO TRUMP PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE: Europe, evidently, will not be provoked.
Who’s appeasing whom? While a few Western pols are stepping up their rhetorical pushback against U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans to negotiate Ukraine’s future directly with Vladimir Putin — including EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who called it “appeasement” — others are falling back on the same cautious language that seemed geared toward keeping Trump onside. It’s like the foreign policy version of the EU’s precautionary principle values risk reduction above all else.
A “mix of fear and denial” about what Trump’s approach means for the future of Ukraine, and European security more broadly, is driving the (non-)response, a European official told my colleagues Jacopo Barigazzi and Laura Kayali. “A majority of European countries do not want to lose face.”
Bottom line: The timid public reactions underscore that a clear European playbook to deal with the Trump-led geopolitical order has not emerged, Jacopo and Laura write in their must-read article.
Make it the G8 again: In fresh provocations late Thursday, Trump riffed that Russia should be let back into the G7, saying its ouster contributed to the invasion. That, and the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO. “I don’t see any way that a country in Russia’s position could allow them … to join NATO,” Trump said. “I believe that’s the reason the war started.”
Rendez-vous in Riyadh? While Trump said he’s likely to meet Putin in person in Saudi Arabia in the “not too distant future,” negotiations between Washington and Moscow could begin in the Gulf state even sooner.“Top officials” will meet there next week, Trump said late Thursday, adding: “Ukraine will be a part of it too.”
View from Paris: France’s President Emmanuel Macron has insisted that only Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy negotiate on his country’s behalf and warned that capitulating to the Kremlin would be a bad result for everybody, including the U.S. “The only question at this stage is whether President Putin is genuinely, sustainably, and credibly willing to agree to a ceasefire on this basis. After that, it’s up to the Ukrainians to negotiate with Russia,” Macron said in an interview with the Financial Times that dropped overnight.
More from Macron: The French president also told the FT Europe needs to take responsibility for its own security … and that expelling Palestinians from Gaza, as Trump intends, would be “extremely dangerous.” “For me, the solution is not a real estate solution. It is a political solution,” he said.
View from Kyiv: Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal argues in an opinion piece for POLITICO today that the EU might not survive without Ukraine inside it to protect it. Meanwhile, ordinary Ukrainians told Veronika Melkozerova how they feel about this week’s developments.
MUNICH SECURITY CONFERENCE
WHICH TRUMP TEAM IS SHOWING UP TO MUNICH? Europeans were getting pretty comfortable with the idea of dealing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russia-Ukraine czar Keith Kellogg, both relatively old-school style Republicans when it comes to foreign policy. Then Steve Witkoff (ostensibly Trump’s Mideast envoy) showed up in Moscow, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dropped his own bombshells in Brussels.
B-team to Bavaria? It’s the more conventional (and possibly less relevant) players who will be on the ground in Munich. European diplomats are hoping Kellogg and Rubio (who’s running late after his plane had a mechanical issue and was forced to turn around again) will help fill in the blanks. They will also keep an eye on Vice President JD Vance, who will attend the conference and is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — but not Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Whiplash: The next days will be decisive,German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in Paris on Thursday: “There are very different American representatives, also with very different proposals in the last 72 hours, and therefore it is now crucial for us Europeans to make it clear what is important for our own peace.”
This keeps happening: Smart observation from Eric Wintour at the Guardian: Putin has consistently disrupted the start of the Munich Security Conference. Three years ago, the gathering was on edge waiting for him to invade Ukraine. Last year, Russian dissident Alexei Navalny died in jail on its first day.
The other echoes: The 1938 Munich Agreement, allowing Germany to annex part of then-Czechoslovakia (signed less than a kilometer from the MSC venue) and the 1945 Yalta Conference, where the U.S. and U.S.S.R. (along with the U.K.) discussed how to split up Germany once it was defeated. (That discussion took place in Crimea.)
BAR’S OPEN: POLITICO kicks off its coverage at the heart of MSC at the POLITICO Pub today, with live interviews and briefings throughout the weekend. Highlights include a one-on-one with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. You can see the full schedule here. Not in town? Follow our livestream all day and sign up for Global Playbook or a free trial of Pro Defense.
TRADE WAR
TRUMP’S TARIFF TEASE: Trump keeps ratcheting up the trade tensions, notch by notch, announcing the first steps toward reciprocal tariffs on Thursday. But Europe will have to wait a bit longer to learn what’s actually in store. Rather than actually announcing tariffs, the White House effectively told the trade representative to find a way to announce tariffs.
Mark your calendars: The tariffs could take effect as soon as April 2, his to-be-confirmed trade boss Howard Lutnick said.
“Gone are the days of America being taken advantage of,” a fact sheet of the plans said. Examples include the very predictable complaint that the EU charges 10 percent on all car imports, while the U.S. sets this at 2.5 percent. VAT, green rules and other regulations like digital service taxes might also be up for challenges from the U.S.
Shrimp imports, too, came in for extra criticism, despite their minimal trade, err, footprint. “We all love Europe,” Trump said, but added that the EU has been “brutal” on trade.
Canada and Mexico inspire more of that precautionary principle: Soon after announcing tariffs against Canada and Mexico earlier this month, the White House backtracked, accepting repackaged commitments on stemming immigration into the U.S. and on fentanyl. Trump then granted both countries a 30-day truce. That’s inspiring EU trade officials to resist retaliatory rhetoric. More in Morning Trade for Pro subscribers.
IRON FIST AND VELVET GLOVE: When Washington reinstated tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, the Commission first responded by seeking dialogue while calling Trump’s steps “unlawful.” Should negotiations fail — or fail to take place — the bloc claims to be far better prepared than last time around. Its strategy: An iron fist in a velvet glove. Read Camille Gijs’ deep dive on the EU’s strategy to counter the tariffs.
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
EPP NIXES HARD-RIGHT’S NGO PILE-ON: The European People’s Party (EPP) will not endorse the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) proposal to set up a parliamentary inquiry committee to investigate the Commission’s funding to green NGOs, Max Griera writes in to report. That effectively kills the idea.
Backgrounder: On Tuesday, the ECR group called for a so-called inquiry committee to probe accusations that the Commission has been paying civil society groups to lobby other institutions on its behalf. An inquiry committee is tasked with conducting in-depth investigations over a year, including by requesting access to documents and hearings.
Count the EPP out … Tomáš Zdechovský, the EPP whip in the budgetary control committee, asked his 187 colleagues not to sign the proposal after consulting with the leadership of the group, according to an email seen by Max Griera. Without the EPP’s backing, the proposal won’t get the necessary support.
… but don’t drop the issue: The budgetary control committee should continue to scrutinize the NGO contracts, Zdechovský said, adding that “setting up an additional structure would only duplicate efforts.”
Dueling spotlights: In response to the right’s targeting of NGOs, left-wing lawmakers want to look at grants to industry and trade associations. Ultimately, the committee will review all the contracts awarded by the Commission’s departments of defense, agriculture, justice, migration, research, environment and climate.
MEPS TO MIDEAST: A day after becoming the first EU leader in more than 10 years to enter Gaza, Parliament President Roberta Metsola will today visit Ramallah in the West Bank to meet with Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general for the executive committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
The Socialists and Democrats, led by their chair, Iratxe García, are following Metsola’s footsteps and will start a seven-day mission on Saturday that will take them to Egypt, Israel, Palestine and Lebanon. MEPs will visit kibbutzim, the Rafah border crossing and Ramallah, among other hot spots, and meet with local political leaders and civil society organizations.
IN OTHER NEWS
VON DER LEYEN’S FIRST LOSS: Queen Ursula is facing her first internal rebellion against her deregulatory push.
Fighting for FiDA: Financial Services Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque successfully fought this week to prevent a key finance policy from being nuked, according to four EU officials. Their assessment was that von der Leyen underestimated Albuquerque on the standards relating to financial data, known as FiDA, and the commissioner was ultimately able to restore a measure in the 2025 work program that had been on the chopping block. Giovanna Faggionato, Ben Munster and Kathryn Carlson have the story.
IT WASN’T TRUMP! The EU is cutting back tech regulation to spur investments in artificial intelligence, not because of pressure from Trump and Big Tech, Commission tech chief Henna Virkkunen told the FT in an interview.
OUSTED TRUMP AIDE IN LINE FOR TOP EUROPE JOB: Alexander Alden, the leading contender for the State Department’s top Europe job, was pushed out of his Trump National Security Council job in 2019 after colleagues complained about his conduct, including yelling at a female employee, four people familiar with the matter told our Stateside colleague Daniel Lippmann. Alden denied wrongdoing and said the allegations were “lies intended to defame my character for political purposes.”