Mitsotakis outlines four key priorities ahead of 2027 elections
Prime Minister and New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis has unveiled his party’s strategic roadmap leading up to the 2027 parliamentary elections, formally launching what he called the campaign for a “fruitful third term.”
Turkey challenges Greek maritime zones with UNESCO map submission
Ankara is attempting to counter Greece’s Maritime Spatial Plan (MSP) by submitting its own map to UNESCO, directly challenging Greek maritime zones. The map, prepared by Ankara University, reflects several of Turkey’s long-standing positions.
SYRIZA accuses New Democracy of financial violations over ‘Truth Team’
SYRIZA has accused ruling New Democracy of breaching party financing laws, following a newspaper report alleging that the pro-New Democracy social media platform Omada Alithias (“Truth Team”) was staffed by individuals employed directly by the party.
IOBE: Business expectations in industry fell to 110.8 points in May
The business expectations index in industry fell to 110.8 points in May from 113.1 points a month earlier, but at a higher level compared to a year earlier (109.2 points).
ATHEX: Domestic bourse sees calm prevail
The Greek bourse showed a calm attitude toward developments in the Middle East on Monday, in line with many other stock markets that expect a de-escalation to come sooner rather than later in the region. Athinon Avenue had a mixed day, with banks taking the blue chip index higher, while the decline in the rest of the market kept the benchmark almost at the same level as last Friday upon closing.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1272538/athex-domestic-bourse-sees-calm-prevail
KATHIMERINI: Ankara delineates areas in half of the Aegean Sea
TA NEA: Parental donations and inheritances: Express transfers
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Missiles and propaganda
RIZOSPASTIS: Any involvement or military cooperation with the murderous state of Israel must cease
KONTRA NEWS: Alert at the PM’s office due to former PM Samaras‘ upcoming speech in a public event
DIMOKRATIA: New revelations regarding government propaganda: Former TV persona Anna Maria and lyricist Elia Zervou were hired guns by ruling New Democracy
NAFTEMPORIKI: 10 “smart” controls by the tax office
DRIVING THE DAY: ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGHS AND LOWS
PEACE OUT: Overnight, U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly announced he was leaving the G7 summit early, citing the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Cryptic and ominous: “Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again!” Trump said on Truth Social. “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”
Cool cool cool: It’s not clear what triggered the casual call for the evacuation of a city of 10 million people — a warning that came just hours after Israel’s government issued its own evacuation order to citizens in northern Tehran warning them of its expanding campaign. Read more from Eli Stokols and Adam Cancryn.
On the same page (on this one): There were initial murmurs that Trump was leaving Canada because he didn’t want to sign up to a joint statement on Iran. In the end, on Iran at least the G7 was united. “Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror. We have been consistently clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon,” the leaders said in their joint statement.
COMPOSE YOUR OWN THOUGHT BUBBLES: Before he left Canada, Trump had some face time with Ursula von der Leyen, complete with photo-op. “On trade, we instructed the teams to accelerate their work to strike a good and fair deal,” she posted on X. “Let’s get it done.”
“Donald is right”: With the EU holding firm against Trump’s 10 percent universal tariff in its trade standoff with Washington, von der Leyen tried to find common ground with Trump by criticizing China’s export restrictions, Giorgio Leali and Koen Verhelst report. “On this point, Donald is right — there is a serious problem,” von der Leyen said during a roundtable, encouraging the U.S. president to join forces with his allies to address China’s trade imbalances.
DAY 2 PREVIEW: Today, the remaining leaders will focus on tightening sanctions on Russia, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy among the guests expected to attend. In Kananaskis, Trump signaled he wasn’t on board with imposing fresh measures, saying Europeans should “do it first” and that “sanctions cost us a lot of money.”
Reminder: The EU and U.K. are both pushing for more coordinated sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s regime at the Canada-hosted gathering of leaders, but Trump has so far refused to sign up to fresh action — including a European proposal to cut the so-called oil price cap on Russia exports to $45 from $60 per barrel.
Not a lost cause: But French President Emmanuel Macron said he still believes Washington could back stronger sanctions against Russia, despite Trump suggesting otherwise. Macron told reporters he had discussed further sanctions against Russia with Trump, and “He answered quite positively.” Details here. Speaking of Russian sanctions …
OIL SLICKS
RUSSIAN ENERGY EXIT FACES ORBÁN-FICO-SHAPED ROADBLOCK: The European Commission is set for a showdown today with its two perennial problem states — Hungary and Slovakia — as it prepares to set out plans to ban Russian fossil fuels by 2027.
The diary entry: At a 3 p.m. press conference in Strasbourg, Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen will unveil new powers that will help end reliance on Moscow’s oil and gas.
Tough crowd: But the proposals will face an uphill struggle to be passed into law. Despite the fact that they could be adopted by a qualified majority vote of EU countries — and suggestions Budapest and Bratislava could be given additional time to make the required changes — the populist pair are threatening to wield their veto on other key sanctions issues if Brussels moves ahead. A row over the strategy derailed a meeting of energy ministers in Luxembourg on Monday, with Hungarian and Slovakian representatives blocking the adoption of Council conclusions that referenced the plan, forcing the Polish Council presidency to instead issue a statement without unanimous support.
Trust us, says Berlaymont: “It is completely unacceptable that we in the EU are still importing gas from Russia,” Jørgensen told Playbook ahead of the announcement later today. The Commission, he said, “is doing everything it can to help find alternatives to Russian gas,” adding that “no Member State will be left without energy as a result of this proposal.”
Budapest’s beef: “Brussels wants to make it impossible for European countries to purchase cheap gas and oil,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in a social media clip set to “Mission: Impossible”-worthy music. “Brussels has bowed to Kyiv.”
Numbers not adding up: “We don’t recognize the sums the Hungarians and Slovaks are showing us when they say this threatens their energy security,” one Commission official, granted anonymity to speak frankly, told my colleague Gabriel Gavin. Meanwhile, a report last month found that plenty of viable alternatives to Russian oil and gas exist for the two landlocked countries.
EU IN THE WORLD
SCOOP — EU EMBASSY REORGANIZATION TAKES SHAPE: Brussels officials are scrambling to reassure EU diplomats and their local colleagues representing the bloc’s interests abroad as more details emerge of the plans to reorganize delegations around the globe.
“Minimal” representations and “hubs”: Usually, the EU’s delegations have staff from two divisions: the European External Action Service and the Commission’s international partnerships department, INTPA. A Commission document dated June 6, viewed by Playbook, suggests dropping the INTPA reps from nine countries, leaving only an EEAS diplomatic presence there. (This would mostly happen in hot-zone countries where there are unlikely to be opportunities for productive partnerships.)
Meanwhile, six countries would become “hubs,” hosting a wider array of officials who can pitch in throughout the region.
The switch to a “minimal diplomatic presence” would happen in September 2026, with just “an ambassador, an advisor, and a small support team” at the EU embassies in Eritrea, Guinea Bissau, Eswatini, Lesotho, South Sudan, Papua New Guinea, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Kuwait, Timor Leste and Belarus. EEAS staff at those embassies would no longer be able to book hotels and such for visiting Commission officials, the document notes. “Local staff contracts are expected to end,” the document says — though it doesn’t specify a deadline.
“Reinforced delegations,” or hubs — in South Africa, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Fiji and Barbados — would have staff devoted to both bilateral relations and partnerships with the broader region. That latter section would host officials devoted to the Global Gateway (the EU’s infrastructure development program), “complex settings and migration” and “strategic communication.”
Other categories: “Standard delegations” would have fewer INTPA staff, making up for the gap with help from a hub. “Status quo delegations” wouldn’t see changes.
LONG PROCESS: The Commission’s plan to slash staff at delegations around the world and centralize them in hubs first emerged late last year, as reported by POLITICO — blindsiding incoming foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
Kaja’s version: In May, Kallas presented her own, more moderate plan — as Playbook’s Nick Vinocur reported at the time. The latest document, produced by DG INTPA, appears to incorporate her vision into its own plan for the future. (A Commission press staffer responsible for international partnerships was not able to quickly reply to questions sent Monday evening.)
EEAS’s core message: “No Delegations will be closed,” said EU foreign affairs spokesperson Anitta Hipper in a statement to Playbook. The bloc’s network of 145 delegations “needs to be adjusted to a changing global context and changing political priorities.”
Money talks, diplomats walk: “Within the existing budget realities, we need to do more and better with the same resources,” Hipper added. She stressed that the Commission and Kallas are committed to implementing the reorganization in a “coordinated and constructive spirit starting with staff consultations.”
TENSION POINTS: DG INTPA held a town hall-style meeting for staff on Monday (we hear the Teams call crashed with so many people logging in), and Kallas held a similar session last week. Those efforts are just the beginning of the campaign for internal buy-in. Watch for second-guessing from diplomats, capitals, MEPs and think-tankers around these issues:
— Vacuum: The EU’s moves to condense its presence come in areas, especially in Africa, where the U.S. is also pulling back, but China and Russia are going full steam ahead.
— Locals’ safety: Even if local staff aren’t rushed out the door, there’s no clear plan for ensuring their safety after their contracts end. (Then again, being an active EU employee in Belarus didn’t help Mikalai Khilo, who was sentenced to four years in a penal colony.)
— Future funding: The Commission’s next seven-year budget proposal, due July 16, could signal whether an even more acute “reorganization” will be necessary.
— Turf wars: DG INTPA and EEAS aren’t necessarily on the same page about who should take the lead on EU foreign policy, where.
MORE DIPLOMACY: Kallas talked Israel and Iran with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday, as well as reps from the combatants themselves and other countries in the region.
INTEGRITY DEPT.
ANTI-CORRUPTION NEGOTIATIONS STALL: The European Parliament and Council failed to reach a deal on a bill harmonizing corruption offenses and sanctions across the EU on Monday, after four hours of negotiations that stretched late into the night, Max Griera writes in to report.
Berlin leads the opposition: Germany, along with Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, led the charge against the mandatory harmonization of the definition and sanctions for offenses linked to “abuse of functions.” But leaving that part out is a no-go for Parliament, according to a Council position paper ahead of the negotiations, seen by POLITICO.
Will it see the light of day? The Polish Council presidency, which is eager to score a win before its mandate ends at the end of this month, will try another round of negotiations with countries this week, hoping for a trilogue as early as next week. Negotiators fear that if the bill is not passed under the Polish presidency, it’ll go into the deep freeze.
Parliament furious: MEPs — who have a united position from across the political spectrum — are furious at countries for trying to water down the bill, especially, as MEP Daniel Freund put it, at a time when “we have scandals every couple of weeks somewhere in the Union.”
SPEAKING OF CORRUPTION … SOCIALISTS SEE SÁNCHEZ AS A LIABILITY: Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s own allies from Spain’s cities and regions want him to hold snap national elections in the face of mounting corruption scandals — despite knowing their party is virtually guaranteed to lose.
Down-ballot drag: Publicly, most of the party’s mayors and regional presidents support Sánchez, but a growing number privately fear he’s now a liability and that the Socialists’ graft scandals will doom candidates at the municipal and regional levels as well. Check out the must-read from Aitor Hernández-Morales.
WELL THAT’S AWKWARD
WINCE 1: EU resurrects banking practice that caused the 2008 financial crash.
WINCE 2: Drug price transparency activist signs secrecy pacts with Big Pharma.
WELL THAT’S AUKUS: Trump backs AUKUS defense pact after Starmer talks.
IN OTHER NEWS
IRAN NEWS ROUNDUP: Tehran has been urgently signaling that it is ready to end hostilities and restart talks over its nuclear programs, the Wall Street Journal reports. Axios reckons the White House has been in talks with Tehran about a meeting this week between U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Meanwhile, the New York Times reports Trump is weighing whether to give Israel a hand with America’s biggest “bunker buster” missiles to help destroy the deeply buried Fordo nuclear enrichment facility.
EURO’S TIME TO SHINE: The dominant role of the U.S. dollar “is no longer certain” — which “offers opportunities for Europe to take greater control of its own destiny and for the euro to gain global prominence,” ECB chief Christine Lagarde writes in an FT op-ed.