Greece unveils five-pillar plan to tackle growing water scarcity
Greece announced a new national strategy on Wednesday to combat mounting water scarcity, as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis chaired a high-level meeting at Maximos Mansion to outline the government’s response to what officials called an urgent and escalating crisis.
Mitsotakis invites Tripoli to engage in EEZ delimitation talks
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis invited Libya’s UN-recognized government in Tripoli to engage in Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) delimitation talks during an interview with Skai TV on Thursday, where he spoke on a wide range of foreign policy issues.
Very high risk of fire in 10 of Greece’s 13 regions on Thursday
A very high risk of fire (category 4) is predicted in 10 regions of Greece on Thursday, according to the Fire Risk Map issued by the General Secretariat of Civil Protection of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/921099/Very-high-risk-of-fire-in-10-of-Greeces-13-regions-on-Thursday
Stricter sanctions for wayward civil servants
The Ministry of Interior has tabled a bill providing for speedier resolution of disciplinary cases involving civil servants and broadening the range of offenses subject to discipline.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1276095/stricter-sanctions-for-wayward-civil-servants
ATHEX: Water stocks help bourse bounce back
The safeguarding of their state character boosted Athens-listed water companies’ prices on Wednesday, and along with the credit sector they led the bourse benchmark to moderate gains, albeit the close lagged the day’s highs. The sentiment had been positive before opening, thanks to the US tariffs deal with Japan and other Asian countries, while the local market is gearing up for banks’ first-half financial results.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1276207/athex-water-stocks-help-bourse-bounce-back
KATHIMERINI: Turkey secures Eurofighters and is now after F-35 jetfighters
TA NEA: Water policy to follow that of electricity
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Scandal after scandal for the government
RIZOSPASTIS: Water is going to be a very expensive commodity – Cost for simple folks to skyrocket
KONTRA NEWS: Turkey to overhaul balances after acquiring Eurofighters
DIMOKRATIA: Foreign Affairs Minister is a philhellene in distress
NAFTEMPORIKI: Alert at the Independent Authority for Public Revenue regarding statute of limitations of tax violations
DRIVING THE DAY: BEIJING TRIPPING
SUMMIT KICKS OFF: As you read this, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa, the European Council president, are on the ground in Beijing for a super-short, super-compressed EU-China summit commemorating 50 years of diplomatic relations. In the last hour, the trio delivered a series of remarks that highlighted the strains being felt and underscored the fact that little is expected to emerge from the trip. Let’s go through the top lines in their speeches …
VDL’s “inflection point”: The EU and China “have reached an inflection point” in their relations, von der Leyen told Xi. “As our cooperation has deepened, so have the imbalances,” she noted, adding that “Rebalancing our bilateral relation is essential.”
“To be sustainable, the relations need to be mutually beneficial. To achieve this, it is vital for China and Europe to acknowledge our respective concerns and come forward with real solutions,” von der Leyen said.
Costa brings up the war: In his own remarks, the Council chief took a similar tack, saying: “We need concrete progress on issues related to trade and economy. And we both want our relationship to be balanced, reciprocal and mutually beneficial.” Notably, Costa added: “We call on China to use its influence on Russia to respect the U.N. Charter and to bring an end to its war of aggression against Ukraine.” Good luck with that.
Just “two big guys” hanging out: President Xi Jinping described China and the EU as “two big guys” on the world stage who must both “make correct strategic choices that meet the expectations of the people and stand the test of history.”
The only thing they agree on (sort of): Cooperation on climate change.
TROPHIES FOR PARTICIPATION: Expectations for outcomes from the summit are nil — so much so that Sari Arho Havrén, a China specialist at the Royal United Services Institute, called the whole meeting a “containment” exercise designed to keep EU-China relations from “spiraling into something much worse.”
Why the long face? “China is in a waiting mode to see what’s going to happen with the Trump administration,” added Havrén. “Therefore the interest in Europe is secondary.” For a deeper dive into the man issues plaguing EU-China relations, catch up here with Antonia Zimmermann and Koen Verhelst.
What to watch next: The press conference, attended by von der Leyen and Costa but no Chinese officials (which says a lot), starts at 2 p.m. China-watchers will be following every word for signs of a détente, which most experts say is unlikely. Watch the live broadcast here.
ZELENSKYY FACES HEAT
OUTRAGE BUILDS IN UKRAINE EVEN AS ZELENSKYY BACKTRACKS: Protests swelled around Ukraine on Wednesday night amid growing outrage over President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision to kneecap anti-corruption agencies, despite the leader’s attempt to backtrack on his original move.
Widespread anger: POLITICO’s Veronika Melkozerova reports from Ukraine that thousands spilled into the streets of Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, Odesa and even the frontline city of Kharkiv near the border with Russia in protest against the hastily passed law removing the independence of corruption investigators (explainer of what happened here).
Zelenskyy’s about-face: Amid growing clamor, including a call from Ursula von der Leyen, Zelenskyy announced last night that he had “heard what people are saying,” and that he intended to present a new law to parliament in coming days. “All the norms for the independence of anti-corruption institutions will be there,” he said.
Not satisfied: But the about-face didn’t reassure protesters who still took to the street in their thousands, with some demanding to see the contents of the new bill.
NOW READ THIS: POLITICO Europe’s opinion editor and foreign affairs columnist Jamie Dettmer writes in this must-read piece that Ukraine is fighting two enemies: Russia, and the danger of autocratic government from within. Then dive into Veronika’s on-the-ground report on how Ukraine’s democracy has held up under brutal assault from Moscow over the past three years.
STEP BACK: It’s hard to overstate how damaging the episode has been for Ukraine’s standing, as top EU officials warned the saga endangered not only Kyiv’s bid for membership in the European Union, but also potentially its access to payouts of funds crucial to keeping the state ticking over during wartime.
Liberal angst: In a letter obtained by my colleague Max Griera, liberal group chief Valérie Hayer — whose Renew party is allied with Zelenskyy — warns Ukraine’s leadership that the ructions surrounding the anti-corruption law “raise concerns about Ukraine’s sincere commitment to honoring its obligations, which could undermine all our efforts to support you.”
Zelenskyy’s stumble: It remains to be seen whether Zelenskyy will succeed in turning the tables on his worst political scandal since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Opinion polls as recently as two months ago showed him enjoying two-thirds support among Ukrainian voters. But the episode has revived claims of widespread corruption and drawn negative attention to the pace of reforms Kyiv is meant to enact in order to get it ready for EU accession.
Backslide watch: Indeed, according to one MEP just back from Ukraine, the pace of those reforms has been slowing in recent months. “Now for the first time they have missed milestones, so certain payments were not made as scheduled,” said Daniel Freund, a German Greens lawmaker, referring to scheduled payouts from the Ukraine Facility, the EU’s funding mechanism for Kyiv, which he said had been deferred. “The mood was gloomy … They [Ukrainian officials they met] had the impression the government was really not implementing the reforms.”
EU-ISRAEL
ISRAELI MINISTER BLAMES U.N. FOR GAZA AID FAILURES: In an interview with Playbook, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar pushed back against EU claims that his country isn’t living up to the terms of an aid distribution deal signed with the European Union, blaming the United Nations for bottlenecks.
Pointing the finger: “All the things which are part of our understanding with the EU, we are implementing that. But the problem is the U.N. is not distributing,” Sa’ar said during a phone interview from Ukraine, where he had met with President Zelenskyy and launched a strategic dialogue on Iran, focused on sharing of knowledge.
“We opened more crossings to the north and to the south. We opened more routes of aid through the Jordanians, through the Egyptians,” he said.
Fight over idle trucks: Sa’ar argued that more than 900 aid trucks were idling inside Gaza awaiting distribution by the United Nations. His comments coincided with social media posts by the Israeli foreign ministry which it said showed hundreds of aid trucks awaiting distribution in fenced-off areas inside Gaza.
U.N. response: Reached for comment, a spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) disputed Israel’s characterization, saying that its drivers faced “immense logistical challenges” in accessing and distributing the aid due to Israeli bureaucratic impediments and security risks.
Wrong conditions: “We stand by to deliver at scale, as we did during the last ceasefire when 600 to 700 truckloads of aid were delivered daily. But for that, we need the right operational conditions on the ground, including approvals by the Israeli authorities for the U.N. and our partners to use safe routes within Gaza that don’t pose security threats,” the spokesperson said.
Miles apart: Sa’ar’s comments contradict the assessment of EU officials who told diplomats during a Coreper meeting in Brussels Wednesday that Israel was falling short of its commitment to increase the number of aid trucks entering Gaza, according to two diplomats. An EU diplomat said the bloc’s assessment rested on the number of trucks entering Gaza daily, which remained below an agreed threshold.
Calls for new measures: The EU is assessing its options to potentially downgrade relations with Israel after the finding that the country wasn’t living up to its humanitarian duties in Gaza under the terms of an EU-Israel framework agreement. A group of 10 countries including France is pushing for the Commission to come forward swiftly with fresh proposals to increase pressure on Israel due to the aid situation, the same diplomats said.
Von der Leyen pressures Israel: The back-and-forth comes as top EU officials ramp up rhetorical pressure on Israel to facilitate aid distribution, with Ursula von der Leyen saying this week that images of starvation in Gaza were “unbearable” and calling on Israel to “deliver on its pledges” to the European Union.
War of words: Sa’ar laid blame for the “failure” of aid distribution — which has led to starvation in Gaza, per the U.N. and aid agencies — with the United Nations, calling claims that Israel is impeding distribution “lies.” The “U.N. is acting not with the mind of helping the people in Gaza, but how to deligitimize Israel. This is more important to the U.N., unfortunately,” he said.
Not a drive-thru: The OCHA spokesperson referred to comments from U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric. “Kerem Shalom [a crossing point for humanitarian aid into Gaza] is not a McDonald’s drive through where we just pull up and pick up what we’ve ordered. Right? There are tremendous bureaucratic impediments. There are tremendous security impediments. And, frankly, I think there’s a lack of willingness to allow us to do our work.”
TRANSATLANTIC TRADE LATEST
EU SETS SIGHTS ON JAPAN-STYLE DEAL WITH U.S.: The EU is looking to seal a Japan-style deal with the Trump administration that sets a 15-percent U.S. baseline tariff — but is ready to retaliate if no agreement can be reached by an Aug. 1 deadline, according to EU diplomats briefed on the strategy.
Ready to fire back: If Trump blocks a deal now in the works, the EU is ready to launch two separate countermeasures, three diplomats told POLITICO. One would impose tariffs on €93 billion worth of U.S. goods. A vote to finalize this part of the retaliation is due on Thursday, with the Commission expected to garner broad support from the EU’s 27 governments. Koen Verhelst, Antonia Zimmermann and Nette Nöstlinger have the full story here.
EUROPE’S BAZOOKA: Ever wanted to know what’s in the EU’s anti-coercion instrument, the so-called trade bazooka? Antonia has you covered with this floor-to-ceiling explainer on the biggest weapon in the EU trade arsenal — and what it would take for Brussels to unleash it. Read it here.
IN OTHER NEWS
PR VS. PRESS: The European Commission hit back at claims it didn’t provide enough opportunity for journalists to study proposals for the bloc’s seven-year budget last week, after a group of Brussels correspondents issued a sternly worded statement “deploring the lack of transparency” around its publication. But, in a letter sent this week and obtained by my colleague Gabriel Gavin, the EU’s spokespersons service blasted the International Press Association for the intervention, which it said didn’t reflect reality.
Not our fault: “We fully recognize the legitimate interest of journalists in receiving fast, accurate, and comprehensive information,” the Commission said, insisting that last-minute changes to the timing of a press conference with von der Leyen were down to genuine scheduling issues, while other senior figures were routinely made available to the press.
Eyes emoji: “At the same time, we do not wish to conceal from you that we were surprised by the tone of your press release in the context of our otherwise good and constructive cooperation,” the Commission added. Read more about the dustup between journalists and the Berlaymont in our EU Influence newsletter, out today.
WHAT’S IN A NAME: Polish diplomats and central bank officials are pushing for the ECB to include trailblazing Nobel Prize-winner Marie Curie’s maiden name, Skłodowska, on a new series of €20 banknotes that may be rolled out in the coming years, Ben Munster, Gabriel Gavin and Johanna Treeck report.
INSIDE THE WILD WORLD OF BRITAIN’S PRIVATE SPIES: Private intelligence and security firms are booming in the land of James Bond and John le Carré, reports Mason Boycott-Owen.