Greece stages military exercise in Aegean after Turkish survey warning
Greece launched a medium-scale military exercise across the Aegean Sea early on Wednesday, deploying air, naval and ground forces in a show of deterrence after Turkish announcements of potential survey activity in the region.
PM Mitsotakis to chair national security council Wednesday morning
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will chair a meeting of the Government Council for National Security (KYSEA) scheduled at 11:00 am at Maximos Mansion on Wednesday.
PASOK criticizes Andreas Loverdos’ move to New Democracy
PASOK officials sharply criticized Andreas Loverdos’ decision to join New Democracy, accusing the former PASOK MP and minister of attempting to undermine the party through his past actions.
BoG raises inflation estimate
Greece’s European Union-Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices is expected to remain above 3% in 2025, compared to the previous forecast of 2.5% reflected in the Bank of Greece’s interim monetary policy report, published last June.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1280946/bog-raises-inflation-estimate
ATHEX: Stocks drop ahead of rate decisions
Sellers were the clear winners in the tug-of-war with buyers on the Greek stock market on Tuesday, as Athinon Avenue followed the course set by other eurozone peers, in favor of a decline before the key interest rate decisions by several central banks. The benchmark of the bourse ended the session on the day’s low, pointing to further losses at the start of Wednesday at least.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1281056/athex-stocks-drop-ahead-of-rate-decisions
KATHIMERINI: The enigma of the Piri Reis exploration vessel
TA NEA: One, two… many mafias in OPEKEPE
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Gaza: UN condemns the genocide
RIZOSPASTIS: Gaza: No one can remain silent amid the escalation of the atrocity
KONTRA NEWS: Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis… rendered the International Court of Justice void
DIMOKRATIA: Mitsotakis welcomes Loverdos to New Democracy: Awesome transfer
NAFTEMPORIKI: New fund for the gearing of investments worth 1 bln
DRIVING THE DAY: SANCTIONS FOR ISRAEL?
CONSEQUENCES, EU-STYLE: The European Commission is making its biggest play yet to punish Israel over its war on Gaza. U.N. observers on Tuesday concluded that violence is an ongoing “genocide.” And, as trailed in President Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the EU speech last week, the Commission will this morning sign off on a proposed package of sanctions targeting extremist settlers and ministers, plus trade barriers.
You’re entering a world of pain: The EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas was doing her best saber-rattle on Tuesday, telling Euronews Israel faced “suspension of the trade part of the association agreement” with the EU. Since that trade amounts to €42.6 billion and 37 percent is preferential, she said, “this step will have a high cost for Israel.”
Inconvenient fact: There is a mountain of evidence that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government cares not a jot what the EU says or does. In fact, the prime minister is touting a new isolationist vision of Israel as a “super-Sparta.” (Sparta, of course, ended up losing big time.)
Even more inconvenient fact: Everyone, including von der Leyen, knows she isn’t firing live ammo. When country reps meet to discuss the package in Brussels today, most of the proposals are likely to be immediately blocked by Israel’s EU allies, which include Italy, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and …
Most considerable among them: Germany’s opposition to punitive action is not expected to change any time soon. Chancellor Friedrich Merz is still weathering blowback from his decision to partially cut off arms sales to Israel. Kallas riled German officials Tuesday by suggesting the situation in Gaza may be less ugly if they hadn’t blocked EU action.
Chekhov’s sanctions: But placing the sanctions on the table does put pressure back on Israel’s staunchest defenders. And there were whispers reaching Playbook on Tuesday night that sanctions on violent settlers might get the nod from Berlin — as well as Rome.
Ire-land: Suggesting that Israel should be turfed out of the U.N., Irish President Michael Higgins had these choice words for its backers: “I believe that the European Union will find it extraordinarily difficult to ever be a union in any sense again when some of its strongest members are deciding to stay silent in watching emaciated children in what is a human, man-made, really atrocious infliction on people.”
Merz’s moral maze: On Tuesday, Merz posted a video of himself appearing to choke back tears as spoke at the re-dedication of a synagogue destroyed by the Nazis. But Germany’s relationship with the Jewish state born of the Holocaust is being shaken by the un-ignorable horrors being reported from Gaza.
The first draft of history: Tuesday’s report by an independent U.N. panel found that, in addition to other war crimes, Israel had partly destroyed the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza, particularly through attacks on a fertility clinic. The group of international judges also compiled evidence to determine Israel had “deliberately inflicted conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians as a group.” Both of these, they said, satisfied the legal conditions for genocide. Israel has consistently denied these allegations and blames Hamas for the civilian death toll.
This is all building toward … next week, when leaders, including Netanyahu, arrive in New York for the U.N. General Assembly. Several EU states will recognize Palestinian statehood and the U.N.’s report will be the foundation for much of the criticism leveled at Israel.
Further reading: POLITICO’s Tim Ross reflects on how these atrocities continue to torment Europe.
The European sanction Israel might actually fear: Three Spanish MEPs are seeking signatures for a letter asking the organizers of the Eurovision song contest to suspend Israel, Max Griera writes in to report. “Allowing a State under investigation for possible crimes of genocide to use Eurovision as a platform for whitewashing and cultural normalization contradicts the spirit of this event and its impact on international public opinion,” they argue in the note, seen by Max. They join a chorus of voices pressuring the European Broadcasting Union to dump Israel or face a potential boycott, Ellen O’Regan writes.
THE VEILED COMMISSION
SCOOP … MORE VDL SECRETS: Ursula von der Leyen failed to take notes or minutes during critical interviews last year with candidates for her second College of Commissioners, the Commission revealed in response to a records request. It’s an admission that has raised eyebrows among Brussels’ transparency crowd.
Ilze get back to you: Back in September 2024, your author asked for notes taken during the boss’ interviews with Spanish pick Teresa Ribera. Almost a year later — and only after two separate Ombudsman complaints — Commission Secretary-General Ilze Juhansone said “informal conversations with the selected candidates … took place orally and no documents were drawn up.”
A long, slow sigh: There’s no suggestion any rules were broken. But “once more the Commission nonchalantly departs from the basic principle of good administration,” said professionally exasperated Harvard democracy fellow Alberto Alemanno, pointing out that under the Pfizer judgment — here in paragraph 59 — “the EU Commission is under such principle bound to the duty of note-keeping.”
Woe is me: Of course reader, you likely don’t care about journalists waiting months for documents only to be told they don’t even exist. But the office of European Ombudsman Teresa Anjinho does. “This kind of situation can undermine citizen’s trust in the EU administration,” said a statement shared with Playbook.
UKRAINE
TRUMP PUTS THE “BS” IN BRUSSELS: Europeans know they’re getting played by Donald Trump, who is issuing increasingly impossible ultimatums before he actually does anything to reel in his “very close” friend Vladimir Putin. But for now, they’re playing along.
Fully aware: “Trump is setting conditions which, later on, knowing that it’s impossible, will form a pretext for telling us that he can’t do anything. Put quite simply, it’s a game to avoid responsibility,” said one national official.
It’s also a classic bit of disaster capitalism: Were the EU to follow through on Trump’s demands, the biggest winners would be the American president’s donors in Texas. “He’s trying to get Europe to buy more U.S. LNG,” said Anne-Sophie Corbeau, a senior researcher at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.
Still, the EU is trying to humor Trump. This week by turning the trade screws on China, my colleagues report.
Also humoring: “I had a good call” with Trump, said von der Leyen late last night, “on strengthening our joint efforts to increase economic pressure on Russia through additional measures.” That includes bringing forward the 19th sanctions package “soon.”
MEANWHILE IN BLIGHTY, A POLITE CHAT: King Charles is expected to raise the Ukrainian cause with Trump as they take tea together in London today, my colleague Esther Webber reports. A senior defense official points out the king is “very close” to the detail of ceasefire negotiations and to Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself.
METSOLA IN KYIV: European Parliament President Roberta Metsola is in Kyiv today to meet top government officials, including Zelenskyy. She’ll officially open the European Parliament’s representation in Kyiv.
EU ROADSHOW
AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA FEEL THE LOVE: Marta Kos, the EU’s commissioner in charge of enlargement, heads to Armenia and Azerbaijan today as part of a mission to bolster European influence in the area and help diversify the bloc’s energy supplies.
Kos you’re worth it: Yes, Azerbaijan’s government is a teensy bit authoritarian. OK, a lot. But remember they’ve got that sweet Caspian oil and gas, so the emphasis during this trip will be on seeing “how far things can go” with Baku, an official said. Kos is charged with talks on building out energy links between Azerbaijan and the EU.
Next stop, Armenia: Brussels has closer ties to Yerevan, where the EU (which is funding Armenia to the tune of €270 million over the 2024-2027 period as part of a Resilience and Growth plan) is looking to advance visa liberalization, strengthen “democratic resilience” and help Armenia diversify its own sources of energy.
SUPERSIZE ME: In other neighborhood news, my colleague Gabriel Gavin has seen a letter from Germany, Italy, Slovenia and Austria urging Kos to come up with “proposals to simplify and streamline the enlargement methodology of the accession negotiations, ensuring the level playing field for all candidates.” That might be read as a push to remove the blocking veto that Hungary — among others — have used to keep out candidates they don’t like.
IN OTHER NEWS
EMPTY HANDED ON CLIMATE: When EU leaders turn up to the U.N. next week, their counterparts will be expecting them to announce a new climate target set for 2035. That was supposed to happen in time for a U.N. deadline all countries are expected to hit. But it became clear Tuesday at a meeting of national officials that the best the EU will offer is a “statement of intent.” Meanwhile, observers say China — which the EU has been hammering as a climate laggard for years — is planning to roll out a fully fledged, albeit weak-tea target. Awkward. Zia Weise and Louise Guillot have more.
Still a thing: Belying the lack of alarm in EU capitals, heatwaves killed an extra 16,500 people across Europe this summer because of the additional warmth of climate change, British researchers found in a study to be released this morning.
VDL SUED: Gheorghe Piperea, the MEP who led a censure motion against Ursula von der Leyen in the summer, has followed up by suing the Commission president for defamation over her comments that accused him of acting at Russia’s behest. No word on whether the courts will admit his suit. Meanwhile, the next two VDL censures will be debated in Parliament during the Oct. 6-9 plenary, more here.
VIKTOR’S NEXT HOLIDAY: U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reinstated Hungary’s access to its visa waiver program, thanks to “steps taken to address security vulnerabilities.” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was keen to press on the political reasons for the move: “Let no one say that friendship makes no difference!” he posted.
SMER CAMPAIGN: The Party of European Socialists has voted to permanently kick out Slovakia’s Smer party, led by Prime Minister Robert Fico, four officials told Max.