3 dead, 2 missing after fire at food factory near Trikala
Three people were found dead and two others were missing on Monday after a fire at a food factory near the city of Trikala in central Greece, a fire brigade official told Reuters. The official said 13 people were at the factory when the fire broke out and eight of them had managed to get out of the facility.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1293397/3-dead-2-missing-after-fire-at-food-factory-near-trikala
Mitsotakis rules out joining Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Greece and the European Union will not take part in US President Donald Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace” in its current form, saying transatlantic relations are growing more complex. Speaking to Euronews after a European Council meeting focused on Greenland, Mitsotakis said Athens is seeking new balances between the US and the EU that preserve the transatlantic bond.
Diamantopoulou rules out cooperation with New Democracy after next election
Anna Diamantopoulou, the main opposition PASOK party’s head of political planning, has ruled out any post-election cooperation with the governing New Democracy party, stressing the need for an independent political course. In an interview, Diamantopoulou said the party cannot work with New Democracy on either political or moral grounds, citing fundamental differences over values, institutions and democratic governance.
Sheep and goat pox: Spread appears to be easing
The fight against sheep and goat pox is at a critical juncture, as the transmissibility of the zoonotic disease is showing signs of decline, making strict adherence to biosecurity measures extremely important for its eradication.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/965163/Sheep-and-goat-pox-Spread-appears-to-be-easing
ATHEX: Quiet end to sixth straight week of gains
Friday’s bourse session was nothing like that of Thursday, when the majority of stocks saw their prices grow considerably and the main index rose to a 16-year-record. The week’s final session witnessed the lowest turnover in almost three weeks, with some targeted profit-taking, particularly focused on banks, though the majority of stocks closed the day with gains.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1293296/athex-quiet-end-to-sixth-straight-week-of-gains
SUNDAY PAPERS
KATHIMERINI: Athens on the vertigo train
TO VIMA: Poll: Greeks choose their ally
REAL NEWS: USA-Europe relations on the razor’s edge
PROTO THEMA: Trump dogma: You are either with me or distrusted
MONDAY PAPERS:
TA NEA: City transport: No ticket? 100-euro fine
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Killers with the blessing of Trump
KONTRA NEWS: ECOFIN and Bank of Greece warn of “bubble” linked to real estate assets
DIMOKRATIA: The NGO King profits dearly during the Mitsotakis era
NAFTEMPORIKI: The government’s goal is a 4-digit minimum wage
DRIVING THE DAY
INDIA ROLLS OUT RED CARPET: It sure beats getting heckled in the European Parliament. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President António Costa are guests of honor at India’s Republic Day celebrations, as the two sides gear up to reach a political agreement for a new EU-India trade deal, Camille Gijs writes in to report from New Delhi.
In comments ahead of the trip, von der Leyen said it was an “immense honor” and “clear statement of political intent” that she and Costa are the first EU institution heads invited as “chief guests” to the national celebrations. (Here’s some footage of what to expect.)
Top-level access: The Commission president hailed the EU-India Summit as a “breakthrough,” with the European Union set to “gain the highest level of access ever granted to a trade partner in the traditionally protected Indian market” and a “significant competitive advantage in key industrial and agri-food sectors.”
Top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas is also in New Delhi, where she will sign a defense and security partnership centered on maritime security, counterterrorism and cyber defense — the other major plank of a series of agreements that Indian media is calling a “megadeal.”
Von der Leyen, speaking to the Times of India ahead of the trip, cast closer cooperation with India as a bulwark against an “increasingly volatile world, from the battlefields of Ukraine to the troubled waters of the Indo-Pacific,” while sidestepping the question of India’s neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine war.
After an official welcome on Sunday featuring traditional dances, portraits lining the city’s main roads and an Indian military band playing “Ode to Joy” — the EU’s official anthem — von der Leyen and Costa head into the New Delhi visit under heightened security, Camille reports.
Why this matters: The EU is working to diversify its trading and defense relationships amid strained relations with Donald Trump’s administration and Beijing. A deal with New Dehli would boost EU trade and defense ties with a country of 1.4 billion people that has historically leaned toward Russia. It would also give the bloc’s export-hungry defense manufacturers a much-needed shot in the arm.
U.S. sidelined: The Trump administration has stalled its own trade deal with India, imposing 50 percent tariffs on the country last August. The two sides are still negotiating a deal, but it looks far off.
Unsticking key points: The EU wants India to cut tariffs on cars, while New Delhi wants guarantees that its steel exports won’t be affected by upcoming EU tariffs on steel as well as the bloc’s carbon border tax. Negotiators were still going through those sticking points on Sunday, but those issues are expected to be resolved by Tuesday, with India slated to reduce car tariffs and the EU offering additional decarbonization support to Indian companies, Camille reports.
The tricky part: Agriculture is a live-wire issue for both sides, with products like beef, poultry, rice and sugar to be excluded from tariff cuts. Duties on European wine, spirits and olive oil are expected to drop dramatically heading into India — which explains why agri-focused countries like France and Ireland are likely to go along.
Muscling in: Another key deliverable from this visit is the EU-India Security and Defense Partnership, which focuses on integrating European and Indian defense industries, per an EU official. The hope is that India, which has traditionally bought weapons from Russia, will double down on recent weapons purchases from Europe, including purchases of Dassault Rafale fighter jets from France.
The bottom line: After the Greenland crisis and setbacks on both the Mercosur and EU-U.S. trade agreements, Brussels needs a geopolitical win. India offers that opportunity, plus the promise of glam visuals from the Republic Day parade for Europe’s top officials. But there’s still plenty to do before this “megadeal” becomes a reality. And Europe has a track record of tripping over itself.
U.S. TRADE DEAL
TO FREEZE OR UNFREEZE: TheEU Parliament’s international trade committee meets at 3 p.m. to decide whether to unfreeze the bloc’s trade agreement with the U.S., following Donald Trump’s de-escalation on his Greenland annexation threats after a deal with NATO’s Mark Rutte, Max Griera writes in to report.
Pressure is high: EU leaders made clear during the extraordinary European Council last week that they were eager to push the transatlantic deal as they seek to smooth over relations with Washington following the Greenland clash.
Lawmaker pushback: Parliament President Roberta Metsola said last week she would push to get the deal moving again. The European People’s Party’s lead negotiator on the file, Željana Zovko, said that she was ready to vote to move forward. But the Socialists and Democrats, the liberals of Renew Europe and the Greens have thrown cold (freezing?) water on the idea of unfreezing the deal.
More than words: The three groups argued that lawmakers need time to assess whether work should resume or not, as “too many details are still missing” on the Trump-NATO Greenland deal, Renew said in a post on X. The S&D’s Iratxe García said “words are not enough” and Parliament should “refrain from rushing into measures taken without proper reflection.” Her group wants more details on the deal before moving forward.
Under fire: The S&D and Greens have lambasted Metsola on social media, after the Parliament president said at the leaders’ summit she attended last week that she would try to move forward on the U.S. deal. She made the statement without consulting other political groups, according to two officials from S&D and Renew.
UKRAINE PROSPERITY PLAN
FEARS OVER ACCESSION LINK: A document circulated ahead of last week’s EU summit — scooped by POLITICO on Friday — lays out an $800 billion postwar plan for Ukraine, with a solid U.S. involvement. But it wasn’t the plan’s price tag that made some EU leaders uneasy.
Baked in: One section of the 18-page document ties Ukraine’s EU accession tightly to the reconstruction plan itself. And that link— rather than the financing — hasn’t gone down well in some capitals. “There wasn’t much of a discussion afterwards, but a number of leaders did raise concern over the part about EU accession,” one EU diplomat told Playbook’s Gerardo Fortuna.
Coupling concerns: The document describes a “fast-track” EU accession process as a key anchor for Ukraine’s reform agenda through 2027. However, many leaders warned of “unforeseen complications for the Union” if reconstruction and enlargement are formally coupled.
Another diplomat downplayed the scale of the pushback last Friday, saying the objections came “from a pair of voices,” both noting that such a linkage “had never been discussed” at leaders’ level. One raised the issue of merit-based accession; the other reiterated a long-standing, principled opposition to further enlargement.
GREENLAND
COMMISSIONER HEADS TO COPENHAGEN: In the wake of diplomatic crisis over Greenland, International Partnerships Commissioner Jozef Síkela is in Denmark today to announce EU investments for the island and meet with top officials, including Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, his office tells Playbook.
“We are preparing a substantial investment package that improves everyday life in Greenland and reinforces our own firm support for Greenlanders’ right to decide their own future,” the Czech commissioner said in written comments.
Turbine time: Details of the investment package will be unveiled during the trip. Per an EU official, the commitment is likely to build on an EU-Greenland partnership announced in January that funnels money toward renewable energy (wind turbines — Trump’s favorites!); connectivity; and the Amitsoq graphite venture, an EU “strategic project” focused on supplying the defense and EV industries.
The EU plans to more than double its investments into Greenland in its next long-term budget to more than €500 million, building on its backing for existing projects such as the Malmbjerg mine. With Copenhagen remaining under pressure from Donald Trump, Brussels is eager to show that Europe is already investing in Greenland’s economy.
IN OTHER NEWS
MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTINGS: Another fatal shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis over the weekend has inflamed an already furious partisan wrangle over Donald Trump’s crackdown on unauthorized migration. Trump responded to the death of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti with social media posts blaming Democrats for the violence and urging Congress to ban so-called sanctuary cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration efforts. But there’s a growing backlash, as video analysis by The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and others cast doubt on Trump officials’ account of the shooting. Former Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama posted separate statements warning that America’s core values and freedoms are under assault.
European Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera reposted Obama’s statement on BlueSky, saying: “A wake up call to anyone supporting democracy, freedoms and civil rights.” But far-right Polish MEP Dominik Tarczyński, harshly criticized by fellow lawmakers for posting approvingly after the killing of Renée Good earlier this month, did it again after Pretti was shot. “Good Job ICE!” he said on X.
WIND IN THEIR SAILS: Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen will be in Hamburg this morning to sign a clean-energy security pact with U.K. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband during the North Sea Summit. They’re pledging to deliver 100 gigawatts of offshore wind power through joint projects to help reduce dependency on fossil fuels. The pair have penned a joint POLITICO op-ed setting out their case for clean energy.
THE FIVE TOUGHEST JOBS IN BRUSSELS: Jacopo Barigazzi casts his eye over the Brussels firmament and names the five officials who currently have the hardest jobs in town. Find out who made the list (sequels not excluded, applications welcome).
WHY SO GLUM, EUROPE? Nearly two-thirds of European respondents to a FGS Global poll shared exclusively with POLITICO said the “best years are behind us” (63 percent), while 77 percent believe life in their country “will be harder for the next generation.” The poll surveyed more than 11,000 people across 23 EU countries in November, Marion Solletty and Júlia Vadler report.