Sea drone probe strains relations with Kyiv
Greek authorities are investigating an unmanned surface vessel of Ukrainian technology found off Lefkada, in what officials described as a serious development with potential implications for security, shipping and relations with Kyiv. The Magura-type sea drone, carrying explosives and indications it had participated in a strike mission, was transferred Saturday to facilities of the Underwater Demolition Command at Skaramagas. Government officials confirmed reports that the drone was intended to target a vessel from Russia’s “shadow fleet” or a ship transporting Russian oil.
Proposed new planning framework for tourism
The ministers of tourism, Olga Kefalogianni; and environment and energy, Stavros Papastavrou, presented on Monday the proposed Special Spatial Planning Framework for Tourism focusing on sustainable development, destination resilience, and protecting the country’s natural and cultural assets. Among its key priorities is the spatial rebalancing of tourism activity, aimed at reducing pressure on saturated destinations while highlighting new, alternative, and thematic tourism destinations.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1303458/proposed-new-planning-framework-for-tourism
Party leaders’ wealth declarations released
The wealth declarations of party leaders for 2025 were published on Monday along with those of other public officials. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis declared €81,674 in income, mainly from his parliamentary role and property rentals. PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis reported €58,042 in income, €58,393 in 16 bank accounts, and properties in Crete, Athens and Belgium, and one car. Androulakis subsequently clarified that his deposits in foreign banks were inadvertently, “and due to obvious negligence on the part of my accountant,” not included in his most recent wealth declaration, despite appearing in all similar declarations over the past decade.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1303420/party-leaders-wealth-declarations-released
Terms extended for 3 Greek judges at European Public Prosecutor’s Office
The terms of the three Greek special European prosecutors were unanimously extended by two years on Monday, following a vote by the 11-member Supreme Judicial Council of Civil and Criminal Justice at the Supreme Court. It should be noted that in November 2025, the College of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) had renewed the three terms by five years, which had led to complaints by the judges and prosecutors at the Supreme Court. They claimed that only the Council had the right to renew their terms according to the Greek constitution and legislation.
ATHEX: Corporate action takes center stage
As expected, Fitch Ratings affirmed the ‘BBB’ credit rating for Greece last Friday, leaving no mark on proceedings at Monday’s bourse session at Athinon Avenue. Instead, it was a number of corporate moves anticipated that will likely leverage some foreign funds, benefitting the entire market, with energy stocks being at the heart of the action expected. Meanwhile, the flow of first-quarter financial results continues, giving an uneven look to the market in several cases.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1303474/athex-corporate-action-takes-center-stage
KATHIMERINI: Caps on Airbnb activity via the new spatial planning for tourism
TA NEA: New spatial planning: Caps and incentives
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: EU is divided regarding the apartheid in Palestine
RIZOSPASTIS: From Evros to Creta: Shutdown military bases! No involvement in the war!
KONTRA NEWS: Tsipras begins his journey with the people as his ally
DIMOKRATIA: White-washing of politicians’ origin-of-wealth declarations
NAFTEMPORIKI: Bundle of measures for the support of SMEs
DRIVING THE DAY
WHO WILL BE THE NEXT EEAS CHIEF? We told you she’s leaving. Now we can tell you who’s in the frame to replace her.
Where next? We can also break the news this morning that when Belén Martínez Carbonell leaves her post as secretary-general of the European External Action Service, the EU’s foreign policy wing, she’ll head to Mexico to lead the bloc’s delegation there.
So what? Carbonell’s looming departure kicks off a succession race for a critical role in the EU system at a time of institutional friction between Ursula von der Leyen’s European Commission and Kaja Kallas’ EEAS.
Now or never: “Either we rescue it and work out what we want to do, or it will crash,” a senior EU diplomat said of the EEAS.
How we know: This section of Playbook is based on conversations that my colleague Jacopo Barigazzi and I had with four senior EU officials and diplomats. All were granted anonymity to discuss staffing issues.
Key context: Carbonell told colleagues she was ready to move on after less than two years in the job and following a spat between the Commission and the EEAS over a failed attempt to recruit a deputy for her. (Martin Selmayr, former Commission secretary-general and head of cabinet to ex-Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, was lined up.)
So, who fits the bill? Several insiders described a need for an experienced administrator, ideally from a large member state, who can manage more than 5,000 staffers and has the diplomatic ability to mend fences with EU capitals. “There is an alienation between member states and the EEAS,” said the senior EU official. “It’s unclear how to fix this.”
Runners and riders: Among the profiles cited as potential fits are Simon Mordue, a British-Irish official who previously worked at the EEAS before becoming diplomatic adviser to von der Leyen. But officials suggested there is little chance he would leave a key job at the Commission to return to the EEAS.
Also floated: Patrick Child, deputy director-general in DG ENV, who previously held senior roles at the EEAS; and Koen Doens, currently director general of DG INTPA. (None of the people mentioned have said they are candidates or interested in the job.)
Eyes on France: But these names raise questions about how it would look replacing Carbonell, a woman from southern Europe, with a man from northern Europe. Hence the interest in an official from France, which has emerged as a key defender of the EEAS against the Commission. Charles Fries, who’s currently the institution’s deputy secretary-general, is one possible successor.
Fries ticks several boxes, but working against him is the fact that Thérèse Blanchet, secretary-general of the Council, is also French. Having two powerful sec-gens from the same country would raise eyebrows.
What the EEAS needs now is “saving,” according to the senior EU official. Unless member countries inject more political capital and give it a clearer direction, the diplomatic service risks losing more staff and powers to the Commission, that official said.
Takeaway: Filling a job like secretary-general of the EEAS is a diplomatic and political high-wire act. But pulling it off may be vital to the institution’s survival.
BIG AND BREAKING
HOT OFF THE PRESS: EU legislators agreed on a new law to tackle drug shortages, including through controversial “made-in-EU” procurement criteria, shortly before Playbook went to pixel, our health reporter Claudia Chiappa writes in to report.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: French Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad says Paris will not bow to pressure to conclude the EU’s budget negotiations by the end of 2026.
ROAD TRIP: As Friedrich Merz’s popularity plunges to new lows, the German chancellor is traveling the country to persuade people things remain on the right track — but it’s not going well.
TRUMP TACTICS: Social media campaigns claiming wind power is causing cancer and poisoning drinking water are surging across Europe, spreading U.S.-style distrust of renewables to a side of the Atlantic traditionally in favor of clean energy.
OSLO’S OPPORTUNITY: Iceland’s upcoming referendum on EU membership offers Norway a chance to put the issue back on its own political agenda.
EXPORTING REPRESSION: The EU is “looking the other way” as authoritarian states like Azerbaijan and Rwanda use surveillance tech made by its companies to spy on critics, Human Rights Watch says in a report out this morning.
MIDDLE POWERS UNITE!
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW — CANADIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS GOVERNMENTS MUST STICK TOGETHER: Anita Anand became the latest Canadian politician to travel to Europe as Ottawa embraces the EU as a hedge against U.S. volatility. In a sign of the extraordinary state of global politics at the moment, Anand attended yesterday’s Foreign Affairs Council and met NATO chief Mark Rutte. She spoke to Playbook’s Zoya Sheftalovich about Canada’s shifting geopolitical strategy, dubbed the “Carney Doctrine,” after the country’s prime minister, Mark Carney.
Time to step up: Anand’s latest trip comes after she joined Carney on his jaunt to Yerevan for the European Political Community summit last week. “In a world where hegemons are vacating the space, either in the global economy or in defense and security, middle powers like Canada need to step up,” Anand said, explaining why her government was racking up the transatlantic frequent flyer miles.
Unique opportunity: Anand said she was “very excited” to “put forward some of Canada’s key foreign policy concerns from Ukraine to the Arctic, to supply chains, including the Strait of Hormuz.”
Arctic activity: Anand pointed to Canada’s new consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, as “a prime example of middle power coalitions in action.” The consulate’s February opening coincided with a renewed threat from Donald Trump to take the Danish autonomous territory. (Washington has been quietly progressing negotiations about increasing its military presence there, the BBC reported overnight.)
“We’re standing with Denmark and Greenland for the principle of territorial integrity and state sovereignty,” Anand said. “We see the Russian threat move closer and closer to the Arctic Circle.”
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Bringing Ukrainian kids home: Anand’s main reason for being in town was to co-host a summit on the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia and to sign up to the International Claims Commission for Ukraine, with Canada becoming the first non-European country to do so.
Top priority: While 2,100 children have been returned to Ukraine, around 20,000 are missing. “We have much more work to do,” she said, calling the issue “absolutely a priority for Canada.” Ottawa last night announced it would sanction an additional 23 individuals and five entities involved in the violations against Ukrainian children.
20-SECOND PLAYBOOK PRIMER
How much money do you get if your flight is delayed (extra important if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed)? Passengers are entitled to €250 for short-haul flights, €400 for medium-haul and €600 for long-haul, if a journey is delayed by at least three hours for reasons not defined as extraordinary circumstances. But the Cypriot presidency of the Council of the EU wants to cut by two-thirds the compensation offered for delays of three to five hours, and by one-third for delays of five to seven hours. Compensation for delays over seven hours would not be reduced.
TALK TO PLAYBOOK: On today’s Brussels Playbook Podcast, Zoya asked for your favorite EU politics influencers. WhatsApp us on +32 491 050629 and listen from 7 a.m. to hear if we give you a shoutout.
INFLUENCER OPERATIONS
NOT LIKING AND SUBSCRIBING: EU countries aren’t wholly convinced by the idea of inviting “influencers” into EU buildings during tense late-night European Councils, five diplomats briefed on the initiative told Mari Eccles and Zia Weise.
OK, boomer: There was a “lukewarm” reaction at a recent working party, a gathering of national technical experts, said one diplomat. “It was a lot like the classic dynamic where the boomer in the room thinks he is pitching a very novel and interesting idea and the others more or less kill it with questions,” the diplomat told Zia. “I do not see how a TikToker will understand what EUCO is about,” another told Mari.
Soft launch: From July, the Council will allow content creators to the fringes of high-security European Councils and ministerial meetings in Brussels and Luxembourg, as part of a one-year pilot project. It will be up to countries to decide how they want to define an influencer. (We could give them a few pointers.) “I guess we see the value in this to reach a broader target group — beyond traditional media,” one less-skeptical diplomat told Mari.
Getting the ick: You won’t be surprised to learn that more traditional reporters aren’t happy with the plan. “Influencers in press conferences and at summits will not have to disclose who pays them,” said Dafydd ab Iago, president of the Brussels-based foreign correspondents’ association API. “By contrast, EU-accredited journalists are not expected to accept payment in return for writing nice stories. It’s sort of called journalistic ethics.”
Only hacks allowed: While the content creators will be offered access to press conferences and the doorsteps where leaders debrief the press, they won’t be able to ask any questions themselves. “Content creators will be accompanied at all times,” a Council official said.
Listen up: German MEP Lukas Sieper — an influencer himself — told Max Griera he is pushing for the European Parliament to organize an “Influencer Summit.” The goal, he said, is for lawmakers to learn from content creators’ experience and “stop misusing them as a marketing tool and start respecting them as the experts and stakeholders they are.”
6 MORE THINGS GETTING US TALKING
ARTIFICIAL SUPPORT: ChatGPT maker OpenAI is in talks with the European Commission to grant EU authorities access to a model capable of identifying software vulnerabilities.
OUT OF TUNE: National broadcasters from Slovenia, Ireland and Spain will not air the Eurovision Song Contest this week, following through on their historic boycott of the music competition over Israel’s participation.
NEW MOVE: EU foreign ministers on Monday formally approved sanctions against Israeli settlers over attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, after Hungary dropped months of opposition following its change of government.
LESSON TIME: Estonia is betting that the future of education won’t be built by keeping artificial intelligence out of classrooms — but by putting it at the center of them.
TIME’S RUNNING OUT: U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has failed to stop disgruntled MPs from plotting his demise — and the contagion is swiftly spreading through the party’s ranks.
UNDER SUSPICION: Ukrainian state anti-corruption agencies have charged Andriy Yermak, the former head of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, with corruption and money laundering, my colleague Veronika Melkozerova in Kyiv reported late last night.