GSEE stages 24-hour strike; public transportation affected
Public transportation in Athens will come to a partial halt on Wednesday, April 17, as a 24-hour nationwide strike has been called by the private sector General Confederation of Employees of Greece (GSEE).
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/812441/GSEE-stages-24-hour-strike-public-transportation-affected
Journalists strike over lack of collective labor agreements
Greek journalists are holding a 24-hour strike which started on Tuesday to protest the employers’ refusal to sign collective labor agreements in privately owned media, low wages and a threat to plurality, their unions said.
Greece plans 2 marine protected areas. But rival Turkey and environmental groups aren’t impressed
Greece aims to create two large marine parks as part of a 780-million-euro ($830 million) program to protect biodiversity and marine ecosystems, with the plans to be announced at an international oceans conference starting in Athens on Tuesday. But the plan has irked Greece’s neighbor and regional rival, Turkey, while environmental organizations say the initiative doesn’t go far enough, noting that the country also allows environmentally harmful practices such as energy exploration in sensitive marine environments.
Due to the 24-hour strike launched yesterday by journalists there is no newspaper circulation today
EU SUMMIT TIME
EU CONSUMED BY MIDDLE EAST, WHILE UKRAINE IS LOSING WAR: EU leaders meet today and tomorrow for a summit originally meant to be focused on the economy — with two conflicts competing for their attention.
But: There is one international conflict — Ukraine — where EU leaders can make a difference, and another — Iran-Israel — where they most likely can’t.
On the Middle East: As Playbook reported, EU leaders will call for cool heads and vow to sanction Iran. The latest draft conclusions, sent by Charles Michel’s team to diplomats last night and seen by Playbook, call on “all parties” to exercise “utmost restraint” and make a plea to avoid a greater conflagration in Lebanon.
Iran sanctions: The latest draft also has EU leaders promising more sanctions against Iran’s production of drones and missiles — but as Playbook pointed out, such sanctions are largely symbolic as Iran is a pro at circumventing Western sanctions.
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Retaliation: The U.S. believes Israel is planning a “narrow and limited strike” inside Iran, sources told CNN. “There’s no guarantee they will give us a heads-up, and they know when they give us a heads-up we’re likely to again register our objection to whatever they’re about to conduct,” a U.S. administration official said. “Any additional move now opens up a series of other possibilities, some of which are quite frightening,” they said.
Gaza: Amid the escalation between Iran and Israel, EU leaders will recall that millions of people in Gaza are still suffering, many of them close to starvation. They’ll call again for “an immediate ceasefire” and “unhindered humanitarian aid at scale for Palestinians in need,” according to the draft from last night, seen by Playbook.
A lot of talk, little effect: But as officials and diplomats conceded, with the EU divided on the Middle East, the decisive factor will be Washington, Israel’s main security guarantor.
WHAT ABOUT UKRAINE? To Kyiv’s closest allies in the EU, the West’s highly effective aerial defense of Israel over the weekend exposed a double standard. Why, they asked, can the West defend Israel’s skies, but not Ukraine’s?
Ammo and missiles: EU leaders will vow to “urgently provide air defence to Ukraine and to speed up and intensify the delivery of all the necessary military assistance, including artillery ammunition and missiles,” according to the latest draft conclusions from last night.
Scoop: Germany launches air defense coalition: Germany’s Foreign Affairs Minister Annalena Baerbock and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius are launching an “Immediate Action on Air Defence” initiative to persuade partners in NATO and beyond to send urgently needed air defense systems to Ukraine, German government officials told Playbook.
Defend Ukrainian skies: Berlin sent a third Patriot system to Ukraine on Saturday — and now wants countries around the world that have workable air defense systems to send them to the country as well.
No time to lose: Vladimir Putin has arguably never been closer to his goal. The West’s failure to sufficiently support Ukraine is putting Russia on course for victory, POLITICO’s opinion editor Jamie Dettmer reports from Kyiv.
LETTA’S REPORT: Enrico Letta is presenting his report on revamping the single market to EU leaders tomorrow. Playbook previously told you what was in it, full report for you here. The 147-page document will give leaders lots to discuss. Expect disagreements on subsidies and joint borrowing.
MORE ON RUSSIA-UKRAINE
ALLIES TELL BELGIUM’S TAXMAN TO KEEP ITS HANDS OFF RUSSIAN ASSETS: “Western officials of the coalition supporting Ukraine are growing increasingly frustrated with Belgium’s proposal to withhold 25 percent of the windfall profits from Russian sovereign assets under its own domestic taxation authorities,” a G7 government official told my POLITICO Pro Financial Services colleagues.
Belgium hits back: The Belgian government disagrees. “Nothing goes to the Belgian treasury. Forty-nine percent of this amount goes to military equipment. Among other things, there is the €200 million to the Czech initiative,” to jointly buy weapons for Ukraine, a Belgian government official wrote in a statement. “Further spending goes to the reception of Ukrainian refugees, humanitarian and medical aid, reconstruction aid.”
Wait a minute: Last time we checked, reception of refugees, humanitarian and medical aid were all things that are usually financed by a country’s treasury!
Want to know more? My colleague Gregorio Sorgi has the full story here for Defense and Financial Services pro subscribers.
RUSSIA IS ALREADY TESTING NATO’S EASTERN FLANK, SAYS ESTONIA: Russia is already testing NATO on its Eastern flank, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told POLITICO’s Jacopo Barigazzi. “We see it daily, we see it on the hybrid level” he said. And not just the level of disinformation that “is everywhere. We see it at the cyber level constantly.”
Largest attack: A couple of weeks ago we had “the largest cyber attack against the Estonian government domains” he said. It’s especially damaging in country that boasts that 98 percent of public services are online. Russian hacker groups took credit for the attack, said Tsahkna.
TRANSPARENCY
EUROPEAN COURT OF AUDITORS SLAMS EU LOBBYING RULES: The court will today publish an audit warning that EU transparency rules have much room for improvement.
Paper tiger: “The EU transparency register must be bolstered so that it doesn’t turn into a paper tiger,” said Jorg Kristijan Petrovič, the the ECA member who led the audit. A paper tiger, our research reveals, is something that looks scary but is in fact harmless.
Public Eye: “A range of lobbying interactions with EU lawmakers can be hidden from the public eye, thus reducing transparency and affecting public trust.”
Frosty reception for investigations: The European Ombudsman earlier this year ruled that the transparency register’s secretariat had failed to carry out meaningful investigations and was therefore guilty of maladministration.
Sharks in the fish tank: “The fact is that lobbyists have to register only for certain meetings and activities,” the Court warns, arguing organizations have been allowed host events in EU institutions without being registered, such as the NGO at the center of Qatargate.
No teeth to enforce the rules: The auditors also warn that “enforcement measures… to ensure that lobbyists comply with” transparency obligations “fall short.”
ROAD TO EU ELECTION
BIGGER, BOLDER DISINFO ON FACEBOOK: A well-known disinformation network is growing on Facebook by pushing pro-Kremlin narratives with ads purchased through fake accounts, just weeks ahead of Europe’s major election in June, according to an investigation shared exclusively with POLITICO.
First exposed in 2022, and later sanctioned by the EU, the Russian campaign Doppelganger has continued to influence Europeans online and was flagged by French and German authorities in recent months.
Active and growing: New research by not-for-profit research group AI Forensics showed the operation is not only active but growing, reaching five to 10 times more people than previously thought.
Nearly 4,000 sponsored messages undermining Ukraine in its war against Russia’s invaders, and undermining EU governments, were pushed by thousands of fake Facebook pages coordinated by the Doppelganger network between August 2023 and March 31, 2024. Such messages were seen by at least 38 million users in Germany and France.
Does Facebook care? Researchers said Facebook has inadequately clamped down on the coordinated influence campaign as part of a larger failure to police political ads, sponsored messages enabling advertisers to target specific demographics and countries to influence their views on current events.
Facebook’s parent company Meta rejected the findings and said the company is continuously detecting and removing Russian disinformation accounts.
The findings comes as European authorities are warning about a rise in foreign information manipulation ahead of the EU elections on June 6-9.
Disinformation is everywhere: France is “being overwhelmed with propaganda and disinformation,” French minister for European affairs Jean-Noël Barrot said Tuesday. “In the past six weeks, there [has] not been one week without a coordinated disinformation campaign affecting France.”
Technology and cybersecurity Pros can read more in Clothilde’s story, out this morning.
OTHER NEWS
COPENHAGEN STOCK EXCHANGE FIRE: Leaders across Europe expressed their solidarity with Denmark after a fire destroyed one of Copenhagen’s best-known historical buildings. Many compared it to the fire in Notre Dame cathedral. “It is really sad,” Commission VP Margrethe Vestager said, adding that “400 years of history” had gone up in flames.