Campaigning for Euro elections resumes after Easter break
After the Easter respite, party leaders resume their pre-election campaigns on Tuesday, as we enter the last stretch before the European Parliament elections.
Athens wary of VMRO comeback
The expected victory of the center-right nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party in North Macedonia’s presidential and parliamentary elections is worrying Greek officials, who do not know how far the new government will go towards questioning, or even repudiating, the 2018 Prespes Agreement, which put an end to nearly 30 years of tension between the two countries over the name “Macedonia,” which Greeks considered an outright (mis-) appropriation, not only of the geographical entity but of the heritage of the ancient Greek Kingdom of Macedonia.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1238032/athens-wary-of-vmro-comeback
Jailed neo-Nazi GD deputy leader submits request for early release
Ilias Kasidiaris, the imprisoned former deputy leader of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn group, submitted a request to the judicial authorities for his early release from jail. The news for his request comes days after the head of Golden Dawn, Nikos Michaloliakos, was granted conditional early release after serving part of his sentence for running a criminal organization blamed for violent hate crimes.
Greek unemployment drops to 10.2% in March
Greece’s unemployment rate stood at 10.2% in March 2024, down from the upwardly revised figure of 11.4% in March 2023 and the downwardly revised figure of 10.8% in February 2024, the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) said on Thursday.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1237917/greek-unemployment-drops-to-10-2-in-march
Number of wildfires 22% higher since start of 2024
Greece experienced 3,543 wildfires between January 1 and May 1, a rise of 22% compared to last year’s 2,907 blazes, according to the Fire Service, which is bracing for a very difficult season.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1238036/number-of-wildfires-22-higher-since-start-of-2024
OECD: Foreign Direct Investments in Greece jumped 62% in 2021-2023
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Greece has increased sharply over the last three years compared to the previous period, according to the latest Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report “FDI in Figures”.
KATHIMERINI: Clouds gather over the meeting between Mitsotakis and Erdogan in Ankara
TA NEA: Uproar in the Balkans
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Dangerous cargoes near Kythira
AVGI: Someone has to stop the massacre
RIZOSPASTIS: Israel attacks Rafa: New massacre by the assassine-state
KONTRA NEWS: Global alert regarding the invasion in Rafa
DIMOKRATIA: Submissive diplomacy: Erdogan and Rama toy with Mitsotakis and he does not even react
NAFTEMPORIKI: World trade shines a light on the EU
HAPPENING TODAY: RUSSIA SANCTIONS
HITTING THE GAS: Ambassadors from the EU’s 27 member countries will meet today to discuss a new package of sanctions against Russia — and the focus will be on restricting Moscow’s profits from its lucrative liquefied natural gas industry.
What’s on the table: The European Commission wants to stop EU countries re-exporting Russian LNG after receiving it, as my colleagues Victor Jack, Camille Gijs and Jacopo Barigazzi reported on Monday. It would be the first time Brussels has moved against Russia’s powerful gas sector in response to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Also on the agenda: The package of punitive measures against Russia — the 14th since the invasion — is also expected to include a ban on imports of Russian helium. Ambassadors will also discuss proposed restrictions on European political parties, NGOs and media accepting cash from the Russian government and its proxies. And, as Playbook previewed Tuesday, four media outlets accused of spreading pro-Russian propaganda, including Voice of Europe, are set to be added to the sanctions list. More on all that below. But first, to LNG.
TAKING AIM AT RUSSIA’S GAS EMPIRE … SORT OF: While the EU has banned imports of Russian coal and seaborne crude oil,the Commission isn’t proposing an outright ban on imports of Russian LNG, which countries including Belgium, France and Spain still purchase in large quantities. Instead, it will take action against so-called transshipments of the liquefied fuel via EU ports, as POLITICO reported last month.
Top target: That would particularly affect Russia’s $27 billion Yamal LNG plant in the Siberian far north, which relies on icebreaking tankers to get its fuel out of frozen waters, my colleagues Camille Gijs and Koen Verhelst write in to report. It is then offloaded at EU ports and shipped onward to the rest of the world.
The new sanctions would also bar EU firms from investing in future LNG projects in Russia, which the documents seen by POLITICO say would restrict the sector’s capacity to expand and “thereby limits Russia’s revenues.”
How much will it hurt? The proposed sanctions will neither stop LNG imports nor Russia’s direct shipments to the rest of the world. The Commission’s proposal is expected to hit around a quarter of Russia’s €8 billion in LNG profits, according to this analysis by my colleagues Gabriel Gavin, Victor Jack and Giovanna Coi.
Sanctions on the high seas: The new proposal is also expected to target the “shadow fleet” of vessels carrying Russian crude around the world in violation of a G7 oil price cap. The measures would ban individuals and companies in the EU from providing assistance to these sanctions-busting ships.
Will the proposals be approved? Energy is a sensitive topic in Europe. Until now, the EU has stayed away from penalizing Russian gas because it is such a vital energy source, with several EU countries using it to keep the lights on.
Expect the debate to get spicy: One EU official said a fair amount of “ping-pong” would be needed between the ambassadors and lower-level working groups in the coming days before agreement is reached. “I would expect a lively debate,” the official said.
RUSSIA’S FROZEN ASSETS
BELGIUM CAVING ON RUSSIAN ASSETS: After much pressure from the EU and G7, Belgium has now said it would hand over to Ukraine the billions of euros it collects in tax on the profits from frozen Russian assets — from 2025.
The U-turn could clear the way for an agreement today on a plan to use the interest from Russia’s immobilized assets in Europe — worth between €2.5 billion and €3 billion per year — to buy weapons for Ukraine, Gregorio Sorgi and Barbara Moens write in to report.
Belgian math: Since the body that holds most of those assets, Euroclear, is based in Brussels, the Belgian government is set to take a chunk of the proceeds in corporate tax — annoying its allies. As POLITICO first reported, the U.S. and several EU countries, including Germany, accused Belgium of effectively double-counting its contributions to Ukraine and of using the jointly frozen assets to boost its own budget.
Change of heart: “The Belgian federal government is prepared to consider a voluntary arrangement from fiscal year 2025 onwards with the EU/G7 to transfer the windfall national corporate taxation from frozen Russian sovereign assets,” according to a Belgian government statement seen by POLITICO.
In their defense: Belgium’s government argues that much of the money it collected in tax — about €1 billion out of €1.7 billion — was spent buying weapons for Ukraine and assisting Ukrainian refugees in Belgium. And its officials say other G7 countries are raking in taxes on Russian assets held by their banks without anyone noticing.
Another concession: The fee that Euroclear will charge for handling the assets has been halved to 0.5 percent, which will free up more cash for Ukraine, although some officials question why Euroclear needs to charge even that much.
Hopes for a deal soon: The Belgian Council presidency is keen to get the deal approved today, clearing the way for the EU to send the money to the war-struck country in July. “The chances of finding a consensus … are good,” said an EU diplomat.
But it’s not done yet: Another diplomat said the capitals may need another week to digest the details before rubber stamping the deal.
MORE ON EU-RUSSIA
WHERE THE RUBLE CAN’T GO: The EU is planning to ban European political parties, NGOs and media from accepting cash from the Russian government and its proxies, such as state-owned companies.
Silencing Putin’s voice: As Playbook reported Tuesday, several pro-Kremlin media outlets, including Voice of Europe, which is accused of operating as a Russian disinformation outlet, are also set to be added to the sanctions list.
DON’T GET HOOKED ON HELIUM: The new sanctions package also proposes to block helium imports from Russia. As Koen Verhelst explains here, helium production is a small but growing sector of Russian industry that targets high-tech customers like semiconductor and medical-equipment makers. An import ban could stop the Kremlin’s cash flow from exports taking off.
Missing in action: Strikingly, some oft-discussed goods and ideas that are not in the new sanctions package include a full ban on Russian aluminum and restricting the movement of Russian diplomats within the border-free Schengen zone. Several EU diplomats told our Morning Trade colleagues that opposition among the EU’s governments to those ideas is too steep.
ALSO IN THE EU’S SIGHTS — BELARUS: Since the Kremlin’s vassal state Belarus is pretty much integrated into Russia these days, EU diplomats will once again discuss equalizing sanctions against both countries.
Broad expansion: In a separate proposal, also seen by POLITICO, the Commission proposes to restrict Belarusian exports of gold, oil, gas and diamonds. In the other direction, EU companies will no longer be allowed to sell luxury goods, maritime navigation equipment and goods and tech used in the oil and gas industry to Belarus. EU companies will also be prohibited from providing services to the country and a broader set of dual-use goods will be blocked for export.
Food security: Since Belarus is a major exporter of potash and other fertilizer products, some EU countries are wary that completely blocking its exports could cause food prices in third countries to skyrocket. But the Commission says the restrictions on Belarus will not impact shipments of wheat or fertilizers to “the third countries most in need.” Koen and Jacopo have more here.
NOW READ THIS 1: How the West is helping Ukraine won’t be enough to win, argues Mark T. Kimmitt, a retired U.S. Army brigadier general who has also served as the U.S. assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, in this opinion piece for POLITICO.
NOW READ THIS 2: Eva Hartog has five things to know about Vladimir Putin’s inauguration on Tuesday.
EU-GEORGIA
SWEDEN’S LAST-MINUTE PLEA: Johan Forssell, Sweden’s minister for international development and trade, flew to crisis-hit Georgia on Tuesday. He spoke to lawmakers including embattled Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze as they prepared to vote through the controversial Russian-style “foreign agent” bill. My colleague Gabriel Gavin caught up with Forssell in Tbilisi soon after his meeting with the Georgian PM.
Fury from the fjords: “Sweden is the third-biggest bilateral donor to Georgia,” Forssell pointed out, which makes it one of the main partners of the NGOs, media outlets and campaign groups the legislation targets. He insisted Sweden has no ulterior motive for providing that support — pushing back on Kobakhidze’s claims that the U.S. used NGOs to try to stage a revolution in the country.
“We’re a very friendly nation,” Forssell said. “We haven’t been to war in over 200 years. We’re not supporting Georgia because we want to take over Georgia.”
Go West: “Looking at the polls, there’s very strong support in Georgia for not turning its back on Europe and the Georgian government must respect this,” Forssell added, echoing warnings from Brussels that the foreign agent law would undermine Georgia’s chances of joining the EU, just six months after it was granted candidate status.
The limits of Swedish charm: Forssell said Kobakhidze is sticking to his guns, despite the condemnation from other nations and the unrest among Georgians, who mostly favor joining the EU. The young Georgians determined to stop the ruling Georgian Dream party’s turn toward Russia are not giving up either, and have vowed to continue the protests that have rocked the small country for three weeks.
BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE MALTA
CORRUPTION IN THE SPOTLIGHT: More details have emerged in the investigation into alleged corruption under former Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat that has thrown the country’s political elite into the spotlight. Here’s the latest, courtesy of my colleagues Ben Munster, Carlo Boffa and Geoffrey Smith, and here’s a rundown …
Central Bank of Malta Governor Edward Scicluna is set to face charges of “fraud and misappropriation,” in connection with a privatization deal dating back to his time as finance minister, according to a judicial document seen by Ben.
Privatization debacle: Scicluna and current Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne are to be charged over a 2016 deal to hand over control of three hospitals to Vitals Group Healthcare, which had no prior experience of the business, and which was controlled through a complex network of holding companies. VGH was later found to have failed its obligations.
Bigger picture: Both Scicluna and Fearne — who was recently nominated by current Prime Minister Robert Abela for the next European Commission College — were at the time serving under Muscat, who is now set to become the first former Maltese PM to stand trial. Muscat was PM at the time of the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was among the first to report on the VGH deal.
Fearne denial: “Not every initiative or project I undertook as minister was successful, but I am sure that I always acted in the interest of patients and the country. Above all, absolutely never have I tolerated any breach of the law or ministerial ethics,” Fearne wrote in a statement.
No knowledge: Scicluna declined to comment to my POLITICO Pro Central Banker colleagues on Tuesday. He had testified in a related court case in 2020 that he had not known about the details of side-deals between then-Health Minister Konrad Mizzi and VGH. Mizzi.