Greek PM seeks to build on better ties in Ankara
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ will highlight the positive steps taken so far in Greek-Turkish relations during his visit to Ankara on Monday, while also expressing his dismay to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the conversion of the Byzantine Chora Monastery into a mosque.
Kasselakis visits Greek ethnic minority towns of Bularat, Dropuli in southern Albania
SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Stefanos Kasselakis met with Dropuli Mayor Dimitris Tolis and the municipal council in southern Albania on Thursday. The main opposition leader is visiting villages and towns of the Greek ethnic minority in the region of Gjirokaster.
Skrekas: ‘Inflation in supermarkets is almost zero’
“The inflation rate for food has eased by approximately 40 percent, namely from a rate of 8.3 percent to a rate of 5 percent at present. Of course, we are not yet at the point we want to be, which is under 2 percent,” Development and Competitiveness Minister Kostas Skrekas stated in an interview with Parapolitika radio on Thursday.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/817422/Skrekas-Inflation-in-supermarkets-is-almost-zero
Extra €11 bln declared in 2023
Declared incomes increased significantly last year, not only thanks to economic growth but also due to improvements in the tax mechanism.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1238282/extra-e11-bln-declared-in-2023
ATHEX: Early losses reverse into fresh gains
Much as traders appeared eager to cash in Wednesday’s stock gains, Athinon Avenue reversed its losses and ended Thursday’s session on a new 13-year high for its benchmark, supported by key blue chips such as Eurobank and Public Power Corporation. Winners and losers on the day ended up in a dead heat. Turnover continued to grow.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1238349/athex-early-losses-reverse-into-fresh-gains
KATHIMERINI: Working pensioners doubled in 4 months
TA NEA: Real estate assets: Less taxes with 20 moves
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: New Democracy’s foreign policy is inconsistent
AVGI: The secret agenda of Finance Minister Hatzidakis
RIZOSPASTIS: Time for the people to make a stand! Everybody support the workers of LARCO
KONTRA NEWS: SYRIZA leader Kasselakis engages in diversion in light of Rama’s visit in Athens
DIMOKRATIA: Triple Waterloo-like defeats for Mitsotakis
NAFTEMPORIKI: 22 interventions in the Public Investment Program
XI EU LATER: China’s President Xi Jinping wraps up his European trip in Hungary today, where he’ll leave behind No. 1 fan PM Viktor Orbán, 16 new cooperation agreements covering everything from cars to nuclear energy and a cool €16 billion in investment.
Bromance pays off: Today, Xi and Orbán are expected to announce a new electric vehicle factory to be built by China’s Great Wall Motor in Hungary’s southern city of Pécs. (That’s in addition to Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD’s first European factory in Szeged). It seems cozying up to Beijing is reaping massive rewards for Orbán, especially when it comes to EVs and batteries, as my colleague Jordyn Dahl reports this morning.
Love letter to Viktor: In an open letter headlined “Embarking on a Golden Voyage in China-Hungary Relations,” published earlier this week in a Hungarian newspaper, Xi lauded a friendship “as mellow and rich as Tokaji wine.” For those playing along at home, that’s the sweet wine from Hungary’s Tokaj region, made from grapes affected by noble rot.
Take that, Emmanuel: “We see each other as a priority partner of cooperation,” Xi continued. “We have gone through hardships together and defied power politics together amid volatile international situations.”
BIG TECH
KIDS’ SCREEN TIME IS THE NEXT FRONTIER FOR DIGITAL REGULATION: Governments around the EU are discussing the next wave of regulation for the digital industry — this time to protect children from harmful, addictive content. France could become the first major country in Europe with strict screen time limits for kids — and is calling for an EU-wide “digital majority age” of 15, our colleagues over at the Morning Tech newsletter report.
Anti-social media: The new push comes amid mounting evidence of the harmful effects of social media and screen addiction. Researchers, health care professionals and teachers have been ringing alarm bells, noting worsening academic performance and creativity, and growing rates of youth loneliness and mental health problems.
Catching up: Several countries in Asia already have screen time limits, including Taiwan, which fines parents who allow their children to circumvent the caps. China has also introduced strict time limits for teens and even tighter ones for younger children.
France inspired: In Paris, the government is talking up ways to curb children’s screen time. President Emmanuel Macron last week received an expert report he’d commissioned, which suggests strict age limits to allow kids to gradually enter the digital world, and totally blocking access to social networks. “Ethical” social networks would be allowed for 15-year-olds up, while all others would remain blocked until they turn 18.
It’s happening: Macron gave his government one month to go through the proposals and “translate them into action,” and has called for a “digital majority” age of 15 to be introduced at the EU level. Children’s online safety is a priority for the French executive, which has been trying for years to force the porn industry to prevent children from accessing inappropriate content. But expect Big Tech to push back. POLITICO’s Océane Herrero has the full story for Tech Pros here.
FOCUS ON THE CAUCASUS
ADIEU, PARIS: Weeks of growing tensions between Tbilisi and the EU over Georgia’s proposed Russia-style foreign agent bill have claimed their most high-profile scalp yet. In a statement Thursday, Georgia’s ambassador to France, Gocha Javakhishvili, announced he would stand down from the post with a veiled swipe at his country’s ruling Georgian Dream party.
Troubled relations: “The current tensions and climate generated by the reincarnated bill in our relations with our foreign friends and partners [in the EU] make my mission as… ambassador of [Georgia] to France and Monaco extremely difficult,” Javakhishvili said on social media. H/t Gabriel Gavin
MEANWHILE, PROTESTS ERUPT IN ARMENIA: Tens of thousands of activists flooded the Armenian capital Yerevan on Thursday, as opposition leaders called for the prime minister to be removed from office over plans he says will bring peace with long-time rival Azerbaijan.
Ultimatum: Protesters warned PM Nikol Pashinyan that “peaceful civil disobedience” would continue if he doesn’t resign. Riot police with metal shields and helmets formed a cordon around Pashinyan’s office, and security authorities warned “illegal behavior that threatens the constitutional order will be neutralized using all the tools defined by the law.” Gabriel, who was on the ground in Yerevan, explains in his report how the protests arose from the simmering conflict with Azerbaijan.
Now read this: Luis Moreno Ocampo, a former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, writes in an opinion piece for POLITICO that the ICC should consider a petition asking it to investigate Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for genocide against Armenians in Armenia.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE
PUTIN’S HOLLOW SHOW OF STRENGTH: Vladimir Putin was treated to a Victory Day military parade in Moscow on Thursday after being sworn in as Russia’s president for a fifth term. Although the deployment of hardware and personnel to Ukraine limited the scale of military power on display, Putin’s bravado was undiminished. In a speech on Red Square, he accused the West of escalating tensions and wanting to “forget the lessons” of World War II, while boasting about Russia’s nuclear might.
But, as Eva Hartog reports, the unified front hailed by Putin and amplified by Russian state media is only part of the story. For many Russians, Victory Day is an excruciating annual reminder of the war in Ukraine and the damage the conflict has done to their country’s reputation — and the devastating impact it has had on many Russian families.
Quietly defiant: Eva spoke to several Russians who defied the threat of repercussions and the brutal Moscow cold to express their opposition to the war. “For me this is not a celebration but a day of mourning,” said a 20-year-old woman whose father has been mobilized to fight in Ukraine. “The essence of this day used to be that there should never be another war … But somehow the exact opposite is happening.”
KREMLIN RESHUFFLE LATEST: Putin has proposed reappointing Mikhail Mishustin as Russia’s prime minister. The Duma will meet today at 2 p.m. Moscow time to discuss the candidacy — though that’s a formality.
SANCTIONS STUMBLING BLOCK: As Playbook mentioned on Wednesday, the European Commission has targeted Russia’s powerful liquefied natural gas industry in its latest package of measures to curb Moscow’s ability to finance its war on Ukraine. In particular, it wants to block re-exports of LNG via EU ports. But the new restrictions may run into an old foe, my colleagues report in today’s POLITICO Pro Morning Energy newsletter.
That’s right, it’s Viktor again: Hungarian foreign ministry spokesman Máté Paczolay hinted Budapest could block the package. “Hungary considers all sanctions affecting the energy sector harmful, as they greatly limit European competitiveness and lead to price increases and supply risks,” Paczolay said.
No skin in the game: Hungary would be virtually unaffected by the proposal being discussed; ports in France and Belgium are by far the biggest purveyors of Russian LNG re-exports.
Now this: The FT has an interesting read this morning on the smuggling trail keeping Russian passenger jets in the air.
ICYMI — METSOLA IN UKRAINE: European Parliament President Roberta Metsola celebrated Europe Day in Ukraine this year, meeting with its President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, and addressing the Verkhovna Rada on Thursday. Details of the visit here.
ISRAEL-GAZA
RAFAH LATEST: Reuters reports that Israel bombarded parts of Rafah this morning after cease-fire talks with Hamas ended with no deal. “If we must, we shall fight with our fingernails,” a defiant Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. The U.N. said over 80,000 people have fled Rafah since Monday.
UK WON’T FOLLOW BIDEN’S LEAD: British Foreign Secretary David Cameron on Thursday said the U.K. is not planning to stop arms exports to Israel if it goes ahead with a full invasion of Rafah, despite the U.S. warning it would do so. Cameron said there is a “fundamental difference” in the countries’ military aid to Israel, because the U.K. issues export licenses to companies. The foreign secretary said he would stick “very closely” to the U.K.’s “rigorous” arms exports procedure, POLITICO’s Dan Bloom reports.
EUROVISION — PROTESTS AGAINST ISRAEL: Saturday’s Eurovision Song Contest final is set to be one of the most politically charged in a long time. Sweden is expecting more than 20,000 people to attend a march against the European Broadcasting Union’s decision to allow Israel to participate in the contest. Thousands attended a rally before Thursday’s semi-final, including climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Can’t escape politics: The EBU argued that Israel shouldn’t be barred from taking part since the competition is apolitical, but that didn’t wash with critics who pointed out that Russia has been excluded because of its war in Ukraine. On Thursday, Belgium’s Flemish-language VRT channel interrupted its semi-final broadcast to display a message from trade unions saying, “We condemn the violations of human rights by the State of Israel.”
EBU under fire: The broadcasting union has attempted to minimize political controversy in the run-up to the final. It banned flags and symbols of organizations and countries that aren’t members, which means Palestinian flags aren’t allowed (though Israeli ones are). Israel’s singer, Eden Golan, was forced to amend the lyrics of a proposed song that referred to the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas. And Irish singer Bambie Thug was ordered to remove body paint displaying a pro-Palestine message. But the EBU’s efforts haven’t mollified the fans outraged at Israel’s actions in Gaza.
IN OTHER NEWS
HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND — CATALONIA VOTES: Catalonia holds a regional election on Sunday, with Carles Puigdemont having another shot (read Aitor Hernández-Morales’ excellent profile of him here). Zia Weise reports on the water politics that are also stirring tempers ahead of the ballot.
HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND — LITHUANIA VOTES: Lithuania is holding a presidential election on Sunday, at a time of heightened anxiety about the Russian threat. The incumbent, Gitanas Nausėda, is favored to win another five-year term, but if he can’t get an outright majority this weekend, there will be a runoff on May 26, the Associated Press reports.
CROATIA MOVES RIGHT: Incumbent Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said his center-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) reached an agreement to form a government with the far-right nationalist Homeland Movement. More here by Una Hajdari.
EU ANTITRUST ENFORCERS SET TO PROBE MICROSOFT’S TEAMS: The European Commission is readying antitrust objections for Microsoft in a probe into how the software giant bundles its video platform Teams with its office software products, my colleague Edith Hancock reports today.
FRIDAY FEATURES: This week on the EU Confidential podcast, the team explores who votes for the European far right — and why … On Westminster Insider, Aggie Chambre explains how to prepare a secret Conservative leadership campaign … and over at the Declassified humor column, Paul Dallison reports that you can blame Brexit for everything now.