PM Mitsotakis to North Macedonia: European path to remain shut if challenges to Prespa Agreement continue
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis conveyed a new message to the new leadership of North Macedonia during his tour in Florina, just a few kilometers from the border with the neighboring country, on Tuesday.
Tripoli protests prospecting south of Crete
The interim government of Tripoli claims Greece is conducting illegal prospecting south of Crete in areas it says are under Libya’s jurisdiction.
Androulakis: We must unite our forces to make the democratic party strong again
“Let us unite our forces, our concerns and hopes to build a common democratic home for a strong and fair Greece, within a Europe of solidarity,” opposition PASOK-KINAL party leader Nikos Androulakis urged voters during a campaign speech in the city of Larissa, ahead of the European Parliament elections on June 9.
Konstantopoulou, Varoufakis reject overture from SYRIZA leader
Two minor left-wing parties have both rejected an overture by main opposition SYRIZA leader Stefanos Kasselakis ahead of the European Parliament elections in June.
ATHEX: Stock market yields a bit of ground
The Greek stock market took a step back on Tuesday after its Monday rally that had seen it register a new 13-year record high for its benchmark above 1,500 points. Non-bank blue chips appeared to suffer most of the pressure, while banks and the industrial stocks of the Viohalco group fared comparatively better on the day, which also saw increased turnover.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1239328/athex-stock-market-yields-a-bit-of-ground
KATHIMERINI: Parties fight for the 12,5% of the “grey zone”
TA NEA: Submarine competition between Greece and Turkey
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Direct award of state contracts using the money of the unemployed
AVGI: The government rejects the reduction of food VAT yet again
RIZOSPASTIS: The Greek Communist Party’s university fraction must win today’s elections
KONTRA NEWS: Judicial thriller regarding the Spartans party
DIMOKRATIA: The Minister of Health is “killing” healthcare
NAFTEMPORIKI: RRF model for CAP and Cohesion Fund
PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD
SPAIN AND IRELAND TO RECOGNIZE PALESTINIAN STATE TODAY: The governments of Spain and Ireland will today move to recognize Palestinian statehood, in an announcement coordinated with at least one other country, according to officials.
In Spain: Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will put forward the proposal this morning in parliament, speaking from 9 a.m.
In Ireland: The announcement will be made during an 8 a.m. press conference (9 a.m. Brussels and Madrid time) by the leaders of Ireland’s three-party government: Prime Minister Simon Harris, Foreign Minister Micheál Martin and Environment Minister Eamon Ryan, my colleague Shawn Pogatchnik reports from Dublin.
Others could join: It’s still unclear whether Belgium, Slovenia, Malta or Norway will join today, after a first statement in March on the sidelines of an EU summit. The four countries all expressed support for the move at different stages, but haven’t committed to a timeline, except Norway, which said it would recognize Palestine this spring.
The mystery third: Ireland’s move today was expected to be coordinated with at least two other European governments, an Irish official told Shawn last night. The most likely scenario is for Madrid, Dublin and Oslo to charge ahead today, while others such as Belgium could join later.
Pioneers: Sweden is the only country so far to have recognized Palestine while being a member of the EU. Some EU countries (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Hungary, Malta, Romania, Poland and Slovakia) took the step before joining the Union.
The EU itself and big countries such as Germany and France have “representative offices” (instead of embassies) in Ramallah and support the Palestinian authority financially.
Israeli veto: The U.S. and other EU countries argue that they would recognize Palestine as part of a two-state solution agreed with Israel — de-facto giving the country’s government a veto. PM Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear he would oppose a two-state solution.
Paris on the fence: In February, Emmanuel Macron said recognizing a Palestinian state was “not a taboo for France,” adding “we owe it to the Palestinians whose aspirations have been trampled for too long.” But Macron so far has not joined the group of “like-minded” EU leaders who want their countries to recognize Palestine today.
Last week, 500 intellectuals signed a letter to Macron, calling for France to recognize the Palestinian state.
CHINA-EU TRADE WAR
CAR TARIFFS ARE COMING: As Playbook first scooped almost a year ago, Brussels is preparing to slap tariffs on Chinese electric cars — with an announcement imminent in the next two weeks.
Get ready for retaliation: The closer the date comes, the louder and more detailed Beijing is getting in its retaliation threats.
Pre-election bombshell: While the official deadline for Europe’s anti-subsidy investigation is early July, the Commission must inform affected parties four weeks in advance, which would be around June 5 — with the EU election being held June 6-9.
Germany probably won’t fight it: Despite all the warnings about protectionism and a looming trade war, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and top German officials have realized that they can’t stop the EU from slapping tariffs on Chinese electric cars, as my colleagues Hans von der Burchard and Julia Wacket report.
Since trade is an exclusive EU competence, countries can only stop Brussels with a qualified majority (meaning at least 55 percent of member countries representing at least 65 percent of the EU population).
What’s more, Berlin is not unanimously opposed: Some in the government are less critical than the chancellor about a measure which, while likely to hurt big car groups, may be the only way for EU industry to catch up and incentivize investment and production on the Continent.
Exhibit A: This study by German insurer Allianz found Chinese electric vehicles posed the greatest risk to Europe’s automakers and could cost them €7 billion a year in profits unless the EU imposes reciprocal tariffs.
CHINA THREATENS PORSCHES AND SUVs: In an escalation of the fight, China is threatening to ramp up its tariffs on cars with big combustion engines — German carmakers’ cash cows.
Targeting France and Germany: Beijing previously launched an anti-dumping investigation against types of brandy (such as Cognac and Armagnac), in a retaliation that would hurt French luxury liquor companies such as LVMH.
Warning from Beijing: The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU (founded by three Chinese state-owned enterprises) said in a statement to the press on Tuesday evening that it had been “informed by insiders that China may consider increasing temporary tariff rates on imported cars equipped with large-displacement engines.”
25 percent spoiler: “China could raise its temporary tariff rate on imported large-engine vehicles to a maximum of 25 percent,” the Brussels-based China Chamber warned. The statement alluded to a similar threat in the government mouthpiece Global Times, which argued China should raise its tariff on cars with engines larger than 2.5 liters — such as big SUVs and Porsche sports cars.
Regular reminder: The incoming trade war also highlights a bitter truth: the West has been resting on its laurels for too long. While Beijing has been pumping billions into innovations, industry bosses in Europe kept squeezing an old technology while arguing the market would solve it. Now they’re playing catch-up with China’s more advanced battery tech.
ROAD TO EU ELECTION
MACRON’S RUINOUS CAMPAIGN: Emmanuel Macron is trying to persuade voters to support his pro-EU vision for a strong Union with France at its center. But he’s fighting an uphill struggle, with Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally consolidating its substantial lead in the polls. And that was before a spate of teen killings, drug-related shootings, a heightened terror threat and deadly protests in New Caledonia took over the airwaves.
POLITICO’s Victor Goury-Laffont reports on the perfect storm of events that have effectively blocked Macron’s camp from making a big push on their pro-EU credentials.
But it’s not all smooth sailing for Europe’s far right. The Identity and Democracy group in the European Parliament is facing a split, after embattled AfD lead candidate Maximilian Krah told La Repubblica he would “never say that anyone who wore an SS uniform was automatically a criminal.” National Rally said in response that it won’t sit alongside the AfD in the next European Parliament (without specifying what that meant for its own membership of ID), while the Danish People’s Party’s Anders Vistisen called on the AfD to “get rid of Krah” or leave ID. Full details here.
LIBERALS FIGHT EVERYONE IN ELECTION DEBATE: Renew Europe MEP Sandro Gozi attacked pretty much everyone at last night’s EU election debate, organized by the Bruegel think tank and the Financial Times, which focused on economic policy. At one point, the Italian politician took a swipe at Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, saying the foundering of the capital markets union is “the biggest EPP failure because you have been in charge for five years.” Von der Leyen shot back: “We’ve done our job.”
Recap: Gozi (who is running for Macron’s party in France), also claimed the Socialist & Democrats group “hasn’t cared at all about SMEs” — something S&D leader Nicolas Schmit disputed. And Gozi challenged far-right debater Anders Vistisen when he trashed the EU’s cohesion policy. Overall, Gozi landed more zingers than fellow lead Renew candidate Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann did in April’s POLITICO Maastricht debate. In contrast, Schmit and von der Leyen did not openly criticize each other, despite some light skirmishes about the EPP’s commitment to the Green Deal.
VDL’s pitch: In a corner of the room lurked Björn Seibert, von der Leyen’s campaign adviser, holding a notebook emblazoned with an “Ursula 2024” sticker. On the debate stage, his boss, campaigning for her second five-year term as Commission president, pledged a “leaner” EU budget with less red tape for small businesses, floated a European air defense shield and dodged a question about whether she favored issuing new EU joint debt for defense spending.
More where that came from Thursday: It was a taste of things to come when a similar cast of candidates — minus the far right but with the addition of the Greens and far left — will do battle in the European Parliament in the Eurovision debate on Thursday.
UKRAINE
WEIMAR TRIANGLE MEETS: Annalena Baerbock, Stéphane Séjourné and Radosław Sikorski — the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland — will meet today in the sleepy town of Weimar, in Germany, to talk security and Ukraine.
Pincer movement: It could be especially uncomfortable for Séjourné, whose government has been accused of talking more than it delivers on military aid for Ukraine, Hans von der Burchard reports from on the ground in Thuringia.
Security union: The three foreign affairs chiefs broadly agree that Europe must become a “security union” — but now it’s time to spell out what that means financially.
French weapons needed: In Kyiv, Baerbock demanded that EU partners supply more to help protect Ukraine against Russian air strikes. Paris promised air defense missiles last week, but no new launchers. Some observers think it can do better, Hans reports.
Among those urging France to hasten weapons deliveries: Germany’s Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the Free Democratic Party’s top candidate for the upcoming EU election, who told POLITICO’s Gordon Repinski: “We have the problem that, while Poland is doing a lot as a neighboring country, while Germany is doing a lot, France is doing relatively little.”
Ukraine is out of time, Strack-Zimmermann said: “What I expect is that France, precisely because it is an important nation, not only — and I don’t mean this in a negative way — makes big speeches, but also follows up its words with action.”
Strack-Zimmermann also criticized Olaf Scholz, the leader of the three-party coalition government that includes her FDP, for not doing more on Ukraine, including for not sending German-made Taurus cruise missiles to the country. The chancellor has refused to send the missiles even as Germany’s allies have provided similar weapons to Ukraine, arguing it could draw Germany into war with Russia.
Now read this: Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelenskyy sat down for an interview with the New York Times, in which he called for the U.S. to lift its ban on Kyiv’s forces using American-supplied weapons to strike targets inside Russia. Here’s a transcript.
IN OTHER NEWS
END OF AN ERA — KLAUS SCHWAB TO STEP DOWN FROM WEF: Klaus Schwab will step down as executive chairman of the World Economic Forum by January, WEF announced Tuesday. Schwab will instead become the chairman of the WEF’s board of trustees. The FT reports Børge Brende, the president of the WEF executive board and a former foreign minister of Norway, will take over from Schwab.
SPACE SUMMIT KICKS OFF TODAY: Rockets and satellites are top of the agenda today, as ministers responsible for space policy convene in Brussels for a rare joint meeting of the European Space Agency and the EU’s Competitiveness Council. Pro subscribers can read more in this morning’s defense newsletter.
HOGWARTS FOR DIPLOMATS: EU countries on Tuesday formally established the European Union Diplomatic Academy (EUDA), which will train diplomats and officials to develop a true European diplomatic corps that thinks beyond national boundaries. Playbook first reported on the initiative last year. External relations will be a particular area of focus.
VENICE COMMISSION VERDICT ON GEORGIA’S PROPOSED ‘FOREIGN AGENT’ LAW: It’s anti-democratic and could be used to silence critical voices, the Council of Europe’s top constitutional law body warned Tuesday. The U.S. and several EU countries are pushing for sanctions against Georgia if it pushes ahead with the law.