EU firefighting support set to arrive in Greece for summer season
A total of 323 firefighters from six European countries will join Greek forces this summer as part of the EU’s Union Civil Protection Mechanism, in what is the largest single deployment in this year’s European firefighting support effort.
EU warns Greece over lack of water strategy
Greece faces a European Court of Justice ruling on Thursday over its failure to complete flood risk management plans required under EU water directives, highlighting the country’s struggles with water management as Europe unveils its new water resilience strategy.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/environment/1271667/eu-warns-greece-over-lack-of-water-strategy
Woman in critical condition after receiving wrong blood transfusion
A 62-year-old woman is in critical condition after being mistakenly given a blood transfusion intended for another patient at Tzaneio Hospital in Piraeus, according to reports. The woman, who was not scheduled to receive a transfusion, reportedly suffered multiple strokes shortly after the procedure on Wednesday morning.
FM Gerapetritis meets Egyptian counterpart Abdelatty: Agreement on safeguarding the rights and legal status of the St Catherine Monastery
Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis met on Wednesday in Cairo with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty to discuss all issues concerning the Monastery of St Catherine in Sinai.
Due to yesterday’s strike of journalists there is no newspaper circulation today.
DRIVING THE DAY: EUROPE UNDER ATTACK
PREPARING FOR THE WORST: The lights go out. The network goes down. Trains stop running and the roads descend into chaos. Europe has gone dark. That’s the apocalyptic emergency that EU ministers are gaming out this morning, meeting to sign off on a cyber crisis management blueprint that would kick in in case of catastrophic systems failures and hacker strikes.
Breaking the code: “The worst-case scenario is an attack on our critical network infrastructure, water, electricity, communal infrastructure,” Polish Secretary of State for Digital Affairs Dariusz Standerski told Playbook ahead of hosting the Council meeting in Luxembourg today. “As Poland, we have about 700 real daily incidents in the cyber sphere. That’s why we’ll propose on the European level this new program of cyber security.”
Troubled waters: According to a draft of the document seen by POLITICO, “geopolitical tensions, conflicts and strategic rivalry” have driven an explosion in the scale and ambition of hostile cyberattacks, posing a direct threat to the EU and to candidate countries like Ukraine and Moldova. The new blueprint will set out responses to large-scale disruption and link up national crisis planning for if and when cross-border incidents occur. Read the full scoop from Antoaneta Roussi and me, for Cybersecurity and Data Protection subscribers.
Show me the money! “Now we’ll have clear instructions on what to do in the case of a mass scale incident,” said Standerski. “I believe that cybersecurity will be even more important for the next budget for the EU and we’ll be a strong advocate of funding it much more than currently — cybersecurity needs investment at the European level, not just in terms of tools and systems but also personnel.”
Can’t come soon enough: In an ironic twist, Playbook can reveal that officials working on Brussels’ plan to safeguard critical infrastructure were waylaid by a critical infrastructure outage of their own. According to two officials, a fire that accidentally broke out during construction work outside the Justus Lipsius building on Monday temporarily knocked out connectivity and even lighting for Council staff inside …
FOREIGN POLICY
TRUMP-MERZ SHOW FIZZLES: What could have been an explosive showdown between the leader of Europe’s largest economy and the tariff-loving, BMW-hating American president ended in smiles last night as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited the White House — despite President Trump making things awkward by repeatedly bringing up the Nazis.
Don’t mention the war: While the Republican praised Berlin for stumping up the cash for a significant expansion in defense spending, he implied U.S. WWII General Douglas MacArthur would be more cautious that Germany was re-arming and said the Allied landings at Normandy on D-Day “was not a pleasant day for you.” A slightly bemused Merz was forced to explain that he viewed the liberation of the continent from Hitler’s grasp as a good thing.
Just leave me out of it: The hour-long sitdown in which a freewheeling Trump waxed lyrical about his hatred of the presidential auto-signature and his strained relations with Elon Musk was in full view of the media, and saw Merz sit quietly as his host took questions. In a post-game interview with German newspaper Welt, Jürgen Hardt — an MP from Merz’s party — explained the chancellor had concluded staying out of the line of fire “was perhaps the best strategy” and that talks would continue behind closed doors.
One of us! Trump was given a framed copy of his grandfather’s birth certificate — Friedrich Trump was born in Germany in 1869, before emigrating to New York.
EU VS. ISRAEL? The European Commission is under pressure to propose taking concrete action against Israel as more leaders weigh in with condemnation of its offensive in Gaza. French President Emmanuel Macron has suggested he could introduce measures against the country in the coming days, while even Germany’s government — usually a steadfast ally of Israel — has hit out at growing West Bank settlements and taken a tougher line against its military operations.
Majority rules: Member countries, led by the Netherlands and backed by 16 other capitals, have pushed for the European External Action Service (EEAS) to review the EU-Israel association agreement, which underpins ties between the two. That process comes to a head at Foreign Affairs Council on June 23, where the Commission is expected to present its findings on whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is upholding commitments to human rights.
Insider intel: According to four diplomats with knowledge of the process, while there is unlikely to be the unanimous backing of all 27 countries required to slash the association agreement, there is an expectation that the Commission could bring forward specific and targeted measures that would scale back cooperation in areas like trade, which could be passed with a qualified majority of support.
“The mood is shifting on the EU’s response to Gaza,” said one diplomat, pointing to interventions by Merz and Macron as evidence the Berlaymont can’t afford to maintain the status quo. “Positions are clearly shifting and that creates a dynamic where there could be more opportunities to take action,” said a second.
Costa coffee: Speaking to a small group of journalists on Thursday over espressos as preparations begin for Council summits later this month, European Council President António Costa said it was up to the EEAS to assess whether Israel is breaching its obligations in Gaza. “But watching your televisions and reading your newspapers, I think it’s not difficult to anticipate what is the conclusion that they obtain,” he said in response to a question from POLITICO.
Meanwhile: Netanyahu confirmed Israel has been arming anti-Hamas clans in Gaza as it tries to undermine the militant group. The BBC has more.
LOOSE LIPS
CRY ME A RIBERA: The VDL Commission is notorious for keeping a tight leash on sensitive information, cutting out non-essential staff and keeping things on a need-to-know basis to avoid leaks. But Spain’s commissioner, competition and competitiveness chief Teresa Ribera, has riled colleagues across the Brussels bubble for going even further and apparently denying them access to key documents.
Control freak? Ribera is in charge of the all-important Clean Industrial State Aid Framework, which will determine how capitals can put vast sums of cash into green energy and other industries. But officials in other departments say the Spanish Socialist’s Cabinet blocked them from seeing copies of the document before it entered inter-service consultation, despite its wide-ranging scope.
Someone send it to me! “It’s ridiculous,” one grumbled, “it’s a major document and not even senior officials and Cabinets have had access to it. “Commissioners are having to study the impact of this legislation by looking at photos someone has taken of the document on their screen — and it’s 60 pages!”
Circle of trust: “Normal procedures have been followed,” a spokesperson for Ribera said, blaming loose-lipped colleagues themselves for the move. “As in many other occasions, the Commission is being cautious to avoid leaks, but this doesn’t mean not sharing information.”
BRUSSELS POLITICS
FROM LUXEMBOURG WITH LOVE: Russia is the issue of the week for controversial MEP Fernand Kartheiser, who was expelled from the right-wing ECR group on Wednesday after making an unauthorized visit to Moscow and meeting with Kremlin officials. Now, the Luxembourgish politician is corralling colleagues to support a thaw in relations with Vladimir Putin.
Ringing around: In a message obtained by Playbook, Kartheiser is seeking support from fellow MEPs for an urgent question on whether the Commission plans to “re-engage in dialogue with the Russian Federation,” capitalizing on a call from Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar to begin “silent” diplomacy with Moscow.
Tough crowd: “There are moments when silence would mean complicity, and when actions must speak for our values,” ECR Co-Chair Nicola Procaccini said in a statement Thursday after the group made good on its threats to expel Kartheiser. “A political group cannot function if its core principles are called into question from within.”
But he’s already found some new friends: Kartheiser’s office told POLITICO he has secured eight co-signatories. And, in a video-interview with infamous Cypriot YouTube influencer-turned-MEP Fidias Panayiotou, the pair hinted they could start a political group together, before embracing and telling each other “I love you.”
MUSIC TO PUTIN’S EARS? With Russian forces raining down death and destruction in Ukraine (including via a massive aerial assault across the country overnight), some of Moscow’s top classical musicians are returning to play in the EU. And Kyiv’s culture minister is calling on the EU to do something about it, given the Kremlin’s efforts to instrumentalize culture and the arts in its efforts to project power.
Nyet good: So far, the Commission agrees. “European stages should not be giving any space to those who are supporting this war of aggression against Ukraine,” Culture Commissioner Glenn Micallef told my colleague Seb Starcevic in this masterful feature.
ORBÁN’S PRIDE PROBLEM: Brussels will have to decide whether to start the process of suspending Hungary’s rights as a voting member of the EU if populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán continues his efforts to stop LGBTQ+ community events, after a top adviser at its highest court issued an assessment that the ban breaches EU law.
Damning: Budapest “has significantly deviated from the model of a constitutional democracy,” the Court of Justice’s Advocate General Tamara Ćapeta found on Thursday, adding that the attempts to block Pride and other gatherings “are based on a value judgment that homosexual and non-cisgender life is not of equal value or status as heterosexual and cisgender life.”
Strikt rules: Speaking to Playbook, Dutch MEP Tineke Strik — who serves as the Parliament’s lead on Hungary’s rule of law violation case — said lawmakers would be looking very closely when the court gives its ruling (which is likely to mirror the advocate general’s non-binding advice). “What we see from member states is a non-interventionist approach — they don’t like to sanction each other because they’re afraid it will backfire on them, but the Commission and Council need to use their toolbox because it’s clear Orbán isn’t listening,” Strik said. “If you take away his veto, that’s the only way to make him harmless.”
EQUALITY
VOTES FOR WOMEN: EU democracy is failing women, who are disproportionately targeted by online threats against candidates, less likely to be elected than in the past, and more reluctant to vote than they used to be. These are among the key findings of an official Commission review of last year’s European Parliament election, due to be published today and previewed by POLITICO’s Tim Ross here.
Back to the 1970s: Things seem to be going backward when it comes to women’s representation and participation. For the first time since the first direct elections in 1979, the share of female MEPs decreased. Women now make up only 38.5 percent of all MEPs, with the proportion ranging from 62 percent in Sweden to 0 percent in Cyprus.
What else went wrong: Turnout among younger votes fell, despite several countries lowering their voting age to 16. The review also confirms a rise in Russian-linked interference intended to undermine the campaign, with 42 incidents recorded, which escalated in the weeks leading up to last year’s vote.
What went well: Overall, turnout was stable at around 50 percent and the election went ahead “without major disruptions.”
NOW READ THIS: Giulia Poloni asks “What’s in a vote?” in the Declassified humor column.
BOO TO BIG TECH: France’s equality minister, Aurore Bergé, vowed to take on social media firms in a bid to force them to impose an age limit. “The time for irresponsibility is over,” she said Thursday. Klara Durand, Océane Herrero and Joshua Berlinger have the story.
IN OTHER NEWS
WE’RE BREADY FOR THE EU! The EU’s energy chief, Dan Jørgensen has been holding talks in candidate country Moldova — culminating in a strangely choreographed visit to a bakery Thursday. The Eastern European nation is in knead of dough to help bring down energy prices ahead of a critical parliamentary election later this year. But two officials told Playbook no new money was immediately offered yeast-erday, despite hopes of a longer-term funding settlement.
Toast of the town: Jørgensen will be sitting down with top climate colleague Zia Weise in Brussels next week to talk about green energy, competing with China and the Clean Industrial Deal. Read more here and register to join in person.
SLOVAKIA ON RUSSIA SANCTIONS: The Slovak parliament on Thursday approved a resolution calling on the government not to vote in favor of new EU sanctions on Russia. It’s not clear whether the resolution is binding, per Reuters. The resolution, proposed by members of the far-right SNS party, passed with 51 votes in favor in the 150-seat parliament, after the opposition left the chamber.
LISTEN UP — HOW BRUSSELS WILL FEEL THE POLISH RESULT: Facing populist pressure following hard-right contender Karol Nawrocki’s presidential win in Warsaw, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will likely “do everything in his power not to do anything pro-European at this point, because he will be worried that this will lose him votes in 2027,” Polityka Insight’s Andrzej Bobiński tells Sarah Wheaton on this week’s episode of the EU Confidential podcast.
Plus, Swedish MEP Karin Karlsbro, fresh from a visit to D.C., on Trump’s “campaign diplomacy,” and a breakdown of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham’s push for “bone-crushing” sanctions against Russia from POLITICO’s Josh Berlinger and Amy Mackinnon. Listen and subscribe to EU Confidential here.
MUSK-TRUMP BUSTUP IN 60 SECONDS: Worried you might have missed something as Trump and Musk traded insults on Thursday? Here’s Playbook’s highlights reel: Musk said Trump’s tariffs would cause a recession, suggested the president should be impeached and made allegations related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump threatened Musk’s companies, saying he was “very disappointed” in him and that he was “crazy.” But despite all that, my Stateside colleague Dasha Burns reports that signs of a truce are already emerging.
FOR THE SPACE NERDS: Need an insider’s guide to the politics behind the new space race? From battles over sending astronauts to Mars to the ways space companies are vying to influence regulators, we’ve got a new weekly newsletter that decodes the personalities, policy and power shaping the final frontier. Try it for free for a limited time starting today. Find out more.