No-confidence debate comes to a head
The three-day debate on the no confidence motion in the government tabled by PASOK, SYRIZA, New Left, Course of Freedom and 9 independent MPs will culminate Friday evening with the closing speeches of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, opposition leaders and the roll call vote in Parliament.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1263494/no-confidence-debate-comes-to-a-head-2
Androulakis accuses gov’t of ‘arrogance and hypocrisy’ over Tempe response
Government ministers and MPs have performed a “parade of arrogance and hypocrisy” in their response to the Tempe railway disaster, main opposition PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis has told Parliament. Referring to the preliminary investigation into former deputy minister of state Christos Triantopoulos over allegations that he tampered with the scene of the railway disaster, Androulakis accused the prime minister of lying over Triantopoulos’ activities at the crash site.
PM Mitsotakis: The time has come for the EU to make big decisions on European defence
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday sent a message that it is time for the European Union to make big decisions regarding the strengthening of collective European defence, as well as decisions for further fiscal flexibility, in order for the union’s member-states to be able to proceed with defence spending exceeding 2% of their GDP, upon his arrival at the Special European Council in Brussels.
Greece showcases tourism growth at ITB Berlin 2025
Greece and the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) were at the center of international tourism interest at one of the world’s largest tourism exhibitions, ITB Berlin 2025, from Tuesday to Thursday, receiving particularly encouraging messages about a new large increase in tourist flows from Germany.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1263438/greece-showcases-tourism-growth-at-itb-berlin-2025
ATHEX: Index eases slightly from 14-year high
The Greek stock market recorded moderate losses on Thursday following Wednesday’s 14-year-high for its benchmark. The morning gains later on gave way to losses for the majority of stocks at Athinon Avenue, in a session that confirmed the volatility of the last few week, albeit with a fixed trend in favor of price growth. Traders are also awaiting the verdict of Morningstar DBRS on Friday night regarding Greece’s credit rating.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1263445/athex-index-eases-slightly-from-14-year-high
KATHIMERINI: New blow against organized crime
TA NEA: Defense: European umbrella and Greek shield
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Ministers are incriminating one another regarding the Tempi rail crash
RIZOSPASTIS: Everybody hit the streets again today!
KONTRA NEWS: Another 2 ministers enter the liability “frame” regarding the Tempi rail crash
DIMOKRATIA: The government was caught red-handed regarding the cover-up of the Tempi rail crash
NAFTEMPORIKI: Twin concerns about the global economy
DRIVING THE DAY
A PEACE PROJECT PREPARES FOR WAR: The European Union was founded as a “peace project” in the wake of World War II. On Thursday, it took a key step toward becoming a war project, as the 27 EU leaders agreed to embark on major changes to the way they spend, borrow and regulate in order to nourish a defense industry growth spurt.
“Months ago,” said Council President António Costa, they were simply “brainstorming. But now we have concrete proposals coming from the European Commission on defense.”
Disconnect: Yet this uncharted path also felt mired in nostalgia, as though “peace through strength” (a phrase so often invoked) could maintain a death grip on a status quo that’s disintegrating.
Case in point: Reports emerged Thursday evening that U.S. President Donald Trump was considering a major revision of NATO’s Article 5 promise, potentially only coming to the aid of members who meet a defense spending target.
Costa emerged from hosting a dinner of cod and pasteis de nata to tell reporters that the war in Ukraine was about defending the “rules-based order.”
Futile? As my colleague Tim Ross notes, the EU plans to increase defense investment by as much as €800 billion. That’s a serious step toward taking responsibility for its own security, and it seems to respond to Trump’s complaints about European freeloading on the U.S. Yet he doesn’t appear any more inclined to include Brussels in his negotiations with Moscow.
NOT ENOUGH: Even as Ursula von der Leyen pledged to move forward with a legal framework for all this new spending ahead of the next EUCO summit in two weeks, leaders were already complaining that the proposals don’t go far enough. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said €150 billion that would be doled out as loans should just be gifts from the Commission to capitals. French President Emmanuel Macron said the €150 billion figure simply isn’t high enough — but maybe, he added, a digital tax could help bridge the gap.
That smarts: But when it comes to Ukraine, all the money in the world can’t buy the time and expertise Kyiv is losing as Washington cuts off the flow of intelligence. Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal raised the point during closed-door discussions, according to an EU official directly aware of the exchanges, asking: Can we go it alone?
The answer is a resounding silence.
Summing it up: “EU member states just simply don’t have much of a strategic intelligence capability because they’re so internally focused,” said Colonel Philip Ingram, a former British army intelligence officer, in this must-read piece anchored by Nick Vinocur. “They now face the prospect of having to step up, but it takes decades and hundreds of millions of dollars.”
MORE FROM MICHAL: The Estonian PM told Gabriel Gavin on the EUCO sidelines that Trump is right ― it’s time for Europe to pay more for defense.
SEE YOU IN SAUDI: Senior Trump administration officials are planning to meet with their Ukrainian counterparts in Saudi Arabia next week to begin cease-fire discussions, my Stateside colleagues report.
26 VS. HUNGARY
SIMPLE MATH, COMPLEX PROBLEM: “26 is more than one,” António Costa told reporters just before midnight, brushing off Hungary’s refusal to back an EU pledge to work on providing Ukraine with a security guarantee in the event of a truce with the Kremlin. Rather than Council conclusions, the declaration was published as an annex supported by 26 countries.
Can’t argue with that …“Mathematically correct and politically correct,” was the assessment of one diplomat of Costa’s calculation. Indeed, after POLITICO published a first take casting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s veto as “severe disunity,” Playbook’s and colleagues’ phones blew up with complaints from diplomats, lobbyists who used to be diplomats, Parliament staffers — you name it.
Their message, in near unison: Hungary is isolated. Especially since Slovakia’s Robert Fico was also brought back into the fold, thanks to some bespoke language on gas transit.
A different calculation: It’s true that 26 is more than one. But is it more than three — when two of those players are the United States and Russia? Orbán might be out of step with the EU, but he’s aligned with two superpowers.
EUCO-mpetent? The EU can operate at different speeds when it faces inward — look at the Schengen area or the eurozone, sure. But externally, it needs unanimity to have a foreign policy. Multiple gatherings outside the EUCO format — including Macron’s dinners in Paris and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s security supper last Sunday — laid the groundwork for this 26-strong agreement.
New format forming: Further underscoring the fuzzy relevance of the EU for the post-Pax Americana, von der Leyen and Costa will hold a videoconference today to debrief leaders from like-minded, non-EU countries: the U.K., Turkey, Canada, Norway and Iceland.
NOW LISTEN TO THIS — WHAT DO WE MEAN WHEN WE TALK ABOUT “PEACE?” This week’s episode of the EU Confidential podcast cuts through all the rhetoric about “peace through strength” or “stopping the killing” for a nuanced and concrete discussion about how Ukraine and Russia might achieve lasting peace. Walking us through it is Mikko Patokallio, a Ukraine specialist at the Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation, which helps mediate global conflicts.
TRADE WAR
OVERNIGHT REPRIEVE: In an abrupt turn-around, Trump announced Thursday he will delay 25 percent tariffs on a significant portion of Mexican and Canadian goods until next month.
MIND THE (CREDIBILITY) GAP: Just like in a real conflict, one needs a believable cause to start a trade war. Commission trade boss Sabine Weyand subtly suggested the White House has no such clear focus as it threatens to slap the EU with punishing tariffs.
What does Trump even want? “It is difficult to understand what they are after,” Weyand said Thursday at an event (which was also attended by Washington’s Brussels-based trade representative). “Is it about tariffs themselves, to change some of our policies, to attract investments or to replace income tax with tariffs? I’m not commenting on any of these objectives, but they keep changing.”
Why it matters: The official justification for tariffs will inform how the EU could respond, Weyand said. More in Morning Trade from Koen Verhelst.
Hitting Boeing to spite Airbus: In a classic case of biting off his nose to spite his face, Trump’s tariff war looks set to hit U.S. plane-maker Boeing more than its European rival Airbus, reports Tommaso Lecca. That’s because Boeing will have a harder time passing on any price increases than Airbus, risks losing out in the fast-growing Chinese market — and Airbus would also be partially sheltered from tariffs because it has facilities in the U.S., Tommaso writes.
IT’S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE! Commission Executive Vice Presidents Teresa Ribera and Henna Virkkunen wrote to Jim Jordan, the head of the U.S. Congress Judiciary Committee, to assure him the EU’s digital competition law “does not target U.S. companies.” Jacob Parry and Francesca Micheletti have the story.
PARTY POLITICS
THE RAINS IN SPAIN BECOME A POLITICAL PAIN: The European People’s Party (EPP) is weighing whether to move its April 29-30 congress — a gathering of center-right leaders and activists from across the continent — from Valencia to Madrid, two officials told Max Griera. It’s a logistics nightmare just weeks before the event.
Official explanation: Spanish domestic lawmakers need to attend a recently scheduled, mandatory plenary session in Madrid, according to People’s Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
Unofficial explanation: The officials acknowledged that the regional president of Valencia, affiliated with the EPP, is under fire over his management of October’s deadly flood. Moving the congress would help the PP avoid tainting the congress with the ongoing political crisis.
We looked it up: An express train between Valencia and Madrid takes two hours, at a budget-busting price of €10 (or €16 if you spring for first class).
IN OTHER NEWS
MERZ ON A DEADLINE: German chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz has two weeks to deliver his historic spending revolution, Nette Nöstlinger, Johanna Treeck and Chris Lunday report this morning.
MUZZLING MUSK: Donald Trump convened his Cabinet on Thursday to clarify Elon Musk’s role. According to two administration officials, Trump said Musk, who was in the room, could make recommendations to the departments — but not issue unilateral decisions on staffing and policy. My colleagues Dasha Burns and Kyle Cheney got the scoop.
HOW JORDAN’S DEALING WITH TRUMP: Amman is working to build goodwill with the Trump administration as it tries to dissuade the president from displacing millions of Palestinians from Gaza, reports Clothilde Goujard.
Grim: Hamas threatened to kill all remaining hostages if there is “any escalation” of attacks from Israel against Gaza.
INTERESTING READ — HOW THE PANDEMIC CHANGED EUROPE’S CITIES: Five years ago, the first of Europe’s Covid-19 lockdowns was declared in Milan, Italy. In an interview with Aitor Hernández-Morales, the city’s former mobility chief, Pierfrancesco Maran, reflected on how the need for social distancing led authorities to install temporary cycle lanes, cap speed limits, widen sidewalks and repurpose parking spots as restaurant terraces.
Long Covid: Much of the physical infrastructure installed to face the Covid crisis remains in force today. But many of the health-related practices we picked up during lockdown — think facemasks and sanitary gel — were ditched once vaccines became widely available. Read why here.