Parliament’s prelim investigation committee decides Triantopoulos to testify March 28; opposition parties walk out
A preliminary investigative committee on the Tempi train collision decided to summon former minister Christos Triantopoulos to testify on March 28 (Friday), changing the date from an earlier announcement saying it will take place on Monday (March 24), following a meeting in Parliament on Thursday. The change in date was decided for procedural reasons. The decision to summon Triantopoulos was made by majority vote of 14 deputies of the ruling New Democracy (ND) government, which turned down a proposal by Plefsi Eleftherias and Spartiates, while representatives of six parties walked out without voting on Thursday, accusing the government of trying to shut down the committee’s work.
Course of Freedom party surges in poll following Tempe protests
Anti-establishment party Course of Freedom has seen the biggest boost following nationwide protests over the government’s handling of the deadly Tempe railway disaster just over two years ago. According to the latest Pulse poll for Skai TV, the party has surged to 12%, up from 7% last month, tying for second place with the socialist PASOK, the main opposition party.
Greece to press EU over returning illegal migrants denied asylum, says PM
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday that illegal migrants denied asylum by Greece should be returned to their country of origin, and he urged the European Union to provide a new list of “safe countries” to help speed up returns. “We’re looking forward with great eagerness to the new list of safe countries of origin, so that our country can move faster in this direction,” Mitsotakis said on his arrival at an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels.
Unemployment drops 5.6% in February, DYPA reports
Registered unemployment totaled 960,134 in February, down 5.6% from February 2024 and down 2.2% in comparison with January 2024, the Public Employment Service (DYPA) said in a report released on Thursday.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1264725/unemployment-drops-5-6-in-february-dypa-reports
ATHEX: Marginal rise on bourse in mixed session
Despite spending most of the day in the red, the benchmark of the Greek stock market ended Thursday with marginal gains, after what was a mixed session that reversed the picture of the previous one: Banks, blue chips and the main index closed with small increases while the majority of stocks and the mid-cap index declined. Crucially, daily turnover remains at high levels, as Athinon Avenue retains the interest of investors with its opportunities for profit.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1264731/athex-marginal-rise-on-bourse-in-mixed-session
KATHIMERINI: We came back, but Greece keeps punishing us
TA NEA: Polls: Major changes in parties’ ratings
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: The more the government attempts to cover up the Tempe disaster the more it collapses
RIZOSPASTIS: Israel-USA-EU are murderers! Solidarity to the people of Palestine
KONTRA NEWS: Government rushes to shut-down the preliminary investigative committee on the Tempi train collision and former minister Christos Triantopoulos
DIMOKRATIA: Deputy Energy Minister Tsafos is engaging in propaganda at the expense of Cyprus
NAFTEMPORIKI: Wild rally for real estate prices
DRIVING THE DAY: REALITY SETS IN
BYE, BYE AMERICAN PIE — BUT HOW? Europe has clearly come to grips with the fact that it needs to send more blood and treasure to Ukraine as Donald Trump oversees America’s retirement from global policing.
Even the Dutch: “Defense is more important for now than book-keeping,” the Netherlands’ central bank boss Klaas Knot said Thursday.
But … there’s always a but: The European Union’s relevance to either of those efforts is increasingly in question — especially given the divides among those prepared to send blood and those prepared to send treasure (not to mention those prepared to send neither).
Blood: Countries who are willing to send soldiers to Ukraine are moving forward with their own “coalition of the willing” format, led by France and the U.K.
Treasure: Those who are more generous with money are fuming that France, among others, has killed EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas’ initiative to send billions more euros to Ukraine.
Let’s unpack, looking first at the Franco-British peacekeeping initiative, then at the failure in the Council of the so-called Kallas plan for Ukraine military aid …
POLICING THE POST-WAR
PEACEKEEPING PLANS GET MORE PRECISE: French President Emmanuel Macron will host a follow-up meeting in Paris on March 27, he told reporters Thursday. The goal is to nail down some of the nitty-gritty of the plan to enforce an eventual ceasefire that he’s been developing with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
All about the ratio: Partners aim to “clarify the different levels of support for Ukraine” after the fighting stops, Macron said, whether for a Ukrainian army or a deployment of European forces.
All about the terminology: The Paris meeting would come a week after a gathering of military leaders from more than 20 countries in London on Thursday. They discussed the potential deployment of some 20,000 Western troops but defense and diplomatic sources told the BBC this should be called a “reassurance force” rather than a “peacekeeping force.” (Playbook thought bubble: This quibble is hardly reassuring.)
Whatever it’s called, here’s who’d be there: The U.K., France, Sweden, Denmark and Australia are the only countries that have committed to sending soldiers, the Wall Street Journal notes. Eastern countries, with their own borders to defend against Russia, have been more reticent.
ABOUT THAT PEACE DEAL: White House reps are set to meet diplomats from Moscow and Kyiv in Saudi Arabia to negotiate a possible ceasefire agreement on Monday.
SIREN — NATO, BUT NOT U.S.: The U.K., France, Germany and the Nordics are among the countries holding “informal but structured discussions” about taking over responsibility from the U.S. for defending Europe, the FT reports. The goal is to present the idea to Trump ahead of the annual meeting of NATO leaders in The Hague in June.
Putting the squeeze on: The Trump administration is seeking new terms to secure American access to critical minerals and energy assets in Ukraine, increasing its demands of Kyiv, the FT reports.
‘KALLAS PLAN’
UKRAINE AID PLAN IN SHAMBLES: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas’ proposal to surge €40 billion in military aid to Ukraine has lost so much momentum that even a pared down €5 billion ask barely even came up in conversation at Thursday’s European Council summit, diplomats told Playbook.
Diary of a death foretold: The problems started, several EU diplomats said, from the plan’s inception when the former Estonian prime minister failed to win prior buy-in from crucial stakeholders. The process had been “botched up,” one diplomat summarized. Read the full article from my colleagues Nick Vinocur and Jacopo Barigazzi.
Cursed job: None of the people who’ve held the role of high representative/vice president since it was created 15 years ago have really been successful, and Kallas, so far, is no exception. The fact that she is a former prime minister gives her gravitas. But critics say her determination to make bold moves in favor of Ukraine (perhaps an admirable display of leadership in a head of government) isn’t playing well when, in fact, she’s supposed to be coordinating and speaking on behalf of national ambassadors — not leading them.
Ouch: “If you say everywhere — as she does and she’s right — that we need to maintain unity, then you also have to prepare such important initiatives in a unity manner,” a senior EU diplomat complained.
Moral victory? Yet Kallas’ defenders say her bullish push for more Ukraine funding served to highlight the fact that several big countries, especially France and Italy, aren’t matching their pro-Kyiv rhetoric with cash. “By having this debate, we’ve exposed that,” said another EU diplomat.
In the end, it was exactly those countries which helped sink the Kallas plan. While it’s true Kallas didn’t lay the groundwork for her idea well, the complaints about process are being “abused as an argument,” that diplomat said. “ If she’d done the perfect process they would have hated it anyway.”
INTERNAL SNIPING, CON’T
UNEASE OVER GERMAN DEFENSE PUSH: Publicly, European leaders have hailed the Bundestag’s precedent-busting move to free up money for defense spending and infrastructure. Privately, they’re worried it will skew the bloc’s single market and give Germany an unfair competitive edge. More from Hans von der Burchard, Clea Caulcutt and Tim Ross.
HOW MUCH LONGER CAN EU GO WITHOUT HUNGARY? When it comes to Ukraine, the “new normal” for 26 EU member countries is to publish Council statements without Hungary’s sign-off, as a senior EU diplomat put it to POLITICO’s Gabriel Gavin. For now, the diplomat added, “it is useful when it comes to political intent. Maybe down the line though we will encounter other problems.”
FOR THE RECORD: Despite the quote from central banker Klaas Knot above, the Dutch prime minister is still nixing Eurobonds. Though Macron called them inevitable.
IF YOU’RE A EUROPHILE AND PLAYBOOK IS BUMMING YOU OUT: The Wall Street Journal’s Greg Ip is here to cheer you up with this opinion: Hold the Obituary: Europe Comes to Life as U.S. Stumbles
MORE SUMMITRY
GRABBING THE LOW-HANGING FRUIT ON MARKETS: Leaders largely backed the Commission’s new push to get EU citizens investing to channel the roughly €10 trillion held in bank accounts in the bloc. The wording of conclusions around the savings and investment union stayed largely unchanged, and even discussion of the most politically contentious element — single supervision for non-banks — passed without any fireworks.
Tensions ahead: There was public political backing for the plan, with Council President António Costa saying “business as usual is not an option” for EU investments. But the real conflicts lie ahead once the Commission starts translating its markets pledges into concrete policies later this year and governments have to make their own efforts — and compromises — for the sake of a single EU money pot, as Kathryn Carlson reports for Pro Central Banking and Financial Services subscribers.
AS IT HAPPENED: Catch up on all the quirky and consequential moments from Thursday’s EUCO on POLITICO’s live blog and read Tim Ross’ analytical take here.
TRADE WAR
EU PULLS ITS TRADE PUNCH: The EU is delaying its first set of retaliatory tariffs in response to Donald Trump’s steel and aluminum duties by two weeks, the Commission announced Thursday. Waiting until April 13 allows for more time to negotiate with Washington, Jakob Weizman reports — but it also means more time for talks within the single market.
Reconsidering the list: “Our goal is to get the balance of products right,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters Thursday, “minimizing the potential negative impact on our economy.”
Lifting their spirits: That could be music to the ears of the booze industry, which has been pleading with the Commission not to go after bourbon — both before and after Trump promised to slap a 200 percent duty on Champagne.
THERE’S A LIMIT TO FRENCH TOUGHNESS: Paris has earned the reputation of being the bad cop of Europe’s trade policy, vocally defending the bloc’s tariffs in the face of criticism from its more pro-free trade partners. But what happens when French wine becomes a tariff target?
Asking for an exception: France is urging the EU not to include American bourbon on its retaliation list to avoid U.S. tariffs on EU alcohol in return. But that’s precisely the sign of weakness Trump is looking for. Giorgio Leali has more in this story.
HUAWEI SCANDAL
AIDE TO TOP LAWMAKER ARRESTED IN ITALY: A parliamentary assistant to the right-wing European People’s Party lawmaker Fulvio Martusciello has been arrested in Italy. The aide was taken into custody by state police in the region of Caserta, near Naples, on charges of money laundering, criminal association and corruption, on the orders of Belgian authorities, a high-level Caserta police official told POLITICO’s Ben Munster.
An Italian official confirmed that the assistant had been arrested in Italy. Italian outlets Ansa and Domani first reported on the arrest. Martusciello told Ben that “at this moment, we still don’t know what the charges” against his assistant are.
Investigation progresses: It comes after searches in the European Parliament were conducted as part of the Huawei corruption scandal that broke last week, when Belgian prosecutors said they were probing “active corruption” at the European Parliament and “alleged bribery” that would have benefitted Chinese telecom giant Huawei. As part of the probe, Belgian police searched an office at the European Parliament that was listed in parliamentary records as belonging to Martusciello’s current parliamentary assistants.
For the record: The Belgian prosecutor did not confirm the arrest in Italy took place on its behalf as part of the Huawei probe. Martusciello himself has not been identified as a suspect in the investigation. The arrested assistant did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Thursday. A spokesperson for the European Parliament declined to comment on “ongoing judicial procedures” and referred questions to the Belgian authorities.
COLLATERAL DAMAGE: EU trade associations are rushing to cut ties with Huawei, with DigitalEurope suspending the tech firm due to the “serious allegations” raised. More in the EU Influence newsletter.
NOT GIVING UP ON CHINA: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is visiting China’s Xi Jinping next month. “We are going to work actively to reach a common understanding with the global south and particularly with a great power such as China,” he told reporters.
LISTEN UP — HUAWEI SAGA: On this week’s edition of the EU Confidential podcast, we walk you through the long-running geopolitics and alleged dirty tricks at the center of the latest corruption scandal, with POLITICO’s cybersecurity experts Laurens Cerulus and Antoaneta Roussi. Plus, Chris Lunday calls in from the Berlin bureau to discuss what the German debt brake change tells us about the future Merz coalition. Listen here.
PARTY POLITICS
EU SOCIALISTS PLAN AMSTERDAM HYPEFEST: The Party of European Socialists (PES) is planning a pep rally in Amsterdam later this year to energize its demoralized troops and, most likely, re-anoint President Stefan Löfven for another term.
Seeking a high in a low moment: It’s a tough time to be a socialist right now. Social and green policies are under attack. Far-right parties are creeping into power across the continent, and few center-left governments remain. “We must come together to confront these challenges and safeguard our democratic values and rights,” Löfven told Max Griera in a statement.
Lovin’ Löfven: Despite the dismal state of the EU socialists, there is not much appetite for leadership change, at least for now. Löfven confirmed he is seeking reelection, and other Socialist leaders have rushed to support him as a beacon of stability. He is “a man very committed to social democratic values who has led our organization through turbulent times for Europe with firmness and success,” said Iratxe García, chair of the S&D group in the European Parliament.
Low profile: A former Swedish prime minister and PES president since October 2022, Löfven has a relatively low profile in EU politics, with his peak activity being to jet to Brussels a few times a year for the EU socialist leaders’ gatherings. He’s also got a gig as “senior industrial adviser” for the Stockholm office of consultancy Rud Pedersen Group.
FROM DOWN THE DRAINPIPE TO BACK IN THE FOLD: József Szájer, the ex-MEP who escaped a drug-fueled, lockdown-busting orgy by climbing down a drainpipe, is apparently back in the good graces of Fidesz, the ultra-traditionalist party he helped found. He was recently welcomed on Orbán spokesman Zoltán Kovács’ podcast, Csongor Körömi reports.
Not so loyal to an old family friend: Fidesz’s name is a play on the Latin word for loyalty. But Szájer is throwing a childhood companion under the bus: Radio Free Europe. The U.S.-funded broadcaster, now struggling to survive because of Trump’s cuts, is well known to Hungarians for its role during the Soviet occupation — Szájer told Kovács on the podcast that his family used to listen to its broadcasts. But he claimed the station completed its mission after the fall of the Iron Curtain, and should now shut up shop. “The Hungarian people know what conditions they live in, and they don’t need to be told from America what is going on,” Szájer said.
IN OTHER NEWS
SCOOP — HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE LJUBLJANA: The EU is discussing a new plan that would harness Ukraine’s underground gas storage capacity to resolve a feud between Kyiv and Slovakia, Victor Jack reports.
U.N. WARNING: My colleagues Bartosz Brzeziński and Paula Andrés report that the United Nations food aid agency has warned that the Trump administration’s cuts to foreign aid funding will see millions starve. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres asked EU leaders not to request rebates from the U.N. this year to help offset lost U.S. funding, the FT reports.
HEATHROW CLOSED: London’s Heathrow Airport — the busiest in Europe — will be closed for the entirety of today after a fire at a nearby electrical substation cut power to the area. More here.