Greek PM reshuffles cabinet as farm subsidies scandal escalates
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reshuffled his cabinet Friday following the resignation of ministers amid an escalating farm subsidies scandal. Evangelos Tournas, a former deputy minister for climate crisis and civil protection, will replace Ioannis Kefalogiannis as civil protection minister. Margaritis Schinas, a former European Commission vice president, will succeed Kostas Tsiaras as rural development minister. Makarios Lazaridis, New Democracy’s representative on the parliamentary investigative committee for OPEKEPE, was appointed deputy rural development minister, succeeding Christos Kellas.
PASOK insists government must resign over scandal
Greece’s main opposition party PASOK repeated calls for early elections Friday and accused the governing conservatives of widespread corruption after three Cabinet members were replaced over their involvement in a farm subsidy scandal.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1300067/pasok-insists-government-must-resign-over-scandal
Greek Patriot system downs drone in Saudi Arabia
A Hellenic Air Force Patriot air defense system deployed in Saudi Arabia intercepted an unmanned aerial vehicle early Monday, military authorities said. The incident follows a previous engagement on March 19, when Greek Patriot systems shot down two Iranian ballistic missiles targeting oil refineries in Saudi Arabia.
Petrol ‘Fuel Pass’ platform launches on Holy Monday
The fuel pass platform for petrol will launch on Holy Monday, as announced by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in his weekly social media post. According to the plan, the fuel pass is worth 50 euros (60 euros on the islands) for cars and 30 euros (35 euros on the islands) for motorcycles.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/983266/Petrol-Fuel-Pass-platform-launches-on-Holy-Monday
AIA among airports most affected by Iran war
Just over a month since the outbreak of war in the Middle East, Athens International Airport is among the region’s airports to have suffered a significant setback due to the closing of airspace in the conflict zone.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1299866/aia-among-airports-most-affected-by-iran-war
SUNDAY PAPERS
KATHIMERINI: The “straits” of April: OPEKEPE and the snap-elections temptation
TO VIMA: Tragicomedy at the PM’s office
REAL NEWS: Subsidy for electricity ante portas!
PROTO THEMA: The government’s resilience is being tested
MONDAY PAPERS:
TA NEA: OPEKEPE scandal: “Institutional scheme”
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: The government sinks inside its own deep state
KONTRA NEWS: Fuel rationing coupon is ready: 50-100 liters per month, starting April 15
DIMOKRATIA: Vile attempt by the government to cover-up the OPEKEPE scandal
NAFTEMPORIKI: Lasting crisis in the energy market
DRIVING THE DAY
ALLEGED BOMB THREAT ROCKS CAMPAIGN: Hungary’s election campaign has been jolted by another major claim: this time, it’s over allegations that an explosive device was found on a pipeline in Serbia bringing Russian gas to Hungary, as Victor Goury-Laffont reports.
Quick recap: Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said over the weekend that an explosive “of devastating power” had been found near a Serbian part of the Turkstream pipeline … Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán convened an “emergency defense council” … Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said someone “tried to blow up” the pipeline, calling the threat an “attack on our sovereignty.”
False flags flying? Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi wrote on X that Kyiv “categorically” rejects attempts to “falsely link Ukraine to the incident with explosives found near the Turkstream pipeline in Serbia.” Tykhyi went on to say it was “most probably … a Russian false-flag operation as part of Moscow’s heavy interference in Hungarian elections.”
Why it matters: Hungary’s election is a week away. The claim of a major bomb threat on a pipeline bringing Russian gas to Hungary (the last operational one, given the Druzhba pipeline is out of action) is a plot twist that may offer Orbán a charged storyline for the final campaign dash, in the lead-up to April 12.
Poll check: Orbán’s Fidesz party trails rival Péter Magyar by 10 percentage points at this crucial moment, according to POLITICO’s Poll of Polls.
Where it gets murky: Magyar was also quick to suggest the alleged bomb threat was a staged campaign ploy and said any reference to it by Orbán as part of his electioneering would amount to an admission that it was a “pre-planned … operation.”
Key quote: “Hungarians have every reason to fear that the outgoing Prime Minister, following the advice of Russian agents, is attempting to instill fear in his own people through false-flag operations,” Magyar said. A former intelligence official quoted by Reuters suggested a threat against Turkstream could be weaponized during the campaign.
Further allegations: The Tisza party leader also warned Orbán against trying to stop the April 12 vote from going ahead. The implication is that the alleged bombing attempt could be used as a pretext for the prime minister to step in and scrap the vote, as part of a national emergency.
The European Commission did not immediately reply to POLITICO’s request for comment.
SAVING PRIVATE VIKTOR: U.S. Vice President JD Vance is due to arrive in Budapest Tuesday as part of the MAGA camp’s pull-out-all-the-stops effort to boost their ally Orbán’s chance of winning. Vance will stay for two days to celebrate what Marco Rubio called a “golden age” in relations between Hungary and the U.S, as Milena Wälde reports.
The bottom line: It’s crunch time for a campaign defined by salacious accusations and shrill rhetoric. Talk of an “attack on our sovereignty” has ominous overtones — Vance may want to turn down the heat rather than dial it up.
NOW READ THIS: Orbán may be selling the electorate a brand of Christian nationalism. But his former pastor isn’t buying it, as Max Griera explains.
IRAN WAR LATEST
TRUMP DEADLINE LOOMS: Donald Trump has extended a deadline for Iran to strike a deal with Washington until 2 a.m Wednesday, Brussels time, at which point he will start bombing power plants and bridges — an escalation of the war that’s battering European energy markets. The threat leaves Tehran with a one-day window before Trump launches a fresh wave of attacks against Iran’s transport and energy infrastructure, unless the president backs down.
Reason for hope: While promising fire and brimstone on Truth Social, Trump was also telling Fox News there was “a good chance” that a deal with Iran could be ready by Monday and that Tehran was negotiating.
Who destroyed what: The extension comes after U.S. forces rescued a downed F15 pilot in a complex operation that resulted in two U.S. aircraft being destroyed (Jones Hayden has the details of the costly rescue). The U.S. says it destroyed its incapacitated MC-130 planes to prevent them falling into enemy hands, Reuters reports. But Iran says its forces had destroyed the planes and that a U.S. “deception and escape mission at an abandoned airport … was completely foiled,” according to the BBC.
Step back: Trump’s expletive-laden threat — in which he called Iran’s leaders “crazy bastards” and warned that “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped in one” — ramps up the stakes of the war. The conflict has already sparked fuel rationing in Europe, with four Italian airports warned they could soon face jet-fuel restrictions.
No shelter: Attacks on civilian infrastructure would violate international humanitarian law. They would also raise the risk of counterattacks against regional energy hubs that export more to Europe than they do to the U.S.
More on negotiations: Trump told Axios his negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were in intense talks with the Iranians to strike a deal, but that “you never get to the finish line with the Iranians.” (Witkoff and Kushner may be headed to Kyiv this month for further talks on ending the Russia-Ukraine war, Victor reports.)
European angle: Kallas has kept a line open to the Iranians, holding calls with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in recent weeks, an EU official said, as Europe pushes for a diplomatic solution to the month-old U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
U.N. angle: Bahrain has drafted a United Nations Security Council resolution that aims to win approval for securing freedom of navigation in the Strait via defensive action. But a vote on the resolution has been repeatedly delayed. First expected on Friday, it was pushed back to Saturday and is now expected sometime this week, per several media reports. China’s ambassador to the U.N. said on Thursday Beijing was opposed to any use of force to reopen the Strait.
Bahrain’s foreign minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani used a statement Sunday to call for “immediate action” to open the Strait. He said “the vote was delayed to allow space for reaching international consensus” and that “failure to act in the face of this crisis sends a dangerous message that vital arteries of the global economy can be threatened without consequence.”
Takeaways: The Iran war shows no sign of winding down any time soon. This will leave European leaders scrambling for fixes to an energy-price spike and further deals to secure supplies. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s surprise trip to Gulf states (as reported by Aitor Hernandez-Morales) shows EU leaders most exposed to the strait blockage — Italy and Belgium among them — aren’t waiting for the EU to solve the problem.
TRUMPING PUTIN IN SPAIN: Spaniards believe Trump is more of a threat to global peace than Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to a poll published by El País, 81 percent of those interviewed single out Trump as a leader endangering world peace, against 79.3 percent citing Putin and 71.2 percent pointing to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
VASSALS AND HEGEMONS: French President Emmanuel used a speech at South Korea’s Yonsei University during a tour of Asia to take a swipe at China and the U.S., saying on Friday: “Our objective is not to be the vassals of two hegemonic powers … We don’t want to depend on the dominance [of] China and we don’t want to be too much exposed to the unpredictability of the U.S.”
The French president put forward a “third way” and a “new order” involving those who don’t want to be dependent on China or automatically align themselves with the U.S.
IN OTHER NEWS
BIG TAXES FOR BIG PROFITS: The finance ministers of Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain want the European Commission to propose an EU-wide measure to tax the windfall profits of oil companies benefiting from a rise in global energy prices linked to the war in Iran.
“At the Eurogroup meeting on 27 March 2026, we advocated and supported measures to tax the windfall profits of energy companies,” write the five ministers in a letter obtained by POLITICO. “The European Commission should swiftly develop a similar EU-wide contribution instrument grounded on a solid legal basis.”
Meanwhile … The EU is warning national capitals to avoid promising excessive support measures to offset surging energy prices, the FT reports. The concern is that the shock triggered by the Iran war could spark a fiscal crisis.
SCHINAS NAMED GREEK MINISTER: Former European Commissioner and spokesperson Margaritis Schinas has been named Greek agriculture minister in the latest reshuffle of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s government. Nektaria Stamouli reports the move comes after a widening farm-fraud scandal prompted the resignation of three top government officials.
CHEESED OFF: The U.S. administration has become increasingly tough over the past year in dealing with the EU’s geographical indications, the Wall Street Journal reports. Washington’s demand that trade partners accept America’s view about generic food names has prompted a rebuke from Italy’s Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano, representing Italian producers.
DARK SIDE OF THE MOON: The astronauts taking part in NASA’s Artemis space exploration program were out of touch for an estimated 40 minutes overnight, as the mission traveled behind the moon, the BBC reports.
J-Lo, Rihanna and Kardashians strike back: How the fur industry is fighting an EU ban on social media, with a little help from showbiz friends.