Greek delegation heads to Egypt amid controversy
A delegation of Greek government representatives will travel to Egypt on Wednesday for talks aimed at finalizing an agreement between Athens and Cairo that would settle the status of the Greek Orthodox Monastery of Saint Catherine of Sinai, following media reports of a controversial ruling by an Egyptian court that could overturn key parameters of the deal.
Government proposes single ballot system
The Interior Ministry is preparing to revolutionize the country’s voting system by introducing a unified ballot paper for the 2027 national elections, a move that could save millions of euros and dramatically reduce paper waste.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1271161/government-proposes-single-ballot-system
Ex-subsidy agency chief accuses ministers
The ousted president of Greece’s agricultural subsidies agency blamed two former New Democracy agriculture ministers for the organization’s collapse amid a European investigation into fraudulent farm payments.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1271164/ex-subsidy-agency-chief-accuses-ministers
Androulakis: Our focus should be on local government and participatory politics
One of the most critical institutitons standing by citizens is local government, which must become more effective and stronger, PASOK-Movement for Change (KINAL) leader Nikos Androulakis said on Sunday.
Jobless rate at 17-year low
Unemployment in Greece fell to 8.3% in April, according to seasonally adjusted data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT). This is the lowest rate in the last 17 years, having recorded a significant decrease from 10.8% in April 2024 and the downwardly revised 8.9% in March 2025.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1271303/jobless-rate-at-17-year-low
ATHEX: May ends with index rising 7.8%
May proved to be a month of considerable gains for most Greek stocks and the bourse benchmark, which has added 7.83% since the end of April, despite the notable decline it posted on Friday. This time the local market appeared to ignore the upward trajectory of other eurozone bourses and continued on the profit-taking course it set on Thursday. This time the closing auctions stole the show, when the index rebalancing sent turnover soaring.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1271295/athex-may-ends-with-index-rising-7-8
SUNDAY PAPERS
KATHIMERINI: University degrees in 3 years
TO VIMA: Europe’s new strategy, Ankara and Athens: Code “Black Sea”
REAL NEWS: “Tempest” in the Aegean Sea
PROTO THEMA: State assets wiull be used for social housing
MONDAY PAPERS:
TA NEA: The 2 secrets of the 4th Belh@rra frigate
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Minister of Health retreats on the issue of newborn babies’ DNA handling
KONTRA NEWS: OPEKEPE scandal: They were asking for kickbacks of 20%-30% to release farmers’ subsidies
DIMOKRATIA: OPEKEPE scandal: the noose is tightening for Minister Voridis
NAFTEMPORIKI: The reserves, the records and the irregularities of ATHEX
DRIVING THE DAY: POLISH ELECTION
THIS ONE’S GOTTA HURT: In a blow to Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, nationalist Karol Nawrocki beat his liberal rival Rafał Trzaskowski to win the country’s presidential election. Nawrocki’s win means the Law and Justice party (PiS) will retain a foothold on power in Poland and paves the way for further uneasy cohabitation between a nationalist president and a center-right prime minister.
The final results: Nawrocki won 50.89 percent of votes while Trzaskowski got 49.11 percent, per the electoral commission. Wojciech Kość has the full details here.
The center doesn’t hold: Nawrocki’s victory breaks a string of wins for pro-EU candidates, after centrist Nicușor Dan beat far-right firebrand George Simion in Romania’s presidential election runoff last month, and the center-right Democratic Alliance won the most votes in Portugal’s snap election.
Trump effect 1: Nawrocki, who was backed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration as well as by PiS, has indicated he wants to pull Poland away from the European mainstream in a more populist direction and to block key legislative proposals by the Tusk government, following in the footsteps of the outgoing president, Andrzej Duda.
Trump effect 2: Nawrocki managed to eke out the win despite a cascade of revelations about his past including accusations that he helped arrange prostitutes for guests of a luxury hotel while working as a security guard, that he took part in fights as a football hooligan and that he acquired an apartment from a pensioner under questionable circumstances.
UKRAINE’S STUNNING DRONE RAID
UKRAINE-RUSSIA TALKS KICK OFF AFTER DRONE “PEARL HARBOR”: Ukraine’s peace negotiators are in Istanbul this morning for a second round of direct negotiations with Russia against the backdrop of a devastating — and entirely unprecedented — Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s strategic bombers.
One for the history books: Sweden’s uber-diplomat Carl Bildt said of the daring drone attack that “not even the 007 movies managed to come up with something like this.” And when one starts reading into the details of “Operation Spider’s Web,” it’s hard to argue with him.
Blow-by-blow: Per reporting by our Ukraine-based colleague Veronika Melkozerova and other sources, Kyiv had been working for one and a half years on this plan, which involved smuggling dozens of attack drones deep into Russian territory, where they lay dormant in the floorboards of simple wooden houses, waiting for a signal to attack.
Trucks of drones: Ukraine then enlisted Russian truck drivers to unknowingly bring the drones close to the airfields where Russia parks its strategic bombers. Activated at a great distance (one of the strikes was in Siberia, more than 4,000 kilometers from Kyiv) using Russian telecoms networks, the FPV drones flew themselves into the fuel tanks of some 40 long-distance bombers — which Moscow had been using for its missile attacks on Ukrainian cities — destroying or seriously damaging over a third of all Russian missile carriers, per media reports.
Why it matters: Because of the signal it sends about Ukraine’s “cards” ahead of the Istanbul talks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is acceding to Trump’s request to hold the peace talks, even if his counterpart, Vladimir Putin, hasn’t shown much serious interest.
At the same time, he’s showing Ukraine has the will and the means to inflict pain on Russia — at a time when Trump seems to be running out of patience with Putin. So even if expectations for these talks are ultra-low (Russia has failed to produce a memo demanded by Trump, but has repeated its maximalist demands, per Reuters), the optics show Ukraine playing by Trump’s rules, and showing strength.
The bottom line: Even in an authoritarian state like Russia, sentiment counts. The fact Ukraine was able to pull off a stunt like Operation Spider’s Web might not bend Moscow overnight, but it’s likely to affect morale and perhaps even contribute to a sense that Russia’s war is unwinnable — as the Tet Offensive by North Vietnamese forces against the U.S. and South Vietnam convinced the U.S. public its war was unwinnable in 1968. It’s a highly imperfect comparison (Putin won’t be facing student demonstrations anytime soon), but the optics of a powerful, surprise attack that destabilizes a larger adversary aren’t too far off.
US RUSSIA HAWK SEEKS EU ALLIES
LINDSEY GRAHAM TOUTS “BONE-CRUSHING” MEASURES AGAINST RUSSIA: Ukraine’s stealth attack coincides with a major diplomatic push by U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and his Democratic counterpart, Richard Blumenthal. The pair huddled with top French officials, including Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, and had a phone call with President Macron, per a readout by the two senators (AP has the details).
Macron on board: In their statement, Graham and Blumenthal touted what they called their “bone-crushing Russia sanctions bill” — a plan to impose 500 percent tariffs on Russian exports — and said they’d won Macron’s backing to cap the price of Russian oil.
In their words: “President Macron supports lowering the price cap for Russian oil, which will hit Putin in the wallet, and working with his team, he committed to try to deliver a forceful message to China and India regarding their financial backing of Putin’s war,” the statement read.
Targeting $45 per barrel: This isn’t the first time Macron has voiced support for lowering the price cap. The Financial Times reported last week that Brussels, along with some of Europe’s biggest countries, was pushing to lower the price cap on Russian oil to $45 per barrel from $60 — a plan that still faced some headwinds from reluctant EU countries.
EU high-fives Graham: Asked about the Republican senator’s proposal, a senior EU official texted Playbook: “The Graham plan sends a clear message that the West is ready to impose severe economic and energy sanctions on Russia to end this conflict.”
The official went on: “Together, the EU and U.S. can compel Moscow to negotiate seriously … Let’s cut Putin’s ability to prolong this war by hitting his war chest.”
Per Graham and Blumenthal, momentum is now building toward a “game-changing” package of measures against the Russian economy ahead of a G7 meeting in Kananaskis, Canada, on June 17. This would include the U.S. sanctions against Russian exports, the next round of EU sanctions and a lower price cap on Russian oil.
Talking a big game: “In the coming weeks, you’re going to see a new game being played,” Graham told my Paris colleague Josh Berlinger and other journalists in the French capital over the weekend. “The world has a ton of cards. America has a good hand vis-à-vis Russia. Europe has a good hand. We just need to play the cards.”
In detail: At a swanky hotel in central Paris, the pair laid out their plan — starting with a vote in the U.S. Senate no later than in a “couple of weeks,” according to Graham, followed by a vote in the House of Representatives. The Russia hawks are confident their bill has more than enough support to pass muster in both houses of Congress.
Trump-proof: Asked about the risk of a veto by Trump, Blumenthal said the pair had sufficient numbers to override such a move, calling the bill “veto-proof.” He added, “This is not confrontational with the president — exactly the opposite.” Graham said: “I’m trying to help the president. We’re not trying to jam him with it.”
Final word: While the U.S. proceeds with tariffs, the pair suggested Europe could move ahead with additional sanctions on Russia, including lowering the price cap on Russian oil and seizing Russia’s frozen assets. He concluded: “I want this summer to be crushing.”
CATALAN AMNESTY LAW
CATALAN AMNESTY LAW OK’ED: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s controversial move to end legal action against hundreds of Catalan separatists is lawful. That’s what the country’s Constitutional Court will say in three weeks, when its judges issue a ruling on an appeal that thus far stopped the law from going into effect, according to a scoop by El País on Sunday.
Background: To remain in power in 2023, Sánchez promised separatist parties that he would issue a blanket amnesty for everyone involved in the failed 2017 Catalan independence bid, Aitor Hernández-Morales writes in to report. Spain’s parliament passed the law last year, but the center-right People’s Party immediately challenged it in the courts. The upcoming ruling will state that the amnesty is consistent with the country’s constitution and therefore legal, the newspaper reports.
Does this mean Carles Puigdemont gets to go home? The pro-independence former president of the Catalonia region sought refuge in Belgium following the 2017 referendum and has avoided extradition to Spain since then. Last year, he managed to sneak into Barcelona to give a speech, but skipped back across the border as authorities closed in on him.
El País reports that for now, Puigdemont can’t return to Spain a free man because the Supreme Court said allegations he used government money to fund the referendum weren’t covered by the amnesty. Puigdemont has appealed this interpretation, but the Constitutional Court must first address other challenges to the law before ruling on his case.
IN OTHER NEWS
EU CLIMATE CHIEF SECURES GERMAN BACKING: Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra quietly swayed Germany’s coalition to back a contested emissions target — on one key condition, write Zia Weise and Johanna Sahlberg. His behind-the-scenes lobbying helped shift party lines and secure support for a 90 percent cut by 2040, using a controversial loophole. That backing now anchors EU-level talks, just ahead of the Commission’s delayed climate proposal, expected in July.
FRENCH ESTABLISHMENT PARTIES COULD RETURN: France’s old political giants, the Socialists and Les Républicains, are plotting a comeback. Emmanuel Macron shattered their dominance in 2017, leaving both parties humiliated. Now, with leadership contests underway and Macron’s era nearing its end, the old establishment sees a narrow window to reclaim relevance before 2027. Victor Goury-Laffont has more.
RUSSIA’S GIG MODEL OF CHAOS: A shopping mall fire in Warsaw, car sabotage in Germany, exploding parcels across Europe: random acts of vandalism? Not quite. Authorities say Russia is increasingly outsourcing dirty work to ordinary citizens, recruited online and paid per gig. In an opinion piece for POLITICO, Elizabeth Braw, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, warns this new model of subversion is turning law enforcement into a losing game of whack-a-mole. As attacks multiply, the West may be dangerously unprepared for the era of freelance aggression.
COLORADO ATTACK: A man set people on fire at a Jewish event in Boulder, Colorado on Sunday, wounding six. The FBI said the suspect, who used Molotov cocktails and a flamethrower in his attack, yelled “Free Palestine!” It comes after two Israeli Embassy staff members were shot dead in Washington last month, as tensions continue rising over the war in Gaza. CNN has a live blog.