Mitsotakis: Those guilty of the Tempi accident will be punished
“Those guilty of the Tempi accident will be punished,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday in his weekly post on social media on the government’s work. He also expressed his confidence in Justice, stressing his certainty that “it will rise to the occasion in order to demonstrate the truth.”
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/801233/Mitsotakis-Those-guilty-of-the-Tempi-accident-will-be-punished
Key figures from the Metapolitefsi period weigh in on its legacy
The three-day event, co-hosted at the National Gallery by Kathimerini newspaper, the National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation (MIET), the Delphi Economic Forum, and the Hellenic Observatory of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), aimed to prompt prominent figures from the post-dictatorship era to candidly address the inconvenient truths accompanying milestones such as the transition to democracy, accession to the core of Europe, and the decade-long debt crisis.
Kasselakis: SYRIZA’s re-establishment conference after the European elections
“The SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance conference will focus on the re-establishment of the party,” party leader Stefanos Kasselakis, stated in an interview with Real News on Sunday and added: “The order I have received is to reorganize the party after a painful defeat and a predetermined split. Everything will be done with the maximum possible participation and consultation of the members, making use of all the new digital tools.”
Greece witnesses hottest winter on record
This winter has been the hottest in recorded Greek history, according to preliminary data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) analyzed by the scientific team of the National Observatory of Athens, meteo.gr.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1233169/greece-witnesses-hottest-winter-on-record/
BoG: Growth acceleration for Greek economy in 2024 and 2025 followed by minor downturn in 2026
In the report of “Note on the Greek economy” published on Friday the growth rate of the Greek economy in 2023 is expected at 2.4%, accelerating marginally to 2.5% in 2024 and 2025, and decreasing to 2.3% in 2026.
Athens Stock Exchange: At the top of the global market ranking in the first 2 months of 2024
The Greek stock market concluded a positive two-month period (+10.18%) with the General Price Index emerging as the protagonist of returns among the major global indices. It ranked fourth among the major global indices after the Turkish BIST 100 (+23, 07%), the Japanese Nikkei (+17.11%) and the VN30 index of the Vietnam stock market (11.87%).
SUNDAY PAPERS
KATHIMERINI: The housing stock market causes tremors
TO VIMA: Insurance companies are being looted by private health centers
REAL NEWS: Report on Tempi rail crash revealed
PROTO THEMA: Education Minister Pierrakakis: Overhaul in education
AVGI: The earthworks to fill in Tempi train crash site are ‘burying’ the government
MONDAY PAPERS:
TA NEA: The first attempt for the formation of a center-left alliance failed at the elections of the Municipalities Association
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Super casino moves to the neighborhood
KONTRA NEWS: Election fraud rehearsal through postal vote
DIMOKRATIA: XX Small Tsipras
NAFTEMPORIKI: High expectations placement by Piraeus Bank
BERLIN REELS FROM RUSSIAN LEAK
ACHTUNG TAURUS! Germany’s military establishment is in crisis mode today, following Friday’s leak of a 38-minute call during which four senior Bundeswehr officers apparently talked through the feasibility of sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
Info wars: The recording of the call, which was first published by Russian state media on Friday and reportedly included German Air Force chief Ingo Gerhartz and Brigadier General Frank Gräfe, has rocked Berlin. Chancellor Olaf Scholz described the leak as a “very serious matter.” Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said it was part of an “information war” by Moscow, as Joshua Posaner and Henry Donovan report.
More to come? As Josh reports in today’s POLITICO Defense Pro newsletter, the big question on everyone’s mind: Might Russia have more recordings?
WHAT THEY DISCUSSED: The big topic in the call was a hypothetical donation of Germany’s Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. The Germans discussed how the missiles could be used to destroy a bridge — likely a reference to the Kerch bridge linking occupied Crimea to Russia.
The stakes: The Kerch bridge has been a key target for Ukraine, as Vladimir Putin’s pet project is crucial to keeping Russian forces supplied. The German officers said one Taurus wouldn’t be enough to evade Russia’s air defenses and take out the bridge, with 10 to 20 missiles required.
Red lines: Germany has around 600 such missiles with about a quarter of those ready to be dispatched if ever approved, local media has previously reported. “There’s no real reason to say we can’t do it, it just depends on the political red lines,” one participant in the call said of Taurus deliveries.
Divisions: Scholz has steadfastly refused to send Kyiv such long-range cruise missiles — unlike the British and the French — and it’s an issue that is splintering Germany’s governing coalition as well as relationships with allies, as Playbook has reported.
Just to clarify: Pistorius said Sunday that the officers’ conversation didn’t indicate there had been a “green light” to send the missiles to Ukraine. “It’s a hybrid disinformation attack — it’s about division, it’s about undermining our unity,” Pistorius said, speaking of the leaked call, adding: “We mustn’t fall for Putin.”
Another big question … surrounds the security arrangements, or lack thereof, that allowed Russia to gain access to and record a highly sensitive conversation. Germany’s Military Counterintelligence Service is investigating the leak. “Heads must roll now,” a former high-ranking Bundeswehr officer told POLITICO on condition of anonymity.
MEANWHILE, IN PARIS: The French ministry of the armed forces on Sunday published a list of the military equipment it has delivered to Ukraine between Feb. 24, 2022 and Dec. 31, 2023, worth a total of €2.615 billion. (Couldn’t possibly be in response to all that criticism from Germany and elsewhere that France isn’t pulling its weight when it comes to helping Kyiv on the battlefield, could it?) In addition, the ministry said in a statement, France has donated €1.2 billion to the European Peace Facility and helped train nearly 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers.
By the numbers: France has sent Ukraine 6,200 helmets, 6,500 bullet-proof vests, 445 night-vision binoculars, 1,002 AT4 anti-tank rocket launcher systems, 30 Caesar cannons, two Rattlesnake NG air defense systems, six Mistrals, 1.1 million rounds of small caliber ammunition, 10,500 grenades and 1.74 million 12.7 mm cartridges, among other kit.
How many missiles? That’s confidential, according to the French.
PARLIAMENT’S ETHICS EPISODES
SCOOP — METSOLA SHUTS DOWN SRI LANKA “FRIENDSHIP GROUP”: A handful of MEPs who met with a top Sri Lankan diplomat in January ran afoul of the European Parliament’s post-Qatargate ban on informal “friendship groups” with third countries, a panel of top MEPs determined.
Old friendships die hard: As your guest author first reported in EU Influence, the Sri Lankan Embassy and the South Asian nation’s foreign ministry posted pictures on social media of “discussions” with the Parliament’s friendship group. Yet such groupings were banned in November, as part of a broader overhaul of Parliament’s transparency rules. In response to POLITICO’s inquiries, Parliament President Roberta Metsola asked the College of Quaestors, a panel of MEPs that considers administrative matters, to look into it.
In breach: The quaestors concluded during a meeting last month that the group “breached the letter and the spirit” of the new rules, a Parliament spokesperson told Playbook on Sunday. Metsola “will call on the members concerned to discontinue activities that would be a breach of the new rules.”
Speedy slap: It took less than a month for the Parliament to investigate a potential breach and enforce this new rule — though we noted no mention of punishment for actions already taken.
Ex-chair says nothing’s there: Tomáš Zdechovský, a Czech MEP from the European People’s Party who chaired the Sri Lanka friendship group pre-ban and has been cited by Sri Lankan officials as its current chief, said he plans to appeal the decision, “which was made without my prior knowledge or consultation” and “appears to be based on false and misleading evidence.”
Zdechovský maintains the friendship group was discontinued after the ban. The January gathering was never meant to be a friendship group get-together, he said, adding that all members of the Parliament’s foreign affairs and human rights panels were invited.
X-ed out: Zdechovský said Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry’s X post about the friendship group was “demonstrably false.” The post is now gone.
GREEN MEP RESIGNS AFTER HARASSMENT ALLEGATIONS: Malte Gallée, a 30-year-old German Green MEP, said he was resigning from the Parliament on Friday after accusations emerged that he had sexually harassed staff and interns, which he denied in a statement. More than a dozen Green staffers and assistants anonymously told German magazine Stern about allegations of unwanted touching and approaches by the lawmaker that left them scared and traumatized.
Greens slow to act: The Greens have been at the forefront of fighting harassment in the Parliament, but there are now urgent questions for the group’s leadership about why it took so long to respond to rumors about Gallée’s alleged conduct that had been circulating for around two years. Gallée had already dropped his bid to stand again as an MEP. A statement by the Greens reacting to Stern’s investigation noted that “an investigation cannot be initiated in the absence of a formal complaint.”
SOCIALISTS STRATEGIZE
JOBS COMMISSIONER WORKS TWO JOBS: Luxembourg’s European Commissioner Nicolas Schmit got the nod to lead the socialists’ campaign for the EU election at the party’s highly choreographed gathering in Rome over the weekend, Eddy Wax writes in to report. With over a dozen youth activists standing behind him on stage, a beaming Schmit — who was the only candidate and will remain a commissioner — kicked off his campaign by attacking “Uber-jobs” and saying no to conservatives’ attempts to hit pause on the Green Deal.
The obligatory new social media profile is here.
The Schmitzenkandidat:Fresh ideas were in short supply at the Rome gathering, Eddy reports. But there was plenty of passion: Ina tub-thumping speech, Schmit drew a clear distinction between himself and Europe’s center-right, calling for an “immediate cease-fire” in Gaza and condemning the “extreme-right” Israeli government for “killing” the peace process. He linked the suffering of Palestinians and Ukrainians to a personal tragedy that shaped his politics, recounting how his father, aged 12, watched as his own father was shot dead in the family kitchen as Germans occupied Luxembourg during World War II.
Scholz unmoved: Sitting placidly in the front row,Olaf Scholz did not applaud when Schmit said: “What happened to my father, my father’s father, happens every day in Ukraine, every day in Gaza and we have to express all our solidarity.” He did clap when Schmit called for more urgent help for Ukraine.
Leading the brains trust: Saar Van Bueren, the Party of European Socialists’ adviser on political strategy and communications (and No. 14 on POLITICO’s Power 40 Brussels list), will be Schmit’s campaign manager. The party’s final manifesto is here.
Insider insight: How has Schmit been effective at implementing his worker-friendly agenda at the Commission? According to this profile by Diego Velazquez, Luxemburger Wort’s man in Brussels, organized labor loves the guy. So he keeps the unions off the back of the otherwise industry-friendly Berlaymont, and he’s free to do stuff like push through a directive on fair wages.
OVERHEARD: “When I invite people, I invite them to come, not to stay on the street,” griped North Macedonia’s former Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski, just before giving up on trying to get into an overfilled rooftop reception hosted by the socialists in Rome.
MORE ON THE ROAD TO THE ELECTION
UP NEXT — EPP IN BUCHAREST: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s coronation as the EPP’s Spitzenkandidat starts Wednesday in Romania. Just in time for that gathering, the Commission on Friday published the 56-page “Story of the von der Leyen Commission,” to which some Commission staff “dedicated long hours and weekends.” The use of institutional resources for materials that look a lot like campaign publicity is sparking debate about where exactly the line is.
Weber in Welt: EPP chief Manfred Weber said “Scholz and Macron split the West” and held out hope for the persistence of the internal combustion engine — something that would reverse the “story of the von der Leyen Commission” — in an interview with Welt am Sonntag.
GERMAN CENTER-RIGHT WANTS MORE EU MONEY FOR DEFENSE: Germany’s CDU and CSU want “significantly more funds” in the EU’s next seven-year budget from 2028 for armaments projects and the ramping up of munitions production, according to a draft of a European election program, which will be published next week. The paper also opposes the ban on combustion engines and rules to protect whistleblowers.
LE PEN, EN FIN: Marine Le Pen put her name last on the list for her National Rally party in the European election, making her candidacy largely symbolic. Jordan Bardella, president of the France-first populist party, will lead the ticket. They formally launched their campaign on Sunday in Marseille — and don’t let their slogan, “la France revient, l’Europe revit” or “France returns, Europe revives,” trick you into thinking they want a “Frexit.” More from POLITICO’s Dimanchissime newsletter (in French).
FAR-RIGHT TRACKER: Ahead of an EU election in which far-right parties are expected to make major advances, an international network of researchers launched FARPO, a data-driven tracker of far-right protests and events across 17 European countries.
Speaking of the far right: A study by Max Becker and Nicolai von Ondarza for the German Institute for International and Security Affairs shows divisions between far-right factions over geopolitical questions. “Their positions fluctuate between a transatlantic orientation and clear support for Ukraine among the national-conservative European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), to fundamental opposition with an anti-Western stance among parts of the right-wing populist to extremist parties in the Identity and Democracy (ID) Group,” the authors argue. Read their study here.
POLICY CORNER
TARGET X: The platform formerly known as Twitter — not to mention TikTok owner ByteDance and the travel website Booking.com — may face tough new restrictions under the EU’s new digital antitrust rulebook after the Digital Markets Act comes into force this week. Edith Hancock has more.
WARS AND WAR ON DRUGS IN COUNCIL: The Justice and Home Affairs Council meets today, with Ukraine, the Middle East and Schengen all on the agenda, according to the meeting’s chair, Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden.Ukraine’s Internal Affairs Minister Ihor Klymenko will join via videoconference, and ministers will also hear about site visits to the ports of Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Marseille as the bloc grapples with the illicit drug trade. The Belgian presidency is also pushing a fresh compromise proposal for tackling child sexual abuse online, while also preserving privacy.
CHINESE FORCED LABOR: The EU is inching toward its first major law cracking down on goods made with forced labor, including those from China’s Xinjiang region. But the bloc’s softer approach compared to Washington risks rendering its measures largely ineffective, Antonia Zimmermann reports.
IN OTHER NEWS
DOES EASTERN EUROPE HAVE A CHANCE AT TOP EU JOBS? Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s likely appointment as the new head of NATO this summer may have received the endorsement of Washington, London, Paris and Berlin — but Eastern Europeans are far less happy. They fear they’ll once again be passed over as the top jobs of both the EU and NATO are reshuffled later this year. Barbara Moens and Stuart Lau have more.
ORBÁN’S AMERICAN DREAM: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán appears to be launching another edition of his charm offensive with U.S. Republicans. He’s slated to visit former President Donald Trump in Florida next week and connect with Kevin Roberts, the president of the hyper-conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, according to an X post from Balázs Orbán, the prime minister’s (unrelated) political adviser — who also posted a “behind the scenes” photo with Tucker Carlson on Sunday, in what appears to be Carlson’s log-cabin style studio, urging us to “stay tuned.”
ISRAEL’S PLAN TO HUNT DOWN HAMAS KILLERS: Israel has a plan to hunt down the killers responsible for the October 7 attacks, just like it did after the 1972 killings of Israeli Olympic athletes in Munich. “We will reach them, and they know it,” Yaakov Peri, a former head of Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency, told POLITICO. Read more by Jamie Dettmer.
Cease-fire talks falter: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris called for an “immediate cease-fire” in the war in Gaza. However, Israel is reportedly boycotting cease-fire talks in Cairo after Hamas rejected the country’s demand for a list of hostages who are still alive, an Israeli newspaper reported. More from Edith here.
FRANCE TO ENSHRINE ABORTION RIGHT: France is set to become the first country to enshrine the freedom to have an abortion in its constitution during an extraordinary voting session being held today in Versailles. Victor Goury-Laffont has the full details.