PM Mitsotakis to UN Summit of the Future: ‘There are global threats that demand global solutions’
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Sunday addressed the United Nations Summit of the Future in New York, underlining that “there are global threats that demand global solutions”, among others.
Mitsotakis, Erdogan το meet on Tuesday at the UN
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet on Tuesday September 24, at 18:40 (Athens time), in a hall of the main building of the United Nations, government sources told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA).
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/849757/Mitsotakis–Erdogan-to-meet-on-Tuesday-at-the-UN
Greece-Cyprus linkup clears hurdles, as framework is signed
The power interconnection of Greece and Cyprus, with the prospect of an extension to Israel, is now back in track after the memorandum of understanding signed on Friday by the two countries’ energy ministers and the Cypriot energy watchdog approved the 125-million-euro investment in the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI).
SYRIZA to hold elections for a new leader and central committee on November 24
Elections to select the new party president and central committee of main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance will be held on November 24, with a follow-up round on December 1, if necessary, while an emergency party congress will be held on November 1-3. This was the proposal put forward by the party’s Political Secretariat and approved by a majority of 112 votes by the SYRIZA-PA Central Commitee meeting that convened on Saturday.
Power consumption charged by the hour
A new rate category for electricity will be introduced within the year that will charge use by businesses in real time, every 15 minutes, affording them the opportunity to reduce their energy costs.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1248995/power-consumption-charged-by-the-hour/
ATHEX: Mixed day with plenty of action
On Friday, the Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,425.19 points, shedding 0.22% from Thursday’s 1,428.39 points. On a weekly basis it advanced 0.42%.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1249019/athex-mixed-day-with-plenty-of-action
SUNDAY PAPERS
KATHIMERINI: Plan for 1,000 road-safety cameras in Attica
TO VIMA: Meeting between Mitsotakis and Erdogan: The common understanding of New York
REAL NEWS: Plan for the regulation of farmers’ loans
PROTO THEMA: Big bang in schools and universities
MONDAY PAPERS:
TA NEA: Poisonous… meds
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Museums’ canteens led to the ousting of MP Salmas from New Democracy
KONTRA NEWS: Three more MPs are going to be ousted from ruling New Democracy after Salmas
DIMOKRATIA: PM Mitsotakis is bullying MPs who disagree with his policies
NAFTEMPORIKI: Investments in real estate assets decline
DRIVING THE DAY: OLAF’S REPRIEVE
SCHOLZ’S PARTY SQUEAKS BY IN BRANDENBURG: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz can breathe a sigh of relief. After a string of humiliations at the hands of the far right, his Social Democrats (SPD) are on course to hold off the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Sunday’s Brandenburg state election, Matt Karnitschnig reports. According to preliminary projections, the SPD got 30.9 percent of the vote, followed by the AfD with 29.2 percent.
BULLET DODGED (FOR NOW): A loss in Brandenburg, which the SPD has controlled since Germany’s reunification in 1990, would likely have dashed Scholz’s plans to seek another term as chancellor and pressured him to clear the way for a snap election after his party suffered bruising defeats in two other state ballots this month. He’ll be relieved — but the result in Brandenburg won’t quash the unrest in the SPD ranks or the speculation about the chancellor’s political future.
Big picture: As my colleague Hans von der Burchard writes in this morning’s Berlin Playbook, the result in Brandenburg was a product of voters’ desire to keep the AfD out of power rather than an endorsement of Scholz’s weakened coalition government. Indeed, the SPD locally distanced itself from the chancellor during the campaign. If there’s a lesson to be drawn for Scholz, Hans writes, it’s an uncomfortable one: It may only be without him that the SPD can win elections again.
What next? The result will only temporarily delay the debate about whether Scholz should be the SPD’s candidate for chancellor in next year’s federal election, Hans writes. Scholz insists he wants a second term, despite his low ratings, but there’s been persistent speculation that he could be replaced by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, one of the country’s most popular politicians. And Scholz’s fragile three-party coalition government remains under enormous pressure, with the SDP’s junior coalition partners the Greens and the Free Democratic Party performing miserably in Brandenburg. “I don’t think this coalition will make it to Christmas at this rate,” the FDP’s Wolfgang Kubicki told Welt.
A blow for Scholz’s main rival, too: Friedrich Merz, the leader of Germany’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) also had little to celebrate in his first election as his party’s candidate for chancellor. Merz, who has pushed the party of Angela Merkel to the right since taking over two years ago — particularly on migration — has the inside track to succeed Scholz with the CDU leading in national polls. But the CDU came fourth in Brandenburg on 12.1 percent, per the preliminary projections — its worst performance in an election in the former East Germany.
The surprise of the night: The leftist BSW finished third with 13.5 percent of the vote. The party was founded earlier this year by Sahra Wagenknecht, a former leader of the Left who started her own eponymous movement after falling out with the party. (My colleague James Angelos wrote a must-read profile in August.) The strong showing puts the BSW in the running to build a coalition alongside the SPD, which has ruled out governing with the AfD.
NOW READ THIS: Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck will meet with carmakers today amid threats of job cuts, plant closures and plunging earnings. But as Jürgen Klöckner reports, Habeck has few options to stave off the car industry’s collapse.
UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
LAST HURRAH FOR VDL’S OUTGOING COMMISSION: What’s better than a field trip? A field trip to New York when you’re in the final weeks of a job and don’t have much to lose. That’s where a crew of top EU officials, including Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, High Representative Josep Borrell and other outgoing commissioners are headed this week for a flurry of meetings on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
What’s in focus? Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is flying in for a specially convened U.N. Security Council meeting on Tuesday before he heads to Washington to discuss his peace plan with U.S. President Joe Biden and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, Suzanne Lynch writes in from New York to report. (My colleague Veronika Melkozerova has a preview of the plan Zelenskyy will be presenting.)
The key issue for Zelenskyy: Getting the White House to allow strikes deep into Russian territory. Last week a group of EU lawmakers wrote to Biden urging him to lift its ban on deep strikes — but there’s been no word on whether that was enough to sway his administration.
On the EU’s to-do list: Chief EU diplomat Borrell will sit in on a meeting of G7 foreign ministers (plus a few non-G7 ones) focused on Ukraine’s energy crisis. Von der Leyen pledged €160 million last week to help Ukraine survive the winter after Russian strikes wiped out half its power grid. But that amount is likely to fall well short of the country’s needs. Borrell will also, later today, host an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers that will also focus on Ukraine, per an EEAS spokesperson.
Also in New York: In addition to von der Leyen and Borrell, Commissioners Margrethe Vestager, Dubravka Šuica, Stella Kyriakides, Didier Reynders, Ylva Johansson, Janez Lenarčič, Jutta Urpilainen, Kadri Simson and Wopke Hoekstra. Make sure you’re up to date with what’s happening at the U.N. General Assembly this week by signing up for Global Playbook — in your inbox each morning through Saturday.
UNSHACKLE UKRAINE: Speaking to Suzanne for Global Playbook, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže said it’s time to lift all restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western weapons. “It’s very clearly a self-defense measure,” Braže said. “U.N. Charter Article 51 also covers the right to strike legitimate military targets in Russian territory.”
Ixnay on the Russian drones-ay: However, Braže — one of dozens of EU foreign ministers and prime ministers in town for the annual “high-level” meeting of the General Assembly — was more cautious on whether NATO countries should shoot down Russian missiles or drones that wander into their airspace or are headed to Ukraine. “These are difficult military-political decisions,” she said.
Mette calls for more: Danish PM Mette Frederiksen called on Ukraine’s allies to deliver more weapons to Kyiv, saying Russia’s actions are a threat to global security. The interview is on Bloomberg.
SIKORSKI’S MEDIA BLITZ: Poland’s Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski gave interviews to Bloomberg, Fox News and PBS Newshour in which he pushed for NATO enlargement, hammered home the idea that Ukraine should get back all its territory (including Crimea) and gave credit to Donald Trump for sanctioning the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Sikorski will also be meeting the Polish community in Michigan, a key swing state in November’s U.S. presidential election — though he wouldn’t be drawn on Poland’s preferred outcome in that contest. (Both Kamala Harris and Trump are making a play for the Polish American vote in the upcoming ballot, as my Stateside colleague Charles Mahtesian reported last week.)
WHERE ARE THE CANDIDATES? While President Biden will be in New York for UNGA, there’s more interest in the movements of the two people vying to succeed him. With the vote just around the corner, the EU’s transatlantic visit should be a golden opportunity to liaise with both the Harris and Trump camps.
Giving it a pass: Harris doesn’t currently plan to attend UNGA, per CNN, and Trump’s plans are unclear — although both campaigns told the network their schedules could still fill up with more meetings, CNN reported.
Subtext: Europe may be desperate to engage with the presidential campaign teams, but foreign policy doesn’t rank too highly on their list of priorities. And what little time they are granting to foreign dignitaries isn’t being given to Europeans: Harris will meet today in Washington with the United Arab Emirates’ President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, while Trump just saw Qatar’s emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
The takeaway for European leaders? Get in line.
MEET THE NEW FRENCH GOVERNMENT
ICYMI — BARNIER’S NEW TEAM: France’s new Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Saturday unveiled his new government, ending two months of limbo. It is France’s “most right-wing” government in more than a decade, veteran commentator Alain Duhamel said on news channel BFM after the announcement.
Power moves: Barnier, who’s known in Brussels as the EU’s Brexit negotiator, has put key junior ministers under his direct authority, namely on European affairs and the budget. Barnier’s knowledge of the EU may well be helpful as Paris negotiates with Brussels over the excessive deficit procedure Paris was placed under for breaching EU spending rules last year.
Key people: Benjamin Haddad, an ex-director at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, becomes junior Europe minister; conservative Bruno Retailleau is the new interior minister; Jean-Noël Barrot is the new foreign minister; and the new finance minister is 37-year-old unknown Antoine Armand.
Paris colleague Victor Goury-Laffont has much more, including the complete list of ministers.
IN OTHER NEWS
MEET THE NEW COMMISSION COLLEGE: We’ve got two more profiles from the new College of Commissioners today: This one of Sweden’s Jessika Roswall, a controversial pick for the EU’s environment portfolio … and this one of Czech Jozef Síkela, who’ll oversee international partnerships with the EU’s allies.
Exit interview: Meanwhile, former European Commissioner Thierry Breton made his first comments since resigning from the EU executive, saying he “had to do it.”
VDL’S FIRST 100 DAYS: Ever since U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt referred to his “first 100 days” as a key milestone way back in 1933, global leaders have referenced the occasion to promise electrifying changes to their electorate. Now it’s von der Leyen’s turn. POLITICO lays out what she’s promised, what it means and what she’ll really deliver.
MIDDLE EAST LATEST: Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said military operations in Lebanon would continue until evacuated Israelis could return, and Israel’s chief of the general staff warned it was preparing for a new stage of fighting in the next few days, without giving details. Their comments came after Hezbollah and Israel exchanged heavy fire on Sunday, moving closer to all-out war. Hezbollah fired around 100 rockets into northern Israel and one of its top leaders said it was now in an “open-ended battle,” according to the Associated Press.
Sinwar incommunicado: Israel is investigating the remote possibility that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar may have been killed in an IDF strike in the Gaza Strip, amid reports he has not been in contact with the outside world for a significant period of time, public broadcaster Kan said over the weekend. Haaretz has more in English.