Mitsotakis: Greece to temporarily stop examining asylum applications of arrivals from Africa
Greece will temporarily suspend the processing the asylum applications of irregular migrants arriving from Africa, initially for three months, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced in Parliament on Wednesday, presenting the decisions made during his meeting with Migration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris earlier the same day.
Androulakis: ‘My aim is to get rid of New Democracy and this policy that keeps society down’
The only way to bring about political change and ensure that New Democracy is no longer in government is for main opposition PASOK-Movement for Change to come first in the elections, main opposition leader Nikos Androulakis said on Wednesday in an interview with Open television.
Police raid Greek farm subsidy agency in EU funds probe
Financial crimes investigators from the Hellenic Police (ELAS) raided the offices of Greece’s farm subsidy agency, OPEKEPE, on Wednesday as part of an ongoing investigation into the suspected misuse of European Union agricultural funds. Police are focusing on OPEKEPE’s internal database in an effort to retrieve records of subsidy payments issued in recent years. Investigators are reportedly seeking details on the total amounts disbursed and the tax identification numbers (AFMs) of recipients for further examination.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1274793/police-raid-greek-farm-subsidy-agency-in-eu-funds-probe
Trump’s pick for US ambassador completes senate hearing smoothly
Kimberly Guilfoyle, US President Donald Trump’s pick for ambassador to Greece, testified during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday. Guilfoyle appeared well prepared, giving clear, direct answers regarding Greek-American relations, Turkey and trilateral cooperation between Greece, Cyprus and Israel.
Patras woman Irene Mourtzoukou confesses to murdering four children
Patras woman Irene Mourtzoukou, aged 25, has confessed to the murder of four young children – including her two babies – while being examined about the death of her sister 11 years ago, police sources said on Wednesday. Mourtzoukou confessed to killing her sister when she was just 14 years old, and subsequently to the murders of her two babies and the child of a friend.
ATHEX: Stocks defy turmoil and keep rising
Athinon Avenue is sprinting toward the 2,000-point mark for its main index, as it produced healthy gains again on Wednesday – led by bank stocks – while turnover remained at high levels. Even the most optimistic observers would not have expected this new sequence of seven sessions of growth for the benchmark amid global uncertainty regarding tensions in the Middle East, the US tariffs and the migration matters.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1274855/athex-stocks-defy-turmoil-and-keep-rising
KATHIMERINI: New tax on fuel and natural gas
TA NEA: Mourtzoukou case: 3 relentless questions about the system
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: The tormented ones are going to pay for the government’s failure regarding the migrant waves from Africa
RIZOSPASTIS: Greece-EU are also to blame for the reasons that lead to refugee waves
KONTRA NEWS: OPEKEPE scandal: Confiscation of bank accounts and wealth assets
DIMOKRATIA: Heatwave in products’ prices
NAFTEMPORIKI: Murky scenery for crucial prime matters
DRIVING THE DAY: A VOTE OF … CONFIDENCE?
VDL BUYS THE WIN: Mere hours before MEPs were to vote on whether to dissolve her presidency, Commission boss Ursula von der Leyen warded off an epic display of disunity by throwing the Socialists and Democrats a bone.
The deal: MEPs will vote just after noon today on a no-confidence motion brought against von der Leyen’s Commission by dozens of far-right MEPs. The S&D had threatened to abstain, a move that would signal the end of the centrist coalition that carried her into power. But a last-minute deal will see the Commission guarantee the survival of the European Social Fund Plus — a funding program that fosters employment and training — when it announces plans for the EU’s budget next week. More from Max Griera, Gregorio Sorgi and me here.
Spin one way: “The firmness of the S&D family” had brought “a major win for people across Europe,” said a spokesperson for the group.
Spin the other: The EPP’s budget lead, Siegfried Mureșan, shrugged. This was the S&D’s main demand, he said, so regardless of the vote today it was always likely to get Parliament’s support, he told Sarah Wheaton.
The upshot: The S&D will vote against the censure motion today, a group official said.
That settles that, then. With the S&D back in the tent, the liberals of Renew also signaled they would vote down the motion — “many with a heavy heart,” a spokesperson noted. “But this is no time to help the extreme right play games with Europe.” The Greens will also fall in line, said a spokesperson for that group.
What VDL would rather talk about: In a pointedly full calendar, von der Leyen is addressing French and Italian industry groups … meeting with Russia sanctions hawk U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham … and attending talks in Rome on supporting Ukraine. Watch out for flashy new investment announcements.
What the far right wants to talk about: Its motion, which censures von der Leyen’s informal dealings to secure Covid vaccines. But no one really cares about that.
Not even, let’s be honest … Gheorghe Piperea, the Romanian law professor and European Conservatives and Reformists MEP who launched the no-confidence bid. Chatting to Sarah, Piperea said no-confidence motions were healthy for democracies and that his effort is tantamount to “opening Pandora’s box” by showing that “it is possible.” Von der Leyen should brace for “several” more censure efforts, Piperea said.
What everyone else is talking about: Politics! The S&D, Renew and Greens are done, DONE, so they say, with being sidelined by the EPP and far right on a host of recent issues, especially migration and climate. The vote has given those frustrations a place to swill about in the open for a week. On Monday, it also gave EU watchers one of the European Parliament’s most interesting debates in years.
That was short-lived: EPP boss Manfred Weber and von der Leyen were betting that giving credence to the far right’s bomb-throwing would simply be too hard for the other groups. Or indeed, that they just didn’t have the bottle for it. And they were right.
Weber crows: “I look forward to continuing our work with this Commission, with this platform and all the democratic forces in this house to deliver better policies for EU citizens,” the buoyant EPP boss said in a statement shared with Playbook. “Far-right fringes and Putin friends have set up this trap because they want to destabilize the EU in a time of global turmoil. We will not fall for it. These games will come to an end.”
Ironic, any number of non-EPP MEPs noted, since Weber has shown little compunction joining with the far right when it suits his political ends.
SO NOW THEY ARE ALL FRIENDS, RIGHT? Let’s call it a truce.
S&D: MEP René Repasi said von der Leyen’s budget move was a “major concession … I think that she finally understood what is happening in the Parliament after Monday’s debate and she saw the need to act.”
The Greens said they wanted to see “credible signs that the direction will be adjusted” before von der Leyen’s State of the EU speech after the summer. More on that in a second.
Renew President Valérie Hayer: “Our future support is not automatic. It will depend entirely on how the president responds to our priorities.”
The nose count on today’s vote looks like this: There are 720 MEPs (give or take a couple of recent resignations) … The motion needs a two-thirds majority to pass … If all the MEPs vote, that’s around 480 votes … Von der Leyen has 188 EPP members ready to back her … If only Renew were to join, it would be 23 votes more than she needs … If fewer MEPs vote, the margin gets even wider.
So … the pin was always in the grenade. The Greens or S&D could have abstained without any risk of actually blowing up the Commission.
Far-right disunity too: Piperea predicted that all of the Patriots for Europe MEPs would back the measure, as would the Europe of Sovereign Nations group.
As for his own ECR … Critical remarks by the group’s Italian Co-Chair Nicola Procaccini were “unexpected” and “very, very mean,” Piperea said. Nonetheless, he ruled out the possibility of his Romanian party, AUR, leaving the ECR to join the Patriots or another right-wing family.
THE FIGHTS TO COME
HOW LONG WILL THIS GOODWILL LAST? The politics gods are already thinking up plenty of ways that this could all go horribly wrong. And the ghost of the Santer Commission’s 1999 confidence vote win, then rapid implosion, hangs over von der Leyen, Nick Vinocur notes in this primer.
Climate collision: The bloc’s 2040 climate target is quickly turning into the next test for the fractious “centrist coalition” — and von der Leyen’s command of her own party. One thing is clear: The long war over the Green Deal is being driven toward a decisive moment.
Everyone was still blaming everyone else after the Patriots — those big-time fans of climate action — somehow gazumped the other groups in an auction for control of the 2040 target file in the Parliament. Then, on Wednesday morning, the EPP sided with far-right groups to reject a proposal from the Greens, Renew and the S&D to fast-track the measure and stop the Patriots from slow-walking it.
The right to gloat: “Another great victory,” far-right Fidesz MEP Enikő Győri glowed on X. She added: “EPP should learn that their only chance to correct the mistaken economic policy in Europe is if they come with us. Then we can do it. They would need to be courageous all the time. Will they be?”
That all went down like a cup of cold sick: “Today’s vote clearly shows that the EPP prefers to collaborate with the far right rather than the democratic center,” rumbled S&D’s Tiemo Wölken. “Only days after Weber and VDL’s passionate warnings against the far right, they hand them the keys on climate policy,” Renew’s Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy fulminated.
It got even worse for the pro-climate camp when the EPP and right-wingers teamed up to water down anti-deforestation rules on Wednesday.
Let me explain: EPP climate lead Peter Liese tried to cool things down in a press release, saying the party wants an “orderly but fast” process for the new goal. In a whip note, seen by POLITICO’s Zia Weise, the EPP told MEPs to reject Wednesday’s fast track, but also said that option could still be used “later in the process.”
VDL vs. Weber: A delayed or weakened target would be a huge defeat for von der Leyen — who just over a week ago faced down French President Emmanuel Macron’s suggested pause. So the question arises: can von der Leyen convince Weber to save the heart of her green policy agenda?
Divided EPP: “In our meetings there’s always criticism — she’s not understood anything, she changed nothing — that’s of course not true. But Ursula … is of the opinion that we don’t have to abolish everything we did in the last mandate,” said an EPP official. “Manfred, he always says that we are ambitious, but realistic. What that actually means is often difficult to discern.”
4D chess? The far right often complains there’s no point in cutting carbon emissions unless China does more too. But the Patriots have thrown the EU’s target-setting into a spin just when the Commission’s green chief Teresa Ribera is about to sit down with the Chinese to negotiate a joint climate statement. The sticking point for the EU has been Beijing’s lack of ambition. But thanks to the far right, the EU’s leverage just got weaker.
INSTITUTIONAL JUICE
ILL-FATED LIBYA TRIP: The EU’s attempt to coordinate a plan to stem the flow of migrants from North Africa has descended into a blame game after Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner was thrown out of Libya by a Russia-backed warlord. On Wednesday, officials in Athens and Rome pointed the finger at Brussels and its diplomatic service while some of Brunner’s own colleagues inside the Commission admitted the EU side had messed up. My POLITICO colleagues have more.
LOW NOTES: The Commission fired an interpreter busted taking notes during a European Council meeting attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “The notes were immediately confiscated” and the Commission “took appropriate measures to prevent this incident from recurring,” the EU executive said. (The taking of written notes at sensitive sessions where issues like defense and security are discussed is prohibited under the Commission’s code of conduct.) More here.
BUNKER MENTALITY: Berlaymont staff were issued with new shelter-in-place guidance this week in the event of “natural hazards, bomb alerts, chemical, biological, or radiological contaminants, shootings or police interventions,” according to a document seen by our Jacopo Barigazzi.
KAILI CAN’T STOP WINNING: The EU’s General Court on Wednesday ruled in favor of former European Parliament Vice President Eva Kaili, overturning the institution’s decision to deny her access to documents concerning alleged misuse of assistant allowances.
RACKETE RESIGNS: Salvini-baiting German MEP and POLITICO 28 alum Carola Rackete quit the European Parliament on Wednesday. Her seat is expected to go to German economist Martin Günther, who pledged to continue Rackete’s climate justice fight “against the super-rich and their lobbyists.” Elena Giordano has more.
UKRAINE
RECOVERY CONFERENCE IN ROME TODAY: Ukraine’s allies will gather in Rome today for the Ukraine Recovery Conference. Ursula von der Leyen, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will be among those to deliver addresses (full details in the agenda).
Good news for Kyiv: The U.S. is delivering artillery shells and mobile rocket artillery missiles to Ukraine again, Reuters reports.
Bad news for Kyiv: While Ukraine’s EU allies are finally hearing the tough-on-Russia message they’d been hoping for from Donald Trump, they don’t trust him to stick with it, Paul McLeary reports.
What might set Trump off next: Kyiv is facing a sharp backlash after rejecting a candidate picked by an independent commission to lead an agency tasked with investigating economic crimes. Yurii Stasiuk has the details.
Now read this: Ukraine’s strongest asset is the millions of citizens ready to work, retrain and rebuild, if they’re given the opportunity to, writes Sanna Marin in this op-ed for POLITICO.
MEANWHILE, IN KUALA LUMPUR: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Reuters reports. Kaja Kallas will also be in the Malaysian capital today — maybe she’ll get a readout.
IN OTHER NEWS
PLASTIC NOT FANTASTIC: The EU’s environment and climate ministers have gathered in Aalborg, Denmark today for an informal meeting. This afternoon at 2:30 p.m., Denmark’s Environment Minister Magnus Heunicke and the EU’s Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall will take a test that will check the PFAS levels in their blood. You can tune in here.
FAR FROM IDEAL: Washington is describing a document sitting on Trump’s desk as a trade deal with the EU. But Brussels isn’t so sure that’s actually what it is. Our trade supremos Antonia Zimmermann and Camille Gijs break down the EU’s range of unhappy choices.
MANU CIAO: French President Emmanuel Macron leaves London today with what both sides are calling an “entente industrielle” — a declaration on nuke coordination, updated defense treaties and new joint cruise missile and drone research programs. Clea Caulcutt and Esther Webber have more from the final day of his talks with Keir Starmer.
GROK THIS ELON: A series of Hitler-praising comments from X’s AI chatbot Grok have led EU policymakers to demand robust rules for the most complex and advanced AI models in new industry guidance expected today, Pieter Haeck and Eliza Gkritsi report.
BIG READ — ERDOĞAN’S KURDISH GAMBLE: As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s support base weakens, he’s seeking a risky deal with the Kurds to buy a political lifeline. Elçin Poyrazlar has the details.