Greek president holds reception for 50th anniversary of restoration of democracy
This day, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the restoration of democracy in Greece after the junta and the return of Constantine Karamanlis to Greece, is a historic day, President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou said on Wednesday, during a reception at the Presidential Mansion’s gardens.
Erdogan reiterates call for two-state solution on Cyprus, defends rights of ‘Turkish minority’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated on Wednesday that the only solution to the decades-long dispute over Cyprus is to establish two separate states on the island. In the same speech, Erdogan also addressed the Muslim minority in Greece’s northeastern Thrace region, which he referred to as the “Turkish minority.” He emphasized that their issues are a top priority for Ankara.
Italian research vessel returning to Crete after completing operation
The research vessel Ievoli Relume has departed from the maritime area south of the island of Kassos in the southern Aegean, escorted by the Greek Navy gunboat Aittitos. The presence of the Italian-flagged vessel, which was conducting research for the future deployment of underwater cables connecting the southern island of Crete with Cyprus, raised tensions between Greece and Turkey this week.
FinMin enforces beach regulations after 4,500 citizen complaints
More than 4,500 citizen complaints about beaches and coastlines across Greece have been checked by the Ministry of National Economy and Finance over the past three weeks.
Retail data show decline in consumption in May
Retail business data for May points to a decline in consumption despite an increase in turnover, per figures released by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) on Tuesday.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1244721/retail-data-show-decline-in-consumption-in-may
ATHEX: Benchmark loses more ground
Imported pressure from the tech company results in the US sent Greek stocks down on Wednesday, as the blue chips second-quarter results season begins on Thursday with Mytilineos and most banks following next week. The cycle of growth remains open though, and it appears that the benchmark’s return to the 1,500-point level is only a matter of time, even amid the relatively low activity in mid-summer.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1244724/athex-benchmark-loses-more-ground
KATHIMERINI: SOS plan for the lack of water in the islands
TA NEA: Prescriptions: Patients are being hold hostage
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Political heatwave hits SYRIZA
RIZOSPASTIS: No to the “psychiatric reform” and the privatization of mental healthcare
KONTRA NEWS: The Mitsotakis government succumbed to the extortions of Turkey
DIMOKRATIA: Limping democracy
NAFTEMPORIKI: Listed companies: Expectations for profit increases worth 5,1 bln
PARLIAMENT FOILS ANOTHER SPYWARE ATTACK: Daniel Freund, a German Green MEP, has told Playbook that he was targeted by a sophisticated surveillance tool just two weeks before the EU election. Freund, who is vocal on transparency and integrity issues in Brussels — and a frequent critic of the Hungarian government under Viktor Orbán — said the European Parliament thwarted an attack that would have given the perpetrators full access to his digital device.
“I would have been under complete surveillance,” Freund told me and cybersecurity reporter Antoaneta Roussi. “My phone goes pretty much everywhere I go, and they would have been able to trace, to listen, to follow anything I do.”
Spyware spirals: Freund is not the first MEP to have been targeted by spyware in recent months. In February, POLITICO reported that MEPs Nathalie Loiseau and Elena Yoncheva — both members of the security subcommittee — had spyware detected on their devices, along with a parliamentary official. Parliament was on high alert for cyberattacks and foreign interference in the run-up to the EU election in June.
What happened: On May 27, Freund received an email purporting to be from a female student at Kyiv International University organizing a seminar about Ukraine’s chances of joining the EU. She invited Freund to “write a short message” to be shared with students and included a link. Clicking on it would have exposed Freund to the spyware (he didn’t).
Error message: As it happens, there is a young woman of the same name studying at that university, but she told Playbook she did not know who Freund was and did not recognize the Google Mail account that the message came from. “I’m shocked,” she said. “This email is definitely not from me.”
Freund was alerted by Parliament that the link contained spyware likely made by the Israeli company Candiru, which was blacklisted by the U.S. government in 2021, according to an email from a Parliament official seen by Playbook.
Intimate phishing: Candiru (Vandellia cirrhosa) is the name of a small parasitic Amazonian fish that is known (possibly apocryphally) to swim up the penises of bathers. According to researchers, its corporate namesake developed spyware that has allegedly been used by governments to secretly access devices belonging to activists, journalists and politicians.
Who is behind it? “There is no indication from where [the] attack originated,” the Parliament official wrote in the email seen by Playbook, and a Parliament spokesperson refused to comment on the incident when we reached out to them.
Freund’s theory: The German MEP has led a push to suspend Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the EU and he raised the possibility this could be a potential motivation for targeting him. “I’m not saying it was Hungary, but out of the possibilities, this is what seems most likely,” Freund told Playbook.
There’s no evidence to link the Hungarian government to the incident and a government spokesperson declined to comment when approached by Playbook. Wherever it came from, the attack on Freund will amplify concerns about the use of spyware by European governments and against European citizens.
The bigger picture: In Spain, at least 65 Catalan separatist politicians have been targeted by spyware. In Greece, a scandal erupted when the government acknowledged it had wiretapped an opposition leader’s phone. Parliament’s President Roberta Metsola previously also faced an attempted hacking using spyware. Last year, after an investigation into the issue, MEPs declared that misuse of spyware put “democracy itself at stake,” and made specific recommendations to Hungary, Poland, Greece, Cyprus and Spain.
Curb your snooping: As Antoaneta scooped this week, the Commission is formulating a position on spyware that is expected to warn governments that protecting national security doesn’t give them a blank check to justify the use of intrusive surveillance software. Stricter safeguards will be introduced to protect individuals’ privacy. Publication of the document was initially intended for June but has been delayed, according to people familiar with the matter.
HUNGARY’S PRESIDENCY
MINISTERS AVOID HEALTH MEETING LIKE THE PLAGUE: Hungary is convening an informal meeting of EU health ministers today in Budapest to discuss organ donation and cardiovascular health … but it looks like almost no ministers will actually show up, health reporter Mari Eccles writes for Morning Health Care subscribers. Some countries like Denmark and Austria are boycotting, while others including France and Germany are sending only lower-ranking representatives.
Presidency on life support: It’s the latest episode in the feud between Brussels and Budapest that has escalated under Hungary’s six-month presidency of the Council of the EU. Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán’s self-declared “peace missions” to Ukraine, Russia and China pushed the wrong buttons of leaders in Brussels and other EU capitals — and they’re now shunning the non-essential parts of its agenda.
NEXT COMMISSIONERS
HOW TO WIN PORTFOLIOS AND INFLUENCE VDL: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is building her new team, and will start interviewing for the remaining 25 EU commissioner spots in mid-August. Read Barbara Moens’ full explainer here.
FIGHT CLUB MED: Cyprus has opened its campaign to win the new commissioner portfolio for the Mediterranean. President Nikos Christodoulides told my colleague Nektaria Stamouli in an interview that a Cypriot would be ideal for the job and claimed responsibility for its creation. “We can contribute to issues related to shipping and the Mediterranean,” Christodoulides said. You can read the full interview here.
SÍK CHOICE! The Czech Republic nominated Industry and Trade Minister Jozef Síkela as a candidate, passing over EPP MEP Danuše Nerudová. Síkela, 57, is a former investment banker who ran a bank in Ukraine, speaks fluent English, German and Russian, and loves music.
FEARNE WILTS: Chris Fearne, who Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela was tipping just this month as commissioner, is out of the race after a court ruled that he and 13 others will face trial in a major corruption case centered on hospital contracts.Fearne says he’s innocent. Rory O’Neill has more for Pro subscribers.
SCHMIT VS. HANSEN: Was Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden saying Wednesday that he wants a “serious and interesting portfolio” in the next Commission good news for current Commissioner Nicolas Schmit? Luxemburger Wort thought so.
The Socialist Schmit has an uphill battle to convince Frieden to pick him over fellow EPP politician Christophe Hansen — but if portfolio heft begins to matter more than party affiliation, Schmit’s chances could just have gone up a notch. Von der Leyen, the thinking goes, might do the Socialists a favor by offering Luxembourg a bigger role if Schmit takes the job. Watch this space.
DOs AND DON’Ts: Playbook has put together a handy guide for all those EU governments still toying with names to put forward to send to Brussels.
Do … say you’re interested in an important, economic portfolio. Everyone else already has!
Do … get your act together and nominate! Von der Leyen is thinking about this right now.
Do … make your potential nominees battle it out in a Takeshi’s Castle-type live streamed event.
Do … Leak their names to POLITICO first.Don’t … call it a “portOfolio,” unless you’re Portuguese. It’s portfolio.
Don’t … refuse to nominate a woman, and come up with excuses for why you’re specially exempt. (*Cough* Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris.)
Don’t … have an awkward public spat over the nominee like Lithuania is doing.
Don’t … nominate someone who could face trial on fraud charges … (See Malta’s Chris Fearne above.)
IN OTHER NEWS
BIDEN SAYS HE’S ‘PASSING THE TORCH’ TO SAVE DEMOCRACY: U.S. President Joe Biden spoke for the first time about his historic decision to end his reelection bid, saying in an Oval Office address that he made the painstaking choice to stand down for the good of his party and country.
“I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future all merited a second term,” Biden said. “But nothing — nothing — can come in the way of saving our democracy, and that includes personal ambition.” My U.S. colleagues Eli Stokols and Lauren Egan have a write-up.
NETANYAHU DEFIANT: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a fiery address to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday in which he promised “total victory” against Hamas and denounced American opponents of the war in Gaza as “idiots.” The Associated Press has more.
Biden to confront him: The Israeli prime minister is expected to sit down this week with Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Freed of the political shackles of having to seek reelection, Biden will look to take a tougher tone with Netanyahu to reach an agreement with Hamas to free the group’s hostages and end the fighting that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, POLITICO’s Jonathan Lemire reports.
TEAMING UP ON DEFENSE: Europe’s two largest donors of military aid to Ukraine — Germany and Britain — are buddying up in a defense pact as fears grow that a victory for Donald Trump in November’s U.S. election could spell disaster for European security, my colleagues Joshua Posaner, Nette Nöstlinger and Henry Donovan reported.
ICYMI: Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced he intends to run for reelection next year.
THE MANFRED WEBER SHOW: German MEPs have called on public broadcasters ZDF and ARD to invite more European Parliament members to their political talk shows. Only EPP chief Manfred Weber has been invited since the EU election, the lawmakers complained.