Three firefighters die as wildfires burn across Greece
Three firefighters died Wednesday as wildfires burned across several regions of Greece, forcing evacuations in Crete and on the island of Lesbos and putting emergency services under pressure amid strong winds and high temperatures.
Hope for Democracy party spokesman quits position
The spokesman for activist Maria Karystianou’s new right-of-center party said Wednesday he can no longer speak for Hope for Democracy. In a critical social media post, journalist Paraskevas Avgerinos said that the party has acquired a “parallel press office” whose composition he does not know. Opinion polls show the party to be Greece’s sixth most popular.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1310975/hope-for-democracy-party-spokesman-quits-position
Greek Premier’s nephew loses third lawsuit over surveillance – scandal reporting
A Greek court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Grigoris Dimitriadis, the nephew and former secretary-general of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, against one of the country’s largest media groups and two journalists, in a ruling that addresses the boundaries of press freedom when reporting on matters at the center of public and institutional scrutiny. The decision marks the third lawsuit brought by Dimitriadis over reporting related to Greece’s surveillance scandal to be rejected by a Greek court, adding to a series of rulings involving media coverage of one of the country’s most politically sensitive controversies in recent years. Dimitriadis has occupied a central place in the public debate surrounding the affair. Beyond being Mitsotakis’s nephew and a former top aide in the prime minister’s office, he has been linked in published reporting to individuals who emerged as key figures in the surveillance scandal.
Disposable income in decline
Gross disposable income of households recorded a significant drop in the first quarter of 2026, compared to the previous quarter, while a large decline was recorded both in household savings and investments, as well as in fixed capital formation, at least compared to the European Union member-states for which data is available. The gross disposable income of Greek households decreased in January-March by 2.5% compared to the previous quarter. In the eurozone at the same time it increased by 0.7%, and in the European Union by 0.9%.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1310760/disposable-income-in-decline
ATHEX: Refineries give bourse fresh boost
Corporate results were as of Wednesday the focus on investor attention at Athinon Avenue, though it was not banks that stole the show, for a change, in this session: Refineries benefitted from the fresh rise of the global oil rates to enjoy handsome gains on the day, whereas banks had a mixed session on the day Piraeus announced an increase in its profits over the year’s first half.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1310991/athex-refineries-give-bourse-fresh-boost
KATHIMERINI: Fiscal council to calculate cost of proposed party policies
TA NEA: Wildfires: Three deaths of firemen in the line of duty
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: New initiative for the Cyprus issue: Last chance?
RIZOSPASTIS: Three firemen dead in Rethymno and Gythio: Criminal liability by the government and the State
KONTRA NEWS: New Democracy’s polling declines to 24% in Northern Greece
DIMOKRATIA: Alternate Minister of Health Agapidaki is funding her campaign with money from the RRF
NAFTEMPORIKI: Tech stocks under trial
DRIVING THE DAY
SUMMER SPRINT: With much of Brussels shutting down for August, a small group of European Commission officials is working through the summer to give Ursula von der Leyen enough to announce in her Sept. 16 State of the European Union speech.
Seven-week deadline: The unfinished business includes limits on children’s social media use, plans targeting cyberattacks and economic coercion, action on Chinese trade practices, early benefits for EU candidate countries and the bloc’s proposed €2 trillion budget, five officials involved in preparing the speech told Playbook.
What’s at stake: Von der Leyen needs to show that her second Commission is getting things done while keeping her fragile parliamentary majority together and responding to populist parties accusing Brussels of ignoring voters. Renew Europe lawmaker Sigrid Friis said SOTEU must show pro-European parties can “drive Europe forward” and that von der Leyen will work with them rather than “give in to populists or the loudest voices on the extremes.”
Great expectations: Von der Leyen “considers SOTEU to be of great importance” as a “decisive annual moment” for her as a leader, and it is usual for it to involve “months of preparations” to help “bring together the members of Parliament and the Commission,” Commission spokesperson Arianna Podestà told Playbook.
Age limits: The Commission president has already backed restrictions on children’s access to social media. Officials are still debating which platforms would be covered and what age limit should apply. She is expected to raise the issue in her address, with detailed proposals later.
Under attack: The EU executive is also finishing its new European Security Strategy, meant to protect the bloc from cyberattacks, sabotage and economic coercion. Much of it has been written for months, officials said, but publication was held back until after the summer break.
Budget fight: Ahead of the Oct. 15-16 EU leaders’ summit, the Commission is preparing to defend its proposed seven-year budget — its €2 trillion size, its spending choices and the new taxes Brussels wants to impose to help pay for it.
Pre-membership perks: Leaders are also expected to discuss benefits for candidate countries before they formally join — proposals being drawn up by Commission officials. The aim is to keep candidates moving toward membership while reassuring skeptical governments and voters that new members won’t be admitted before they’re ready.
China plans: Officials are also using the summer to prepare measures against Chinese trade practices, including a new tool giving Brussels more scope to retaliate. The plans are due in October, although von der Leyen may sketch them out in her speech.
Time pressures: It’s true the commission president has three years left to secure her legacy. But her room to act could shrink if pro-EU parties lose ground in France, Poland or Spain in 2027.
BIG AND BREAKING
LAST NIGHT IN THE MIDDLE EAST: The U.S. launched fresh strikes on Iran in response to an attack on its forces Tuesday, my stateside colleagues report.
PiS PUNCH-UP: Poland’s main opposition party is shifting to the right ahead of next year’s parliamentary election, with an internal ideological fight underway over its EU stance, Bartosz Brzeziński writes.
WORLD CUP BACKLASH: European football officials are considering backing Qatari sports executive and PSG boss Nasser al-Khelaifi as a challenger to Gianni Infantino in next year’s election for FIFA’s top job, POLITICO reports.
PREMIUM PROBLEMS: As wildfires rage in France and Spain, another casualty of the increasingly frequent disasters hitting the continent is appearing — parts of Europe could soon be uninsurable. Marianne Gros, Giorgio Leali and Aude Le Gentil have the story.
DELHI DEALINGS: Russia is importing European technology that could be used to keep its war machine operational via supply chains that run through India, data seen by Graham Lanktree shows.
AI OVERHAUL
INSTALLING UPDATE: The European Commission has overhauled GPT@EC, the in-house AI platform used by officials, the company behind its infrastructure told my colleague Pieter Haeck. It’s the third update to the AI tool.
What’s new: Staff will be able to search more internal material through links to Microsoft Office 365 and Outlook, use a secure “deep research” function to search the web and speak to the platform through a voice interface, according to the German AI company Deepset.
AI woes: The upgrade comes as EU institutions try to prevent officials and lawmakers from feeding sensitive material into public chatbots, with the European Parliament building its own platform after concerns about AI-drafted speeches, questions and amendments.
4 MORE THINGS GETTING US TALKING
QUATRE-MOVER: One of Brussels’ best-known journalists, Jean Quatremer, is leaving his role at France’s Libération newspaper after more than 40 years, citing ideological differences with Libé. He’ll join weekly magazine Marianne as a columnist.
MERZ’S MAN: Germany’s governing CDU/CSU bloc elected lawmaker Thorsten Frei as its parliamentary leader in a vote yesterday.
LET’S PUT OUR EDS TOGETHER: British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband is in pole position to lead the U.K.’s efforts to reset relations with Brussels, as the new government eyes an all-important post-Brexit summit later this year.
EXPULSION ROW: France has moved to expel Russian TV star Xenia Fedorova — but the media companies that employ her say it’s a “serious attack on freedom of expression.”