PM Mitsotakis in Odessa: Greece will continue to support Ukraine, as it did from the very start
Greece’s solidarity with the Ukrainian people, who are suffering these days again from a large-scale attack by Russian missiles and drones against civilians, was underlined by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the 4th Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit in Odessa on Wednesday, which he attended at the invitation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Athens agrees to send APCs to Lebanon
Greece has approved transferring 13 armored personnel carriers (APCs) to Lebanon’s Armed Forces, deepening cooperation between Athens and Beirut amid mounting regional instability.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/foreign-policy/1272135/athens-agrees-to-send-apcs-to-lebanon
New Road Traffic bill passes Parliament with great majority; brings stricter fines for repeat offenses
The new Road Traffic Code bill, bringing significant changes in road behavior and public safety, was voted on by an overwhelming majority in Parliament on Wednesday. Aiming to reduce traffic accidents in Greece and a high number of resulting deaths, the new law introduces a comprehensive and graduated system of fines for repeated violators with stricter penalties.
Speaker clarifies that parliamentary absolute majority remains unchanged at 151 votes
The number of votes needed for an absolute majority in Parliament remains unchanged at 151, despite the recent reduction in the number of sitting MPs from 300 to 297, Parliamentary Speaker Nikitas Kaklamanis has confirmed. The clarification comes in the wake of the Special Highest Court decision on Tuesday to strip three far-right Spartan MPs deputies of their parliamentary seats. Kaklamanis noted that all parliamentary parties agree on the matter, based on discussions he has held.
ATHEX: Stocks go up for sixth day in a row
The gradual rally of Greek stocks continued for a sixth day at Athinon Avenue on Wednesday, with the benchmark closing the session on the day’s high once again. This time it was mid-caps that outperformed, though hardly any sector was left behind, on a day of universal advances, while Ideal Holdings launched its public offering. The agreement in principle between the US and China against a trade war has helped stocks across most markets.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1272146/athex-stocks-go-up-for-sixth-day-in-a-row
KATHIMERINI: Incentives for the payment of rents via banking transactions
TA NEA: Zero charges for transactions of up to 2.000 euro per day
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: The world’s heart beats in Gaza
RIZOSPASTIS: Mitsotakis visits Ukraine: Bargains on the loot of the “reconstruction” with deeper involvement in the war in exchange
KONTRA NEWS: The 149-MP majority rule is breach of constitution
DIMOKRATIA: Government spokesperson Marinakis is shameless
NAFTEMPORIKI: Banks and foreign investors are the “fuel” of ATHEX
DRIVING THE DAY: MIDDLE EAST SIMMERS
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING: U.S. officials have been told Israel is ready to launch an operation into Iran, CBS News reported overnight. Which may explain why the U.S. State Department told some Americans to leave the region on Wednesday.
NOW READ THIS — BIBI’S EUROPE PROBLEM: Europe needs to get tougher on Israeli human rights abuses, and it can start by cracking down on far-right members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet. That’s the message from Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard, who spoke with Nick Vinocur in an interview (before the Iran reports emerged).
There’s a precedent: Earlier this week, Britain did exactly that, slapping an asset freeze and travel ban on Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the ministers had “incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights.” Norway, Canada, Australia and New Zealand did the same.
Vibe shift: Malmer Stenergard said Sweden has been pushing for penalties on extremist settlers, but more action was needed. “We need to see things happening on the ground,” said the minister. The mood toward Israel “sounds a lot different now than it did only a couple of weeks ago and this is due to the fact that so many countries like Sweden are frustrated to see the suffering of the millions.”
Even the Germans are saying it. It’s a sign of just how far the balance of opinion has shifted away from Israel, which garnered significant support after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, that even German politicians are calling for action. In written comments to POLITICO, Franziska Brantner, co-leader of the German Greens, said countries like the U.K. and Canada are “leading the way,” and “it’s time to impose sanctions against Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir.”
Not so fast: Of course, it’s one thing to call for sanctions, it’s another to get them. The chance of action being taken at the EU level is, for now, close to nil, given Israel-friendly member countries such as Hungary wield a veto.
Careful now: And then there’s the ever-present possibility of provoking Washington’s wrath. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio lashed out at London and co., telling them to “not forget who the real enemy is.”
HASSAN HEADING TO FRANCE: French-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan is due to arrive in France this evening, AFP reports. She had been held in Israel with other pro-Palestinian activists since Monday, after the Israeli navy boarded the Gaza-bound yacht on which she was sailing, along with Greta Thunberg.
ZELENSKYY TALKS TRUMP
TRUMP CARD: Donald Trump can end the war between Russia and Ukraine because “Putin understands nothing but strength, and America has that strength,” according to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “It’s all in his hands,” the Ukrainian president said, referring to Trump. “How strong the sanctions package will be depends on him. The speed with which decisions are made depends on him.”
But “Russia is simply lying to Trump,” Zelenskyy told Paul Ronzheimer in an interview on Wednesday. “Most heads of state and government share my opinion, and I very much hope that America sees and understands this. That is the most important thing. How you respond to that is America’s decision.”
Appealing to Trump’s ego: Zelenskyy played up the legacy-building boon for Trump if he successfully brokers a ceasefire. “It’s not even about the fact that he promised during the election campaign that he would end the war. That’s not the point. It’s more that he is a certain person,” Zelenskyy mused. “Let’s also consider his age, and I think it’s important for him — I hope it’s important for him — to end the war. He has spoken about it very often. He has repeated many times that he will end the killing.”
Don’t look back in anger: Does Zelenskyy dwell on his Oval Office confrontation with Trump and his Vice President JD Vance back in February? “I don’t think it brought us any closer,” he said wryly. But, he added, “that was in the past. And today we must do everything we can to ensure that the next meeting in the Oval Office is successful for both countries.”
Good ol’ Olaf: He may not have been particularly popular at home, but Zelenskyy lauded former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s contribution to the war effort. Germany, under Scholz, “gave Ukraine the most Patriots, compared to all other countries,” Zelenskyy said. “In terms of support, Germany was second only to the U.S. and first in Europe.”
What about the new guy? “I think Friedrich Merz is a strong leader,” Zelenskyy said, before revealing what he really wants from him: “I would like Friedrich to ultimately give us the Taurus.” Read the full write-up of the interview here.
PAX ROMANA
RUTTE IN ROME: NATO chief Mark Rutte is in Rome for a busy day that kicks off with a tête-à-tête with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, followed by a lunch with Weimar Plus foreign ministers (a format that, along with the Weimar group countries, includes representatives from Italy, France, Germany, Poland, the U.K., Spain and Ukraine).
Coughing up the cash: Italy, historically a laggard in defense spending within the alliance, said it has reached NATO’s target of 2 percent of gross domestic product. Given its military spending was forecast to hit roughly 1.6 percent this year, the sudden uptick has raised eyebrows, with some speculating Rome was engaged in creative accounting to make up the shortfall. The government denies that.
Feeding the war machine: NATO leaders are expected to agree on a new target of 5 percent of GDP at the upcoming summit in The Hague — divided into 3.5 percent for core defense spending, plus 1.5 percent for security-related investments. Given Italy’s enormous public debt levels, it’s a big ask, and Rome is already pushing for more time to hit the target.
Bridge to nowhere? The government is looking at some out-of-the-box solutions to hit the target. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani proposed that the Messina bridge project — which is meant to be the longest suspended bridge in the world, connecting Calabria to Sicily — should count toward the spending target. “Sicily is in the middle of the Mediterranean, there are important NATO bases, and certainly having a more efficient infrastructural system that unites Sicily to the rest of Europe also means strengthening security,” he reportedly said.
HUMAN RIGHTS BLOW-UP
ONE BLOC, UNDER THE ECHR? EU justice and home affairs ministers are in Brussels today, where the Commission will update them on the EU’s progress toward joining the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Quickie: It’s a 15-minute technical point, but it’s been enough to kick off a debate around whether the EU should be formally part of the human rights treaty, or if a tough line on migration should take precedence.
State of play: All 27 EU member countries are part of the ECHR. The question here is whether the EU should join as an independent entity. The process has been inching along for decades, with numerous setbacks. At this point, the Commission needs to request an opinion from the European Court of Justice on whether the bloc is legally ready to join. The court has previously ruled against it.
People problems: As Playbook wrote on Monday, resistance is now coming from capitals that are keen to restrict migration. Last month, Denmark, Italy and seven other countries wrote to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressing concern about how the ECHR handles migration cases. Then a group of 41 right-wing MEPs followed with a missive warning that the court’s judgments made it hard to deport immigrants who committed crimes.
Best intentions: One of those MEPs, Alessandro Ciriani from Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, told POLITICO that some of the EHCR’s decisions, while well-intentioned, are “limiting member countries’ capacity to protect their citizens and repatriate foreigners that have committed serious crimes.”
Choppy waters: The point on the EHCR might be a technical one, but it appears that the immigration debate will also get a proper airing at the political level. An EU diplomat told Playbook that Italy, with the backing of France, Greece and Malta, has proposed a discussion at the Home Affairs Council on Friday on migratory flows coming from Libya.
BUILDING WALLS, TOGETHER: French and German lawmakers are working hand in hand to toughen up checks along their shared border, Nette Nöstlinger reports. The Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly has proposed cooperation between Paris and Berlin in several areas, including mixed patrols. Not everyone is happy, with critics accusing the countries of undermining the free movement of people enshrined in Schengen.
High praise for Copenhagen: Being tough on who you let into your country is eliciting brotherly love from German politicians. Friedrich Merz praised his Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen, at a press conference in Berlin on Wednesday. “What Denmark has achieved in recent years is truly exemplary,” he said. “We are also working together towards new and stricter asylum rules in the European Union.”
MORE FROM TRUMP WORLD
GUANTANAMO-BOUND: European governments are scrambling to make sure their citizens in the U.S. are not taken to the notorious Guantanamo prison camp, as the Trump administration ramps up its efforts to deport thousands of undocumented migrants, Seb Starcevic reports.
“Not happening”: Around 800 Europeans could be transported to a migrant detention center at the American facility on the Cuban coast, according to documents seen by POLITICO. The White House called the media reports “Fake News.”
That hasn’t stopped Europe from taking the prospect very seriously. “We will do everything we can to ensure that no Italians are taken to Guantanamo,” Italy’s Foreign Minister Tajani said, adding he will call Marco Rubio today for “further clarifications.” Meanwhile, the Romanian Embassy in Washington said it was “in constant contact” with American authorities on the issue of deported Romanians.
AUSSIES COULD BE REGRETTING THEIR DECISION TO DITCH FRENCH SUBS: The Trump administration is reviewing Washington’s role in the AUKUS pact with the U.K. and Australia, our Stateside colleagues report. The deal, which aimed to head off China’s growing influence in the Pacific, led Australia to ax a multibillion-dollar sub deal with France, infuriating Paris.
TACO THURSDAY: The U.S.’s tariff negotiation deadline, set for July 8, will probably be pushed back, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The delay will allow “good faith” talks with trade partners to continue.
GEE 7: The G7 won’t try to reach consensus on a joint communiqué at next week’s leaders summit in Canada given the differences between the U.S. and the rest on Ukraine, climate change and other issues, Bloomberg reports.
IN OTHER NEWS
MEPS GET MORE PARENTAL RIGHTS: European Parliament President Roberta Metsola last night announced a plan to strengthen lawmakers’ parental entitlements. MEPs will be able to take an official leave of absence from Parliament duties for parenthood three months before and six months after birth, and voting while on leave will be easier.
METSOLA WATCH: Metsola hinted she’ll remain in Brussels instead of becoming the new leader of Malta’s center-right Nationalist Party on Wednesday. “I have a responsibility here,” she told my colleague Max Griera.
KIDS AND THEIR PHONES: Emmanuel Macron wants to ban kids from social media — but as our top tech colleagues in Brussels and France explain, he’ll face a few snags along the way.
SCHENGEN ON THE ROCK: The U.K. and Spain sealed a deal that will see Gibraltar all but join the Schengen area, abolishing passport controls at the border between the Rock and the Spanish mainland, and seeing European officials added to passport control at its airport. The pact has been as much an occasion for photo-ops as it has been a source of bellyaching on the part of opposition politicians who accuse Britain’s Labour government of capitulating to the EU and ceding the island’s sovereignty.