PM Mitsotakis at Informal European Council Summit in Denmark: Europe must also protect its southern borders
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, addressing the informal European Council Summit in Copenhagen, emphasised the need for Europe to safeguard its southern borders alongside its eastern ones, as part of the discussion on enhancing European defence, according to sources.
Greece pressured over aid to Ukraine
Athens, not for the first time, faces pressure from NATO allies to provide substantial aid to Ukraine, mainly through reselling some of its 25 Mirage 2000-5 fighters to intermediaries. The pressure is testing Greece’s strong reluctance to provide high-tech systems to be used against Russia and its preference to contribute through antiquated weapons systems, with some, such as the 60 self-propelled 203 mm M-110 howitzers, which have been part of the Army’s arsenal since the 1960s.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/foreign-policy/1282565/greece-pressured-over-aid-to-ukraine
Kovesi calls for bolstering EU prosecutor’s office in Athens
European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kovesi called on Wednesday for the strengthening of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Athens, during a visit to the Greek capital. She met with Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis and his deputy Ioannis Bougas.
Economic climate index declines
The economic climate index fell to 106.2 points in September from 108.9 points in July, according to the monthly business and consumer survey released by the Foundation for Economic & Industrial Research (IOBE) on Wednesday.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1282618/economic-climate-index-declines
ATHEX: Healthy rise for majority of blue chips
After the first couple of hours in Wednesday’s bourse session, stocks at Athinon Avenue started a mini rally that gave them significant gains in the end, though this mainly concerned blue chips, led by banks, while mid-caps had a much weaker growth rate and turnover was quite reduced compared with Tuesday.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1282572/athex-healthy-rise-for-majority-of-blue-chips
KATHIMERINI: Request for the sale of Greek Mirage jetfighters to Kiev via Esthonia
TA NEA: EU Summit: Shield in the Aegean Sea as well
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Raiding solidarity
RIZOSPASTIS: Message of strike escalation
KONTRA NEWS: Giorgos Mylonakis is being dragged to the parliamentary inquiry committee for the OPEKEPE scandal
DIMOKRATIA: OPEKEPE: The PM’s office is at the core of the scandal
NAFTEMPORIKI: Revenues gap within super markets’ Top-10
DRIVING THE DAY: INFORMAL EUCO
SECOND TO SWIFT: I timed this debut carefully so it wouldn’t clash with the other big release of the week: Taylor Swift’s new album “The Life of a Showgirl,” due out Friday. (One EU diplomat wishing me luck assured me my launch is only the second most exciting event, after Taylor’s.)
What I couldn’t avoid: Landing the same day as a major gathering of European leaders in the Danish capital. Here’s a wrap of what they punted (spoiler: a lot) and what they achieved (spoiler: not much) — with a little help from Taylor herself.
The vault: Russian frozen assets, which Brussels wanted to unlock to help Ukraine, remain out of reach. But leaders did agree in principle to keep working on ways to use the money. (Separately, Germany, France and Italy are urging their fellow G7 nations Japan and the U.S. to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, while the Kremlin is threatening to retaliate by selling off foreign-owned assets under a new privatization mechanism signed into law by Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.)
I knew you were trouble: Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán continues blocking another attempt — scooped by POLITICO this week — to speed up the EU enlargement process for Ukraine (and he’s being punished for it).
You’re on your own, kid: The road to establishing a defensive European “drone wall” will be uphill. “Things need to be a little more sophisticated,” French President Emmanuel Macron sniffed before even getting in the room with his counterparts in Copenhagen.
Even as the leaders bickered over the idea (with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz slamming it, per two diplomats), drones were sighted over critical German infrastructure. Still, the drone wall isn’t going away and the Commission will keep working on it — though potentially under another name.
It’s time to go: Leaders spent significant time debating how the bloc should move forward on common defense, an EU official said — a point later confirmed by Council President António Costa at the post-summit press conference. While countries broadly welcomed the Commission’s flagship proposals, they also insisted on retaining a clear say in shaping them. To that end, Costa suggested meetings between the bloc’s 27 defense ministers and the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, should be held more frequently.
Evermore: This summit was billed as a defining moment; it became a staging post. The leaders finished up with plenty of lofty words, but several diplomats with knowledge of their closed-door discussions told POLITICO little was agreed. Many files are unlikely to be ready in three weeks when they meet again for the Oct. 23-24 EUCO — which Costa grandly labeled “decision day.” Meaning that like so many summits, the truly decisive one is always the next one.
Two anti-heroes (that’s the last Swift reference, promise): Costa and von der Leyen both arrived in Copenhagen with fresh ideas, and European leaders quickly slapped them down. It’s a reminder of who’s calling the shots, as my colleague Jacopo Barigazzi points out.
The bottom line: Europe’s old habit of talking about problems instead of fixing them strikes again. Even with war at the gates, leaders left Copenhagen with more questions than answers — read more on that here.
THE EPC: MACRON’S BABY, EUROPE’S MAYBE
DÉJÀ VU DIPLOMACY: After a very intense European Council — informal though it may have been — leaders are back at it today. The setting: still Copenhagen. The occasion: the seventh meeting of the European Political Community. The guest list: over 40 leaders, from Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Albania’s Edi Rama.
Pet project: Launched by Emmanuel Macron in 2022 as a grand diplomatic forum, the EPC was meant to create a space for strategic talks beyond the EU — a sort of waiting room for candidate countries, to keep them close and not too cozy with Russia. Three years in, the EPC is still struggling to define its purpose, writes Giorgio Leali.
How long can we keep meeting like this? “I mean, Zelenskyy’s still coming to these things, no?” one European Council official told Playbook, not exactly brimming with enthusiasm for the confab. Another diplomat was blunter: “As long as it’s useful, we keep it.” Translation: No one’s married to the EPC except Macron — and its future after he leaves the Elysée looks fuzzy at best.
Speed dating, EU style: Forget the panels, the real draw of the EPC has always been the backroom bilats. “The goal is to bring people together without too much formal stuff. Just politics,” explained a diplomat, adding that leaders favor the intimacy of the format. But with dozens of short, back-to-back encounters, one diplomat from a non-EU country privately compared it to “speed dating” — lots of meetings, little substance.
What to expect: Mette Frederiksen will kick things off with Costa and Zelenskyy at 10:30 a.m. Then the fun begins at noon: a Q&A session with U.K. PM Keir Starmer acting as an unlikely master of ceremonies, putting questions to Macron, von der Leyen, Polish PM Donald Tusk and Moldova’s President Maia Sandu, among the others (per a diplomat involved in the planning).
Leaders will then take part in four thematic panels on security, resilience, dependencies and migration … a side event featuring Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and Emmanuel Macron on tackling drug trafficking (particularly synthetics); and, of course, some press-friendly moments.
THE REVIEWS ARE IN: Three flaws with the EPC format kept coming up in Playbook’s discussions with diplomats and EU officials in Copenhagen …
1. No results: Despite Macron’s promises, the EPC hasn’t delivered on energy, security or investment. “I can’t think of a concrete result from the formal part,” admitted one EU diplomat.
2. Doubling up: Brussels institutions are lukewarm. A Commission official grumbled that the EPC will simply repeat discussions had the day before at the informal EU summit.
3. Competition: The EPC’s role on Ukraine has been overshadowed by other formats — including Macron’s own “coalition of the willing” with Starmer.
Not everyone is so dismissive: Luuk van Middelaar of the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics (BIG) told Playbook the EPC still matters: NATO’s future is uncertain, the EU can’t always be inclusive, and leaders want a pan-European forum. BIG even put out a glowing report calling the EPC a “new pillar” of Europe’s architecture.
METTE’S MOMENT
DANES IN THE SPOTLIGHT: These two days in Copenhagen are meant to be Denmark’s big EU moment — and Mette Frederiksen has invested plenty of political capital into making them a success. Deliverables? Not really. But the ride was memorable.
The summit was flawlessly staged: Smooth logistics, locals more curious than annoyed by traffic jams and security checks, a stunning venue — the Christiansborg Palace — instantly recognizable to fans of Danish political drama “Borgen.” (It’s the show that featured the immortal line: “In Brussels, no one hears you scream.”)
It was all quite the contrast to a grumpy Brussels summit. But then came the hiccups. First the press room Wi-Fi died, then the heating. Journalists roasted, then froze (a rare consensus in the press corps: this time, the complaints were justified). Nobody knew whether leaders would reconvene after dinner, or if there would even be a press conference — “not least the Danes themselves,” one diplomat quipped.
All’s well that ends well. In the end, it went smoothly enough to chalk up as a win for Frederiksen, once floated as Charles Michel’s successor atop the European Council. (She’d ticked the right boxes: Socialist credentials, seasoned head of government, solid ties to von der Leyen. But the job went to Costa after some classic backroom dealing.)
With Costa’s mandate expiring in 18 months, is this Frederiksen’s audition for his job? Diplomats and EU officials Playbook spoke to shrugged off that idea for now, noting she seems focused on domestic politics. But one diplomat joked: “Maybe she wants to be von der Leyen in four years instead.” Note taken.
PARLIAMENT MACHINATIONS
GERMAN CONSERVATIVES’ CHIEF IN EU PARLIAMENT TO STEP DOWN: Daniel Caspary, the head of the CDU in the European Parliament, was on Tuesday nominated by Berlin to be Germany’s representative on the European Court of Auditors. Caspary told Max Griera he’d be “delighted” to take on the role. He’ll still need to go through the confirmation process in the Parliament, which will take a while.
The race to succeed Caspary, the most powerful MEP within the most powerful delegation of the EPP, is now on. But it’s early days — Caspary’s departure comes as a surprise, given he’s been an MEP since 2004.
Asked why he decided to step away from politics, Caspary told POLITICO: “After more than 20 years in the EP and eight years chairing the German CDU/CSU delegation,” the ECA job “would be an interesting and challenging new task within a European institution.”
HIJAB BAN UPDATE: The Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup is urging Parliament President Roberta Metsola to reject a proposal to ban hijabs in Parliament. In a sharply worded letter seen by POLITICO to be sent today, the group warns the move would “institutionalise discrimination, marginalise Muslim women, and damage the credibility of the European Parliament as a champion of human rights, diversity, and inclusion.”
CALLING THE KREMLIN: Luxembourgish MEP Fernand Kartheiser’s visit to Moscow in May helped set lay the ground for a videoconference between several MEPs and members of Russia’s State Duma on Wednesday. The call, the first such exchange in 11 years, was co-chaired by Kartheiser and Leonid Slutsky, chair of the Duma’s committee on international affairs. Those present discussed Ukraine, sanctions and trade, per Kartheiser’s press release. (The statement doesn’t specify which MEPs joined in, only noting they “came from a number of different countries and political backgrounds.”)
From Zoom to in-person? While the unofficial meeting holds no real political weight, with the Parliament’s majority position still being to cut off all diplomatic ties, both sides described it as a symbolic and necessary “partial resumption” of relations. Participants agreed to continue the dialogue regularly, exchange written questions and work toward an in-person meeting. “We must not deviate away from dialogue,” Kartheiser said, calling for joint efforts on peace and arms control.
I READ IT ON POLITICO: Green MEP Daniel Freund wasn’t thrilled to find out from POLITICO — rather than from his own budgetary control committee — that the European People’s Party had requested access to grant agreements the Commission signed with NGOs as part of a Parliament probe into NGO funding. Freund dashed off a complaint to the committee chairs and secretariat, per a screenshot POLITICO obtained. (My Pro colleague Marianne Gros has been leading this story.)
JOBS UP, DISCRIMINATION STUCK FOR ROMA
ROMA REALITY CHECK: Today, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) publishes the results of its latest Roma Survey. Headline: Roma and Travellers in the EU have more jobs and better housing than a decade ago.
But discrimination hasn’t budged. Thirty-one percent of Roma and Travellers report being treated unfairly — only 5 points up from 2016. Poverty is still rampant, with 70 percent living below the poverty line, down from 80 percent in 2016 but still four times the EU average. And nearly half of Roma and Traveller children go to schools where all or most pupils are Roma — virtually unchanged since 2016. FRA warns EU countries are unlikely to meet the Roma inclusion goals they set for 2030.
The survey is based on interviews with 10,000 Roma and Traveller respondents across 10 EU countries — from Bulgaria to Spain — plus three candidate countries: Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia. Together, the 13 countries account for 86 percent of the EU’s Roma/Traveller population, and more than half of Europe’s. Looking at the three non-EU countries, FRA Director Sirpa Rautio pointedly told Playbook that respecting fundamental rights is central to the accession process.
IN OTHER NEWS
GRID SCOOP: Perks of hosting POLITICO’s Competitive Europe summit: scoops. Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said the EU will push a more top-down approach to integrate the bloc’s energy market, as part of a grid overhaul plan coming next month. Check out what’s on the menu for Day 2.
STEEL DEAL: The EU will slash foreign steel quotas “by almost half” and hike customs tariffs, Industry Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné told a closed-door steel summit in Brussels Wednesday. The Commission will put forward the measures next week, my colleague Koen Verhelst confirmed, bringing EU policy closer to the U.S. and Canada, which already impose 50 percent tariffs on steel imports.
TELCO TROUBLES: Forget Brussels’ merger rules, the real roadblock to Mario Draghi’s vision of a stronger European telecoms market lies with EU countries guarding their turf, per French antitrust chief Benoît Cœuré. “The first step is clearly to lift national regulatory barriers … I haven’t seen any progress on that front,” Cœuré told POLITICO in an interview.
DIGITAL AGE GAP: Ursula von der Leyen has floated the idea of an EU-wide minimum age for social media, citing her experience as a mother of seven. “We all agree kids should be old enough before they smoke, drink or access adult content. The same can be said for social media,” she’s said. One problem: age limits on booze and tobacco are national competences. Eliza Gkritsi has more.
ROAD THE THE CZECH ELECTION: Read this story on how the Czech rust belt echoes America’s populist shift, by Ketrin Jochecová.
STEPPING OUT OF THE SHADOWS: The French military on Wednesday arrested two crew members on a tanker suspected of belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet and of having been involved in drone disturbances in Denmark last week, according to the French prosecutor’s office. Details here.
So what should the EU do about Russian drones on its territory? “Shoot them down,” reckons Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary echoed that sentiment in his typically reserved way, telling POLITICO’s Tommaso Lecca: “Why aren’t we shooting these drones down?” and dismissing talk of a “drone wall” as pointless, saying: “I have no faith in European leaders sitting around drinking tea and eating biscuits.”
How Russia is responding to Ukraine’s air defense: By altering its missiles to evade them, the FT reports this morning.
DONALD TRUMP GIVES SECURITY GUARANTEES … to Qatar.
And for Ukraine: The U.S. will provide Kyiv with intelligence for long-range missile strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure, per the Wall Street Journal.