Greece will never discuss demilitarization, gray zones, and sovereignty issues with Turkey
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis referred to the prospect of a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in New York next week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings, in an interview to ANT 1 and journalist Nikos Chatzinikolaou, adding “ this prospect does not yet exist, the intention is there by both sides to find time” and the hope is that although their schedules overlap only very briefly, “ I believe we shall be able to find the time.”
Turkey issues new Navtex during Greek naval drill
Turkey issued a Navtex during a Greek naval exercise in the Aegean, reiterating its long-standing claim that certain Greek islands should be “demilitarized.”
FMs Gerapetritis, Salem Al Baour declare start of process for EEZ delimitation between Greece, Libya
Greek Foreign Affairs Minister George Gerapetritis and Taher Salem Al Baour, acting foreign affairs minister of Libya’s Government of National Unity, declared the start of the process for the delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) between Greece and Libya at their meeting in Athens on Wednesday.
Reopened bonds were oversubscribed 3.7 times
Bids amounting to almost 1 billion euros were submitted in an auction of 10-year Greek government bonds (GGB) held on Wednesday, the Public Debt Management Agency announced.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1281155/reopened-bonds-were-oversubscribed-3-7-times
ATHEX: More losses on a busy day at the bourse
A busy day of trading at Athinon Avenue on Wednesday saw prices decline on the rate decisions expected from the Fed, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan, while the unexpected flexing of Greek defense muscles made investors even more cautious. Eventually the losses of the main indexes were contained and the level of 2,000 points for the benchmark remains secure for now.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1281209/athex-more-losses-on-a-busy-day-at-the-bourse
KATHIMERINI: Greece-Turkey: Tension ahead of New York
TA NEA: Ankara worries, while Athens fortifies
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Government in turbulence while ruling party is “boiling”
RIZOSPASTIS: 51st festival of the Greek Communist Party Youth organization begins today
KONTRA NEWS: War alert in the Aegean Sea and Evros
DIMOKRATIA: OECD: Even more poor in 2025
NAFTEMPORIKI: New “rally” of bond issuance
DRIVING THE DAY: FLUNKING THE RUSSIA TEST
DRONING ON: More than a week has passed since 19 Russian drones invaded Poland’s airspace in what just about everyone apart from Vladimir Putin’s own spin doctors saw as a deliberate and dangerous escalation of hostilities by Moscow. Yet the West — and Donald Trump’s United States in particular — has done little since that would make Putin seriously hesitate before doing it again.
Where is the new Russia sanctions plan? The European Commission had been expected to publish its 19th package of Russia sanctions Wednesday. But Trump’s ambitious demands for action from Europe as the price for U.S. sanctions set the cat among the pigeons in Brussels, complicating the process.
It’s coming, honest! Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, told reporters on Wednesday that the Commission will present the 19th sanctions package against Russia soon. “Russia is testing the West,” Kallas said. “Should Putin sense any weakness, he will continue to push forward because he wants to test us. Europe must respond firmly.”
What being “firm” looks like: “We must hit Russian banks, energy companies, crypto exchanges and shadow fleet ships harder. Depriving Moscow of the funds to wage a war is essential to end this conflict,” Kallas said.
Presumably, getting a move on and not delaying the plans would also help. The Commission told EU countries’ ambassadors on Wednesday that they should expect the sanctions package either Friday or Monday, two diplomats told POLITICO’s Camille Gijs. Even so, some officials were holding out hope that it might yet come earlier than that, we’ve been told.
No cold Turkey: Chief among Trump’s list of demands was for NATO to kick its addiction to Russian oil. That’s the longest of shots when it comes to key NATO member Turkey, which is heavily reliant on Russian fossil fuels and has not joined other countries in sanctioning Moscow over Ukraine.
In the EU, Hungary and Slovakia are stalling progress on efforts to end their reliance on Russian energy supplies. Kallas didn’t mention cutting oil imports (a Trump demand) in her list of themes for the upcoming sanctions.
Russia’s been playing war games, you say? Russia and Belarus ran their “Zapad 25” military exercises over the past week, including a few troops from India, among other countries. Per the Guardian, some American government officials even flew in to watch, a highly unusual move which stoked anxiety that Trump is not serious about punishing Putin.
Post script: The exercises ended on Tuesday but it took until late Wednesday evening for Kallas to issue a statement expressing the EU’s concerns. The drill, she said, “does not demonstrate a commitment to de-escalation and peace” and the participation of other countries “is a matter of serious security concern for the EU.” Kallas said the EU would remain “vigilant” about any security threats arising from the wargaming.
Memo to Modi: “Participating in military exercises, purchase of oil, all these, are obstacles to our cooperation when it comes to deepening the ties,” Kallas said when POLITICO asked if India’s presence at Zapad was a problem. As the Commission set out its plan for closer cooperation with India on Wednesday, including on trade and security, Kallas added that “the question is always whether we leave this void to be filled by somebody else or try to fill it ourselves.”
Speaking of voids: Kallas has not impressed some in the Commission and on the Brussels scene more widely since taking over as high representative. “If you’re not owning your brief, someone else will step in,” one Brussels insider told Playbook. There are rumors of a tense relationship with some colleagues and awkwardness with the Council president, António Costa, in particular.
Treading a fine line: While Kallas is hawkish on Russia,she can take her rhetoric too far for some tastes. On Gaza, by contrast, she’s been attacked from within for not effectively holding Israel accountable for the humanitarian crisis. The truth is, her role now is no longer to speak as the PM of one EU nation, but as someone whose job it is to synthesize the views of 27 member countries.
THE REAL PROBLEM FOR UKRAINE ISN’T THE EU — IT’S TRUMP. Since Putin rejected Trump’s plan for a 30-day ceasefire, the U.S. president has done essentially nothing to put significant pressure on the Russian dictator to end his war in Ukraine.
Dinner party politics: Trump spent Wednesday surrounded by pomp and pageantry with Britain’s King Charles III at Windsor Castle, before sitting down to that state banquet. British diplomats believe the monarch could help press Trump to back Ukraine more forcefully, and cut his losses with Putin. “We and our allies stand in support of Ukraine to deter aggression and secure peace …” Charles said in his speech at the royal dinner. Trump nodded along, according to POLITICO’s live blog, which has all the details, including more on that belt-bursting menu.
The topic of Ukraine is certain to come up again today when Trump sits down with Keir Starmer at the prime minister’s official countryside retreat, Chequers, some 40 miles outside London. A press conference later will provide a clue as to how much the king and the prime minister managed to harden up the president’s thinking. Follow along with our live blog, which will kick off again this morning.
MORE UKRAINE WAR FALLOUT
CLOSED FOR GOOD: Warsaw closed its border with Belarus on Friday to better monitor the Zapad exercises. But what was billed as a temporary precaution now looks indefinite, and has shut down China–EU rail freight worth €25 billion annually. More here.
… Going a different way: China is testing an express route to Europe through a thawing Arctic.
EU IN UKRAINE: European Parliament President Roberta Metsola opened her institution’s new representation in central Kyiv on Wednesday, telling Ukraine’s president: “We have stood with your country when the first bombs fell, and we have never left. And that is why we will remain by your side, dear President Zelenskyy, until peace returns, and until you take your place rightfully in our Union.” EU membership, Metsola said, would be a form of security guarantee. Max Griera has the story.
FARM FACT CHECK: Ukrainian farmers are often vilified as oligarchic agri-barons who pose a threat to the EU. The real picture is far more complex, reports Bartosz Brzeziński.
IN OTHER NEWS
DOES THE EPP REALLY VOTE WITH THE FAR RIGHT? POLITICO crunched the data from the first year of the European Parliament’s plenary votes to find out. Spoiler alert: They don’t team up often — but win when they do.
BACK IN THE S&D TENT: Elisabetta Gualmini and Alessandra Moretti, Italian MEPs who have been linked to the Qatargate investigation, have rejoined the Socialists & Democrats group in the European Parliament, Euractiv reports.
LEAVE EUROVISION ALONE: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s critics in countries including Ireland and the Netherlands are calling for Israel to be banned from the Eurovision Song Contest for 2026. As she unveiled plans to sanction Israel on Wednesday (details on that here), Kaja Kallas suggested she didn’t support a Eurovision boycott. “All these steps that go to the direction of punishing Israeli people I think are wrong and we are not proposing them.”
NO THANK EU: Brussels isn’t up for a food trade deal with the U.K. until a youth mobility scheme is over the line, the Times and Telegraph report.
MACRON’S CLIMATE FREEZE: French President Emmanuel Macron made his name as a climate crusader but has spent recent months pushing his EU counterparts to hold off setting new green goals. POLITICO’s Zia Weise, Aude Le Gentil and Alexandre Léchenet report.
MERZ MEETS SÁNCHEZ: On his first official visit to Spain, Germany’s leader will sit down for talks in Madrid with Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez, Max Griera reports. The pair will seek to “reinforce European security,” officials said, though they’ve been miles apart on the Gaza crisis, with Sánchez demanding Israel be barred from international sport while Merz has held up EU efforts to put pressure on Netanyahu.
VON DER LEYEN IN BERLIN: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will travel to Berlin for talks with German business leaders. She’s not meeting Merz while she’s there.