Tuesday, April 02 2024

Defense Min unveils ‘Agenda 2030’ for armed forces restructuring

Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias outlined the government’s plan for restructuring the Armed Forces under the “Agenda 2030” on Monday, emphasizing fighter jet acquisition, Navy Fleet enhancement and the domestic defense industry’s role in autonomous systems and missile defense.

https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1235302/defense-min-unveils-agenda-2030-for-armed-forces-restructuring/

PASOK chief again lashes at government over Tempe disaster

Socialist PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis lashed out at the conservative government on Monday morning, ahead of a meeting with Supreme Court Prosecutor Georgia Adeilini where he was expected to call for an investigation to establish who was responsible for doctoring audio recordings that made it appear that the February 2023 Tempe railway disaster was caused by human error.

https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1235268/pasok-chief-again-lashes-at-government-over-tempe-disaster/

Budget Office warns against ‘excessive nominal wage increases’ in 4Q2023 report

Nominal wage increases should not be excessive, the Greek parliament’s Budget Office warned in a report released on Monday on the 4th quarter of 2023.

https://www.amna.gr/en/article/808502/Budget-Office-warns-against-excessive-nominal-wage-increases-in-4Q2023-report

BoG chief Stournaras says problems with competition to blame for high prices in Greece

Bank of Greece governor Yannis Stournaras suggested that a problem concerning competition was responsible for the high prices seen in the market, in an interview the newspaper ‘Proto Thema’ released on Monday.

https://www.amna.gr/en/article/808447/BoG-chief-Stournaras-says-problems-with-competition-to-blame-for-high-prices-in-Greece

Unemployment drops to 11% in February 2024

The Greek unemployment rate fell to 11% of the workforce in February 2024 against 11.2 in February 2023, the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) said on Monday. 

https://www.amna.gr/en/article/808407/Unemployment-drops-to-11-in-February-2024


www.enikos.gr


www.protothema.gr

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www.cnn.gr

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KATHIMERINI: Settlement of tax debts revived

TA NEA: How much will Erdogan’s defeat affect us?

EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: POS devices torture SMEs

AVGI:  10+1 accusations burdening [former Transport minister] Karamanlis

RIZOSPASTIS: Stronger Greek Communist Party, stronger counter-attack in favor of popular demands

KONTRA NEWS: The declining poll results cause tremors within New Democracy

DIMOKRATIA: The ministers who visited businessman & publisher Marinakis to beg: Part 2

NAFTEMPORIKI: “Confession” of tax violations to “trim” fines


DRIVING THE DAY: BLINKEN IN PARIS       

BLINKEN LANDS IN PARIS AS SYRIA STRIKE PROMPTS FEARS OF ESCALATION: The United States’ top diplomat is in Paris today to discuss Ukraine and Gaza amid a likely regional escalation of Israel’s war with Hamas, according to U.S. and French diplomats.

Explosion in Damascus: Antony Blinken lands hours after reports an explosion killed a senior Iranian commander in Syria, setting diplomatic channels abuzz about potential retaliation from Tehran, which blamed an Israeli airstrike, including via its proxies in Lebanon and Yemen. Israel has not officially confirmed it was behind the attack, though four officials speaking anonymous to the New York Times indicated it was. Read Gabriel Gavin’s write-up here.

Bigger than Soleimani? Calling it a “huge escalation,” security analyst Charles Lister said the reported killing of Iranian Generals Mohammed Zahedi, Hossein Aminullah and Haj Rahimi was more consequential than the 2020 assassination of Qasem Soleimani by the United States, and that a response by Tehran was “guaranteed.” Retaliation could target Israel, or American bases in the region, or both. Axios reports that the U.S. has told Tehran it “had no involvement” or advanced knowledge of the strike.

In New York: The U.N. Security Council will hold an open meeting, requested by Moscow, on the strike this afternoon at 3 p.m. New York time, according to Russian state media.

Blinken’s full schedule: Blinken (who speaks French fluently after spending much of his childhood in Paris and attending the same high school as your Playbook author — woop woop) will meet with France’s foreign and defense ministers before sitting down with Macron at the end of his day.

What to watch: Blinken will do a post-lunch press conference with Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné, who just got back from visiting Beijing where he told his Chinese counterparts to reason with Russia over the war in Ukraine. (Read Laura Kayali’s write-up of that trip here.)

Checking in with the boss: At the Elysée presidential palace, Blinken and Macron may well seek to coordinate their efforts to avoid escalation and ramp up pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to wrap up his operation in Gaza. Despite some opposition, the U.S. doesn’t look like it plans to stop arming Israel, though.

Inches/centimeters apart: While France has called for a “permanent cease-fire” in the 177-day-old war, the United States has allowed a U.N. resolution calling for a cease-fire during the month of Ramadan to pass. Tuesday’s meeting is a chance to tie those positions a bit closer together.

Not even Trump: Indeed, not even Donald Trump is offering unwavering support for Netanyahu, according to the New York Times, which reports the former U.S. president told Israeli journalists that the PM should end the war as soon as possible.

Speaking of Netanyahu, the Israeli parliament has approved a bill that allows for the banning of foreign media deemed harmful to national security interests and could lead to the shutdown of Al Jazeera in the country. In a post on X, Netanyahu said he would seek to shutter the Qatari state-owned news network “immediately” after the law’s passing.

Meanwhile, in Gaza: At least five aid workers were killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike in central Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry said. Among the dead are reportedly citizens of Australia, Poland and the U.K., along with a Palestinian. The Israel Defense Forces said it is investigating the “tragic incident.”

Back to Paris — Also high on the Blinken agenda: U.S. support, or lack thereof, for Ukraine. An ongoing blockade by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of billions of dollars in U.S. aid for Kyiv is set to be the elephant in the room as Blinken heads to a NATO ministerial gathering in Brussels on April 4. 

Broke in Brussels: Despite assurances from officials in President Joe Biden’s administration, U.S. billions earmarked for Ukraine are still stuck, shifting the burden entirely to Europe’s shoulders. Will EU ministers tell Blinken, as High Representative Josep Borrell said last year, that Europe can’t “fill the gap” left by the United States — or will they follow Macron’s call to do “whatever it takes” to help Ukraine? Stay tuned.

Bottom line: Blinken’s trip to Europe is quickly turning into a high-stakes mission to steady allies’ nerves and come up with a plan to avoid further devastation in the Middle East.

SPECIAL CAMEO: There will be one special guest attending this week’s NATO foreign ministers’ meeting — and its name isn’t Tony. NATO’s original Washington Treaty is on board a commercial flight and will arrival in Brussels this morning. It will be on display April 4-5, to mark the 75th anniversary of the alliance’s founding on Thursday, Stuart Lau writes in to report.

VIP treatment: It’s the first time the document has been overseas, and it got the full VIP treatment, with an escort from a U.S. Diplomatic Courier and traveling by motorcade from the airport to NATO, according to a U.S. official. The document will return to Washington on April 6 where it will then be displayed at the National Archives in D.C.

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WAR IN UKRAINE       

HAGUE GATHERING TO ADDRESS RUSSIAN WAR CRIMES: Top EU officials, diplomats and their counterparts from Kyiv gathering in The Hague today will throw their weight behind calls to set up a special tribunal to prosecute Russians accused of carrying out war crimes in Ukraine, according to conclusions from the trip seen by Playbook.

Get moving: “We encourage interested states and international organizations to strengthen their efforts to secure a sound legal basis and broad international support for the completion of this process” of setting up the court, the conclusions read.

Reminder: The International Criminal Court based in The Hague has already issued arrest warrants for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova and two senior military officials accused of ordering murderous strikes on civilians and other “inhumane acts,” according to the court.

Location, location, location: But the question of how or where to prosecute these people if they ever leave Russia and are detained remains contentious, as Ukraine pushes for a special tribunal to be established within its borders that could prosecute war criminals, while EU countries are split on how the tribunal should be set up. 

Fears: “There are a lot of political dynamics at play here,” said an EU official. “Some states are reluctant to pool such competences out of fear of the precedent that would create.”

Building support: The European Commission, represented by justice chief Didier Reynders, is trying to square the circle by gathering as much international support as possible behind the idea of a tribunal, which could also be based in The Hague, where the ICC has recently established a center devoted to prosecuting the crime of aggression against Ukraine. That’s slow going — this is the second conference of its type and there’s no clear sense of when this tribunal will see the light of day.

Other aims: Building support for reparations for Ukraine due to Russian aggression and bolstering cooperation between states and courts seeking to hold Moscow accountable.

Who’s going: In addition to Reynders, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, the country’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, Dutch King Willem-Alexander (via video), Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot, Dutch Justice Minister Dilan Yesilgöz, Eurojust President Ladislav Hamran, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan and Secretary-General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić, plus reps of various EU countries. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to address the gathering via video link, according to a diplomat.

When to watch: Gates open at 10 a.m. Speeches by Reynders, Hamran, Khan and Kostin between 1:45 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Press conference by the co-hosts at 5:30 p.m.

IN OTHER NEWS       

FROM THE FRONTLINES — FRANCE’S WAR ON WOKE: To reach the French headquarters in the war on woke, cross the Seine with the Louvre at your back, walk past the Musée d’Orsay and wander through the 7th arrondissement until you get to La Maison de l’Amérique Latine on the posh Boulevard Saint-Germain. This is where French intellectuals, from the left and the right of the political spectrum alike, gather to plan their riposte against the U.S. cultural import — wokeness. Read Clea Caulcutt’s deep-dive here.

HOW GERMANY IS MESSING UP THE EU: From the outside, Brussels’ lawmaking can seem overly procedural and institutionalized. But in recent weeks, drama has riven the EU institutions, with capitals unexpectedly challenging several deals — thought to be settled — at the last minute. And Berlin’s at the center of it all.

Which Berlin is it? Domestic fighting in Germany’s ruling coalition is now increasingly hijacking Brussels. Berlin’s government has had to stall or spike deals at the last minute after failing to maintain a single stance on key agreements — despite previously helping negotiate them. And the Free Democratic Party (FDP), the smallest party in the German ruling coalition, is often the spoiler, searching for a political jolt as it slides toward polling irrelevance. Read the full piece by Antonia Zimmerman and Louise Guillot.

IS EUROPE TOO RELIANT ON AMERICAN LNG? The EU may have broken Russia’s stranglehold on the Continent’s energy supplies — but now it risks becoming too dependent on the U.S., Gabriel Gavin reports.

BACK FROM THE EX-FILES: A former lobbyist for a major Azerbaijani gas project is pitching to help run this year’s U.N. climate talks in the Azeri capital of Baku. Spoiler alert: It’s Tony Blair. Karl Mathiesen with the story.

TRUMP POSTS BOND: Donald Trump posted a $175 million bond Monday to stop collection of a half-billion dollar judgment in the civil fraud case against him, preventing state authorities from seizing his assets while he appeals the verdict. More from my Stateside colleagues.