Athens eyes flexible diplomatic strategy
The return of Donald Trump to the White House after four years has given rise in Athens to various new considerations, both geopolitical and political.
Karamanlis reaffirms cautious approach to negotiations with Turkey
Former Conservative prime minister Kostas Karamanlis reiterated his cautious stance on negotiations with Turkey during an event on Monday. Karamanlis dismissed the argument that Greece should initiate negotiations with Ankara out of fear that its position weakens over time.
Poll gives New Democracy 12-point lead
A new opinion poll has found that ruling New Democracy (ND) enjoys a 12-point lead PASOK, an increase of 2.5 points on December.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1259170/poll-gives-new-democracy-12-point-lead
Registered unemployment down 6% in December
Registered unemployment totaled 977,687 persons in December 2024, down 6% from December 2023 and up 1.6% in comparison with November 2024, Public Employment Service said in a report released on Monday.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/877869/Registered-unemployment-down-6-in-December
ATHEX: Index reaches highs unseen in 13.5 years
Selected blue chips such as some energy stocks gave the Greek bourse’s benchmark a fresh boost on Monday, taking it to a new 13.5-year high at the very end of the closing bids. Turnover may have been reduced due to the US holiday, but the market’s interest remained strong ahead of the inauguration of Donald Trump at the White House and his first statements as US president – again.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1259174/athex-index-reaches-highs-unseen-in-13-5-years
KATHIMERINI: Trump: New golden era for the USA
TA NEA: Second Trump term: Brace yourselves!
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: The planetman that roared
RIZOSPASTIS: International competition between imperialists enters a new phase
KONTRA NEWS: Why Mitsotakis fears Trump
DIMOKRATIA: Former PM Karamanlis tore apart Mitsotakis’ policy
NAFTEMPORIKI: The new Trump dogma
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DRIVING THE DAY: TRUMP 2.0
HOW WILL EUROPE RESPOND TO TRUMP? In the minutes after his swearing-in on Monday, President Donald J. Trump made it clear in a defiant speech that was everything his supporters loved and everything his opponents feared: He’s got zero interest in unifying America — or the world.
Von der Leyen’s moment of truth: From one presidential address to another … European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen will deliver a speech in Davos today (10:50 a.m.) that is arguably the most pivotal of her career. Does von der Leyen stand firm for the values she championed in her first mandate — multilateralism, climate consciousness, proactive and protective tech regulation? Does she take the path of least resistance, downplaying differences while repeating the mantra of boosting competitiveness? Or does she show openness to bending with the political tremors shaking both the U.S. and Europe?
Fresh off a serious illness, von der Leyen seems no better prepared to engage with Trump than she did before the U.S. election. “There are attempts to establish such a meeting as soon as possible,” a Commission spokesperson said Monday.
All smiles for now: Von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa issued tandem X posts as Trump was sworn in: “Together, our societies can achieve greater prosperity and strengthen their common security.”
ALSO ON THE DAVOS STAGE TODAY: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at 2 p.m. … Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at 2:30 p.m. … German CDU leader Friedrich Merz at 6 p.m.
TRUMP ENGAGEMENT MODELS
CAPITALS HONE THEIR MESSAGES: EU leaders — both in and out of office — haven’t waited for von der Leyen to set the tone. Whether it’s opportunism or ideology, top pols are finding ways to show Trump they’re on the same page.
Top takeaway: The bloc seems more attached to its tech regs than its climate commitments, though not by much.
HALF TRUMP — MERZ LAMBASTES BRUSSELS: Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday sharply criticized the EU (and indirectly his CDU party colleague von der Leyen) — during two election campaign rallies in Flensburg and Büdelsdorf in northern Germany, my Berlin Playbook colleague Hans von der Burchard reports.
Brussels concentrates too much on nitty-gritty regulations, Merz complained, while failing to respond to the big challenges in foreign, defense and trade policy. “All this small stuff they’re doing with this over-regulation and paternalism of people throughout Europe, that has to stop,” Merz said, referring to EU regulations on bottle caps that can no longer be unscrewed, or a beeping sound that new cars make when speeding.
Merz warned that the EU “will lose its legitimacy in Germany if it continues with the small-scale issues and fails on the big issues.”
The Merkel antithesis: Merz also distanced himself from the CDU’s last chancellor, Angela Merkel, and her famous “We can do it” (“Wir schaffen das”) on migration. “We won’t be able to do it,” Merz said about current immigration numbers.
FULL TRUMP — ORBAN TO “OCCUPY BRUSSELS”: “In the history books, these six months will be remembered as the beginning of the transformation of the world by Donald Trump and the Western patriots,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a post-mortem of Budapest’s Council presidency.
Preparing for the next attack: Orbán was invited to Trump’s inauguration but evidently didn’t see the need to make the trek to frigid Washington to mark his ally’s ascension. Speaking to the press at home, he vowed to directly confront the “left-liberal political oligarchy” in Brussels, Csongor Körömi reports. In addition to Budapest’s new friends in Brussels, they now have an ally in the White House, Orbán said. “So let’s start the big offensive, I’m launching the second strike to occupy Brussels.”
MORE THAN 2 PERCENT TRUMP — MACRON: “France currently exceeds 2 percent of GDP for defense spending,” French President Emmanuel Macron said during his New Year’s address to his country’s armed forces, just an hour before Trump’s inauguration. “But is that enough to achieve the mass, depth and innovation to defend ourselves in a major confrontation? Is that enough to organize ourselves on a European scale and have the means to fight?” More from Laura Kayali.
POSSIBLY HAVING IT BOTH WAYS ON TRUMP (AND MUSK): The European Commission will penalize Elon Musk’s social media platform X in a probe that will wrap up “very soon,” the European Union’s industry chief Stéphané Séjourne told France Inter on Monday. But, as Pieter Haeck notes for Tech Pros, EVP Séjourné stopped short of saying that X would be fined for violating the European Union’s online content rules. (A bit like the judge in New York, perhaps, who said Trump should be sentenced for his conviction after the election, but handed out no punishment.)
AT LEAST ONE FAN IS KIND OF LET DOWN: After boasting that he’d be attending the inauguration, the leader of the far-right Flemish Interest party said he didn’t end up making the cut when Trump’s ceremony was moved indoors because of the frigid weather. “It is colder here than in Belgium, but not so cold that the swearing-in could not have taken place outdoors,” Tom Van Grieken told HLN, adding that he didn’t regret making the trip to Washington.
MORE TRUMP POLICY POINTS
TRUMP DITCHES PARIS: Just a few minutes after taking charge of the White House emails, Trump’s team issued an alert confirming that his top priorities included dumping the Paris climate agreement … again. That accord, signed by 200 countries in 2015, remains the key diplomatic tool for combating global warming.
The second cut is the deepest: Trump’s second withdrawal could bite deeper by taking effect more quickly and at a time when the new president has more far-right allies overseas and at home, writes POLITICO’s climate team.
JUST GETTING STARTED: After addressing a raucous crowd of supporters at Washington’s Capital One Arena, a basketball and ice hockey venue, Trump sat down at a desk on stage and, with a flourish of his trademark black Sharpie, began issuing executive orders unwinding Joe Biden’s policies and laying the ground for his MAGA agenda. Trump then returned to the Oval Office where he signed more orders and had a lengthy chat with reporters before heading to three official balls.
In the flurry of Day 1 executive orders, Trump … revoked Biden policies on offshore drilling, offshore wind and electric vehicles … declared illegal immigration on the U.S.-Mexico a national emergency, suspended refugee settlement and pledged to end the automatic right to citizenship for anyone born in the U.S. … terminated government diversity programs … issued an order “restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship” … scrapped Biden’s AI safety rules … sought to delay enforcement of a ban on TikTok by 75 days … pardoned about 1,500 supporters who took part in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol … laid the ground for the U.S. to withdraw from the World Health Organization … and more.
Go deeper: The New York Times has a useful list of Trump’s main executive orders here. POLITICO wrapped up the main themes of the Day 1 policy barrage in this piece.
TRADE BULLET DODGED — MAYBE: Despite his threat to impose across-the-board tariffs against America’s trading partners on his first day in office Trump took no firm action on trade. But how long will that hold?
Big talk: Trump said in his inaugural address that a proposed External Revenue Service would collect “massive amounts of money, pouring into our Treasury from foreign sources.” But a two-page memo sent by Trump’s team to key Republican officials in Congress on Monday outlined only one trade action point: “To announce an America First trade policy.” (Here’s the policy, published on the White House website overnight.)
But but but … While Trump’s initial orders didn’t include specific action on trade, he told reporters in the Oval Office that he could impose tariffs of 25 percent on imports from Canada and Mexico as early as Feb. 1, because they’re letting illegal migrants and fentanyl flow unchecked across their borders into the U.S. He said tariffs against China would hinge on a deal over TikTok’s ownership. (Reuters has the details.)
Relief doesn’t last: There was, briefly, hope after the inaugural address that Trump would take a more measured approach to trade than he’d threatened to … but his comments about China and Mexico send a tremor through the markets in the past few hours, the FT reports.
NO, HE HASN’T FORGOTTEN ABOUT GREENLAND … Speaking to reporters while he signed executive orders in the Oval Office, Trump again mused about the importance of the mineral-rich territory to U.S. national security, per Reuters.
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
SCOOP — MORE TRANSPARENCY FOR PARLIAMENT STAFF: The Parliament’s administration managers, from the most junior “team leaders” to the almighty “directors general,” will have to declare their meetings with third-country representatives and lobbyists, according to an internal note circulated by the secretary-general seen by my colleague Max Griera.
It’s part of the latest round of ethics reforms in the wake of the Qatargate scandal. The Parliament’s vice presidents will adopt the rules “once the relevant staff committees have been consulted,” the Parliament’s acting spokesperson Delphine Colard said.
PROJECT 2025, MEET PROJECT 27: A cross-party group of MEPs will call for a convention to update the EU treaties in light of Trump’s return to office. Lukas Mandl (EPP), Gabriele Bischoff (S&D), Sandro Gozi (Renew Europe), Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA) and Nikolas Farantouris (Left) will hold a press conference today to present their “Project 27” agenda for overhaul amid growing isolationism and aggression.
IN OTHER NEWS
UKRAINE WANTS REFUGEES BACK: More than a million Ukrainians have fled to Germany since Vladimir Putin’s invasion began and Kyiv is pushing to get them to return home, Chris Lunday reports.
POLAND FUMES OVER AI CHIPS: Poland’s government is up in arms over a U.S. move to limit the export of artificial intelligence chips to the country, which could impact Warsaw’s AI ambitions just as it seeks to position itself as a dependable transatlantic military ally. Pieter Haeck has the story.