Convergence with eurozone to take more than 20 years, BoG governor says
The Greek economy will continue to grow at a satisfactory rate, higher than the eurozone average, as long as economic policy continues on the same path of reforms, along with efficient use of available European resources and fiscal responsibility, according to the governor of the Bank of Greece, Yannis Stournaras.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1245074/convergence-with-eurozone-to-take-more-than-20-years
New secretaries general announced; aim is to accelerate reforms, gov’t sources note
The prime minister’s press office announced changes in the positions of secretaries general at Greek ministries. The changes “aim at the further acceleration of the government’s work and were carried out following communication by Maximos Mansion with all ministers,” government sources said.
Fire Brigade spokesperson: 26 aircraft and over 180 firefighters tackling blaze in Evia
A total of 54 wildfires have been recorded in the past 24 hours, Fire Brigade spokesperson Vasilis Vathrakogiannis said on Monday. Efforts are focused on a large fire that started at 3:17 PM on Monday in a forested area near the village of Petries in the municipality of Kymi-Aliveri, Evia. The blaze intensified rapidly due to strong northerly winds.
Window opens for Parthenon Sculptures’ return
The indications that the Greek government has been receiving over the past few days regarding the potential to borrow the Parthenon Sculptures from the British Museum confirm the improvement Athens had anticipated on the matter following the establishment of Keir Starmer’s Labour government in London.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/culture/1245082/window-opens-for-parthenon-sculptures-return
ATHEX: NBG drops but index stays put
The National Bank of Greece dividend payment aside, stocks at Athinon Avenue secured gains to offset the decline of the lender on the bourse on Monday. The benchmark closed with minimal losses, while winners and losers ended up in a dead heat. The day’s trading volume gave investors a taste of what’s to come next month, with turnover slumping to its lowest level in over three weeks.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1245078/athex-nbg-drops-but-index-stays-put
KATHIMERINI: Window opens for Parthenon Sculptures’ return
TA NEA: Lasting support for cheap electricity
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: 1 in 4 workers will not go on vacation
RIZOSPASTIS: The Middle East is on the razor’s edge as general conflict hazard looms in
KONTRA NEWS: The plague is expanding throughout Greece
DIMOKRATIA: Servicers are loan sharks
NAFTEMPORIKI: Receipts for the “piggy bank” of income
DRIVING THE DAY: HUNGARY GAMES
BUDAPEST’S COMMISSIONER CALCULUS: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said he wants Hungary’s current commissioner, Olivér Várhelyi, to stay in Brussels. But few see this choice as anything more than an opening gambit in a game set to last through the autumn.
No advantage for incumbency: On X, Orban said he thinks Neighborhood and Enlargement Commissioner Várhelyi is doing a good job. Many of the powers that be in Brussels disagree: He’s faced criticism from Brussels officials over his handling of the portfolio and approach to candidate countries with rule-of-law and democracy concerns, Seb Starcevic and Barbara Moens report. Oh, and he was overheard calling MEPs “idiots” last year, insulting the very people who he’ll need to confirm him for another term in Brussels.
So what does Orbán really want? Given that Várhelyi is almost certain to be rejected by the Parliament, independent media in Hungary are speculating that Orbán already has a Plan B. Her name is Enikő Győri, a Fidesz MEP, according to Telex’s Balázs Márton and 24.hu’s Zsolt Kerner.
The irony: Győri may be a lot more palatable to Brussels in the long run. She’s an Orbán loyalist and vocal critic of the cordon sanitaire against far-right MEPs. She’s also seen in Budapest as a serious player with considerable EU chops: A former EU affairs minister, she coordinated Hungary’s previous presidency of the Council of the EU, which won points for ambition and execution.
Gender points: And with many other capitals looking set to blow off Ursula von der Leyen’s request for male and female candidates, an eventual nomination of Győri — after some Parliament theatrics over Várhelyi — could help the Commission president achieve her goal of a gender-balanced cabinet. How, dare we say it, woke that would be of Orbán.
For the record: This is all speculation, of course. The Commission declined to comment on von der Leyen’s top jobs discussions, and the Hungarian government did not reply to our request for comment.
MORE TOP JOBS INTRIGUE: Poland’s European commissioner pick has been decided, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski told Visegrad Insight’s Wojciech Przybylski. “But it has yet to be announced,” he added. No kidding.
HUNGARY FOR MORE
YOU’VE HAD TWO YEARS: Hungary and Slovakia are struggling to attract sympathy from other capitals after Ukraine cut off their supply of Russian oil, Viktor Jack and Gabriel Gavin report. Those countries are trying to leverage EU rules to preserve access to a discounted product nearly everyone else has had to shun.
Privately fuming: Everyone else in the EU has found ways to get off Russian oil, several diplomats fumed — it’s not their problem Hungary and Slovakia used a sanctions carveout to keep pumping it in. Still, Budapest and Bratislava may well have a case that Ukraine is violating a 2014 agreement, and they’ve asked the Commission to intervene, so Brussels is stuck dealing with it. Full story here.
‘LOOPHOLE’ FOR RUSSIAN SPIES: European People’s Party chief Manfred Weber has claimed that Hungary’s move to ease visa restrictions for Russian visitors could “create grave loopholes for espionage activities” and urged Brussels to take urgent countermeasures, the FT reports. The paper says it has seen a letter from Weber to European Council President Charles Michel urging him to raise the issue at the next leaders’ summit in October.
FINANCE MEPS DEBATE PRESIDENCY BOYCOTT: The European Parliament’s ECON committee hasn’t decided if it will invite Hungary’s finance minister to a meeting to discuss the country’s presidency priorities, according to an internal note seen by POLITICO’s Morning Financial Services team.
Invite lost in the mail: According to the note, the Hungarians have requested the meeting to take place after Orbán presents his priorities at the plenary on September 18. ECON would normally extend an invitation, but the note says that in “the current context,” it “seems appropriate” for heads of political groups in ECON to deliberate first.The committee will also wait to decide whether it will send its new chair Aurore Lalucq to an informal gathering of the EU’s 27 finance ministers in September.
Meanwhile: Hungarian Perm Rep Bálint Ódor is still trying to have a totally normal Council presidency, bless his soul.
MEA CULPA: Speaking of blessings, Playbook erroneously referred to Orbán’s religion in Monday’s edition; he identifies as a protestant Christian. Le Monde has this English-language deep dive into his spiritual journey from “agnostic liberal,” and the politics thereof.
Spreading the good news (and the bad): Playbook, mind you, is a fervent worshipper of the news gods, and you can trust we are paying penance and praying that they continue providing their bounty throughout this quiet summer season.
MIGRATION
‘DYSTOPIAN NIGHTMARE’ AT EU-FUNDED CENTER: Amnesty International has denounced unlawful detentions and substandard conditions in the EU-funded refugee center of Samos, Nektaria Stamouli writes in to report. In a dossier out overnight, the NGO calls on Greece to urgently repeal the rules causing asylum seekers to be systematically deprived of their liberty.
Supposed improvement: After fires devastated the infamous Moria camp on the island of Lesvos in 2020, the European Commission provided €276 million for new “multi-purpose” centers, promising “better conditions.” The first was on Samos.
The reality: Yet the report describes life in the camp, which opened in 2021, as “a dystopian nightmare.” Overcrowding, inadequate health care services and unlawful detention show that the Samos model is “punitive, expensive and rife for abuse,” Amnesty International argues. People do not have access to water and, in some cases, even beds, while being unable to leave the center for weeks, sometimes months.
The message to Brussels: Ensure that Samos is not a blueprint for the recently adopted Migration and Asylum Pact. “Samos provides a window into the future of the Pact and offers a critical opportunity for the EU and its member states to change course,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty’s senior director for regional human rights impact.
IN OTHER NEWS
EUROPE’S €10 TRILLION GAMBLE: Rather than playing the stock market like Americans, Europeans are stashing their cash away in savings. And that’s holding the Continent’s economy back. POLITICO’s Carlo Martuscelli, Kathryn Carlson and Hanne Cokelaere have this data-rich, readable primer on aspirations for a capital markets union.
Why it matters: The EU has long trumpeted its single market ― the notion that people, goods and money should be able to move around the bloc as unhindered as if it were just one big country. In reality, it’s failed to live up to that promise, particularly when it comes to the flow of money, and the economic consequences of that are now obvious. The capital markets union is an attempt to put that right. Read more.
VENEZUELA FALLOUT: European diplomats will meet on Tuesday to discuss President Nicolás Maduro’s self-proclaimed victory in Venezuela’s presidential election as leaders around the world question the official result, my colleague Aitor Hernández-Morales reports. Thousands of people demonstrated across Venezuela on Monday, while the opposition candidate Edmundo González claimed that his campaign has proof that he won the disputed election. The Associated Press has the latest.
WARSAW WANTS MEPS’ IMMUNITY LIFTED: Poland’s Prosecutor General Adam Bodnar wants the European Parliament to lift immunity for two freshly-elected MEPs, as part of the ongoing tussle between Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the Law and Justice (PiS) party.
The backstory: The MEPs in question, Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik, were convicted on abuse of power charges almost a decade ago, based on a 2007 case. Their fates have been subject of high drama over the past year, including taking refuge in the presidential palace and attempting to storm their way back into the Polish parliament after being kicked out. They ran at the top of their respective PiS lists in June’s European Parliament election, costing two longstanding and respected PiS incumbents their seats.
The saga continues: Their convictions should have barred them from serving in the Polish parliament, Bodnar argued in a press release Monday. But their immunity as EU lawmakers now prevents him from pursuing those charges — hence his request that it be lifted. It would ultimately require a vote by the plenary.
JUDGES TO RULE ON BRINGING THE BUNDESTAG DOWN TO SIZE: Germany’s top court in Karlsruhe is set to rule this morning on the legality of a plan to fix the number of MPs in the federal parliament at 630, Nette Nöstlinger writes in to report. That could mean more than 100 fewer seats up for grabs in next year’s election.
Fighting for their lives: Two opposition parties — the Bavarian Christian Social Union and The Left — are challenging the new fixed number, fearing it could eventually spell the end of their parliamentary factions. The governing coalition passed the measure last year, insisting that the new rules will save at least €310 million in taxpayers’ money per legislative period and increase efficiency.
Biggest body: The parliament of Germany, population 83.8 million, grew to a record size of 736 lawmakers after the 2021 election (currently, 733 MPs serve). That’s even bigger than the European Parliament, where 720 MPs from 27 countries represent the bloc’s 448.4 million citizens.