Vroutsis: ‘If issue between club owners is not resolved, championship will be permanently suspended’
The Greek Basket League championship will be entirely suspended if there is no ethical commitment to deescalate the situation between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos during the meeting on Wednesday, Deputy Minister for Sports Yiannis Vroutsis emphatically told national broadcaster ERT on Monday. Earlier in the day, the government spokesperson had announced the postponement of the Wednesday game following an altercation between owners at the Peace and Friendship Stadium (SEF) game on Sunday. Instead, the government had summoned the two basketball clubs’ owners to a meeting at the ministry with Vroutsis the same day.
Mitsotakis announces measures to tackle university violence
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a series of measures aimed at tackling violence in universities during his meeting with the heads of public universities.
Personal Number marks a new era in citizens interactions with the public sector, ministers say
The new major step in the country’s digital transition was presented on Monday at the Ministry of Digital Governance, with the introduction of the Personal Number – the single, all-purpose identification number for citizens. The presentation was made by Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou, Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis and Dimosthenis Anagnostopoulos, Secretary General of Information Systems and Digital Governance, in the presence, among others, of the Governor of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (IAPR), Giorgos Pitsilis.
Possible deal on Parthenon Sculptures
Talks between Greek officials and the management of London’s British Museum for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures appropriated more than two centuries ago are at an advanced stage, but the devil may prove to be in the details.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/culture/1271365/possible-deal-on-parthenon-sculptures
ATHEX: Profit-taking cycle draws to a close
A mixed session at the Greek bourse on Monday ultimately added to the decline of the benchmark for a third day in a row, largely owing to the announcement by Washington about the doubling of the US tariffs on European steel and aluminum products. Scope Ratings’ decision on Friday not to upgrade Greece’s credit rating and outlook, meanwhile, did not impress traders. However, observers suspect that the short cycle of profit-taking has now closed.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1271479/athex-profit-taking-cycle-draws-to-a-close
KATHIMERINI: 1 million beds on AirBnB
TA NEA: Debts to social security fund EFKA: Revolution with a la carte regulations
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: PM Mitsotakis is the Dean of Authoritarianism
RIZOSPASTIS: Bullets instead of food for the starving people of Gaza
KONTRA NEWS: Criminal mistakes; Sinai monastery is being lost
DIMOKRATIA: The answer to the riddle of the new constructions regulation
NAFTEMPORIKI: Forgotten overdue debts under scrutiny by the tax office
DRIVING THE DAY: POLISH ELECTION FALLOUT
TUSK BETWEEN NAWROCKI AND A HARD PLACE: Stinging from his ally’s narrow defeat in the presidential election, a defiant Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he plans to call a vote of confidence.
The message: Tusk said he has already been dealing with an uncooperative president and has an emergency plan to handle the persistent threat of veto against his government’s efforts to bring Poland back into Brussels’ good graces.
“I want everyone to see, including our opponents at home and abroad, that we are ready for this situation, that we understand the gravity of the moment, but that we do not intend to take a single step back,” Tusk said of the victory on Sunday by Karol Nawrocki, the candidate backed by the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party. Read more from Joe Stanley-Smith.
The same could be said of this confidence vote. “Unless things go very wrong, he has no chance of losing,” notes POLITICO’s own Polish politics guru Jan Cienski. “Still, that’s unlikely to change the dynamic that now favors a revived Law and Justice party.”
HOW BRUSSELS WILL FEEL THE POLISH RESULTS: Tusk was poised to make Poland powerful again on the European stage — just six months ago, he was the most potent player in the revived Weimar Triangle. Now, he’s among the EU’s walking wounded, and mainstream Brussels has lost a role model for how to counter populism.
Tusk’s effort to complete the EU’s requested judicial reforms will also likely remain unfinished, thanks to Nawrocki’s veto — which also calls into question whether Warsaw could once again lose billions in EU funds.
And how it won’t: That means Tusk’s approach of junking the eight years of isolationism, EU-skepticism and anti-German views that dominated when PiS ruled from 2015 to 2023 won’t change. Read more from Wojciech Kość and Jan on how Tusk got Trumped.
Put another way: Veteran Brussels journo Dave Keating looks back at the White House’s campaign interventions in Poland and argues Washington has a policy of “regime change in Europe.”
What timing: Pam Bondi, Trump’s ultra-MAGA justice department chief, is in Warsaw today for a planned EU-U.S. justice and home affairs ministerial meeting. Democracy Commissioner Michael McGrath and Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner both have bilats booked with Bondi. Playbook would love to be a fly on the wall if/when she meets with Adam Bodnar, Tusk’s crusading justice minister.
TRADING BLOWS
STEEL REELING: The European Union on Monday threatened to accelerate its retaliation against Donald Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs. That sets the stage for Wednesday’s planned tête-à-tête between EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and his U.S. counterpart Jamieson Greer in Paris, Camille Gijs reports.
Coincidentally … The Trump administration wants countries to provide their best offer on trade negotiations by Wednesday, Reuters reports, citing a draft letter sent to negotiating partners.
Double trouble: Trump’splan to double his steel tariffs to 50 percent “undermines our ongoing efforts to reach a negotiated solution” to the trade war, said Commission spokesperson Olof Gill on Monday.
Brussels tries to be unpredictable: Without a deal, “both the existing and possible additional EU measures will automatically take effect on July 14th,” Gill warned — “or earlier if circumstances require.”
In other words, the Commission could be looking at unfreezing (and widening) the EU’s own €20 billion response to Washington’s 25 percent steel and aluminum tariffs, after pausing it until July 14. That move came after Trump called a pause on his own “reciprocal” tariffs. Brussels could also speed up a fresh €100 billion retaliation it is currently pitching to EU capitals.
An American in Paris: The meeting with Greer — at the OECD Ministerial Council — was initiated by the EU, and follows Šefčovič’s own three trips to Washington since January. For the Commission, securing this meeting on European soil is a welcome move to rebalance the dynamic and underscore the EU’s role as an equal partner in the transatlantic relationship. More details on the machinations for Morning Trade subscribers.
Criss-crossing the Atlantic: That said, technical teams from Brussels were already en route to Washington on Monday, Gill said. Separately, a delegation of top Socialist and Democrats MEPs, led by group President Iratxe García, will kick off their visit to the U.S. capital today with a strategy session with none other than Senator Bernie Sanders, the leftie icon.
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
CORDON SANITAIRE IN ACTION: Efforts by far-right lawmaker Sarah Knafo to shape the EU’s tech sovereignty agenda are about to flop today, after centrist forces in the European Parliament pulled off an unusual backroom move to sideline her from her own report.
The backstory: Knafo, a French MEP from the Europe of Sovereign Nations group, was meant to hold the pen on a key report exploring ways for the EU to stand on its own on technology. But mainstream factions seeking to curb far-right influence boycotted her leadership from the get-go.
Trump ties don’t fly: “For us, it’s really hard to accept the narrative of the far right in the Parliament,” said Michał Kobosko, a Polish liberal MEP and one of the architects of the coup. Knafo’s open affinities with Trump — including attending his inauguration, alongside Big Tech bosses — only added to the discomfort, he added.
Ghosted: Lawmakers from the EPP, S&D, Renew and Greens blew off both Knafo’s draft proposal and Knafo herself, huddling to craft a full rewrite from scratch, without support from Parliament staff, who were still bound to follow her lead. The coalition filed their rival text as a take-it-or-leave-it, single amendment that’s expected to sail through committee today, where they hold the majority.
Owning it: “It’s my version that made this one possible. They kept the structure, the findings, there’s a lot of copy-pasting,” Knafo told my colleague Mathieu Pollet ahead of the vote, slamming the “absurdity of the cordon sanitaire.”
A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TYPE OF HEALTH FIREWALL: TikTok bans “unhealthy” SkinnyTok hashtag after pressure from regulators.
BRAWL IN BRATISLAVA
FICO MEETS THE MEPs: A string of EU lawmakers have been scrutinizing Slovakia in recent days amid growing concerns about democratic backsliding under Prime Minister Robert Fico of the left-wing nationalist SMER party. It’s getting nasty, report Ketrin Jochecová and Max Griera.
Spying spat: Slovakia’s secret services spied on a visit by the European Parliament’s budgetary control committee last week, claims the leader of the mission, Czech EPP MEP Tomáš Zdechovský. In a letter, he calls on Parliament President Roberta Metsola to “consider further steps towards the Slovak authorities.”
Big caveat: Two Parliament officials familiar with the visit said the other MEPs didn’t share Zdechovský’s suspicions about surveillance. But the three-day mission did little to assuage their other concerns about alleged abuses of EU funds and rule-of-law issues in Slovakia.
Hacienda case: Among the key issues investigated is the so-called hacienda case that has dominated Slovak media coverage in recent weeks. It concerns €60 million in funds from the Agricultural Paying Agency that were allegedly used to build luxury private villas for top politicians and businessmen connected to an earlier Fico government — instead of supporting tourism in rural areas as originally intended.
Fico fights back: At a press conference Monday, Fico did not address surveillance accusations but likened Zdechovský to a “hired assassin” engaging in “dirty opposition work.”
SCRUTINY CONTINUES: On Monday, four EU lawmakers from the Parliament’s democracy and rule of law watchdog quizzed Fico about his country’s democratic backsliding during a visit to Bratislava. They’re looking into Slovakia’s dismantling of key anti-corruption offices, a crackdown on NGOs, and questions around media freedom. Their findings could lead to a resolution in plenary or further discussions in the civil liberties committee.
Tune in: The delegation, which is also meeting with other high-level government officials and civil society, will announce its conclusions during a press conference today at 2:30 p.m. — you can watch here.
UKRAINE LATEST
ISTANBUL TALKS: Ukraine and Russia agreed to prepare a large swap of prisoners of war at the second round of peace negotiations in Istanbul on Monday, with both sides agreeing to give up all severely injured and ill POWs, as well as all those aged 18-25. Kyiv is also seeking a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia’s Vladimir Putin at the end of the month, reports Veronika Melkozerova.
WHAT KYIV WANTS: Ukraine submitted its vision of the peace negotiations to the Russian delegation ahead of the Monday meeting. In the document, which Veronika has seen, Kyiv continues to push for a full and unconditional ceasefire, an exchange of all POWs, the unconditional return of all Ukrainian children who were illegally taken to Russia, and the release of all civilian hostages.
Sovereignty guarantees: Kyiv wants the Kremlin to commit not to attack Ukraine again, and for territorial gains made by Russia since February 2014 to not be recognized by the international community. Ukraine also wants its NATO prospects to be decided by members of the alliance, not by Russia.
WHAT PUTIN WANTS: Russia’s TASS state news agency published Moscow’s conditions, including that Kyiv withdraw from the four regions of Ukraine that Russia has illegally annexed but does not fully control. Russia also wants Ukraine to disarm and cease mobilizing new troops, to remain a neutral country, and to reinstate the Russian church and conduct presidential elections within 100 days of the end of martial law.
Also on Putin’s wish list: International recognition of all the Ukrainian territories Russia has occupied since 2014, the lifting of all sanctions, and the “Refusal of mutual claims with Ukraine due to damage from hostilities.”
TODAY’S BIG READ: Jamie Dettmer has a fascinating look at Zelenskyy’s Head of Office Andriy Yermak, a former film producer who met the now-president when they both worked in the media industry. Read it here.
IN OTHER NEWS
ICEBREAKER FOR MERZ AND TRUMP: As German Chancellor Friedrich Merz preps for his meeting with Trump on Thursday, he’s now got a convenient point of commiseration: both have seen their migration agendas stymied by the courts. In Merz’s case, a Berlin court said his effort to turn asylum-seekers away at the border is unlawful.
DUTCH GOVERNMENT WOBBLES OVER MIGRATION: The Netherlands’ ruling coalition failed to strike a deal on plans pushed by the far-right Freedom Party and its leader Geert Wilders to curb migration. Wilders has threatened to quit the coalition if most of the proposals aren’t adopted. Talks will continue today. Bloomberg has the details.
POLL — MAYORS WANT EU TO TACKLE HOUSING: Europe’s mayors are keen to tackle the housing crisis but want more help from the EU to take on that challenge and overcome budget constraints, the latest Eurocities Pulse: Mayors Survey reveals. Eighty-six municipal leaders from 26 European countries took part in the poll, which was conducted in the spring and shared exclusively with POLITICO’s Living Cities.
All politics is local: While tackling climate change remains the top priority for Europe’s city leaders, access to affordable housing came a close second. They want the EU to help by revising state aid rules so that more public cash can be allocated for building social and affordable housing and more EU regulations to rein in short-term rentals. Details here from Giovanna Coi and Aitor Hernández-Morales.
ROMA RIGHTS IN GREECE: Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Michael O’Flaherty is raising the alarm about the living conditions of Roma communities in Greece, pointing to segregation, inadequate housing, and a “lack of political will” to implement anti-discrimination measures. In a memorandum published today, O’Flaherty criticizes “deplorable” conditions in many settlements, including makeshift housing in segregated areas, sometimes without electricity or water supply.
Greek response: The Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family said Roma people “fully enjoy all civil and political rights” and “are an integral part of the Greek population.”