GSEE calls for mass participation in γeneral strike on Wed; joined by ADEDY
The General Confederation of Employees of Greece (GSEE) on Monday called for the mass participation of all workers, pensioners, unemployed persons and young people in the 24-hour nationwide general strike being held on Wednesday, November 20. Greece’s Civil Servants’ Confederation (ADEDY) said it would join the 24-hour national strike.
PM Mitsotakis: Greece to repay additional 5 billion euros early in 2025
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, speaking with journalist Francine Lacqua at Bloomberg’s event titled “The New Era of Greek Banking,” highlighted that Greece will make an early repayment of an additional 5 billion euros borrowed under the first bailout agreement in 2025.
Kasselakis says new party name to be decided by 3-day open vote from Nov 20-22
Stefanos Kasselakis, who recently split from the leftist SYRIZA opposition to form his own political party, announced on Monday that the name of the new venture will be decided through a three-day open vote from November 20 to 22.
New arrest made in connection with Athens flat blast last month
A 31-year-old man was arrested Monday afternoon in connection with a deadly explosion of an improvised device in an Athens apartment last month. The 31-year-old man, expected to be brought before the prosecutor on Tuesday morning, has been arrested in the past for terrorism-related activity.
ATHEX: Slide goes on as political worries weigh
Sellers ruled the roost once again at the Greek bourse on Monday, with the benchmark heading lower for the third day in a row. The ejection of former prime minister Antonis Samaras from ruling New Democracy and the permission Washington has apparently granted to Kyiv for using long-range missiles to hit Russia combined to apply fresh pressure on stock prices.
KATHIMERINI: The riddles after the rupture within New Democracy
TA NEA: Real estate assets: new calculation method regarding their taxed value
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: General Strike: “You cannot wait any longer”
RIZOSPASTIS: Thousands protest against NATO’s massacres
KONTRA NEWS: PM Mitsotakis in treacherous waters regarding the selection of the next President of the Republic
DIMOKRATIA: Funds-Servicers: The big heist of Greeks’ properties
NAFTEMPORIKI: Cloudy horizon for banks
DRIVING THE DAY: HUNGARY’S DAY IN COURT
HUNGARY FACES MEGA-HEARING ON ANTI-LGBTQ+ LAW: Budapest will face off against lawyers representing the European Commission and no fewer than 16 EU countries (you read that right) in a mega-hearing over Hungary’s controversial LGBTQ+ law at the European Court of Justice today, Playbook’s Nick Vinocur reports.
Size matters: That’s a bigger turnout than for a previous case over rule-of-law conditionality when 10 countries joined the Commission. And the stakes are higher than ever for Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government, with one advocacy group calling it the “largest human rights battle in EU history.”
What it’s about: Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ law, which according to the complainants restricts rights by censoring inclusive sex education, equating LGBTQ+ lifestyles with pedophilia, blocking adoption for LGBTQ+ couples and restricting content in media and advertising. Hungary introduced the law in 2021; the Commission started infringement proceedings a year later.
Why it’s a big deal: A ruling against Hungary could have far-reaching consequences, raising questions about whether the country belongs in the EU under its current leadership. According to John Morijn, a fellow in law and public policy at the Hertie School in Berlin, the court could find the Hungarian law violates Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, a foundational document. “This would trigger the question, once you have reached a threshold of ridiculousness, should they really be in the club at all?”
Moving minds: Indeed, the European Council has long stopped just short of triggering Article 7 against Hungary, which would deprive it of EU voting rights, with capitals concerned it could lead to a backlash. But, Morijn argues, a major ruling from the ECJ could move capitals to reconsider their stance.
Long wait: An opinion from the advocate general in the hearing is expected to land in three to four months. It will give a big steer on where the court will ultimately come down in its ruling, expected a few months after that.
ALSO UNDER SCRUTINY IN BRUSSELS: As part of a regular check-in, EU affairs ministers will consider Budapest’s progress in responding to the Article 7 procedure triggered by a vote in the European Parliament in 2018 to weigh whether to punish breaches of EU values. Awkwardly, since Budapest still holds the Council presidency, this discussion in the General Affairs Council will be chaired by Hungarian EU Minister János Bóka.
Broader rule-of-law discussion: This afternoon’s GAC agenda also puts several other countries’ performance on rule-of-law issues under the microscope, as part of an annual process. They include Malta, the Netherlands, Austria and Poland.
Counter-programming: Fidesz’s political foundation is presenting a report in Brussels today on the “rule of law in the EU institutions,” produced by the Nézőpont Institute, a Hungarian think tank close to Orbán’s government.
VDL 2 COMMISSION
ARE COOLER HEADS PREVAILING IN PARLIAMENT? That’s the vibe Playbook is getting ahead of crunch meetings to decide the fate of Ursula von der Leyen’s commissioners-designate. After a week of stand-offs, senior lawmakers will meet in the European Parliament Wednesday to decide the fate of the six executive vice president nominees (plus Orbán’s pick).
Acknowledging the rightward tilt: The pain point for some members of Brussels’ historical centrist, pro-EU coalition is that their alliance took a massive hit after the June European election — and if it was only wounded at that point, Donald Trump may well have killed it. Gains for the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), and even bigger proportional boosts for far-right and populist movements, have made it harder to cling to the grand coalition comprising the EPP, the liberal Renew Europe and center-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D). The EPP and its allies on its right are the new center of power in Brussels, my colleague Eddy Wax reports.
THE 5 STAGES OF GRIEF: This change has been especially hard to take for the S&D, the second-largest force in Parliament. Its members seem to be cycling through the classic stages of grief.
1 — Denial: Some thought the bloc’s centrists would be able to stave off a unified hard right after the election, cutting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, chief of the European Conservatives and Reformists, out of negotiations for top jobs.
2 — Bargaining: The S&D, along with the considerably diminished Renew and Greens, negotiated with von der Leyen ahead of her up-or-down vote in Parliament, making deals to avoid “structural cooperation” with anyone to the right of the EPP.
3 — Anger: Those groups were not happy when von der Leyen named Meloni’s pick, Raffaele Fitto, as one of six executive vice presidents in the new College of Commissioners. (We know, we know, officially “anger” comes before “bargaining,” but the idea that people cycle through these stages in order has been debunked.)
These groups had a choice at this point: Accept that Fitto’s position — like a few of the purported EVP jobs — wouldn’t actually be that much more powerful than that of a regular commissioner. They could have handed Meloni her little symbolic win and moved on. But that was a hard sell, especially for the Socialists’ influential Italian bloc.
4 — Depression: As floods rampaged through Spain, killing hundreds, and the EPP teamed up with the far right to gut a deforestation bill, it became more and more clear that the EPP was prepared to ditch its old friends for the populist crowd. To make matters worse, those floods gave the EPP’s Spanish faction cause to take a hard line against the Socialists’ top-ranked commissioner nominee, Spain’s Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera (whose EVP assignment is arguably genuinely powerful).
Will we get to 5? That’d be acceptance, which could take many forms. For the center and left, it would mean quitting while they’re ahead, green-lighting Fitto in exchange for Ribera and the other picks getting through. Or we could go back through denial, anger and depression. The one stage that seems to never end: bargaining. That will be the theme of the coming days.
RUSSIA’S WAR
HOW WILL PUTIN RESPOND? Early signs suggest Moscow won’t be turning the other cheek to outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles to strike Russian territory. Curiously, Eva Hartog reports, few in Russia seem to know what that means in practice.
Propagandists fill the information vacuum: “The U.S., Britain and France will be directly entering a war with Russia, with all the ensuing consequences for their own territories and those who live there,” Dmitry Kiselyov, the anchor of Russia’s flagship “Vesti Nedeli” news show on state TV, menaced on Sunday evening, adding: “The response could be anything. Anything.”
Next up? All eyes are now on London and Paris, which have donated Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles to Kyiv. Will Washington now allow them to be used against targets in Russia, too? My POLITICO colleagues have that story.
BERLIN’S PLAN: German daily FAZ has a draft of a strategy paper for “Operationsplan Deutschland.” The 1,000-page Bundeswehr training guide lays out what needs to be done to Russia-proof Germany, what infrastructure would need extra protection if Vladimir Putin invades in the east, and how Germany could become a staging ground for tens or even hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
ZELENSKYY ZOOMS IN: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address MEPs over a live video feed at 11 a.m. today. It’s part of a special plenary session called to mark 1,000 days since Russia started its full-scale invasion, scheduled just a week in advance by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
Who won’t be there: Members of the Parliament’s farthest-right group, Europe of Sovereign Nations. They’re heading for a planned external group meeting on Wednesday and Thursday in Sofia, Bulgaria, a spokesperson for group Chair René Aust confirmed to Max Griera.
HAPPENING TODAY — WEIMAR TRIANGLE IN WARSAW: To mark 1,000 days of Russia’s war, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will travel to Warsaw today to meet with her French and Polish counterparts and incoming EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas. The Spanish and British foreign ministers will join virtually, my Berlin Playbook colleagues report.
SCOOP — SWEDEN URGES VDL TO “RUSSIA-PROOF” THE COMMISSION: In a letter to be presented during the General Affairs Council today, Swedish Minister for European Affairs Jessica Rosencrantz will urge Ursula von der Leyen to “constrain” Russia’s influence over EU affairs inside the European Commission, Nick Vinocur writes in to report.
Rosencrantz’s pitch: She says Ursula von der Leyen should task her commissioners to come up with “concrete proposals for how to constrain Russia within their respective areas of responsibility,” according to an excerpt of the letter seen by Playbook. Rosencrantz suggests these proposals run the gamut from climate and digital to trade.
And here’s what Sweden is doing to Russia-proof its citizenry.
RUSSIA-PROOFING UKRAINE: EU leaders should be prepared to send military forces to Ukraine to guarantee any peace deal, Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told the Financial Times.
OUT AT SEA: Finnish network company Cinia is investigating whether a broken undersea internet cable connecting Finland to Germany was sabotaged. More details here.
“COALITION OF THE WILLING”: Author Margaret Atwood, former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, former Latvian President Egils Levits, ex-U.K. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, former Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren and German Council on Foreign Relations chief Thomas Enders are among those calling for a “European-Canadian coalition of the willing” to defend Ukraine and secure a “stable Euro-Atlantic security order” regardless of what Donald Trump does. Their five-point plan is in a letter released today.
MEANWHILE, IN THE MIDDLE EAST: Israeli troops have found large troves of Russian weapons in southern Lebanon, confirming suspicions that Hezbollah is bulking up with Russian arms. The Wall Street Journal has that one.
PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW: GABRIELIUS LANDSBERGIS
EUROPE IS THE REAL ISOLATIONIST, SAYS LITHUANIA’S OUTGOING FORMIN: Don’t just point fingers at JD Vance, the Trump No. 2 who wants to halt all U.S. aid to Ukraine. It’s actually Europe that’s becoming the isolationist power as domestic politics overshadows the war in Ukraine and the wider defense of European values, argues outgoing Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.
Exit interview: Speaking to the Playbook team after his last Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday, the outspoken Russia hawk warned that while the United States was certainly “looking inward,” Europe was also increasingly shrugging its shoulders over disturbing developments in its neighborhood.
“I got this thought thinking about the Georgia debate,” Landsbergis said, referring to a disputed vote in the Caucasian country, where election observers have warned that Russia leaned on the results. “Remember 10 years ago? We would go to Tbilisi, wave the EU flag. Now we’re like, ‘It happened, c’est la vie.’”
“So what does this mean? We’re looking more inward. We’re more worried about developments within our countries. Germans are worried about the upcoming elections and the rise of the far right. The Netherlands, France: also looking inward. Everywhere you look, the national debate is prevailing over everything else. The times when Europe would produce a policy like Eastern Partnership are long gone,” he said.
On Ukraine, a subject on which Landsbergis is known for his robust views, the minister said Europe appeared to have exhausted its well of empathy and lost its fear of Russia. “Why are we losing this fear? There’s a predator out there. We’re walking in the forest.”
Ignorance could be one explanation, Landsbergis said. “You have way more understanding from countries that faced those dangers. Talk to Taiwan: They don’t need convincing. Otherwise, it’s naive hope. I sometimes get the sense people just expect that one day they will wake up and things are back to normal.”
Staying optimistic: Despite his at times doom-laden statements, Landsbergis insists he remains hopeful — that Ukraine will prevail, that the incoming Trump administration will maintain aid for Kyiv, and that Europe will overcome its divisions and self-doubt to evolve into a real geopolitical powerhouse.
What next, Gabrielius? No scoops, except the fact he’s got 800 pages of diaries chronicling his days since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion that may soon find their way into a bookstore.
IN OTHER NEWS
ROMANIAN ELECTION UPDATE: Candidates vying to become Romania’s next president faced off in a three-hour TV debate Monday evening, ahead of Sunday’s election. Carmen Paun has four takeaways.
Schengen a-go: Romania and Bulgaria will fully join the Schengen travel area from January after a crunch meeting in Hungary on Friday, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said. Reuters has more.
GERMAN ELECTION UPDATE: Germany’s center-right Christian Democrats are already preparing for the post-election period — with their own Friedrich Merz as chancellor. Bild reports the CDU has drawn up a list of 10 laws it plans to roll back, among them cannabis legalization and the nuclear phase-out.
HOW TO BRING A GUN TO A TRADE FIGHT: If Trump follows through on his plans to slap massive tariffs on European products when he returns to the White House, the EU will have a hefty arsenal of weapons to fight back with. POLITICO Trade reporter Koen Verhelst has this handy guide to the EU’s trade armory, rated by “bazooka rating,” trigger happiness and expected effectiveness.
Speaking of Trump: Tensions are growing between Elon Musk and the president-elect’s inner circle, with Axios reporting that the tech billionaire had a public “blowup” with one of Trump’s aides over his Cabinet picks.
CLIMATE FUNDING FIGURE IN VIEW: Officials from two EU countries say the bloc had discussed $200 billion to $300 billion as a possible range for the new global annual funding target to help poorer countries address climate change, POLITICO’s Zia Weise reports in a scoop from Baku. That might hint at where rich countries will land in the ongoing negotiations over the fund at the COP29 climate talks.
What’s the holdup? Thus far, Western governments have refused to disclose a specific dollar figure, arguing countries must first sort out who will contribute (cough, cough, China). Read more.
Meanwhile, in Rio: The Brazilian G20 presidency in the early hours of this morning issued a leaders’ declaration. It said only 17 percent of sustainable development targets are on track, and highlighted the “human suffering” of the war in Ukraine — without blaming G20 member Russia.
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING: Dozens of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists were sentenced to prison terms of up to 10 years on subversion charges, in the wake of Beijing’s crackdown on dissent. Joshua Wong, who was among those sentenced, shouted “I love Hong Kong” before he left the dock, CNN reports.