Firefighters continue to battle flames in Xilokastro; traffic on Corinth-Patra highway restored
Firefighters, Civil Protection forces and volunteers were battling the flames for the second night in Rozena, Xilokastro, Corinth, where two people lost their lives.
Mitsotakis: Stricter penalties for weapons possession among young people
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis began a cabinet meeting on Monday by referring to the spread of fighting in the Middle East to Lebanon and the importance of de-escalating the crisis in the region. On the domestic front, meanwhile, he announced stricter penalties aiming to discourage violence among young people.
New poll shows SYRIZA dropping to fifth place
A poll released on Monday shows SYRIZA dropping to fifth place, while PASOK maintains a steady second position behind New Democracy.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1249748/new-poll-shows-syriza-dropping-to-fifth-place
Medium-Term Fiscal Structural Plan for 2025-2028 forecasts
The Medium-Term Fiscal Structural Plan for 2025-2028 foresees a sharp rise in GDP, significant primary surpluses, and a drop in unemployment to pre-crisis levels, according to the presentation by National Economy & Finance Minister Costis Hatzidakis and Deputy Minister Thanos Petralias on Monday.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/851623/Medium-Term-Fiscal-Structural-Plan-for-2025-2028-forecasts
ATHEX: Monthly rise of 1.45% on Athinon Avenue
The placement of a 10% in National Bank of Greece dominated the interest of traders and outshone the bourse session on Monday. Therefore sellers increasingly played without an opponent at Athinon Avenue at the start of the week, with the benchmark losing a significant portion of its gains registered last week. Even so, September closed with monthly gains of 1.45%.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1249779/athex-monthly-rise-of-1-45-on-athinon-avenue
KATHIMERINI: PM Mitsotakis makes unifying calls to former New Democracy leaders Karamanlis and Samaras
TA NEA: Youth violence: Parents will be incarcerated
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Government measures lead to the recycling of violence
RIZOSPASTIS: Israel and USA-EU-NATO are preparing a war disaster plan
KONTRA NEWS: Millions of Lebanese people will “invade” Greece
DIMOKRATIA: The fraud of the Labor Minister regarding the cap on pensioners’ solidarity levy
NAFTEMPORIKI: New spike of listed companies’ profits
DRIVING THE DAY: MIDEAST ESCALATION
ISRAEL BEGINS GROUND OPERATION: Israel began “limited, localized” ground raids aimed at Hezbollah targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon, the country’s military tweeted early this morning. Hours earlier, Washington announced it was sending a “few thousand” additional soldiers to the region.
U.S. on board: Our Stateside colleagues report that senior White House figures privately told Israel that the U.S. would support its decision to ramp up the military pressure against Hezbollah — even as the Biden administration publicly urged the Israeli government in recent weeks to curtail its strikes.
What Israel is trying to achieve: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear that his ultimate goal is to undermine Tehran’s clerical leadership, defanging the Iranians who bankroll Hamas, Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, reports Jamie Dettmer from Tel Aviv.
So much for that: “Any further military intervention would dramatically aggravate the situation and it has to be avoided,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday evening, following an emergency meeting of foreign affairs ministers. Israel’s earlier attacks on Hezbollah “represent a violation of the sovereignty of an independent country,” he added.
EPP FAMILY FEUD
PARTY SEC-GEN TAKES ON WEBER: A personnel dispute could turn into a moment of truth for Manfred Weber, a heavy hitter in the center-right at the EU level, as he faces a rare challenge from another power player in the European People’s Party. The unusual scuffle comes just as Weber — both leader of the EPP group in the European Parliament and president of the European political party — launches a conversation on reforming the latter during the second day of the EPP political assembly in Brussels.
Staffer fired = shots fired: On Friday morning, Thanasis Bakolas, the EPP party’s secretary-general, informed the party’s leadership that he would need to dismiss Tom Vandenkendelaere. A well-liked Belgian who recently lost his seat in the European Parliament, Vandenkendelaere had started just weeks earlier as Weber’s hand-picked choice to be “director of member party engagement.”
Power grab? However, as Bakolas alleged in an email viewed by Playbook’s Eddy Wax, Weber soon followed up by sending around a new organigram and declaring in a text message that Vandenkendelaere would act as the party’s chief of staff. “I cannot oblige and enforce the demands of the President,” Bakolas wrote in response to that move. The chief of staff position as described isn’t allowed under the party’s rules or Belgian law, and as secretary-general it’s Bakolas who would be legally responsible for infractions, he argued.
Zoom out — here’s what this is really about: After failing in a bid for European Commission president and ditching plans to run for European Parliament president, Weber pivoted to accumulating power inside the EPP’s party machinery.
In the five-plus years since his public humbling, Weber has installed loyalists in key EPP roles and dispatched potential critics and rivals. (Over at the EPP group, for instance, Secretary-General Simon Busuttil is on his way out to make way for Weber’s head of Cabinet, Ouarda Bensouag.) Weber has now emerged as one of the most influential people in Brussels — arguably second only to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. And as Weber’s control over the EPP has tightened, he has shifted his party to the right and challenged von der Leyen on some of her signature policies.
Tl;dr version: The decision to appoint Vandenkendelaere was the latest in a series of maneuvers Weber has executed to tighten his grip on the EPP machinery. But Bakolas’ open insubordination is unprecedented.
Sticking it to the Manfred: If Playbook had a euro for every time an EPP insider complained about Weber on double-super-secret-can’t-report-this-background … we wouldn’t need to write Playbook. But, inevitably, they shrug and say that no one will ever speak up, because Weber is too powerful and it’s not worth the risk.
Where things stand now: The party’s presidency committee met Monday before the political assembly started. The outcome: Weber himself, as EPP president, will sign a contract that would make Vandenkendelaere his head of Cabinet, according to an excerpt of a paper circulated and adopted at that meeting, viewed by Playbook.
BAKOLAS’ GAMBIT: While the EPP group is all about MEPs, the EPP party exists to serve national leaders and parties. Bakolas, who is close to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, appears to be making a gamble on EPP-linked leaders like Polish PM Donald Tusk, Finnish PM Petteri Orpo and German Christian Democratic Union leader Friedrich Merz backing him up and intervening to rein in Weber.
So why is this Weber’s moment of truth? All those people grumbling about Weber, maybe even plotting their own leadership bids, are waiting to see whether Bakolas’ blown whistle prompts his allies to put the kibosh on the Vandenkendelaere appointment, cutting Weber down a peg — or they won’t, solidifying Weber’s position as the unassailable EPP top dog.
If history is any guide … “Mr. Weber tends to win these little battles,” observed a senior EPP member, granted anonymity to comment on sensitive party dynamics.
Trying to keep a lid on it: Bakolas declined to comment, and an EPP spokesperson did not reply to a text message seeking reply. (Can you blame her? She works for both Bakolas and Weber.) Vandenkendelaere referred questions to Weber’s team, and Weber could not be reached for comment.
SORE WINNERS: These power-plays and recriminations might make more sense if the party was weak. But the EPP is having a fantastic cycle. It came in first in the European Parliament election in June, reinstalled von der Leyen with a more conservative platform, and is on track to grow its dominant footprint in the European Council.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, was the sentiment of the senior EPP member who holds Weber in high esteem and noted that Vandenkendelaere is “exceptionally well-regarded.” Nonetheless, the member added, “These sort of power plays … can unnecessarily give rise to trouble that isn’t needed.”
Oh, to be a fly on the wall: Day Two of the EPP political assembly kicks off at 9 a.m. sharp today, according to an agenda viewed by Playbook. First item: “EPP Party Reform.” Despite the planned “talks with academic experts on the future of European parties,” we suspect the discussion will be anything but academic. Weber allies say he’s determined to fully capitalize on the EPP’s growing power, and see its players in the EU institutions work more seamlessly with the national parties.
Pass us a note in class! Get in touch if you know more.
FAR RIGHT RISING
BUDAPEST BANKS BOOSTED VOX BEFORE GROUP SWITCH: Spain’s far-right Vox party received loans worth €9.2 million from banks close to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, El País reports. The source of the funds, used to bankroll the party’s campaigns in municipal and national elections last year, was not disclosed in campaign finance filings.
New group: Vox had been part of the European Conservatives and Reformists, but its MEPs were among the first to switch to Orbán’s new Patriots for Europe this summer. As El País notes, Vox is an uneasy fit with some of the other members. A Vox spokesperson acknowledged the lenders were Hungarian banks, but denied knowledge of their ties to Orbán.
WEAPONIZING MIGRANTS: Viktor Orbán, meanwhile, is threatening to get revenge on the EU by sending migrants to Brussels’ Grand-Place (sound familiar?). “If Brussels persists in its decision to punish us, it will get what it wants,” the Hungarian prime minister said, referring to a previous decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union to fine Budapest €200 million for breaking EU asylum rules. Write-up here.
NEW FAR-RIGHT EUROPARTY: The new far-right Europe of Sovereign Nations is now an official European political party after getting greenlit by the Authority for European Political Parties and Political Foundations (APPF). The new party, led by Germany’s AfD, is eligible to get €2 million in EU cash. (As Max Griera reported last week, a new far-left faction, the European Left Alliance for the People and the Planet (ELA), has also joined the Europarty ranks in recent days.)
WTF is the APPF? Max explains it all in Friday’s EU Transition Playbook.
MELONI MATTERS: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni may have persuaded the European establishment that she is the vanilla face of nationalist right-wing politics, but a crackdown on street protests is amplifying concerns about the country’s illiberal drift, report Hannah Roberts and Federica Di Sario.
SHOULDN’T EU BE MORE WORRIED? Brussels doesn’t seem to be overly concerned after the far right last weekend notched up another election victory in Europe (this time in Austria). But as Brussels shrugs, the surge of far-right populist forces shows no sign of abating, write my colleagues Barbara Moens and Nick Vinocur.
OLÁ FROM COSTA
ANTÓNIO COSTA’S DOWN-LOW ROAD SHOW: António Costa, the president-elect of the European Council, is in Budapest today for a low-key meeting with Viktor Orbán. Then he heads to Warsaw on Wednesday for a sit-down with Donald Tusk, and on Friday, he’ll be in Madrid with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
Early diplomacy: The goal to meet all the leaders on their home turf (or thereabouts) before taking office in December is a reflection of Costa’s emphasis on personal relationships as he prepares to lead negotiations among Europe’s most powerful politicians. His first courtesy call was to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in July, showing no hard feelings over her vote against him. He’s also visited Luxembourg’s PM Luc Frieden and Belgium’s Alexander De Croo in recent weeks.
The meetings aren’t secret … but they’re not heavily publicized, either. After all, Charles Michel is still the president of the European Council.
IN WITH THE NEW AT NATO
NATO GETS FIRST NEW CHIEF IN 10 YEARS: Mark Rutte will officially succeed Jens Stoltenberg as NATO’s next secretary-general today. The two will attend a joint meeting with NATO national ambassadors, Stoltenberg will pass over a ceremonial Icelandic wooden gavel, then Rutte will go to his first press conference as NATO chief. Thus concludes the 10-year tenure of Stoltenberg, the second-longest-serving sec-gen in NATO’s history.
All smiles at last: On his last full working day Monday, Stoltenberg sat down in the NATO studio for a final one-on-one interview with my colleague Stuart Lau. The Norwegian looked relatively relaxed, and previewed his “new and exciting” future. (He wouldn’t say more, but we already got the scoop.)
Rueful recollection: “I continue to believe that if we had armed Ukraine more after 2014, we might have prevented Russia from invading,” the Norwegian said. “At least we would have increased the threshold for a full-scale invasion.”
Make deals with Trump, Europe: Stoltenberg also called on Europe to be pragmatic and work with Donald Trump if he’s reelected. The responsibility falls on Europe, he said, to persuade the erratic Republican not to abandon Ukraine.
“Whatever we can”: “It’s important that European allies don’t create self-fulfilling prophecies, but actually … do whatever we can to ensure that the U.S. continues to support Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said. Read Stuart’s piece here.
Don’t ask me numbers: Stoltenberg said it’s “obvious” that NATO countries need to spend “significantly more than 2 percent” to maintain European security — but he wouldn’t define a new target.
LOOKING AHEAD: Rutte will have a full plate of priorities from Day One, ranging from making political preparations for the U.S. election to ensuring smooth transfer of Western weapons to Ukraine. Stuart has more on his honeymoon-free new adventure.
EU-CHINA
SCHOLZ 0, MACRON 1 IN CHINA EV SPAT: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz tried with all his might to stop Brussels slapping duties on Chinese electric vehicles — but he wasn’t mighty enough. French President Emmanuel Macron is on the verge of triumph in the bid he’s spearheading to push the EU to take a more aggressive position on Beijing.
Crunch vote on Friday: EU countries are set to vote on whether to impose duties on made-in-China EVs this Friday (though that could change, given the ballot has been postponed before). Germany has been pushing against the move — but as Hans von der Burchard reports in this morning’s Berlin Playbook, nobody actually believes it’s managed to get enough other countries to swing behind it. So much so, as Hans reports this morning, the German government itself will likely attempt to save face by abstaining on Friday (which effectively counts as a yes to the duties).
Trade war threat: China is already targeting EU exports of cheese, pork and large-engined cars (such as Porsche, Mercedes, BMWs) in tit-for-tat measures. Negotiations between Brussels and Beijing continue, with our Trade colleagues reporting that the European Commission has formally suggested to EU countries that it should keep talking to Beijing even after it slaps duties on Chinese EVs.
Who’ll win the next round? With Macron campaigning for duties on Chinese EVs despite resistance from Scholz, could Berlin push through the EU-Mercosur trade agreement in the face of French opposition? Something for the dynamic duo to discuss on Wednesday, perhaps, when Macron visits Scholz in Berlin for a 45-minute lunchtime chat.
IN OTHER NEWS
MUSICAL CHAIRS: Around a quarter of the European Parliament’s interparliamentary delegations elected their chairs and vice chairs on Monday. You can see the results here.
TURNOUT, TURNED DOWN: The European Parliament has adjusted its voter figures downward, pegging turnout in the June election at 50.74 percent — down from the provisional estimate of 51.05 percent. That means turnout was still up in 2024 compared to 2019, when it was 50.66 percent — but just barely. (H/t Election-Watch.eu’s final election assessment mission report, out Monday.)
BARNIER HITS THE BIG TIME: French PM Michel Barnier is set to address lawmakers for the first time this afternoon to deliver his déclaration de politique générale. Giorgio Leali has five things to look out for in this primer, and we’ll be running a French-language live blog.