Military prepares for any Turkish reaction to Cyprus power connection project
Greece’s military leadership is preparing comprehensive operational plans to protect the resumption of the Greece-Cyprus electrical interconnection cable project this fall, following tensions last year that temporarily halted the work.
PM Mitsotakis and Hellenic Bank Association expand ‘Marietta Giannakou’ school renovation programme
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced an increase in the budget for the “ Marietta Giannakou” programme for the renovation of public schools during a meeting on Monday at the Maximos Mansion with the chairman of the Hellenic Bank Association Gikas Hardouvelis, and the CEOs of Alpha Bank Vassilis Psaltis, Eurobank Fokion Karavias, National Bank of Greece Pavlos Mylonas; and Piraeus Bank Christos Megalou.
Government bracing for possible comeback of ex-PMs
The government is preparing for potential political comebacks from two former prime ministers, as sources close to both former leaders point to a renewed interest in public service. Sources suggest Samaras, who led Greece during part of its financial crisis, may be considering a return to active politics. Meanwhile, the current government views former SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras as a “manageable” opponent, according to prevailing opinion within the ruling party.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1279466/government-bracing-for-possible-comeback-of-ex-pms
Unemployment rate at 8.6 pct in Q2 2025
Unemployment stood at 8.6 percent in the second quarter of 2025, according to the labour force survey released on Monday by ELSTAT (Hellenic Statistical Authority).
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/929248/Unemploymnent-rate-at-86-pct-in-Q2-2025
ATHEX: Recovery on ascent of banks
Banks led the Greek stock market index to recovery on Monday, following four consecutive days of losses, though declining stocks outnumbered gainers at a two-to-one ratio. The eurozone climate is suffering from the political instability in France, affecting most local stocks too, but the outlook of the Greek credit sector (as underscored by foreign firms too) remains a magnet for buyers and is buoying the benchmark too.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1279583/athex-recovery-on-ascent-of-banks
KATHIMERINI: China-India-Russia: The crucial summit that is changing the world
TA NEA: Wills – Inheritances: Behold what is changing
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Former PM and SYRIZA leader Tsipras is upsetting PM MItsotakis
RIZOSPASTIS: No expectations – no waiting: Everybody join the planned rallies of unions against government policy
KONTRA NEWS: PASOK: The “Black Bible” of the Mitsotakis government
DIMOKRATIA: The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople was promoting a mafia person
NAFTEMPORIKI: 365-days deadline for 194 milestones and 12,5 bln linked to the RRF
DRIVING THE DAY: SOCIALIST TRADE-OFF
SOCIALISTS NIX TRUMP TRADE DEAL: The Berlaymont’s trade agreement with U.S. President Donald Trump is facing major resistance in the European Parliament.
“We firmly oppose the agreement,” Iratxe García Pérez, president of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), told POLITICO. Her group is the second-biggest in the European Parliament, and its opposition could spell the end of the EU’s gambit to keep American duties on EU goods at 15 percent in exchange for steep concessions to Trump’s demands.
“Trump will exploit any sign of weakness to escalate the trade war,” García said, in the wake of the president’s threats to retaliate against tech regs with tariffs.
Big picture: The S&D’s opposition not only imperils the EU’s efforts to present the pact as a way of securing transatlantic unity against Moscow, but also deepens the rift between Ursula von der Leyen’s center-right allies in the European People’s Party (who support the deal) and the S&D. Once pillars of a grand, moderate coalition in Brussels, the partnership has deteriorated since voters backed a burst of far-right lawmakers in last year’s European Parliament election. Read the full article by Camille Gijs, Max Griera and Oliver Noyan.
PROGRESSIVES FIGHT FOR LAW AND ORDER: We’re in one of those moments where labels like “progressive” and “conservative” are especially unhelpful. The left is looking for aggressive trade tactics — García endorsed the idea of using the EU’s so-called trade bazooka to retaliate against Trump — in service of preserving the postwar rules-based order.
Council vs. Parliament: It was member countries, said top Commission trade official Sabine Weyand last week, that did not want to risk Trump’s wrath by retaliating. Yet in a bid to please the capitals — and keep Trump on board for Ukraine negotiations — the Berlaymont might have risked support from the Parliament.
Berlaymont eye roll: Asked about the S&D’s threat, a Commission official would only say (with a degree of resignation): “Voting against this trade deal means that we will be hit with sky-high tariffs.”
“Nostalgia is not a strategy,” Weyand said last week, acknowledging the current might-makes-right global order Trump has created, at least for the time being.
The question for Socialists: Will nostalgia be their strategy, with lawmakers continuing to hope they’ll wield influence through collaboration? Or — after issuing ultimatums to von der Leyen as she faced a no-confidence vote in June — will the center-left embrace being an opposition party, expressing its will through obstruction?
NOT FOR NOTHING: The White House still hasn’t reversed the higher tariffs on cars, which was supposed to happen when the Commission published the trade deal legislation.
ANTÓNIO COSTA FEELS YOUR PAIN: Referring to negotiations around both Ukraine and trade, European Council President António Costa said he is “aware of the frustration felt by many Europeans who perceive the Union as having been too passive.”
But he still defends the deal: “Trade, diplomacy and security inevitably influence each other,” he said at the Bled Strategic Forum on Monday. “Escalating tensions with a key ally over tariffs, while our Eastern border is under threat, would have been an imprudent risk. … We chose restraint because we are responsible.” Write-up here.
Not that frustration: Asked whether the Council president’s comments had anything to do with Socialists’ opposition to the deal, a source close to Costa — who is the EU institutions’ top Socialist — said his speech was “absolutely unrelated.”
MIDDLE EAST RUCTIONS
BELGIUM TO RECOGNIZE PALESTINE, SANCTION ISRAEL: Belgium will join the group of countries that will recognize the state of Palestine at this month’s U.N. General Assembly, its Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot announced overnight.
Caveat: The move will only be made official if Hamas releases all Israeli hostages kidnapped in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack and the militant group “no longer has any role” in running Palestine, Prévot said.
Sanctions details: Prévot also said Belgium would impose “firm sanctions” on the Israeli government, including a ban on importing products from illegal settlements, a review of public procurement policies with Israeli companies, and restrictions on consular assistance to Belgians living in illegal settlements, among other measures. Prévot said two Israeli ministers, several “violent settlers” and Hamas leaders would be designated “persona non grata” in Belgium. Zoya has all the details here.
SLOVENIAN PREZ LASHES EU OVER GAZA: Meanwhile, Slovenia’s president excoriated the EU in a speech at the Bled Strategic Forum on Monday for not living up to its lofty ideals and inaction on Gaza. Europe’s “glory days” as a global power were over, Nataša Pirc Musar said, but the EU could still make a difference on the world stage by acting on the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which she called a genocide.
Also using the g-word: “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide,” declares a resolution by the International Association of Genocide Scholars. The Times of Israel has more. The Israeli foreign ministry dismissed it as “entirely based on Hamas’ campaign of lies.”
SPLIT SCREEN
BEIJING IN BRUSSELS: In a “sponsored” op-ed in euobserver, Chinese Ambassador to the EU Cai Run calls for Europe and China to “safeguard the international order underpinned by international law and the international system with the UN at its core,” noting the shared victory over “fascist and militarist forces” in World War II.
… AND IN BEIJING: Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi shared a laugh at a security summit and Xi called Putin his “old friend,” per Russian state media. Putin is due to catch up with Xi again over tea today and brief him on his negotiations with Donald Trump in Alaska.
ANOTHER SPLIT SCREEN — FICO TO MEET PUTIN IN CHINA, THEN ZELENSKYY: Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced plans to head to Beijing on Wednesday for Xi’s Victory Day parade, where he’ll meet with Putin. His Friday plans are more surprising, given his recent history of holding up EU sanctions: a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Bratislava. More from Kyiv Independent.
BACKING UKRAINE
“ALL OPTIONS ON THE TABLE” AS PUTIN KEEPS BOMBING, BESSENT SAYS: U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Putin “has done the opposite of following through on what he indicated he wanted to do” in his conversations with Trump. “As a matter of fact, he has, in a despicable, despicable manner, increased the bombing campaign,” Bessent told Fox News. As a result, “all options are on the table” to get Putin to follow through, he added.
COALITION OF THE WILLING MEETS THURSDAY: French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer will on Thursday co-chair a hybrid gathering of the “coalition of the willing,” which will provide postwar security guarantees to Ukraine, an Elysée official told reporters.
They will discuss progress on the guarantees as well as “take stock of the consequences to be drawn from Russia’s attitude, which persists in refusing peace,” the official added. Zelenskyy is also invited; António Costa plans to attend in person.
NOT SO WILLING (FOR NOW): It’s “fundamentally wrong,” said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, for Ursula von der Leyen to discuss plans for a multinational troop deployment to Ukraine before peace talks. More from Chris Lunday.
SPANISH TELENOVELA
CATALAN SUMMIT: Salvador Illa, president of Spain’s Catalonia region, will meet for the first time with separatist leader Carles Puigdemont in Brussels today. The closed-door, face-to-face chat could be tense, Aitor Hernández-Morales writes in to report.
Talk to me: It’s unclear what the two politicians will discuss. Illa’s defeat of Puigdemont in last year’s Catalan regional election struck a serious blow to the independence cause, and the only topic on which they appear to see eye to eye is Spain’s seemingly quixotic bid to have Catalan recognized as an EU language.
Symbolic weight: Puigdemont, who has been in exile in Brussels since the failed 2017 Catalan independence vote, has long demanded a face-to-face meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who was reelected thanks to the decisive support of Puigdemont’s Junts party in parliament.
That summit has yet to happen, but Illa is a good substitute: The politician’s prominence within the governing Socialist Party is second only to that of the PM, and today’s encounter underscores Puigdemont’s importance to the fragile minority government in Madrid.
Speaking of Sánchez: Sánchez hasn’t been able to pass a national budget since 2022 but has vowed to put a proposal up for a vote this year. Junts is key to getting it greenlit, but the separatists have so far rebuffed the Socialists. The politician’s controversial amnesty has yet to go into effect and remains tied up in the courts, and his separatist party has made it clear that it won’t give Sánchez any more assists until Puigdemont’s future is settled.
AND I AM TELLING YOU I’M NOT GOING: For his part, Sánchez rejected any possibility of resigning as a result of the multiple judicial investigations into alleged acts of corruption committed by prominent members of his political party — and even his wife, Begoña Gómez. Sánchez said his Socialist Party had been quick to act and kicked out anyone associated with shady activity, and he denied any systemic corruption within his political association. His loved ones were being unfairly targeted by politicized judges, Sánchez said.
What is influence? Asked why he wasn’t invited to last month’s meeting of EU leaders with Donald Trump to discuss Ukraine’s future, Sánchez rejected the suggestion he (and Spain) are not globally relevant. The prime minister underscored Spain’s success in lobbying other EU members to recognize Palestinian statehood and said Madrid was leading by taking moral stances on issues ranging from migration to the ongoing war in Gaza.
NOW READ THIS: Spain’s far right gains as centrist parties fight over fires.
IN OTHER NEWS
PFIZERGATE FOLLOW-UP FAIL: A Commission spokesperson on Monday confirmed a report by Follow the Money that Ursula von der Leyen uses the “disappearing messages” setting on Signal, in accordance with Commission security guidelines.
But hey, no worries, watchdog types: Her Cabinet chief Bjoern Seibert helps her decide if messages are relevant enough to policy actions to merit being kept under document preservation rules — including, in this case, an exchange with Emmanuel Macron.
BABIŠ ATTACKED ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL: Former Czech PM and current election favorite Andrej Babiš was on Monday rushed to hospital after being hit in the head and back by an elderly person wielding a stick at a rally, according to local media. The alleged assailant was arrested and is being questioned by police. In a post on social media, Babiš said he hoped he’d be OK but was awaiting test results, adding that he was canceling his Tuesday campaign stops on doctors’ advice.
SERBIA WARNING: “Serbia is on the brink of civil war,” warned Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković at the Bled Strategic Forum on Monday. The Sarajevo Times writes it up. Plenković’s warning came as Serbians continue to protest against President Aleksandar Vučić. The protests began last November after a railway station awning collapsed in Novi Sad, killing 16 people.
Serbia defense: Parliamentary Speaker Ana Brnabić, a Vučić ally, said in response: “Plenković says that Serbia is on the brink of civil war. What else would he say? They wanted it so badly and invested so much in it.”