A woman was killed just after asking police for protection from an ex-partner. Greece is asking why
Greek authorities on Tuesday ordered an urgent investigation into a woman’s fatal stabbing outside an Athens police precinct where she had just requested protection from an ex-boyfriend.
Greek President Sakellaropoulou calls for zero tolerance for gender-based violence
President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou called for zero tolerance for gender-based violence on Tuesday, following the murder of the 28-year-old woman in Agioi Anargyroi suburb of Athens by her former partner.
Kasselakis: PM Mitsotakis ‘must commit to not granting amnesty to Karamanlis’
Asked about the Tempi train crash case and whether SYRIZA plans to formally table a request for a preliminary investigation of the accident in parliament, Kasselakis responded he will do so “only if the prime minister commits to not granting amnesty to Mr Karamanlis,” referring to the former transportation minister Kostas A. Karamanlis.
Inflation hurts poorest most
The poorest 10% of households would have had to increase their spending by more than 16% to keep food and energy consumption constant between 2019 and February 2024. The same figure for the richest 10% is under 6%.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1235218/inflation-hurts-poorest-most/
ATHEX: Benchmark slumps 2% after recess
The imported concerns, such as the losses at the start of the Wall Street session, the growing tension in domestic politics and the recent fatigue of buyers led Greek stocks to a significant decline on Tuesday after the four-day recess. The benchmark dropped below the 1,400-point mark and the acceleration of the drop over the course of the day points to further profit-taking in the sessions to come.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1235425/athex-benchmark-slumps-2-after-recess/
KATHIMERINI: Electricity stealing worth 500 million euros “freezes” the reduction of power prices
TA NEA: All tax payments may be regulated and paid in tranches
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: 5th femicide: No protection at all
AVGI: Cover-up minister
RIZOSPASTIS: New arms package to Ukraine with white phosphorus ammo
KONTRA NEWS: Sudden silence by former PMs Karamanlis and Samaras at New Democracy’s upcoming party conference
DIMOKRATIA: Only the underprivileged pay their tax debts
NAFTEMPORIKI: Increase of minimum wage to provide a “dividend” for the State exceeding 400 million euros
NATO MINISTERS MEET
HAPPENING TODAY: Foreign affairs ministers of the U.S.-led defense alliance meet today in Brussels — 75 years after NATO was founded.
On the agenda: The ministers will prepare for the alliance to take over coordinating arms supplies to Ukraine, currently managed by the U.S. under the Ramstein format, reports my colleague Stuart Lau. The move could help maintain the flow of weapons to Kyiv should Donald Trump return to the U.S. presidency.
Fund for Ukraine: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is proposing a $100 billion, five-year fund for Ukraine, Stuart reports, which would also help shield the alliance’s support for Kyiv from Trump. “Foreign ministers will discuss the best way to organize NATO’s support for Ukraine, to make it more powerful, predictable and enduring,” a NATO official told AFP. Stoltenberg pitched the proposal as a means “to shield the mechanism against the winds of political change,” according to the FT.
Background: Allies fear that if Trump wins the election, he could stop all aid to Ukraine or push the country to cede territory to Russia, senior officials have warned, pointing to his claims that he could end the war in one day, and to the Republican Party’s derailing of Ukraine aid in Congress.
What’s next: The final decision on a Ukraine fund is expected to be made at the NATO leaders’ summit in Washington in July. More from Lara Seligman here.
What’s at stake 1: According to high-ranking Ukrainian officers, the military picture is grim, with great risk of front lines collapsing wherever Russian generals decide to focus their upcoming offensive, reports Jamie Dettmer from Kyiv.
What’s at stake 2: In an opinion article for POLITICO, the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland write that NATO allies’ “values are being tested like never before.” Annalena Baerbock, Stéphane Séjourné and Radosław Sikorski argue that while celebrating NATO’s anniversary, “we must live up to the fact that this moment may define the future our children will live in.”
NATO TOP JOB LATEST: Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas — herself an unofficial candidate for NATO chief — said Tuesday she backs her Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte for the post, bolstering his chances.
HOW TO TRUMP PROOF THE TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONSHIP: The EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council summit in Leuven kicks off Thursday, where officials will try to cement transatlantic cooperation on everything from artificial intelligence to 6G. But the real deal in Leuven will be around how to keep the dialog alive, given the TTC is unlikely to survive another Trump presidency. Read the full story from Mark Scott, Camille Gijs and Antonia Zimmermann.
AND SPEAKING OF TRUMP: Speaking at an event in Michigan overnight, Trump referred to immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally as “animals” nearly half a dozen times. “Democrats say, ‘Please don’t call them animals, they’re humans,’ Trump said. “I said, ‘No, they’re not humans, they’re animals.’”
RUSSIAGATE
NEW REVELATIONS ABOUT RUSSIAN CORRUPTION AND INFLUENCE: As the scandal surrounding alleged Russian influence peddling and bribes in the EU continues to simmer, new reports have emerged about far-right German MP Petr Bystron, the AfD’s foreign policy chief in the Bundestag.
Money from Moscow? Czech news site Deník N reports cabinet members in Prague were informed last week by the secret service about audio recordings which allegedly suggest Russian payments to Bystron.
Incoming: The AfD politician was expected to become an MEP soon, as he’s currently second on the far-right party’s list for the European election.
Acting surprised: The allegation about Bystron “was not yet known,” Daniel Tapp, AfD co-leader Alice Weidel’s press spokesman, told my Berlin Playbook colleagues Tuesday evening. Weidel previously said she would seek talks with Bystron and AfD MEP Maximilian Krah, who has also been embroiled in the scandal, after her Easter vacation.
Background: Spiegel and Deník N had previously reported that investigators zeroed in on Bystron over suspected Russian payments. He has been evasive about whether he received money from Russia. Krah, who is first on the AfD’s EU election list, has also been in the eye of the storm.
The matter is sensitive for the AfD: The party has a history of Russia-friendly positions and opposes support to Ukraine — unlike the majority of Germans. Bystron and Krah have denied wrong-doing and said they were victims of defamation and dirty election campaign methods.
WIRECARD TWIST: Fugitive Wirecard boss Jan Marsalek is said to have played a central role in a case of espionage for Russia by former Austrian constitutional protection officer Egisto Ott, report WDR, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Austrian news magazine “Profil”.
ISRAEL-HAMAS
AID GROUPS SUSPEND OPERATIONS IN GAZA: Cyprus said three aid ships were heading back to Larnaca with 240 tons of aid still aboard, after Monday night’s Israeli drone strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza. The charity is suspending its operations in Gaza, are are others.
Corridor update: Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides insisted the humanitarian sea corridor from Cyprus to Gaza will continue operating, though the United Arab Emirates said it has paused its involvement pending a full investigation and assurances from Israel that aid workers will be protected.
Sharpening US rhetoric: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the victims of the World Central Kitchen strike “join a record number of humanitarian workers killed in this conflict,” speaking at a press conference in Paris on Tuesday. “We urge a swift, thorough and impartial investigation,” he said, as my colleagues Clea Caulcutt and Laura Kayali report. Other Biden administration officials lashed out too, with Israel left struggling for damage control, my Stateside colleagues report.
And in the U.K.: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu that the situation in Gaza is “increasingly intolerable.”
IN OTHER NEWS
RUSSIA’S FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES: Representatives of China, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are privately lobbying the EU to continue resisting pressure from the U.S. and U.K. to seize more than€200 billion of Russian state assets immobilized after February 2022’s invasion of Ukraine, my colleague Gregorio Sorgi reports.
UKRAINE’S ENEMY OF ITS ENEMY: Ukraine is embracing self-confessed far-right Russian “bad guy” Denis Kapustin to take the battle to Vladimir Putin, writes Jamie Dettmer in a story out this morning. As a Russian militant who led eye-catching paramilitary raids into Russia from Ukrainian territory this year and last, Kyiv sees Kapustin as having a role to play on the battlefield.
MISSING — A SOCIALIST GREEN DEAL: The chief champions of Europe’s social safety net are struggling to sell their vision of a green welfare state, reports Zia Weise.
MONTENEGRO SWORN IN: Center-right leader Luís Montenegro was sworn in as Portugal’s new prime minister on Tuesday, ushering in a minority government, Aitor Hernández-Morales reports.
WHAT WESTMINSTER WILL BE TALKING ABOUT TODAY: British MPs and staffers have been hit by targeted “phishing” WhatsApps, including racy photos, my colleagues Aggie Chambre and Dan Bloom reveal this morning.
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING: Taiwan’s strongest earthquake for a quarter of a century hit during the morning rush hour, killing at least four people. Latest from AP here.