Netanyahu says he recognizes Ottoman-era massacres of Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians as genocide
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said for the first time that he recognizes as genocide the mass killings of Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians by the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century.
Crisis at Saint Catherine’s Monastery ends with expulsion of rebel monks
Rapid developments unfolded Tuesday afternoon at Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, Egypt, which, according to a communiqué released late in the evening, has now “returned to legality and normalcy.” The day’s events followed weeks of tension. Archbishop of Sinai Damianos arrived at the monastery earlier in the day, once again facing resistance from monks who had previously demanded his removal as abbot.
Marinakis: TIF “package” will focus on family support measures
The details of TIF package are expected to be finalized in the coming days as we are now in the final stretch for Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ announcements from Thessaloniki, with the government aiming to provide financial relief to pensioners, the middle class and families.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/927928/Marinakis-TIF-package-will-focus-on-family-support-measures
Theodorikakos: First 43 million euros from unfinished investments sent to AADE for collection
The Development Ministry is proceeding, for the first time, with the return of funds from investments under previous development laws that were not completed, implementing the commitment of Development Minister Takis Theodorikakos, to full transparency and accountability, according to an announcement on Tuesday.
ASE reacts to global news, drops 1.87%
The Athens Stock Exchange overreacted Tuesday to two international storms, losing nearly 2%. First, the market reacted to the decision by French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou to ask for a vote of confidence which he is likely to lose. It also responded to US President Donald Trump’s attempt to control the independent Federal Reserve by firing Governor Lisa Cook.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1279060/ase-reacts-to-global-news-drops-1-87
KATHIMERINI: Certificate of “good payer” for the rental of real estate assets
TA NEA: Retroactive payments to 370,000 pensioners
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Head-on collision ahead of the TIF 2025
RIZOSPASTIS: The rally of unions on September 6th is a landmark for the escalation of workers’ fight
KONTRA NEWS: New Democracy collapses at polls in Macedonia with 18,3%
DIMOKRATIA: “Bomb” testimony regarding the Novartis case
NAFTEMPORIKI: The entity for the handling of “red” real estate assets is ante portas
DRIVING THE DAY: ALL IN FOR MOLDOVA
SHOW OF FORCE: The leaders of France, Germany and Poland will appear on Chișinău’s National Assembly Square this afternoon in a rare show of force for Moldova’s pro-EU president, Maia Sandu, ahead of what’s expected to be a highly contentious parliamentary election late next month.
Key chess piece: The visit by Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz and Donald Tusk underscores just how crucial Moldova has become in the larger battle for influence between Russia and the European Union.
Now or never: As EU leaders see it, everything must be done to prevent Sandu’s pro-European PAS party from losing out to pro-Moscow forces on Sept. 28, which could see Moldova follow Georgia down the path of subjugation to the Kremlin.
Go West, Moldova: Hence the “historic” visit by the so-called Weimar Triangle of leaders, who are expected to say in separate stump speeches that Moldova’s future lies with the EU.
Merz’s line: “The visit of the leaders of the Weimar Triangle to Moldova is historic,” said Jürgen Hardt, foreign policy spokesperson for the conservative CDU party in the Bundestag. “Never again will one of our allies stand alone in the face of Russian aggression. Moldova has chosen a different path than the Georgian ruling party, which succumbed to threats and promises from Moscow. Moldova is fighting for its future.”
Why now? Sandu — who was narrowly reelected last year — can use all the help she can get. Russia is ramping up efforts to sway the election, including via disinformation campaigns and vote-buying. According to former Deputy Prime Minister Nicu Popescu, there’s a real risk these efforts could pay off.
Danger zone: “Under normal circumstances this election campaign should be favorable to the incumbents,” Popescu told Gabriel Gavin. “But of course there are hybrid attacks, there is non-digital aggression, you have Russia smuggling in millions and millions in cash to buy votes on a very large scale. So while I’m confident, every vote will matter.”
What Sandu will say: The president is expected to use her speech to warn voters against “those who will lead us astray” and argue the best choice for Moldova is to “stand alongside France, Germany, Poland and other nations of our continent in the great family of peace.”
Cont’d: “This is about for a country like Moldova, whether you can choose — do you want to be in Europe, or do you want to be in a space of dictatorships and war? Do you have the freedom to not to be drawn into a war? A country like Belarus doesn’t seem to have this freedom anymore. Do you want to have a freedom to protect your citizens from all kinds of things? Do you want to do have independence of energy? All of these things are suddenly part of independence.” Read our full story by yours truly, Gabriel Gavin and Nette Nöstlinger here.
Where it gets complicated: Moldova’s path toward EU membership and its pacing, which has been the subject of intensive debate over the summer. Earlier in August, POLITICO reported that EU officials were considering opening a “negotiating cluster” for Moldova — a key legal step on the path to accession — ahead of the September election as a way to keep Moldova’s candidacy moving despite Hungary’s blockage of Ukraine’s bid.
No-go for Kyiv: But the prospect of seeing its membership bid “decoupled” from Moldova’s irked Kyiv, which argues doing so would send Ukrainians the wrong signal in the midst of the peace negotiation being mediated by the U.S. And now, after Trump phoned Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and pressed him on Ukraine’s EU candidacy, the dynamic has changed, according to two diplomats.
Indeed, while Orbán is the reason Ukraine’s membership is stuck, Kyiv hopes pressure from Trump could move the Hungarian leader to lift his opposition. “He now has the possibility to climb down from the [anti-Ukraine] tree,” said one diplomat. Orbán is no stranger to changing his tune. In fact, you might argue he’s a master at doing so, especially in the EU context.
Take a step back: In an increasingly harsh world, the EU holds few geopolitical cards. But membership in the bloc is one of them. Play their cards right, and the Weimar trio could convince Moldovans their future really is in Europe. Play them wrong, and they may have gifted another state to Moscow — without a shot being fired.
ENLARGEMENT, CONT’D
SPEAKING OF ENLARGEMENT … NORTH MACEDONIA WANTS A WORD: With all the feverish talk about Moldova and Ukraine, countries in the Western Balkans that have been waiting to join the EU — some of them for many years — have been relegated to an afterthought. North Macedonia, which is on a long and tortuous path into the EU, won’t let itself be forgotten.
Not so fast, Bulgaria: Speaking to Jacopo Barigazzi, North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Timčo Mucunski said his country won’t make the constitutional changes Bulgaria is demanding unless the EU guarantees this is the last ask. “Our fear is: if we do them, what happens if in six months down the road again Bulgaria comes to us with a request on issues such as history, identity and language?” Mucunski said.
Catch up: Much as Hungary blocks Ukraine’s EU membership bid, Bulgaria is the main thorn in North Macedonia’s side. At issue is a long-running dispute about North Macedonia’s Bulgarian minority (much like Hungarians in Ukraine). Bulgaria demands that North Macedonia change its constitution to recognize the minority — a move Skopje’s previous government accepted but failed to implement because it lacked a majority in parliament, Jacopo reports.
Literally anything else: While unwilling to change the constitution for now, Mucunski said his country could move ahead with other reforms to join the EU. “If tomorrow, the member states come to us and say you need to do more on good governance, the rule of law … we understand. And not only we understand, but we also feel that it is an obligation that we must undertake, not just at the request of EU institutions, but for the necessity of a stronger society.”
Side-eye: That said, Mucunski voiced some concern about how speedily Ukraine and Moldova’s membership bids were moving along. “I understand the strategic imperative that exists, for the member states, to open their doors for Ukraine,” he said.
Let them all in: However “the quickest, and probably the cheapest investment in European stability that can be made is for the European Union to open its doors as soon as possible for the entire region. Because I do not think that selective enlargement is the best option,” Mucunski argued.
TRUMP GOES AFTER EU DIGITAL RULES
ART OF THE DEAL: Donald Trump’s threat to slam more tariffs on countries with tech regulations has upended Europe’s hopes he would forget about the EU’s Digital Services Act after signing an initial trade deal with the bloc.
Putting on a brave face: On Tuesday, hours after Trump’s bombshell threat, the European Commission tried to stress its regulatory autonomy. “It is the sovereign right of the EU and its member states to regulate economic activities on our territory, which are consistent with our democratic values,” chief spokesperson Paula Pinho told reporters. It’s all part of a familiar playbook, my colleagues on the tech team report.
Standing firm: The French and German digital ministries both reiterated their commitments to the DSA — to be expected. But even those ideologically closer to the MAGA crowd seem to want to safeguard some sovereignty. Italian conservative MEP Nicola Procaccini told POLITICO’s Max Griera that “regardless of whether the law should be adjusted to accommodate American concerns, the EU has legislative and policymaking processes that we must all respect.”
Taxing times: Trump is also taking aim at nations with digital tax laws — which several EU countries have enacted. But on Tuesday, they showed little indication they’d rush to repeal laws that are already pulling money into strained national coffers.
No thanks: Poland said it would press ahead with its 3 percent digital tax, despite Trump’s threat. The Spanish government, which is already levying a digital tax, told our Morning Financial Services colleagues that the levy “applies equally to all large digital companies, regardless of their country of origin. Our commitment is to fair and effective taxation of the digital economy.” Translation: Sorry Donald, there’s no way we’ll drop our DST.
The other governments already levying a digital tax — Austria, France and Italy — stayed shtum, but are likely to follow suit.
Harsh reality: But as Antonia Zimmermann and Camille Gijs write, Trump’s latest threat challenges the EU’s logic that last week’s joint statement provides industry with crucial predictability. Meanwhile, the Commission is today expected to put forward its proposals to lift tariffs on U.S. industrial goods and cars.
PEP TALK: In light of, well, everything, Europe could well be justified in harboring resentment toward Trump and wanting to keep distant from the U.S. — but it shouldn’t, argues Mario Monti in an op-ed for POLITICO. Instead, he argues, the EU must regain its lucidity, self-confidence and dignity. Come for the pep talk, stay for the history lesson.
FRONT LINE REPORTS
WITKOFF TO MEET UKRAINIANS: U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Tuesday that talks with both Ukraine and Russia continue, as Trump seeks to end the war. “I’m meeting with the Ukrainians this week, ” Witkoff said in a Fox News interview, adding “that’s a big signal.” He said American negotiators “talk to the Russians every day.”
What they might talk about — security guarantees: The FT reported on Tuesday that the U.S. says it is prepared to provide intelligence assets and battlefield oversight to any Western plan for postwar Ukraine and to take part in a European-led air defense shield.
Now read this: The Wall Street Journal reports: “In secret talks with Russia’s biggest state energy company this year, a senior Exxon Mobil executive discussed returning to the massive Sakhalin project if the two governments gave the green light as part of a Ukraine peace process, said people familiar with the discussions.”
GAZA TALKS: Trump is preparing to chair a White House meeting on Gaza, with Witkoff saying the administration expects the war to be over by the end of the year. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will also meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Reuters reports.
Hospital strike latest: The Israel Defense Forces said they were targeting a Hamas camera that was tracking troop movements when they hit the Nasser Hospital in Gaza, killing at least 20 people, including five journalists. The BBC has more.
Meanwhile, Israelis protest: Tens of thousands of people turned out in Tel Aviv to call for a hostage deal and ceasefire in Gaza, the Guardian reports.
A VERY BELGIAN SPAT
GLOVES ARE OFF: The leader of the Francophone Socialist Party — and Wallonia’s most prominent politician — Paul Magnette has accused Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever of trying to “Flemishize” the country by introducing policies more favorable toward Flanders than Wallonia.
Not that surprising: De Wever is from the Flemish nationalists (N-VA), a party whose main goal is the independence of Flanders.
Machiavelli strategy: Magnette criticized De Wever for putting in place “a Machiavellian strategy that is sidelining the French speakers” and trying to weaken their purchasing power so that they justify separation at some point. “I do think the nationalists have a clear goal, and they’ve never tried to hide it. It’s confederalism and ultimately the end of Belgium. They are pursuing a policy that is purely Flemish, one that perfectly serves Flanders’ interests,” Magnette said.
IN OTHER NEWS
RED CARD: Europe’s top football supporters advocacy group wrote to EU Sport Commissioner Glenn Micallef demanding that games only be played in Europe, after Spanish and Italian federations announced plans to hold fixtures in the U.S. and Australia, Seb Starcevic and Ali Walker write in.
An emotional issue: Football Supporters Europe cited Micallef’s interview with POLITICO in May in which he came out forcefully against moving some games outside the continent. “It’s the European Cup, come on,” he said at the time, adding the issue made him “emotional.”
EU to referee? In the letter, seen by POLITICO, the group slammed “ongoing attempts to deterritorialise European football” and called on Micallef and the Commission to intervene to stop the potential games abroad from taking place, as they threaten to undermine competitive balance in the continent’s favorite sport.