PM Mitsotakis attends inauguration of Thessaly Civil Defence Operations Centre
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited Larissa on Tuesday for the opening of the Thessaly Civil Defence Operations Centre and joined a meeting on the restoration measures following the disastrous floods from storms “Elias” and “Daniel” in 2023. The prime minister was accompanied by a team of ministers and received by Thessaly regional governor Dimitris Kouretas.
Kasselakis to ANT1: There is an issue with the political system’s credibility
SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Stefanos Kasselakis charged ruling New Democracy and the prime minister of making a public issue out of his source of income (‘pothen esches’), yet not disclosing their party’s debt situation, in an interview on ANT1 on Tuesday.
Govt implements fire protection measures, ombudsman raises concerns
The Greek government has instituted proactive steps to safeguard homes near forests and wooded areas from fire risks, clarifying citizens’ personal responsibility under the law. However, the Greek Ombudsman has criticized these measures as unconstitutional.
No Ottoman firman gave Elgin permission to treat Parthenon Sculptures so barbarously, Mendoni says
“There was never any Ottoman firman that allowed Elgin to treat the Parthenon Sculptures with the barbarity with which he treated them… the representative of Turkiye confirmed what the Greek side has argued for years – that there was no firman,” Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said in Rhodes, according to a culture ministry announcement on Tuesday.
ATHEX: Bourse index declines to six-week low
The Greek bourse suffered significant losses on Tuesday, with its benchmark dropping to a six-week low. The absence of any significant domestic corporate news and the anticipation of the verdict by the European Central Bank on Thursday appear to have inspired investors (including some institutional ones too) to sell, continuing last week’s dominant trend.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1240623/athex-bourse-index-declines-to-six-week-low
KATHIMERINI: The elections of the undecided
TA NEA: Euro-shield: A joint EU defense fund is being set-up
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Greece does have money; but only for NATO-linked expenditure
AVGI: How does ruling New Democracy pay its spin doctor, Mr. Grinberg?
RIZOSPASTIS: On Sunday we vote the Greek Communist Party with all our hearts
KONTRA NEWS: Polls: Large parties decline while smaller ones rise
DIMOKRATIA: Behold the corruption “party” of Agriculture Minister Avgenakis
NAFTEMPORIKI: 5+1 steps for the remaining 21 billion from the RRF
VDL X ACCOUNT SUSPENDED: Elon Musk’s social media platform X briefly suspended Ursula von der Leyen’s dedicated campaign account last night, before resurrecting it about an hour later. X was contacted for a comment.
You’ve got spam: The X suspension followed a massive barrage of about 10,000 emails that swamped the inboxes of von der Leyen’s team while she was campaigning in Sweden on Monday, in what the European People’s Party suspects was a coordinated cyberattack. Some of the trolls’ emails, which were in German and Polish, came from a sender calling themselves “Olaf Scholz.” Playbook assumes the real German chancellor has better things to do. It comes in the wake of a bot attack on the EPP’s website that sent it scrambling to boost security last month.
Good Wednesday morning. There’s just one day until the European Parliament election kicks off in the Netherlands and it’s all to play for. We’ve gamed out which MEPs are likely to get seats. Take a look at our (heavily caveated) projections here if, like me, you’re already itching for results.
DRIVING THE DAY: FAR-RIGHT ALLIANCE
ANOTHER FAR-RIGHT GROUP IN PARLIAMENT? They’re radical, they’re organized and they’re freaking out the centrists. The EU’s most hard-right parties are plotting to form a new grouping in the European Parliament, four people in the know told Playbook. It would potentially mean Parliament having three far-right blocs after the election: the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), Identity and Democracy (ID) and this new alliance, even further out on the political fringes.
Alternative’s alternative: Since France’s Marine Le Pen had Alternative for Germany booted out of the ID group into the political wilderness, the AfD’s lead candidate Maximilian Krah has been moving to create a new parliamentary faction, my colleague Pauline von Pezold and I hear.
Krah crash: He’s the guy, remember, who was banned from campaigning after scandals such as his assistant being accused of spying for China and Krah claiming members of the Nazi SS were not necessarily criminals. He’s still on the party’s list and all but guaranteed a seat.
‘Nutter group’: Pro-Russia, anti-NATO, anti-EU, anti-immigration, anti-American and anti-Green Deal … “It will be a nutter group,” one of the people mentioned above said. But those working to make it happen are already relishing their informal title of the “hooligans group,” Playbook hears. Word is that they’re considering adopting an official name, in Latin. Vera Europa, or Real Europe, is floating about.
Who cares? Being in a group, no matter how small, gives you guaranteed speaking time in the Parliament and buckets of €€€. If this as-yet-unnamed group takes shape, it would give the bloc’s most vehement critics a megaphone inside the EU chamber.
Fringe brigade: The parties involved in the talks include Poland’s Confederation, Hungary’s Our Homeland, the Netherlands’ Forum for Democracy, Slovakia’s Republic and Bulgaria’s Revival — which quit the ID after visiting Vladimir Putin’s party in Moscow this year. Revival immediately reached out to the AfD when the Germans were excluded.
Sofia-gate: A spokesperson for Revival said “talks are being held with representatives of 14 countries,” based on the so-called Sofia Declaration, which describes the EU as a “globalist … dictatorship.” “It is very likely that we will have already constructed [the group] in July,” the Revival official added.
Can they get the numbers? Forming a new group in the Parliament is no mean feat because you need at least 23 MEPs from at least seven different countries. A person involved in the negotiations said he is confident they have the numbers. My polling expert colleague Hanne Cokelaere estimates the group narrowly wouldn’t make it — but anything can happen.
‘Anything’ could include a new far-right supergroup, which would likely exclude these parties and portray itself as “sovereignist,” established and respectable.Vlaams Belang MEP and ID Party President Gerolf Annemans told Playbook, “The idea of a supergroup is still on our schedule.” And there’s “no hurry,” he said, if it doesn’t happen straight away.
Who’s in, who’s out: Matteo Salvini’sLeague in Italy, Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz in Hungary and France’s National Rally all appear keen to team up on the EU stage, but Playbook hears the Polish Law and Justice party is on the fence. Even more uncertain: Giorgia Meloni and her Brothers of Italy.
Giorgia on my mind: “It depends there what Meloni will do or not, and [on] which amount of support she is willing to deliver to [Commission president hopeful Ursula] von der Leyen,” Annemans said, referring to the EPP’s outreach to Meloni. The AfD could even be invited back into the fold of the ID group, Annemans added, though it would depend on who is in the party’s delegation. Which brings us back to Krah and his allies.
EU-ISRAEL
EU AND ISRAEL NOT TALKING: The EU’s Middle East peace envoy Sven Koopmans is in Israel this week to promote an EU peace plan and try to end the war in Gaza. But he won’t be meeting the Israeli government, only the Palestinian Authority, his office told Playbook.
Rock bottom: It’s no surprise the channels aren’t open. The truth is that relations between the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell and Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli government are at a nadir. Borrell — a veteran Spanish Socialist who condemned Israel for breaking international law early in its war in Gaza — has also made no secret of his opposition to Israel’s right-wing government and his desire to see a Palestinian state realized.
Koopmans’ office acknowledged that some of Borrell’s recent statements on the war were “not very well received” in Israel. EU foreign ministers last week discussed potential steps against Israel should it fail to comply with a ruling by the International Court of Justice obliging it to immediately cease its offensive in Rafah, in southern Gaza. Borrell wants to revitalize a peace plan pushed by Arab countries, leading to an international peace conference.
‘Biased’: But the Israelis are incensed with the Spaniard. An Israeli official complained to me and my colleague Antonia Zimmermann that Borrell is “biased,” “obsessed” with Israel and mainly “working for himself [and] his legacy.” The Israeli added that “Borrell does not reflect the EU position towards Israel,” and accused him of going further than countries like Spain and Ireland, which are moving to recognize Palestinian statehood. The EU’s peace plan was presented as a fait accompli to Israel, the official claimed, saying: “It’s like arranging a wedding without speaking with the bride or groom.”
An EU official strongly pushed back, saying Borrell “cares about the civilians, those who were killed on October 7, about the hostages, but also the Palestinians killed in the reprisal and the action from Israel.” They said his statements on Gaza and Israel have “the full support of almost all member states.” This official accused Hungary of blocking the EU from being more united on Israel and Gaza and said Israel has refused to attend meetings Borrell has invited its reps to in Brussels. Koopman’s office told Playbook he is coordinating with “all the international actors.”
Awaiting ‘friendly’ Hungary: Belgium wanted Israel to sit down for a big meeting with the EU this month to take stock of the relationship — and Israel’s human rights record — but it was rebuffed. Israel wants to wait until Hungary’s EU presidency kicks off in July, because it views Budapest as “friendly,” according to the official.
That tracks. Last week, Hungarian EU Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi met Netanyahu and defense chief Yoav Gallant, amid requests by the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor for arrest warrants against them relating to alleged war crimes.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
WHY VON DER LEYEN IS RACING AROUND SO MUCH: EPP lead candidate Ursula von der Leyen is making a mad dash around Europe ahead of the election. She has visited Spain, Bulgaria, Sweden and Finland since last weekend, and will head to Portugal, Austria and Germany before casting her own ballot on Sunday.
Sprinting for that EPP support: The Commission president told my colleague Barbara Moens in Helsinki Tuesday that she’s getting “lots of support [from] leaders because they know my experience, they know what they get.” A chipper-sounding VDL told Barbara: “It is physically very straining but you get to go into regions I was never before and the vast majority of people are generally positive toward the European Union.”
Running backward on an imaginary treadmill: Von der Leyen tweeted a video of herself jogging that included campaign messages promoting security, democracy and prosperity. “That’s why I’m running,” she posted. Of course, there’s some absurdity to her campaign given rivals like the Socialist lead candidate Nicolas Schmit aren’t real challengers and von der Leyen is not even running for the European Parliament herself.
Sudden protest: Over cinnamon rolls in Helsinki, VDL chatted with youth members of the ruling National Coalition Party, which felt a bit staged at first, Barbara writes. But that impression vanished when someone started calling von der Leyen a “war criminal” with “Palestinian blood on her hands.” After trying to engage with the young woman, who refused, von der Leyen continued the conversation with the others while ignoring protesters singing “Ursula, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide” close by.
The VDL you know: Von der Leyen’s defense-focused speech, delivered without notes, was powerful, said Elizabeth Bronsdon-Kudjoi, an English teacher who came to the event specifically to see her. While Bronsdon-Kudjoi didn’t agree with all of von der Leyen’s policies, at risky times it’s better to “stick with the devil you know,” she said.
COUNTRIES REJECT SPITZENKANDIDAT IDEA: Only one EU country backs making official the lead candidate process, through which MEPs tried to link the Commission presidency to the EU election results, this hitherto unpublished 2023 document from the Council of the EU shows.
TOP JOBS
GERMANY’S PLAN B: If Ursula von der Leyen trips up on her path to a second stint in the Berlaymont, the German coalition government has already agreed it will put up a Green commissioner, my colleague James Angelos in Berlin writes.
Runners and riders: On the Greens’ shortlist are two politicians few have on their radar: former MEPs Franziska Brantner and Sven Giegold (both state secretaries in the German economy ministry headed by Greens Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck). Foreign minister and prominent Green politician Annalena Baerbock has also been mentioned as a possible next chief EU diplomat (though few expect her to leave her current position). POLITICO’s Jürgen Klöckner and Jakob Hanke Vela have details of Germany’s Plan B.
NEW DEFENSE COMMISSIONER COULD FIRE BLANKS: It sounds swanky and important amid Russia’s ongoing assault on Ukraine, but is the mooted new European commissioner for defense all it’s cracked up to be? Though heavy hitters are being mentioned as potential candidates, the role might just end up as a glitzy name plaque with no budget or power, write our crack squadron of defense Pros Jacopo Barigazzi, Josh Posaner and Laura Kayali in this must-read.
FREDERIKSEN DENIES SHE WANTS EU JOB — BUT … Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen gave an interview to Politiken in which she sounded extremely un-Danish and argued that her famously frugal country can no longer rule out the need for a bigger EU budget, fresh EU taxes and joint borrowing to fund defense.
“Everything must be about making Europe as strong as possible,” the Social Democrat leader told the Danish newspaper, scrubbing out any sign of Euroskepticism. But when asked explicitly if she wants a Brussels gig, she said: “I have answered no to that many times.”
DRAGHI MORE POPULAR THAN VON DER LEYEN — JUST: Some 49 percent of EU voters who’ve heard of him reckon former Italian PM Mario Draghi would make a good Commission president. That’s versus 47 percent of EU voters who’ve heard of von der Leyen and would back her for a second term. The data comes from a survey by Polling Europe — a new company founded by SWG and OpinionWay — seen exclusively by my colleague Giovanna Coi.
Whoever it takes: Von der Leyen scored well with respondents who voted for her own center-right EPP (70 percent backed her) and the Greens (more than 50 percent). But ECR and ID voters preferred Draghi. The Italian isn’t running for the post,but allies of French President Emmanuel Macron are touting him, and he could emerge as a Plan B if von der Leyen struggles to get approved this summer.
Recognition factor: But von der Leyen has one undeniable advantage over those who might replace her, the poll suggested: 83 percent knew who she was, compared to 63 percent for Draghi and even fewer for the lead Socialist candidate Schmit and French commissioner Thierry Breton.
IN OTHER NEWS
BIDEN DOUSES UKRAINE’S NATO HOPES: U.S. President Joe Biden told Time Magazine in an interview that “I am not prepared to support the NATO-ization of Ukraine” — a blow to Kyiv’s hopes of joining the alliance.
FROZEN ASSETS UPDATE: The EU’s 27 finance ministers will today discuss plans to use the profits of Russia’s frozen assets to issue a loan to Ukraine. The EU signaled it could massively scale up its financing of Ukraine by securing its own loan to fund the country instead of relying on a broader U.S.-led initiative, Gregorio Sorgi and Bjarke Smith-Meyer reported Sunday.
BIDEN IN FRANCE: The U.S. president will spend five days in France where he will attend events to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, hold a formal state visit with French President Macron and sit down with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. French PM Gabriel Attal is expected to welcome Biden to the Pavillon d’Honneur at Paris-Orly airport at 9:25 a.m.
How the trip looks from Washington: Biden’s visit begins a month of high-stakes international meetings for the president, who is grappling with two bloody wars in Ukraine and Gaza that have contributed to the shakiness of his political standing at home. My U.S. colleagues Elena Schneider, Eli Stokols and Lisa Kashinsky explore how foreign policy has become a liability for Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign.