US-backed Elefsina port plan advances
Greece is accelerating plans to develop a new port in Elefsina, a US-backed project described by officials as a strategic counterweight to the Chinese-controlled Piraeus Port Authority. The effort advanced following a meeting Tuesday between Development Minister Takis Theodorikakos and US Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle, after which the government announced an initial legislative measure enabling implementation of the plan.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1287178/us-backed-elefsina-port-plan-advances
Greece backs UN Security Council plan for Gaza and advances diplomatic initiatives
Greece, as a current member of the UN Security Council, supported the American plan for Gaza with a positive vote on Monday evening, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lana Zochiou has said. “This is a historic opportunity to make the ceasefire sustainable,” Zochiou added, saying Greece aims to help with humanitarian aid, reconstruction and reform on the Palestinian Authority.
EOPYY uncovers 12-million-euro prescription fraud ring
A fraud ring involving illegal prescriptions that allegedly cost the National Organization for Healthcare Services Provision (EOPYY) around 12 million euros has been uncovered through extensive agency audits, officials said. The findings were presented during an EOPYY meeting on November 6 at the organization’s headquarters.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1287209/eopyy-uncovers-12-million-euro-prescription-fraud-ring
Greece’s budget shows higher primary surplus in Jan-Oct
The Greek state budget showed a primary surplus of 11 billion euros on a cash basis in the period January-October 2025 compared to 8 billion euros in the corresponding period of 2024.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/949588/Greeces-budget-shows-higher-primary-surplus-in-Jan-Oct
ATHEX: AI bubble fears send stocks lower
The third consecutive session of losses for the Greek stock market on Tuesday was by far the most impressive, with the benchmark dropping by more than 2%, in line with many foreign markets that fear there is an artificial intelligence bubble that is set to burst at some point. Almost all blue chips at Athinon Avenue ended up in the red and turnover soared on the selling spree that dominated the session.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1287162/athex-ai-bubble-fears-send-stocks-lower
KATHIMERINI: American counterweight against PPA S.A.
TA NEA: My Home 3: the secrets to the [government’s housing] program
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: The “great heist” of bank deposits
RIZOSPASTIS: Livestock farmers hit the streets to claim their rights and survival
KONTRA NEWS: Snap elections scenarios in light of the PM’s handouts
DIMOKRATIA: The PM is moody
NAFTEMPORIKI: Second Piraeus Port in the shipbuilding zone of Elefsina
DRIVING THE DAY: KYIV’S SCANDAL REVERBERATES
WHAT HAPPENS IN UKRAINE CONCERNS EUROPE. That line has been repeated since Russia’s full-scale invasion — and it applies to the energy sector corruption scandal that’s threatening to spiral into Ukraine’s biggest domestic political crisis since the war.
Under fire: Volodymyr Zelenskyy is facing open pressure from inside his own Servant of the People party to sack his powerful chief of staff Andriy Yermak, who has been crucial in steering his boss’ rule. A must-read piece from POLITICO’s Veronika Melkozerova and Jamie Dettmer explains what’s at stake.
Thursday crunch point: Zelenskyy has tried to stem the fallout, but watchdogs and MPs say his clean-up hasn’t gone nearly far enough. The crisis is expected to come to a head on Thursday, when Zelenskyy holds crunch talks with ministers and lawmakers.
The internal revolt couldn’t come at a worse moment. Kyiv faces a vast budget shortfall, and Zelenskyy is simultaneously trying to convince Western partners that Ukraine remains a trustworthy recipient of billions in badly needed financial aid — as EU capitals argue over how to structure that support.
WHAT HAPPENS IN UKRAINE SHAPES EUROPE: But Ukraine remains Brussels’ North Star on foreign policy — shaping the Commission’s strategic thinking. Case in point: today’s proposals on military mobility and the EU’s new Defence Industry Transformation Roadmap.
Learning from Ukraine: “It is our strategy to learn the lessons from Ukraine,” Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius told POLITICO ahead of the unveiling, describing how the bloc intends to transform its defense doctrine on mobility and industry.
New tools: The roadmap will be anchored by a new “Defence Fund of Funds” and an “Agile Pilot Instrument,” Kubilius said. The goal: bring industry and defense ministries together to build an ecosystem linking innovators, manufacturers and soldiers on the ground.
He talks like a general: Presenting the principles behind the new military mobility package, Kubilius quoted U.S. General John Pershing: “Infantry wins battles, logistics wins wars.” Speed, he stressed, is now essential. “Our militaries must be able to move in minutes and hours — not weeks and months, as it is now.”
Scoop: POLITICO obtained the military mobility joint communication ahead of today’s release. It proposes allowing the EU or member countries to temporarily suspend normal transport rules in emergencies, setting a dedicated EU protocol for customs and transport, and far faster processing of movement authorizations.
Infrastructure is key: “You cannot defend a continent if you cannot move across it,” Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas told reporters Tuesday. Translation: Roads, railways, ports, bridges and tunnels will be adapted for dual civilian-military use — not rebuilt from scratch, but reinforced for heavy kit. Full details here.
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING: Meanwhile, the U.S. is making a new attempt at getting a ceasefire in Ukraine, Axios reports. The plan is said to comprise 28 points, which Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is discussing with Russia’s Kirill Dmitriev, per Axios, with Kyiv and Europe reportedly looped in.
Right on cue: U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and chief of staff General Randy George arrived on an unannounced trip to Ukraine overnight, becoming the highest-level Trump Pentagon officials to visit the country. The Wall Street Journal reports Driscoll is planning to meet with Russian officials after the visit.
And where’s Zelenskyy today? In Turkey, where he said he’ll seek to revive peace talks with Moscow.
IRANIANS RUSSIAN IN: Iranian scientists and nuclear experts visited Russia a second time last year, with the U.S. indicating it was part of Tehran’s effort to acquire tech with potential nuclear weapons applications, the FT reports.
HYBRID WAR IN EUROPE
IT’S HERE: The blend of conventional and unconventional tactics that erases the line between war and peace — known as hybrid war — is ever more obvious. In the early hours of this morning, Polish and allied aircraft were deployed to secure Poland’s airspace after Moscow launched airstrikes targeting western Ukraine near the border. It followed Sunday’s rail-line explosion in Poland, which was immediately labeled “sabotage,” with PM Donald Tusk blaming two Ukrainians working for Russia, who have since fled to Belarus.
“We are under attack.” That’s the stark warning from Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto. In a 125-page paper published Tuesday afternoon, Crosetto denounced the “inertia” of European and NATO allies as Russia ramps up hybrid aggression, my colleague Hannah Roberts reports.
Crosetto’s charge sheet: Cyberattacks from Russia-linked hackers targeting firms supporting Ukraine; mystery drones buzzing airports; alleged meddling in Romania’s presidential election. According to the minister, it’s “absurd” and “unsustainable” that the West is doing so little to respond.
Counter-punch? Germany’s State Secretary Florian Hahn told Die Welt (owned by POLITICO’s parent company Axel Springer) that it might be time to stop playing purely defense on hybrid warfare. “We should consider becoming more active ourselves in this area,” he said. “If the enemy knows that we will not tolerate certain things, but will actually fight back and not just defend ourselves, that also serves as a deterrent.”
European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno agrees. She’s intimately familiar with the threat posed by Russia — she’s been under police protection since June following threats and intimidation from pro-Kremlin groups which intensified after Vladimir Putin’s propagandist Vladimir Solovyov publicly targeted her.
The cost of being on Moscow’s radar: Meeting Picierno is an experience: you can’t enter her office normally — you pass through an antechamber where a camera records you, and she greets visitors from behind a desk equipped with a panic button.
Her fix: Use AI as a shield, not just a threat. If hostile powers deploy it to shape public opinion — as seen in Georgia and Romania — Europe should use it to defend democratic space. “If a tool is being used maliciously, we have to use it benevolently,” she told me.
Potential ≠ operational: Picierno called the Commission’s Democracy Shield a promising start, but nowhere near deployment-ready. Europe has ideas; what it lacks, she said, is execution.
Today’s stage: Expect hybrid warfare — interference, disinfo, tech-driven manipulation — to dominate the Parliament’s first Parliamentary Democracy Forum (streaming from 11 a.m.). An aide to Roberta Metsola said the president’s speech will call for “real things, not just concepts” on hybrid war. (And keep an eye on MEPs’ exchanges with Commissioner Michael McGrath over the Democracy Shield’s curious omission of national parliaments — potential for fireworks.)
MERCOSUR SAFEGUARDS
EU PARLIAMENT TO VOTE ON MERCOSUR SAFEGUARDS NEXT WEEK: Political group leaders meeting in the Conference of Presidents are set today to submit the safeguards on the Mercosur trade deal to a fast-track vote during next week’s plenary, according to three Parliament officials. EU ambassadors are also expected to sign off on the safeguards today.
The rushed timeline comes as lawmakers come under massive political pressure to wrap up legislative work over the additional instrument — proposed by the EU executive to appease critics of the deal — in time for Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to fly to Brazil on Dec. 20 to sign it.
Bye, court: Political leaders are also expected to reject a request from a group of MEPs to seek an opinion from the Court of Justice on whether the deal breaches the EU treaties. Their reasoning: the Council still needs to take a formal position, and it’s not up to Parliament to weigh in on the legality of a final agreement at this stage. Read more by Max Griera and Camille Gijs.
BYE, SECRET VOTES: At 4 p.m., the Conference of Presidents will debate how to restrict the use of secret ballots in the Parliament. The far right has increasingly asked for them, enabling centrist MEPs to discreetly break with deals negotiated by their own leadership — a tactic that helped blow up the agreement to cut green reporting rules for companies, which ultimately was passed thanks to a right-wing majority.
Why it matters: The three centrist groups — the EPP, the Socialists & Democrats and Renew — now support the tweak. The use of secret votes has destabilized the coalition supporting von der Leyen’s second term, and party leaders want to avoid it in the future.
DIGITAL AND CONSUMER PACKAGE
BUSY COLLEGE: It’s a jam-packed day for the College of Commissioners — beyond the military files flagged above, there will be two other big drops: the digital measures package and the Commission’s 2030 consumer agenda.
Enter the digital omnibus: After multiple policy sectors went through the “simplification” machine, it’s now the turn of the Commission’s tech officials to explain how they plan to streamline the EU’s rulebook.
AI and GDPR in the spotlight: The big headlines are a delay of at least one year for a key part of the EU’s landmark AI Act (as we reported last week), and tweaks to the EU’s sacred GDPR regime to give AI developers more room to maneuver.
Watch the spin: Commission tech chiefs will be eager to insist this isn’t a pause, and definitely not a “stop-the-clock” moment. Just a little breathing space before the rules fully kick in.
Not everyone is buying it: On the eve of the package’s presentation, former Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton — the architect of several of the laws now facing “simplification” — chimed in with a trademark LinkedIn post.
“We should resist any attempt to unravel these laws, through ‘omnibus’ bills or otherwise, mere months after they have entered into force, under the pretext of simplification or remedying an alleged ‘anti-innovation’ bias,” Breton wrote. “No one is fooled over the transatlantic origin of these attempts.”
ALSO LANDING TODAY: The EU’s five-year vision for consumer protection. “In a time of economic pressure, digital disruption and climate challenge, this Agenda boosts fairness online and offline, drives sustainable choices and reinforces the rights that keep our Union strong,” Commissioner McGrath told Playbook.
But don’t expect new rules, as the agenda is more strategic than legislative. Its four pillars — digital fairness, sustainable consumption, enforcement and product safety — repackage previously announced measures, such as next year’s Digital Fairness Act and the review of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation.
EUROGROUP RACE
SUCCESSION BATTLE: Paschal Donohoe’s shock resignation on Tuesday as Eurogroup president, just months after he was reelected after his Spanish and Lithuanian rivals dropped their bids at the last minute, reopens the race for the top job.
Cypriot Finance Minister Makis Keravnos, whose country will hold the next rotating EU presidency, will serve as the acting president while his colleagues pick Donohoe’s successor.
Runners and riders: Spain’s Carlos Cuerpo and Lithuania’s Rimantas Šadžius, who both hail from the left-leaning Socialists and Democrats (S&D), unsuccessfully challenged Donohoe in July. Šadžius has since left office, leaving Cuerpo the most likely challenger.
Cuerpo’s keeping his cards close to his chest. “I would like to thank him [Donohoe] for his work at the helm of the Eurogroup and wish him all the best … Beyond that, there will be time to talk about the Eurogroup,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
Waiting in the wings: Speculation is rife that Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister Vincent Van Peteghem, who like Donohoe hails from the European People’s Party, might throw his hat in the ring. He informally gauged support among colleagues in July but ultimately didn’t stand against Donohoe to maintain party unity. Van Peteghem’s office didn’t reply to POLITICO’s request for comment.
ECB spillover: The Eurogroup contest might be used as a bargaining chip in the negotiations over the appointment of the ECB’s new top brass.
PALESTINE AND THE EU
DONOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Brussels will on Thursday host the Palestine Donor Group, chaired by Commissioner Dubravka Šuica and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa. Around 60 delegations are expected — EU countries, regional and international partners, organizations and financial institutions.
What’s on the table: The high-level group aims to rally political backing for a viable governance model for the future Palestinian state — while ensuring continued delivery of essential services. Delegates will also discuss mechanisms for Gaza’s eventual reconstruction.
Reform for cash: Financial support is “linked directly to the reform agenda that we agreed together with the Palestinian Authority back in April,” a Commission spokesperson said. The meeting will take stock of which reforms have been delivered, which are still pending, and next steps.
The initiative has been sharply criticized by U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese, who’s in Brussels today to present her report “Gaza Genocide: A Collective Crime,” at an event hosted by the Left group. Her report singles out dual-use goods, which accounted for 31 percent of Israeli imports from the EU during the war.
Albanese on Tuesday told reporters at an event hosted by Italy’s 5Star Movement group that the EU’s approach was a “colonial disgrace,” saying “nothing has been done. They should have been at the discussion table when the destruction of Gaza could have been prevented.”
FOOD FIGHT
HOW (UN)ITALIAN: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s party plans to write to Roberta Metsola to complain about the use of the Italian flag on pasta sauce sold in the European Parliament’s first-floor market (which the country’s Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida complained about on Monday).
“On the record: no one should put carbonara in a jar,” Metsola’s spokesperson told Playbook. (And for the purists: yes, the jarred version contains 39 percent cream and bacon instead of guanciale — details Italian food fundamentalists consider full heresy. I swear I’m just reporting, I’m not one of those.)
Not my cup of coffee: Metsola’s team pointed out the products come from a private company and the president can’t intervene, politely suggesting complaints go to the relevant authorities — and reminding everyone that food labelling is an EU competence, not the Parliament president’s.
IN OTHER NEWS
COP OUT: The EU was notably absent from a group of 82 countries calling for a clear path away from fossil fuels at the U.N. climate talks on Tuesday, Karl Mathiesen reports.
BIG READ: Max Griera and Nette Nöstlinger have this feature on Daniel Caspary and René Repasi, two altar boys who grew up together in a tiny German town before becoming rivals in the European Parliament and then uniting over a common cause: keeping the center from crumbing.
KALLAS TAKES AIM AT CHINA: The EU’s deep economic ties to China get in the way of applying pressure to Beijing over its support for Russia, EU High Representative Kaja Kallas said at a Bloomberg event Tuesday. China “might also hurt you, and that’s the problem,” said Kallas. “If you’re not willing to pay the price that they are going to impose on you, then it’s hard to act.”