Mitsotakis and Macron visiting Cyprus; to meet with President Christodoulides
French President Emmanuel Macron is traveling to Cyprus on Monday, days after dispatching a warship to the east Mediterranean island nation, where a Shahed drone struck a British air base on its southern coast last week during the Iran war. Macron will meet with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Kyriakos Mitsotakis at Cyprus’ main air base on its southwestern edge where four Greek air force F-16s have been deployed.
NTV: Turkey to deploy 6 F-16 jets to occupied northern Cyprus
Turkey will deploy six F-16 fighter jets to the occupied northern part of Cyprus, amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, broadcaster NTV reported on Monday.
Worries on Middle East trade
A surcharge of up to five times the normal freight rates has been imposed on cargo leaving Greek ports bound for Middle Eastern countries in the last week, following the US and Israeli attack on Iran. Although the additional cost in most cases is borne exclusively by customers – with Greek exporters now being very careful about the contracts they make, having probably learned their lesson from previous crises – this does not mean there is no fear of losing markets conquered with great effort in recent years.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1297305/worries-on-middle-east-trade
Growth rate in 2025 revised down to 2.1%
Greece’s economy grew by 2.1% last year, according to ELSTAT data released on Friday, at the same level as in 2024 and slightly lower than the 2025 budget forecast of 2.2%. Private consumption remained the mainstay of economic activity, while investments recorded a significant acceleration in the fourth quarter of the year.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1297309/growth-rate-in-2025-revised-down-to-2-1
ATHEX: Bourse lost 6.8% in first week of war
The considerable drop of Greek stocks in this first week of the war in Iran and the Middle East was completed on Friday with another session of losses for the benchmark at Athinon Avenue, led by banks. Only a handful of blue chips did buck the trend to post gains. Turnover was the lowest so far this month. The longer the conflict continues, the greater the pressure will be on stocks, observers note, with the impact as far as Greece is concerned multiplying as the start of the tourism season approaches.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1297304/athex-bourse-lost-6-8-in-first-week-of-war
SUNDAY PAPERS
KATHIMERINI: Greece next to the beehive
TO VIMA: The war and Athens’ fronts
REAL NEWS: 20 days of fire!
PROTO THEMA: Finance Minister Pierrakakis: “We are here; we will intervene if the crisis continues”
MONDAY PAPERS:
TA NEA: Fuel allowance mulled by the government
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Profiteering bombs
KONTRA NEWS: Every 24 hours, 1,000 migrants arrive in Crete
DIMOKRATIA: Troll armies at the service of the PM’s office
NAFTEMPORIKI: The war in the Middle East may challenge the Greek investment programme
DRIVING THE DAY
ENVOYS MEET AS CAPITALS GRUMBLE: Ursula von der Leyen addresses EU ambassadors today amid a chorus of criticism from diplomats who say the European Commission president is stepping on their toes — and speaking out of turn.
Overreach: Nine diplomats, officials and lawmakers from across the EU, speaking to your Playbook author for a piece out this morning, said some capitals are unhappy about von der Leyen’s handling of the start of the war in the Middle East, Gaza diplomacy and EU enlargement.
The diplomats praised von der Leyen’s leadership on Ukraine and during the Covid-19 pandemic. But when it comes to thorny Middle Eastern politics or the hyper-sensitive issue of EU enlargement, they said the Commission chief has staked out public positions — such as her apparent backing of regime change in Iran — that go beyond the consensus position of EU capitals.
“The problem is the president going out with ideas and somehow committing the European Union without consulting countries beforehand,” said a senior EU diplomat involved in foreign policy discussions, granted anonymity to speak frankly about sensitive internal matters. “She is saying things that are not in her mandate.”
We get it: EU diplomacy is a slow and painstaking process requiring 27 capitals to agree on often dry language to make a statement. But the person member countries have tasked with articulating their shared position is High Representative Kaja Kallas, who has one foot in the Commission and the other in the Council.
The Commission rejects the criticism … insisting von der Leyen is carrying out her work as she should. The president is demonstrating “political leadership of the Commission’s external policies” in line with the EU’s treaties, a Commission spokesperson said.“Outreach to other leaders worldwide is part and parcel of president von der Leyen’s responsibilities — be it bilaterally, multilaterally or in EU-led initiatives, such as the Global Gateway event,” the spokesperson added, referring to the initiative to boost sustainable-infrastructure investment around the world.
But the griping about von der Leyen’s foreign policy positions will hang over the annual ambassadors conference as Kallas kicks it off in Brussels this morning. “This is the buzz in the background,” one senior EU diplomat told Playbook.
We need to talk: Lawmakers (who, unlike diplomats, can speak on the record) say the tension between the EU executive, the European External Action Service and the Council is building to a reckoning. “We need to decide whether we want an institutional change … whether we want to give more foreign policy functions to the Commission,” said Nacho Sánchez Amor, a Spanish MEP from the Socialists and Democrats group.
Keep Kallas connected: The Council has one request of von der Leyen, ahead of a March gathering of EU leaders: Keep national governments in the loop on the European Security Strategy, which the Commission is now preparing. Capitals want Kallas to be part of the review, specifically by putting her in charge of gathering sensitive threat assessments that will feed into the document, said the senior diplomat.
Meanwhile, EU countries will do their best to keep the bloc’s enlargement process on track, despite the sourness between the Council and the Commission. Diplomats have rejected the idea of “reverse enlargement” that would have fast-tracked Ukraine’s membership. But work is now underway to make the next three EU presidencies focus on bringing in new member countries, with an eye to finishing Ukraine’s negotiations by the end of 2027.
The bottom line: It’s true that European capitals have given von der Leyen plenty of support as she accumulated more power than any of her predecessors. But as her diplomatic work continues to ramp up, some see a clear red flag: the need to safeguard national competences.
WHAT TO WATCH TODAY: Kallas is set to open the ambassadors’ conference, which lasts until Thursday and brings together 146 EU ambassadors and heads of delegation from around the world, at 8:45 a.m. … Parliament President Roberta Metsola addresses the assembly at 9 a.m., where she’s expected to call for things to be done “in a new way” on foreign policy and enlargement … von der Leyen delivers a keynote at 10 a.m. … before handing the stage to Kallas for a speech at 11 a.m. European Council President António Costa will speak at the conference at 10 a.m. Tuesday. It’ll be streamed live on EBS.
MIDDLE EAST LATEST
GULF STATES HUDDLE: Von der Leyen and Costa will join a videoconference today with leaders from the Gulf and their counterparts in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Per Costa, the discussion will center on what further help the EU can provide as the “deeply worrying” conflict continues for a second week.
Look closer: Gulf states facing drone and missile strikes are eager for air defenses that don’t cost millions of dollars per missile and, as a result, don’t run the risk of running out. That has led to an assist from Ukraine, which is ready to share drone-hunting weapons with the Gulf states. But that’s unlikely to be the focus of today’s call.
Instead, the top EU officials are likely to share details about the ongoing maritime defense missions, Aspides and Atalanta, which are due to be reinforced by two French vessels, as Playbook reported last week. The Aspides mission was originally launched to protect commercial vessels from attacks by Iran-backed Houthi militants but has taken on new scope and urgency as the region has been engulfed by war.
Energy bills: EU countries will also be discussing ways to mitigate the war’s impact on global energy markets, with LNG production at a major Qatari refinery now disrupted and oil prices surging overnight. And they’ll drill down on how to continue the repatriation of thousands of EU citizens currently stranded in the area.
Concerns about skyrocketing energy prices will also dominate a gathering of Eurogroup finance ministers today, our Pro Financial Services colleagues write in to report … although in Washington, President Donald Trump swatted aside fears about the economic fallout, posting on Truth Social last night: “Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace. ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!”
ALSO TODAY: French President Emmanuel Macron is traveling to Cyprus to “demonstrate France’s solidarity” following last week’s drone and missile attacks on the island. He’s scheduled to meet the Cypriot president and the Greek prime minister to discuss strengthening “security around Cyprus and in the Eastern Mediterranean, with a view to contributing to de-escalation in the region,” the Elysée Palace told Agence-France Presse.
NO END IN SIGHT: Hopes rose over the weekend of a possible end to the fighting after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian apologized to neighbors struck by Iranian missiles, but he was later rebuked by the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. And Trump doesn’t appear ready to end the U.S. military operation, warning that he’ll accept nothing less than “unconditional surrender” from Iran.
Nor will Iran’s new supreme leader likely cool things. Mojtaba Khamenei was announced by Iranian state media on Sunday as the choice to succeed his father, the former Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Despite never having held government office, Khamenei quietly wielded serious influence while his father was alive, my U.S. colleagues report. Israel has threatened to target him, and Trump, who insisted the U.S. should have a say in choosing the new leader, blasted him as a “lightweight.”
Still keen to steer clear: German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil told the media outlet RND that the ongoing conflict was “not our war.” Although he described Iran’s government as a “terror regime,” Klingbeil said he has “considerable doubts” the U.S.-Israeli air strikes will yield a permanent solution.
NOW READ THIS: A senior figure in Iran’s Kurdish opposition has tied any potential ground incursion into Iran to a major U.S. military decision: the establishment of a no-fly zone over Kurdish areas in western Iran. That would be necessary “so that the Islamic Republic cannot attack from the air and use its military superiority,” Reza Kaabi said from Erbil in an interview with the Axel Springer Global Reporters network, of which POLITICO is a member.
ELECTION WATCH
SLOVENIA’S HIGH-STAKES ELECTIONS: During an exclusive interview with POLITICO, Slovenia’s Prime Minister Robert Golob underlined the high stakes facing the EU ahead of critical elections in his country (on March 22) and Hungary (on April 12).
Threat to the EU: Golob framed the twin elections as an opportunity for pro-European forces to bludgeon the continent’s ascendant populist movements. That includes his right-wing rival — former three-time premier Janez Janša, whose Slovenian Democratic Party has a narrow lead in polls — whom Golob portrays as a threat to the EU itself.
Wide-ranging chat: During the near hour-long interview, Golob — a former energy entrepreneur — spoke expansively on European strategic autonomy, technology, the war in Ukraine and Israel, rearmament and modern-day warfare. But he reserved his most trenchant remarks for European populists including Janša and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, who could be ousted by anti-corruption challenger Péter Magyar next month.
Orbán alone: “You need to understand that in the European Council, for many years, Orbán was alone. If Janša gets to win, then the Council will start fragmenting even more,” Golob warned, before highlighting how Orbán has worked to slow the pace of EU decision-making.
Existential: Golob outlined what he sees as the key differences between various members of the bloc’s Central European awkward squad: “The other two prime ministers [Czechia’s Andrej Babiš and Slovakia’s Robert Fico], yes, they are sort of sovereigntist in the way how they behave, but they’re not his allies. So, they do share similar views, but there is one major difference: Orbán is doing everything he can to break up the European Union; the other two, no.”
“Janša will be totally on Orbán’s side … meaning the two of them will try to break up the European Union itself. That’s really the danger or the battle that we are now in,” Golob said.
Bottom line: “It’s not about Slovenia alone. It’s both countries. If we were able to win the two, I think that would be really, absolutely the best positive sign for the European Union,” Golob stressed as the elections barrel closer in Slovenia and Hungary.
MEANWHILE, IN FRANCE: Marine Le Pen’s National Rally is targeting local elections as a key test of the Euroskeptic, anti-immigration party’s electability ahead of next year’s presidential election, my colleague Victor Goury-Laffont explains.
… and in Germany: The Greens scraped out a narrow victory in a key vote in Baden-Württemberg on Sunday, according to preliminary results, in a stinging defeat for the parties in Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative-led coalition government.
IN OTHER NEWS
HOUSING HUDDLE: EU ministers gather today for informal talks on a crisis that’s rapidly risen to the top of the political agenda: house prices and housing accessibility. National governments are scrambling to resolve a problem many fear is one of the main drivers behind the popularity of far-left and far-right parties across the bloc. Lawmakers in the European Parliament will on Tuesday pitch their own ideas to solve the crisis.