A hard-right lawmaker is sworn in as Greece's migration minister
Five high-ranking government officials, including the previous migration minister, Makis Voridis, three deputy ministers and a secretary general, resigned last Friday following allegations they were involved in a scheme to provide EU agriculture subsidies to undeserving recipients.
The funds, which were handled by a government body known by its Greek acronym OPEKEPE, were allegedly given to numerous people who had made false declarations of owning or leasing non-existent pastures or livestock.
Thanos Plevris, 48, succeeded Voridis and is expected to maintain Greece's hard line in migration policy. Both Plevris and Voridis joined the conservative New Democracy party in 2012, from the right-wing populist Popular Orthodox Rally, or LAOS, party.
Voridis has denied any involvement in the alleged farm subsidy fraud and said he resigned in order to clear his name.
The European Public Prosecutor's Office, which has investigated the case, passed on a hefty file to the Greek Parliament last week that includes allegations of possible involvement of government ministers. Lawmakers enjoy immunity from prosecution in Greece that can only be lifted by parliamentary vote.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said his New Democracy party had failed to stamp out graft.
'Significant reform efforts were made,' Mitsotakis said in a social media post. 'But let's be honest. We failed.'
He said anyone found to have received EU funds they were not entitled to would be ordered to return the money.
'Our many farmers and livestock breeders who toil and produce quality products, and all law-abiding citizens, will not tolerate scammers who claimed to have non-existent pastures and livestock, or those who enabled them to do so,' Mitsotakis said.
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BBC News
a minute ago
- BBC News
Should Europe wean itself off US tech?
Imagine if US President Donald Trump could flip a switch and turn off Europe's may sound far-fetched, crazy even. But it's a scenario that has been seriously discussed in tech industry and policy circles in recent months, as tensions with Washington have escalated, and concerns about the EU's reliance on American technology have come to the the root of these concerns is the fact just three US giants - Google, Microsoft and Amazon - provide 70% of Europe's cloud-computing infrastructure, the scaffolding on which many online services some question whether an unpredictable US leader would weaponize the situation if relations seriously deteriorated - for example, by ordering those companies to turn off their services in Europe."Critical data would become inaccessible, websites would go dark, and essential state services like hospital IT systems would be thrown into chaos," says Robin Berjon, a digital governance specialist who advises EU believes that concerns over a so called US "kill switch" should be taken seriously. "It's hard to say how much trouble we would be in." Microsoft, Google and Amazon all say they offer "sovereign" cloud computing solutions that safeguard EU clients' data, and would prevent such a scenario ever occurring. The BBC has contacted the US Treasury department for truth, there have always been concerns about the lack of "digital sovereignty" in Europe, where US firms not only dominate the cloud-computing market, but also hardware, satellite internet and now artificial the region's main mobile operating systems - Apple and Android - and payment networks - Mastercard and Visa - are fears became urgent in May when it emerged that Karim Khan, the top prosecutor at the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court (ICC), had lost access to his Microsoft Outlook email account after being sanctioned by the White ICC has issued arrest warrants for top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over their roles in the Israel-Gaza war - something Mr Trump called "illegitimate".Khan has since temporarily stepped aside until a sexual misconduct probe against him is says that "at no point" did it cease or suspend its services to the ICC, although it was in touch with the ICC "throughout the process that resulted in the disconnection". Since then digital sovereignty has shot up the agenda in Brussels, while some public bodies are already seeking alternatives to US is it realistic to think they could wean themselves off US technology?Digital sovereignty is loosely defined as the ability of a governing body to control the data and technology systems within its problem faced by those pursuing it is the lack of comparable does have its own providers, such as France's OVHCloud, or Germany's Germany's T-Systems or Delos, in cloud they account for a fraction of the market, and don't have the same scale or range of capabilities, says Dario Maisto, a senior analyst covering digital sovereignty at global business consultancy open-source alternatives are available for common software packages like Office and Windows, but while proponents say they are more transparent and accessible, none is as comprehensive or well known. But while moving to sovereign alternatives wouldn't "happen overnight", it's a "myth" to think it's not possible, says Mr notes that the German state of Schleswig-Holstein is currently in the process of phasing out Microsoft products like Office 365 and Windows in favour of open-source solutions such as LibreOffice and Linux. Denmark's Ministry for Digitalisation is piloting a similar scheme."We sometimes overvalue the role of proprietary software in our organisations," Mr Maisto says, pointing out that for key services like word processing and email, open-source solutions work just fine."The main reasons organisations don't use open source are a lack of awareness and misplaced fears about cyber security," he adds."Our prediction is in the next five to 10 years, there will be an accelerated shift [to these solutions] because of this wake-up call." Benjamin Revcolevschi, boss of OVHCloud, tells the BBC that firms like his are ready to answer the sovereignty needs of public and private organisations in Europe."Only European cloud providers, whose headquarters are in the EU and with European governance, are able to offer immunity to non-European laws, to protect sensitive and personal data," he Microsoft, Amazon and Google say they already offer solutions that address concerns about digital sovereignty, solutions which store data on severs in the clients' country or region, not in the tells the BBC that it also partners with trusted local EU suppliers like T-Systems, granting them control over the encryption of client data, and giving customers "a technical veto over their data". The German Army is one of its Microsoft president Brad Smith has promised the firm would take legal action in the "exceedingly unlikely" event the US government ordered it to suspend services, and that it would include a clause in European contracts to that effect."We will continue to look for new ways to ensure the European Commission and our European customers have the options and assurances they need to operate with confidence," a Microsoft spokesman told the BBC. Zach Meyers, from the Brussels-based Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE) think tank, says it might make sense for Europe to develop its own limited sovereign cloud to protect critical government he adds that it's unrealistic to try to "get Americans out of the supply chain, or to ensure that there's Europeans in the supply chain at each point".He points to Gaia X - a scheme launched in 2020 to create a European-based alternative to large, centralised cloud platforms, which has faced significant criticism and delays."A lot of these [tech] markets are winner takes all, so once you're the first mover it's really hard for anyone else to catch up."Instead, Mr Meyers thinks Europe should focus on areas of technology where it might gain an edge."It could be the industrial use of AI, because Europe already has a much bigger, stronger industrial base than the US has," he says. "Or the next generation of chipmaking equipment, because one of the few areas where Europe has foothold is in photolithography - the machines that make the really top-end chips." So where does the digital sovereignty agenda go from here?Some believe nothing will change unless Europe brings in new regulations that force regional organisations and governments to buy local technology. But according to Mr Berjon, the EU has been dragging its feet."There is definitely political interest, but it's a question of turning it into a shared strategy."Matthias Bauer, director at the European Centre for International Political Economy, thinks the goal should be building up Europe's technology sector so it can compete with the US and a report on EU competitiveness in 2024, Mario Draghi, former head of the European Central Bank, noted Europe is "severely lagging behind" in new technologies, and that "only four of the world's top 50 tech companies are European"."It's currently much harder for a tech company based in the EU to scale across the bloc than it would be for the same company in the US," Mr Bauer says."You not only face different languages, but different contract law, labour market laws, tax laws, and also different sector-specific regulation."As for the theory that President Trump might flip a "kill switch" and turn off Europe's internet, he's highly sceptical."It would be a realistic scenario if we were close to a war, but I don't see that on the horizon."Yet Mr Maisto says organisations must take the risk seriously, however remote."Two years ago, we didn't think we would be talking about these topics in these terms in 2025. Now organisations want to get ready for what might happen."
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
D-Day at the White House: Starmer, Zelensky and EU leaders are to meet Trump.. but will he listen to a single word they say?
Sir Keir Starmer will join EU and Nato leaders to bolster Volodymyr Zelensky in his crunch White House meeting with Donald Trump on Monday. They will present a united front in the hope of moderating Mr Trump's treatment of the Ukrainian leader, whom he humiliated at the Oval Office in February. European ministers fear that Mr Zelensky is walking into a trap laid by Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian leader said on Sunday that the 'coalition of the willing' – the UK and other nations that have pledged to support Kyiv – held a 'useful' two-hour video conference on Sunday. He revealed that they had a 'common view on what a peace agreement should be' and insisted it did not include changing state borders by force. In a sign of EU leaders' bullishness, French president Emmanuel Macron said afterwards: 'If we're not strong today, we'll pay dearly tomorrow.' It came after Boris Johnson called on Sir Keir to lead global efforts to protect Ukraine from being carved up following Friday's 'vomit-inducing' meeting between Mr Trump and Putin. Writing in The Mail on Sunday, the former prime minister insisted that although the summit made him 'retch', it was 'justifiable and even essential'. He said it offered hope that 'one day this war will end with a peace that protects Ukrainian freedom' – but to make that happen 'the Europeans, led by Britain, will have to step up'. Sunday's meeting of Europe's heads of state came after Putin was widely regarded to have gained the upper hand at Friday's summit in Anchorage, Alaska. He was welcomed back on to the world stage from pariah status with red carpets and a ride in the US presidential limo before reportedly persuading Mr Trump to drop calls for a ceasefire 'within two hours'. Washington was also said to have agreed to the Kremlin proposition that Kyiv cede the whole Donbas region after Putin presented faked pictures that made it appear Ukrainian lines there were about to collapse. But the President hit back on Sunday, slamming 'fake news' as he described the Alaskan summit as a 'great meeting' and told the world to ' STAY TUNED' for 'BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA '. His special envoy, Steve Witkoff, also said the US delegation had forced Putin to accept 'robust', US backed, Nato-like security guarantees for Ukraine for the first time, which he described as 'game-changing '. Mr Zelensky has appealed to Sir Keir and other European leaders to join him for 'moral support and solidarity'. Those answering the call include Mr Macron, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, German chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish president Alexander Stubb, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. Sunday's meeting of Europe's heads of state came after Putin was widely regarded to have gained the upper hand at Friday's summit in Anchorage, Alaska. He was welcomed back on to the world stage from pariah status with red carpets and a ride in the US presidential limo But the President hit back on Sunday, slamming 'fake news' as he described the Alaskan summit as a 'great meeting' and told the world to 'STAY TUNED' for 'BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA' Ahead of another dramatic day of global diplomacy over the future of Europe, No 10 said on Sunday that the PM 'stands ready to support this next phase of further talks'. Sir Keir will 'reaffirm his backing for Ukraine will continue as long as it takes', and 'the path to peace cannot be decided without president Zelensky'. Keen to keep Washington onside, Sir Keir also commended 'President Trump's efforts to end Russia's illegal war in Ukraine'. On Sunday, Mr Trump's former vice-president, Mike Pence, insisted that Putin was 'the bad guy' and should be treated as such during negotiations. He said he knew Mr Trump liked to use a 'velvet glove' style in dealing with dictators, but he added: 'The hammer needs to come and it needs to come immediately.' Mr Pence told CNN that as well as meeting Mr Zelensky, Mr Trump should call for another sanctions bill against Russia to be passed 'immediately' in the Senate. He also gave Mr Trump credit for pursuing his earlier ceasefire deal despite 'many voices in and around the administration that would have cut Ukraine loose months ago'. All eyes will be on the Oval Office on Monday where Mr Trump will try to persuade Mr Zelensky to agree to meet Putin and 'make a deal '. Sir Keir will 'reaffirm his backing for Ukraine will continue as long as it takes', and 'the path to peace cannot be decided without president Zelensky'. Keen to keep Washington onside, Sir Keir also commended 'President Trump's efforts to end Russia's illegal war in Ukraine'. Pictured: Sir Keir and Zelensky at No 10 on August 17 In a worrying development, Putin reportedly convinced Washington that Ukraine must cede the Donbas – the collective name for Donetsk and Luhansk – as a condition for peace. While Russia has taken most of Luhansk, it only holds about 75 per cent of Donetsk, which is both vital for the nation's defence and also home to many of the rare-earth minerals Putin craves. He has also taken about 74 per cent of the neighbouring Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. It is feared Mr Zelensky could be strong-armed by the President on Monday into accepting these terms or risk losing American support. As he attempted to sidestep Moscow's ambush, Mr Zelensky said on Sunday that the territorial issue 'should be discussed only by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia'. Flanked by Ms von der Leyen in Brussels, he said that 'real negotiations' must 'start where the front line is now'. He pointed out that Putin had been unable to take Donetsk 'for 12 years'. Mr Zelensky also sought to bring back calls for a ceasefire at the outset of negotiations – a subject Russia apparently succeeded in removing from the summit on Friday. He said: 'We see that Russia rebuffs numerous calls for a ceasefire and has not yet determined when it will stop the killing. This complicates the situation.' Before going to Anchorage, Mr Trump said forcing Russia to agree to a ceasefire was his priority, but he dropped the demand 'two hours into his meeting', the New York Post reported. 'Figuratively, the President sort of threw up his hands and said, 'I'm not interested in a ceasefire any more',' a source told the paper. In exchange, Mr Trump allegedly got Putin to say: 'I will not attack a European country.' On social media on Sundayty, Mr Trump said he 'had a great meeting in Alaska' and complained that 'if I got Russia to give up Moscow as part of the Deal, the Fake News and their PARTNER, the Radical Left Democrats, would say I made a terrible mistake '. Mr Witkoff, the US special envoy who has flitted between Moscow and Washington for months to pave the way for the current talks without once visiting Kyiv, defended the Trump administration's performance on Friday. He told CNN on Sunday: 'We were able to win the following concession – that the US could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in Nato'. Nato's Article 5 states that an armed attack on one member country would be considered an attack on all members. Mr Zelensky described the US commitment to a security guarantee as 'a historic decision' but called on it to be 'very practical' in 'delivering protection on land, in the air, and at sea'. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said ideas were discussed in Alaska that 'we know the Ukrainians could be very supportive of'. But he warned it may be that 'peace is not going to be possible' Mr Witkoff added that Russia said it would make a legislative commitment not to go after any additional territory in Ukraine. He said: 'There is an important discussion with regard to Donetsk and what would happen there.' Secretary of State Marco Rubio said ideas were discussed in Alaska that 'we know the Ukrainians could be very supportive of'. But he warned it may be that 'peace is not going to be possible'. Mr Zelensky said on Sunday night that if talks fail 'then new sanctions must follow', which Mr Rubio agreed with. On Sunday night, the UK and the rest of the coalition of the willing 're-emphasised the readiness to deploy a reassurance force once hostilities have ceased'.
The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Serbian leader vows tough response to protesters following riots
Shouting 'Arrest Vucic', the protesters demanded that all those detained in the past days be released. No incidents were reported. Serbian officers patrol in a truck in Belgrade (Darko Vojinovic/AP) In one of his frequent TV addresses to the public, Mr Vucic accused the anti-government demonstrators of 'pure terrorism' and re-iterated his claims that months of persistent protests against his rule have been orchestrated in the West and aimed at destroying Serbia. 'Our country is in grave danger, they have jeopardised all our values, normal life, each individual,' Mr Vucic said, alleging an elaborate scheme that would eventually install 'anarcho-leftist' authorities in the future. He did not offer any concrete evidence for his claims. 'Unless we undertake tougher steps it is a question of days when they (protesters) will kill someone,' Mr Vucic said. Serbian officers guard a street during an anti-government protest near the Serbian Progressive Party office in the capital (Darko Vojinovic/AP) 'I am saying this for history.' The stern warnings came after five consecutive nights of clashes between the protesters on one side and police and Mr Vucic's loyalists on the other. Angry protesters on Saturday evening torched Mr Vucic's governing Serbian Progressive Party offices in a town in western Serbia, and of other ruling coalition allies. The demonstrators on Saturday evening also clashed with police in Belgrade, the capital, and in the northern city of Novi Sad. Supporters of Aleksandar Vucic hurl flares at anti-government protesters (Darko Vojinovic/AP) Riot officers used tear gas against demonstrators who hurled stun grenades, flares and bottles at them. Mr Vucic did not specify what will be the state response that he said would come within a week. But he stressed that a state of emergency is not imminent. Scores of people already have been detained and injured in the past days while police have faced accusations of excessive force and arbitrary detentions of protesters. 'You will witness the determination of the state of Serbia,' Mr Vucic said. 'We will use everything at our disposal to restore peace and order in the country.' The clashes this week marked a major escalation following more than nine months of largely peaceful demonstrations that started after a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station in Serbia's north, killing 16 people. A Serbian riot police officer directs a man filming after clearing people blocking a street in Belgrade (Darko Vojinovic/AP) Many in Serbia blamed the tragedy on alleged widespread corruption in state-run infrastructure projects that they say fuelled poor renovation work. The Serbian president has faced accusations of stifling democratic freedoms while allowing organised crime and corruption to flourish. He has denied this. Serbia is formally seeking EU membership, but Mr Vucic has maintained strong ties with Russia and China. On Sunday, he praised Russia's backing for his government against what he called a 'coloured revolution' against his government.
