It’s worth clarifying a few things on the apparent divergence between Draghi/Letta (DL) and Margrethe Vestager on #telecoms #consolidation 🧵

- Everyone agrees that harmonisation across member states would be a great thing. Cross-market consolidation would not be opposed. Fine.

'Mr Orban got to address his fans, railing against the eu and the very liberal norms that (belatedly) ensured his right to speak.'

Two conflicts will compete for attention of EU leaders tonight.

There is one, Ukraine, where they can make a difference, and another, Israel, where they can’t. Still, it's the latter which is set to be in the center.

W jacopo barigazzi Nicholas Vinocur ✍️

politico.eu/article/middle…

A single far-right group consisting of ECR+ID would be second-largest group, with just 9 fewer MEPs than the EPP, according to POLITICO's Poll of Polls projection. politico.eu/europe-poll-of…

'They say history is written by the victors, but that hasn’t stopped Liz Truss having a go.'

👌 Noah Keate

politico.eu/article/liz-tr…

'Don't allow foreign 'globalists' to tell you how to live your lives,' say a group of bigoted Brits, Hungarians and Americans that have come to Brussels to tell Belgians (who couldn't care less about NatCon) how to live their lives.

Congrats to Brussels politicians for giving a conference of swivel-eyed loons a lot more attention than anyone really wanted to give it

Lots of nuance and colourful quotes in Jakob Hanke Vela's update on the scandal (?) brewing around Von der Leyen:

“I had the impression as if the queen bee was under attack and that the whole string of protective bees had to be brought out to defend her'

politico.eu/newsletter/bru…

After some high-level political haggling, the EU is this week set to announce its reshuffle of ambassadors.

This year’s rotations helps create an exit for high-level advisers, including Charles Michel’s chief of staff.

W jacopo barigazzi Jakob Hanke Vela

politico.eu/article/eu-top…

Aus Brüssel schickt Annalena Baerbock Grüße an Rolf Mützenich:

Wer den jüngsten UN-Bericht zu russischen Kriegsverbrechen liest, 'der wird aus meiner Sicht nicht wieder darüber sprechen, dass man vielleicht den Konflikt einfrieren sollte.'

Call her lucky but if Trump wins Giorgia Meloni can become even more central, with ⁦Nicholas Vinocur ✍️⁩ and ⁦Hannah Roberts 🇬🇧🇦🇺🇮🇪🇮🇹🇪🇺⁩ politico.eu/article/giorgi…

Ursula von der Leyen’s reelection campaign gets off to a bumpy start | Good story here by Nicholas Vinocur ✍️
politico.eu/article/eu-com…

Significant warning to Orbán from the U.S. ambassador to Hungary.

*** Breaking: Spektakuläre Entscheidung im EU-Rat: Die zunächst ua von 🇩🇪 blockierte Plattform-Richtlinie hat eine Mehrheit - gegen Deutschland und Frankreichs Willen POLITICOEurope ***

Allies are starting to speak out about Scholz' public claim that FR and UK helped Ukraine target missiles — wrote earlier how crazy this is.

Today UK FA committee chair Alicia Kearns MP called his words 'irresponsible and a slap in the face to allies.”
politico.eu/newsletter/bru…

What the new Polish government has done in those few months warrants praise, but much work remains. By placing politics first, the Commission opens itself to the argument that this whole rule of law story was really about getting the PiS government out. 5/

In spite of Germany real support to #Ukraine , Scholz remains a real danger to #NATO coalition.

Brussels playbook as usual useful.

Jakob Hanke Vela

A felony conviction is a felony conviction is a felony conviction…until an appeals court rules otherwise. There is nothing “wrongful” about an independent court reaching a verdict based on the evidence presented, aka rule of law.

Quite the burn by Peter Stano, when asked about Dmitry Medvedev’s latest threats: “He is the eternal Nr. 2, we thank him for always sharing his mental state with us: he would need assistance but I doubt that #Russia ’s healthcare system has the resources.'

POLITICO Berlin Playbook Launchparty 🇩🇪🚀