05/06 – Today’s headlines from across the EU

EUROPEAN HEADLINES

FT – Greece to withhold €300m loan repayment in show of defiance. Athens to employ IMF procedure last used by Zambia. Pressure rises on prime minister.

WSJE – Bonds make a recovery after rout. Stock prices slumped and European government-bond prices plunged anew before staging a recovery, the latest sign of the volatility rattling markets as investors struggle to reassess an increasingly murky global economic outlook.

INYT – Greece opts to defer big payments to the IMF. Athens skirts deadline, buying time but risking a political backlash.

BALTIC STATES

Baltic Times – Pro-Kremlin rebels in “violation of the Minsk Agreements” after fighting in East Ukraine resumes.The assault, which has seen fighting between pro-Kremlin separatists and the Ukrainian army resume, was initiated by the separatists who used heavy weaponry and artillery.

FRANCE

Le Monde – State selling shares in Areva to EDF. Faced with heavy losses at Areva, the French government has announced that it will sell part of its majority stake in nuclear reactors to EDF on 3 June.

Les Echos – Series of shocks on financial markets. After two months of euphoria, European rates have just experienced two successive shocks. Doubts over the ECB’s actions create market turmoil, CAC 40 falls below 5,000 points.

GERMANY

Frankfurter Allgemeine (FAZ) – President Sisi says if Egypt fails, Europe will also feel the consequences. Egyptian President Abd al Fattah al Sisi wants to “step up the fight against IS.”

Suedeutsche Zeitung – Athens to save five billion euros. Greece’s creditors agree on tough conditions. While reducing the growth forecast, they require tax and pensions reforms.

ITALY

La Repubblica – “We are eating Rome.” New haul in mafia’s capital city: 44 arrested among centre-right, Democrats, local and regional civil servants. Employers were speculating on migrants, “the cow must be milked.” Alemano is accused. Renzi: whoever steals has to pay.

Il Sole 24 Ore – Stock exchange and rates under fire: high tension on the Bund. Athens: stop the monthly instalment, IMF debt must be paid by the end of June.

MALTA

The Times of Malta –New code: Ministers may keep private practice. Ministers and parliamentary secretaries can get Cabinet clearance to continue with their private practice “if this is in the national interest”, according to the new watered down code of ethics.

NETHERLANDS

De Volkskrant –‘ABN Amro crowdfunding flops’: two firms bankrupt. Around 100 investors who put €5,000 into the fund – Platform Seeds – have lost their money and, the bank says, it can do nothing for them.

POLAND

Gazeta – Who are you? I am a Polish child. Starting from 1 September, all five-year-old children will have to learn a foreign language in their kindergarten. Parents will not be charged for such lessons but not all of them are happy as the classes will be run by randomly chosen and frequently uncertified people.

SPAIN

El Pais – Rajoy dismissed two Madrid councillors at Cristina Cifuentes’s demand. According to Ciudadanos, Figar and Victoria’s departure won’t be enough to enable the PP to rule.

Expansion – 40,000 of Telefonica’s employees are shareholders too. One in three employees has shares in the telecom company.

The Times – Secret FIFA payment to keep cheated Ireland quiet. World leaders prepare for crisis talks.

The Guardian – Greece steps towards the exit. Angered by calls for more austerity, Athens refuses to pay €300 million IMF bill due today.