Good morning from Brussels, 

The group of EU Greens in the European Parliament took an “important step” with Ursula von der Leyen at a meeting on Wednesday afternoon, who is seeking their support to be reelected in the EU Commission presidency. 

The Greens stressed that it is in everyone's interest to build a “strong” pro-EU coalition without far-right forces, citing Hungary's handling of the EU Presidency and the upcoming US elections with a potential Donald Trump return as examples.

But Von der Leyen's camp fears the potential loss of votes from the other pro-EU parties (EPP, S&D, Renew) that she currently relies on. 

Therefore, the Greens’ 53 votes (See here how the seats are distributed for now) may be crucial, but the Greens note that her choice to turn left for support, rejecting the hard-right ECR, has split her own centre-right EPP family.

“I think that the EPP is a very disunited group […] there are different delegations that have very different positions on this”, Green Co-President Terry Reintke said. 

Despite the positive atmosphere, fellow Co-President Bas Eickhout insisted that his group wait until von der Leyen’s speech in the European Parliament next week and the final priorities she will present “because now she can talk to all the different groups and adjust her message”. But backtracking on the Green Deal won’t be accepted, the Greens said.

Read the full story.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) launched its own “Sovereignists” parliamentary group, next to the also far-right “Patriots”, led by France’s Le Pen and Hungary’s Orbán.

Kjeld Neubert has the details.

The Conference of Presidents could consider various measures, including the possibility of boycotting or prematurely ending the Hungarian presidency, appealing to previous Belgian or Spanish presidencies, or even speeding up the Polish presidency, Euractiv’s Charles Szumski has learnt. 

Meanwhile, EU member states on Wednesday blasted Hungary for Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s solo diplomatic initiative on Ukraine but did not discuss ways to rein in Budapest’s potential future efforts.

An informal meeting of EU environment ministers in Budapest, organised by the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU between 11 and 12 July, will focus on COP29, the circular economy’s potential to boost competitiveness and water scarcity. But just how many ministers will show up is yet to be seen. Read more.

US-made F-16 fighter jets and additional air defence systems are on their way to Ukraine and are expected to be operational this summer, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday, following NATO’s decision to boost the country’s air defence, Aurélie Pugnet reported from Washington. 

In addition, NATO leaders backed Ukraine’s “irreversible” path into the Western military alliance but stopped short of providing a concrete timetable and framework, writes Alexandra Brzozowski. 

PARIS

‘Nobody won’ : Macron calls for ‘plural majority’ after snap elections. No one has come out on top in France’s recent snap parliamentary elections, French President Emmanuel Macron said in his first reaction to the election results in a letter to the French published in the regional daily press on Wednesday. Read more.

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BERLIN

Germany to largely exclude Huawei from 5G network from 2029: media report. Germany plans to largely exclude Chinese components such as those from Huawei and ZTE from its 5G mobile network by 2029, with an interim step in 2026, according to a media report.  Read more.

German Greens’ Baerbock renounces second chancellor candidacy, clearing way for Economy Minister Habeck. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said she did not intend to run again as the Greens’ candidate for chancellor at the 2025 federal election, making Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck the likely contender. Read more.

ROME

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government is more isolated than ever at the EU level, an EU lawmaker from Italy’s Five Star Movement (M5S) party told Euractiv. Read more.

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MADRID

Ribera, optimistic but prudent, about chances of being EU Commissioner. Spanish Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera (PSOE/S&D) is confident she will join the next European Commission, headed for a second time by Ursula von der Leyen, perhaps in the climate or energy portfolio, she told the media. Read more.

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LISBON

Portugal’s €220 million aid package for Ukraine to be repeated next year. Portuguese aid to Ukraine will reach more than €220 million this year and will be repeated in 2025, said Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, who reiterated the commitment to reach 2% investment in defence by 2029. Read more.

WARSAW

Unable to agree on which new EU group to join, newly-elected MEPs from Poland’s far-right Confederation (Konfederacja) party have decided to split, with some now joining the far-right Europe of Sovereign Nations group, while others are in talks to join Orban’s newly-formed Patriots of Europe group. Read more.

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PRAGUE

Czech court upholds EU election results challenged by former Czech MEP. The Czech Supreme Administrative Court has upheld the country’s European election results, rejecting a complaint by outgoing centre-right MEP Michaela Šojdrová about preferential voting, although it found errors in some election committee records and suggested changes. Read more.

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BUDAPEST

Hungary downplays concerns over potential EU presidency meeting boycotts. Budapest on Wednesday (10 July) downplayed mounting concerns that EU countries could boycott future informal meetings hosted by the Hungarian Council presidency. Read more.

BRATISLAVA

Smer MEP pushes to cease negotiations with EU socialists, proposes alternative. Monika Beňová, a Slovak MEP for Robert Fico’s Smer-SD (NI) party, proposed ending negotiations with the Party of European Socialists (PES), which suspended the party’s membership last year, claiming she would instead present a “different plan” to her colleagues. Read more.

SOFIA

World liberal leaders mobilise as Bulgarian partner party risks collapse. Leaders of international liberal formations expressed concern and took positions to prevent a split and even a collapse of Bulgaria’s Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) party, which is going through its biggest crisis since it was founded 34 years ago. Read more.

• EU: Informal meeting of environment ministers convenes to discuss COP29, circular economy competitiveness, resilient water management, transboundary water and air pollution, EIB green financing, and more, in Budapest, Hungary;
• Commission Vice Prisedent Maroš Šefčovič participates in 5th annual political dialogue of Coal Regions in Transition Initiative, with governors of coal regions, delivering opening remarks, in Velenje, Slovenia;
• Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski hosts Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Tetsushi Sakamoto;
• Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Commissioner Iliana Ivanova participates in high level conference on Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean Health and Coastal Resilience, in Bologna, Italy;

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Alice Taylor]