Welcome to Declassified, a weekly humor column. What does a far-right gal have to do to get a quiet day at work in this political world? Surely, that’s what Italian Prime Minister and Trump-whisperer Giorgia Meloni must have been wondering as her Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán came to Rome this week. The Hungarian leader was on a mission to chew bubble gum and make erratic statements to the media — and it appears he was all out of gum. Italian media had a field day covering the meeting, splashing headlines about Palazzo Chigi’s “embarrassment” over how to handle the awkward friendship. And Meloni’s coalition partners weren’t shy either: “We have different ideas,” said Forza Italia leader — and man deeply devoted to his summer holidays — Antonio Tajani of the Hungarian prime minister. Poor Giorgia. Imagine spending most of your time at work trying to stop your international teammates — all with authoritarian ambitions, a flair for the dramatic and extremely thin skin — from accidentally starting another war, trade or otherwise, by offending one another. Or merely pointing out someone’s bronzer is fading. Then Orbán showed up at her door, turned to the cameras, and announced that U.S. President and makeup enthusiast Donald Trump “has gone too far” with his sanctions on Russian oil. Orbán vowed he would personally fly to Washington to talk the American leader out of them and fix the situation himself — like a real strongman would. And to make sure no world leaders felt left out, Orbán then pivoted to Europe, declaring that the EU “has no role” and is “out of the game” when it comes to Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be thrilled. Giorgia must have been exhausted by this point — and that was all on day one. She had probably hoped Orbán would have at least started the day on a holier note considering his morning began at the Vatican, but to no avail. “I’ve asked His Holiness to support Hungary’s peace efforts,” Orbán said of his meeting with the Pope. One can only imagine the pontiff’s reaction, likely a mix of shock and confusion as he restrained himself from questioning the Hungarian leader’s definition of “peace.” Next time, he might just call Giorgia and ask her to mediate. CAPTION COMPETITION “My hat might say USA, but my body says YMCA.” Can you do better? Email us at pdallison@politico.eu or get in touch on X @POLITICOEurope. Last week, we gave you this photo: Thanks for all the entries. Here’s the best one from our mailbag — there’s no prize except the gift of laughter, which I think we can all agree is far preferable to cash or booze. “World domination, one coloring book at a time.” by Val Flynn

JALË, Albania — Three and a half hours south of the capital Tirana, a winding road leads down to a 300-meter beach with crystal blue waters and pebbly sand. Here, on the edge of the Ionian Sea, visitors can rent a sunbed for €10, assuming they find parking along the dirt road and don’t mind being within arm’s length of their neighbor.  Ten years ago, the spot was a hidden gem for locals who would camp on the beach — for free. Now, both sides of the road are lined with construction sites, and a big developer promises to make the once-sleepy village a luxury hideaway for the world’s elites. Jalë’s stark shift from a natural and somewhat undiscovered paradise to a hot tourist destination is a microcosm of Albania’s surge in popularity — and the accompanying social and environmental issues the country is facing.  A PROMISING START While much of the world was still in lockdown from the Covid pandemic, Albania opened its doors to visitors in July 2020. Tourists eager to look at something other than their own four walls quickly answered the call, with over 5.6 million traveling to Albania in 2021 — a 114 percent increase over 2020.  But it wasn’t just the open borders that drew people in.  Other European hotspots, such as Italy, Spain and Portugal, were becoming increasingly expensive; Albania offered nature and world-class beaches at a fraction of the cost. Back in 2020, a night in a beachfront hotel with breakfast in August could cost as little as €30, and sunbeds started from €3. While some travelers found their way to Tirana and the beaches through word of mouth, social media lit a fire under the idea of holidaying in Albania. In 2024 Albania had more than 3.8 million posts on Instagram with over 106 billion views, catching up with neighboring and long-established destinations like Italy and Greece. What had been a steady flow of visitors became a flood. In 2023, a record 10 million tourists came — a 35 percent year-on-year increase, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics. In 2024, 11.7 million visited — another record representing a 15 percent increase, according to Tourism Minister Mirela Kumbaro. This year, the government hopes for more than 15 million — all in a country with a population of only 2.7 million. With visitors now generating about 8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and creating tens of thousands of jobs, one of the poorest countries in Europe can’t easily kick the tourism habit. Europeans comprise the majority of visitors, with Germans, Italians, Poles and French topping the list, local media reported. Unlike other European destinations such as Italy or France, Albania is a smaller country where visitors can explore mountains and beaches in a single day. It also lives in people’s minds as “wild and free and something that you don’t have in Europe,” said Denada Jushi, an Albanian journalist who has covered the country’s rise as a tourist destination.   CONSTRUCTION BONANZA  Government officials seeking to propel Albania into a prime tourist destination have exempted international hoteliers from corporate income tax for 10 years if they build four-star or five-star hotels. The tax initiative was introduced in 2019 but was extended earlier this year until 2027.  “These are major investments,” Blendi Klosi, the member of parliament who proposed the extension, told Albanian media. “This initiative benefits only a specific segment of the sector—those aiming to raise the industry to higher standards.”  The scheme has worked well. Several international brands, such as Marriott International, Meliá Hotels International and Radisson Hotel Group, have opened up, while U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is set to turn an Albanian island into a luxury retreat. Critics warn, however, that the beaches lack sufficient space to accommodate the visitors that such resorts would bring to the area, and that nature is being destroyed in the name of tourism. Already, Vlora Airport, which is set to open soon in the south of the country, has caused controversy over its proximity to a protected area. At the same time, funneling water from inland to the coastal resorts to meet demand has irked activists and locals alike, sparking protests. “Greed has replaced sensible planning — and, for that matter, love of the land, nature, and the homeland,” said Alfred Lela, spokesperson for the opposition Democratic Party.  TOO BIG, TOO FAST  Thrill-seekers can still find less developed parts of Albania to explore, but the days of dirt-cheap trips to the country are largely over.   The average spend per visitor increased 20 percent year-on-year in 2024, with tourists spending €5 billion in the country that year. Experts and businesses argue that more demand means more pressure on supply chains and increased costs from importing goods. And as costs rise, the locals who once frequented the beaches and nature are being pushed out. But it’s not just the higher prices that are giving people pause. “Trash is becoming a big, big problem everywhere. None of the municipalities are able to keep up or do recycling,” said Arben Kola, a tour guide and environmentalist.  Several Facebook groups dedicated to tourism in Albania feature posts from visitors complaining about trash along roadsides or on shorelines, along with laments about construction and high prices. Albania was once “something wild — just camping, youth, fun and nature,” said Jushi, the journalist. “It’s like Monaco now. There’s no space for locals.” 

First published on CagleCartoons.com, June 29, 2025 | By Christopher Weyant First published on CagleCartoons.com, June 25, 2025 | By Graeme MacKay First published on CagleCartoons.com, July 2, 2025 | By Michael de Adder

LONDON — At least he’s outlasted Liz Truss.  Britain’s embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer swept into office on a landslide a year ago this Saturday. Turns out that was the easy part — and the Labour leader’s No.10 tenure seems to have only continued the volatile trend of British politics over the past decade. As the big anniversary approaches, let POLITICO take you on a stroll down memory lane. JULY 2024 Starmer enjoyed a blink-and-you ’ll-miss-it honeymoon. After winning that landslide victory, the newly-minted prime minister promised a “mission of national renewal” and an end to “self-serving and self-obsessed” politics. It worked — briefly. The PM got to stride the world stage at the NATO Summit in Washington, D.C. and got going with a king’s speech packed full of policies.  But this month also sowed the seeds for trouble to come — particularly on the social security front. The government removed the whip from seven Labour MPs who backed an end to Britain’s two-child welfare cap. More significantly still, Chancellor Rachel Reeves moved to restrict winter fuel payments to only the poorest pensioners — blaming a £22 billion black hole in the public finances left by the Tories. Success rating: 6/10. A confident-seeming start — but slashing winter fuel funding would only come back to haunt Starmer. AUGUST 2024 Starmer cancelled his summer holiday as Britain was hit by far-right rioting. It erupted after the murder of three schoolgirls. The PM’s tough crackdown — pulling on his record as the top prosecutor for England and Wales to deploy specialist police officers who quickly arrested and charged perpetrators — was largely commended, even if it triggered Elon Musk. Much less praised was “Freebiegate” — Labour’s first real ethics scandal, which saw heavy scrutiny of gifts and perks to ministers from Labour donors. Starmer then tried to buoy spirits with a … depressing speech in the Downing Street rose garden saying the pain would get worse. He later regretted that the speech had “squeezed the hope out.” You don’t say. The PM endured the treasury minister Tulip Siddiq resigning amid a Bangladesh corruption probe, and he got a threat from Liz Truss, who insisted she’d get the lawyers in if he kept saying she crashed the economy. | Andy Rain/EPA Success rating: 5/10. A decisive response to rioting soon got overshadowed by a sleaze row. SEPTEMBER 2024 In a bid to maintain support for Ukraine, Starmer went to Washington pleading for then-U.S. president Joe Biden to let Kyiv use Storm Shadow missiles to strike inside Russia. The PM came away empty-handed — but did at least get to dine with Donald Trump. That turned out to be a shrewd move. Starmer made an erm, interesting intervention in another seemingly intractable overseas conflict by … demanding the “return of the [Israeli] sausages” during his speech at Labour conference. Success rating: 6/10. Starmer’s unfortunate gaffe aside, building the Trump link early certainly did him no harm. OCTOBER 2024 Now for the proper drama. No. 10 was thrown into fresh turmoil when Sue Gray quit as Starmer’s chief of staff after just three months.  A former civil service big beast, Gray’s position became untenable after multiple briefings against her. Elections guru Morgan McSweeney succeeded Gray. He would quickly run into his own problems in managing No. 10 effectively. The PM at least got to flee to Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting with King Charles. He then flew back into a major economic moment as Reeves gave her first budget, which changed farming inheritance tax rules, hiked national insurance contributions and saw £40 billion in tax rises. It got a mixed verdict, with Labour MPs happy with more health, education and defense funding, plus a boost to the minimum wage. Reeves’ decisions were the clearest indication the Labour administration would be different from the Tories. Success rating: 5/10. No.10 in turmoil, but hey, I got to hang out with the king. NOVEMBER 2024 Donald Trump decisively won a second term as U.S. president — forcing world leaders everywhere to adapt to the new reality. Starmer rang Trump the very same day. In a bid to maintain support for Ukraine, Starmer went to Washington pleading for then-U.S. president Joe Biden to let Kyiv use Storm Shadow missiles to strike inside Russia. | Leszek Szymanski/EPA The PM, meanwhile, authorized Ukraine to use Storm Shadow missiles targeted at Russia. He met Chinese leader Xi Jinping for the first time at the G20 in Brazil — and insisted human rights issues were raised. The month also saw Starmer’s first cabinet resignation when Louise Haigh quit as transport secretary over a historic fraud conviction. The swift change of personnel was brutal — showing Starmer can be ruthless when he wants to be. Success rating: 7/10. Starmer seemed more decisive at home and abroad. DECEMBER 2024 Six months in? Time for a “don’t call it a reset” reset speech.  Alongside five missions and three foundations, the PM gave a speech unveiling six milestones on which voters should judge him. He promised higher disposable income, more police and making children “school-ready.” No pressure. Starmer also started to generate “air miles Keir” headlines with overseas trips to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Norway and Estonia. The PM also managed his first holiday since the general election, heading to Madeira with his family. Success rating: 7/10. No massive drama here — and a break must have been nice. JANUARY 2025 A new year dawned, but the challenges kept piling up. X owner and then-Trump ally Elon Musk launched a tirade against Starmer’s government for perceived inaction on grooming gangs responsible for child sexual exploitation. Though Starmer commissioned an audit, the PM lambasted what he called a “far-right bandwagon” jumping on events for their own gain. That position would look shaky later. The PM endured the treasury minister Tulip Siddiq resigning amid a Bangladesh corruption probe, and he got a threat from Liz Truss, who insisted she’d get the lawyers in if he kept saying she crashed the economy. The remainder of the short-serving Tory former PM’s legacy won’t have done him much harm. Success rating: 5/10. The world’s richest man swept into British politics to Starmer’s detriment and upended the news agenda. The grooming gangs issue would not go away. Expectations for Keir Starmer’s first meeting with Donald Trump in the White House were pretty low. | Pool Photo by Ludovic Marin via EPA FEBRUARY 2025 Expectations for Starmer’s first meeting with Trump in the White House were pretty low. The center-left legal eagle and the brash Republican game show host are not natural allies. But the PM managed to play the game deftly, offering the U.S. president a second state visit invite from King Charles himself. Trump, in turn, praised Starmer’s “beautiful accent” and insisted he could work out any trade differences with the U.K. Starmer even managed to shut opinionated Vice President JD Vance up for a bit. The PM pre-empted the trip with a Trump-pleasing vow to hike defense spending. However, that came with a cost — development minister Anneliese Dodds quit, warning that funding the pledge by cutting overseas aid would cause real harm to the most vulnerable.  Success rating: 7/10. Starmer defied expectations to storm his Oval Office meeting — but lost a government ally. MARCH 2025 Just a day after Starmer’s own visit, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a nightmare encounter in the Oval Office as he was publicly belittled by Trump and Vance. While other world leaders tweeted their concern, the PM literally hugged Zelenskyy close, hosting a London Summit about Ukraine’s future and helping gin up a “coalition of the willing” to guarantee peace after any deal with Russia. A lack of any U.S. buy-in for this one means the jury is very much still out, although Starmer managed to move without enraging the White House. Far trickier for Starmer this month was the unveiling of a host of welfare cuts. The measures were initially announced in Reeves’ spring statement — and an impact assessment laid bare the potential impact on families, storing up huge problems for later. Success rating: 5/10. International wins — but big domestic trouble brewing. APRIL 2025 The special relationship didn’t shield Britain from Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs. The U.K. still faced the brunt of the U.S. president’s trade levies (even if Starmer later bagged carve-outs that would elude the EU). In one of the most dramatic moments of his premiership so far, parliament was also recalled for a rare Saturday sitting as it approved rapid-fire legislation effectively nationalizing a key steel plant in Scunthorpe. It was a decisive moment that has saved jobs — even if big questions remain about the site’s future. Success rating: 8/10. Starmer got through the tariff troubles and protected a key domestic industry. A dreadful set of local elections saw Labour lose hundreds of councillors and Nigel Farage’s Reform U.K. win many councils. | Neil Hall/EPA MAY 2025 A dreadful set of local elections saw Labour lose hundreds of councillors and Nigel Farage’s Reform U.K. win many councils. It set off soul-searching in the Labour ranks and made clear Farage is now the biggest rival to Labour. Sensing the threat, Starmer gave a speech about controlling migration which warned of a Britain becoming an “island of strangers.” The PM later said he “deeply regrets” using the term. On overseas affairs, Starmer had some wins: a long-coveted trade agreement with India (complete with a row about tax on Indian workers), a decently-received “reset” with the EU, and a much-hyped trade deal with the U.S. that got Trump purring but which left plenty of holes to be filled in. The controversial agreement to hand over control of the Chagos Islands was also signed — angering figures on the right but at least without triggering Team Trump. Success rating: 4/10. Labour got a decisive thumbs down from voters, which is hard to offset with some trade deal progress. JUNE 2025 Starmer was allowed a small cheer when Scottish Labour unexpectedly won a Holyrood by-election. But that was as good as it got. A flurry of defense, national security and China reviews allowed Starmer to highlight challenges Britain faced — while fears of a huge flare-up in the Middle East haven’t yet come to fruition after Trump deployed U.S. bombers in Iran. But June will forever be the month of U-turns. Reeves confirmed that far more pensioners will get winter fuel payments after a major voter backlash. Starmer also announced a national grooming gang inquiry — and made huge welfare concessions when more than 100 Labour MPs made clear they couldn’t support the proposals. Even that wasn’t enough (see next month). After a bitter battle, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater’s bill paving the way for assisted dying passing the Commons. It’s a change Starmer has long personally backed. Success rating: 5/10. Few remember reviews. Everyone remembers U-turns. JULY 2025 Arguably Starmer’s worst month to date — and it isn’t even five days old. The £5 billion Rachel Reeves was hoping to save from welfare vanished into thin air just an hour before the package was voted on, as the government filleted its own bill in the wake of a major rebellion. It raised huge questions about Starmer’s judgment and the make up of his top team. The £5 billion Rachel Reeves was hoping to save from welfare vanished into thin air just an hour before the package was voted on. | Will Oliver/EPA Markets wobbled the next day as Chancellor Rachel Reeves cried in the House of Commons over a “personal issue” — and Starmer declined to give her his long-term backing before fulsomely doing so in a mop-up interview later that night. Just another normal day. Success rating: 2/10. At least parliamentary recess is coming up.