BONJOUR from Brussels, where the dust is settling on the G7 summit and Europe is doing what it does best — trying, and failing, to get 27 EU countries to get behind a decision that satisfies everyone.

This time, it matters. The EU is in the throes of its five-yearly exercise in democracy, whereby a suite of top jobs are being divvied up following a bloc-wide European parliamentary election.

So close, so far: But despite signs the EU was cruising toward a decision on Monday at a specially convened summit, leaders failed to give the green light to Ursula von der Leyen’s pitch for another five years atop the European Commission, as well as the other senior jobs up for grabs. They’ll take another run at it next week when they meet in Brussels for a two-day summit.

Power vacuum: At this point the answer to the old (likely apocryphal) adage ascribed to Henry Kissinger — “who do I call when I want to call Europe?” — seems to be … no one. French President Emmanuel Macron’s party is in the fight of its political life after he called a snap election, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party scraped just 14 percent of the vote in the EU vote, and the Brussels leadership is in flux.

Step up, Viktor: Serendipitously for Europe’s best-known strongman, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the timing couldn’t be better. Hungary assumes the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the EU on July 1, giving it a prominent role in setting the EU’s agenda (read more about the significance of the presidency here). At a launch in Brussels this week, Hungary revealed its presidency slogan: “Make Europe Great Again.”

Homage to Trump: Orbán has made no secret of his longing for a Donald Trump-inspired transatlantic movement. He cozied up to American conservative TV host Tucker Carlson and cheered Trump’s bid for reelection. In his annual speech to the Hungarian parliament earlier this year, Orbán noted that Hungary’s EU presidency will overlap with the U.S. presidential election, which he sees as a moment for the right to unite. “Make Europe Great Again!” he declared. “Over there MAGA, over here MEGA.”

HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE MELONI SCORNED

RIDING THE G7 HIGH: As the final G7 delegates left the Puglia coast on Sunday, all that remained were the temporary helicopter landing pads near the beach and the odd military vessel in the waters. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was no doubt basking in the success of her first G7 summit as host, which saw a deal on a landmark plan to use Russian assets to help Ukraine and a record number of global leaders (plus Pope Francis) attending.

Reality check: But the Italian PM came back to earth with a bang when she arrived in Brussels Monday for a leaders’ summit where the bloc’s heads of state and government were due to carve up the EU’s top jobs over dinner. Those killer glances that launched a thousand memes during the G7 — the “don’t get too close” recoil from British PM Rishi Sunak and the “whatever” eye-roll for Emmanuel Macron — were replaced by unmistakable, pure fury.

Snubbed: The Italian leader was angry after the working dinner between the EU’s 27 national leaders to discuss the allocation of senior jobs was delayed by a few hours after a select few met first for some pre-match decision-making. Six prime ministers from the EU’s three largest political families (all men) got their ducks in a row, presenting their preferred line-up.

Meloni — backed by Orbán — was not happy. She contends that the strong performance of her own Brothers of Italy party and other nationalist, right-wing factions across Europe means they’re entitled to a share of the top-job pie. On Wednesday, Meloni’s ECR group became the third-largest force in the European Parliament after attracting a fresh batch of MEPs to its ranks, boosting the hard-right’s claim to a top EU job.

Next steps: The ascent of the radical right complicates the top job jigsaw. While technically leaders can endorse von der Leyen next week without Meloni’s support, the Commission chief still needs the votes of 361 members of the European Parliament — a tough task.

Running the numbers: Team VDL believes the Commission chief has the numbers in the European Parliament without having to resort to courting far-right MEPs. But the margins are razor thin, and the EU’s top dogs may yet rue the day they scorned Meloni.

VENEZUELA VOTES

WINDS OF CHANGE: One of the most important votes of this bumper election year is taking place in a month. Why is it so significant? For once, the opposition candidate taking on incumbent Nicolás Maduro actually has a chance of winning.

What’s at stake: Polls show Edmundo González Urrutia is in the lead, presenting a serious challenge to Maduro, who has been in power since Hugo Chávez died in 2013.

In a twist that says everything about the state of Venezuelan democracy, González took the place of María Corina Machado, the actual candidate selected in a “primary” but banned by the Maduro government from holding office.

Taking stock: I sat down with Leopoldo López Gil, an outgoing Spanish MEP who knows a thing or two about Venezuela. The father and namesake of former Caracas mayor and famed Venezuelan dissident Leopoldo López, he has lived in exile in Spain since 2015. In 2019, he was selected to run in the European Parliament and won a seat.

Sliding doors. “I remember the night my lawyer came to my door in Caracas and said, ‘You have to leave,’” he recalls in his Brussels office. López and other members of the editorial board of Venezuela’s El Nacional newspaper had been sued over their coverage of the president of the National Assembly. “Previously I had been accused of national treason and couldn’t leave the country. I knew what it meant.”

Venezuela’s crisis: López, who cut his political teeth as a pollster in the early 1970s, is unsurprisingly damning about the current state of Venezuela, once the wealthiest country in South America. “It’s not just my personal opinion. According to the U.N., 85 percent of people are living in poverty, 60 percent on the critical poverty line. The currency has collapsed, as has oil production.” (Read more on that here.)

Mass exodus: Perhaps the biggest indication of the crisis engulfing the country has been the exodus of almost 8 million Venezuelans, many of whom have fled to the United States. Given Venezuela’s current population of around 30 million, that’s a huge proportion.

Election predictions: The big question looming over the July 28 vote is whether Maduro would accept defeat — or if the election will be free and fair at all. The next presidential term does not begin until January, leaving a six-month period during which anything could happen, said López.

Voter suppression: “Millions of Venezuelans abroad have been barred from voting. Then there is the issue of who gets on the register,” López noted. “I myself had the experience of not being allowed to vote for years as I was repeatedly told at the voting booth that I was in fact registered as ‘dead.’”

Watching closely: The election is being closely watched in the United States, not least given Venezuela’s status as one of the main sources of migration from the region. But assessing the legalities of the election will be a challenge — Venezuela revoked an invitation to the European Union earlier this year to send election monitors in protest at sanctions.

AROUND THE WORLD

A DONE DEAL: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak continues to valiantly campaign across Britain ahead of a July 4 snap general election, but the polls point only one way: his Conservative Party could be reduced  to its lowest number of seats for more than a century. Already, the guessing game has begun about who will succeed Sunak as leader of Tory party, The Times reports. Caveat: They all need to hold on to their own seats — and that’s not a given for anyone at this point.

More headaches for Sunak: One of the PM’s protection officers was arrested over an alleged bet placed on the timing of the election. It comes after one of Sunak’s close parliamentary aides was placed under investigation for an alleged bet he placed days before Sunak revealed the surprise election date, with the BBC reporting the Gambling Commission is scrutinizing a second Tory candidate.

Silver lining: Still, Sunak can always bolt to his $7.2 million California beach house if it all gets too much on the campaign trail.

FARAGE FIRES OFF: Speaking of the U.K. election, Nigel Farage, the Brexit campaigner who jumped into the race via his Reform UK party and now looks set to gobble up a significant share of the Conservatives’ vote, pledged Wednesday that his party will “reject the influence of the World Economic Forum and cancel Britain’s membership of it.”

Reality check: The arch-Brexiteer seems to think countries become “members” of the annual event in Davos. Quick, someone send him a copy of Global Playbook so he’s up to date on how the Magic Mountain works.

FROM ONE DICTATOR TO ANOTHER: Donald Trump famously exchanged “beautiful letters” with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un; Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin said I love you with a Lada (or some other Russian-made car). It was Kim’s turn to treat Putin this week, with the North Korean dictator putting on a lavish ceremony for Putin as he welcomed the Russian leader to Pyongyang. The two countries agreed to provide “mutual help” if the other faces “aggression”— a commitment that is likely to send shivers down the spine of most of the rest of the world.

SLAUGHTER IN SUDAN: Civil war continues to rage in Sudan, more than a year after violence erupted between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). As well as widespread killing — check out this gut-wrenching series from Reuters — famine is looming, with the United States announcing a new support package worth $315 million. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield described it as “the largest humanitarian crisis on the face of the planet.”

WHEN PELOSI MET THE DALAI LAMA: China condemned a meeting between former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and the Dalai Lama in the Himalayan town of Dharamsala, accusing the U.S. of “sending the wrong signal to the world.”

Pelosi, along with a group of senior lawmakers including the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul, donned white silk khatas to meet the spiritual leader, with McCaul championing Tibet’s “right to self-determination.”

JOBS CORNER

— Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is set to become the next NATO chief after Hungary and Slovakia dropped their opposition to his candidacy. Romania’s the last hold out, but not for long. Rutte’s appointment will likely be rubber-stamped at the NATO summit in Washington in July.

— Cyril Ramaphosa has been sworn in for another term as president of South Africa despite his ANC party losing its majority for the first time. The party founded by Nelson Mandela did a deal with long-term rivals the Democratic Alliance, and other parties.

— Former Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin is now on the Yalta European Strategy board, joining former Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski, former Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, former NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Munich Security Conference founder Wolfgang Ischinger, Executive Vice President of Havas Group Stéphane Fouks and Victor Pinchuk, founder of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

— Congratulations to prominent human rights campaigner and anti-Putin activist Bill Browder, who was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in King Charles’ birthday honors list.

Global Playbook couldn’t happen without Global Playbook editor Zoya Sheftalovich

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