Europe

Congress is turning into the latest battleground pitting Israel and Greece on one side and Turkey on the other.

Tensions between U.S. allies Israel and Turkey have been high since Israel intercepted a Turkish vessel defying the embargo on Gaza two years ago, resulting in the death of nine Turkish activists. Now Israel is drawing closer to Turkish archrival Greece, with direct repercussions on Capitol Hill.

Last week, House Foreign Affairs Committee member Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) launched the Congressional Hellenic-Israeli Alliance, a new congressional caucus Bilirakis says aims to focus on the “flourishing relationship between the United States, Greece, Israel, and Cyprus.” 

In a statement Monday, Bilirakis applauded Israeli President Shimon Peres's trip to Greece this week, during which Peres slammed Turkey's interference in Cyprus.

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Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) left for Moscow on Monday as part of a three-nation trip during which he'll press for extending his signature Nunn-Lugar disarmament agreement, which expires next year.

Lugar is also slated to travel to Ukraine and Georgia as part of his annual oversight visits to verify the implementation of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. He authored the program with then-Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) in 1991 to provide countries of the former Soviet Union with funding and expertise to dismantle their weapons of mass destruction programs.

“My visit comes at a time of considerable stress in our bilateral relationship with Russia, great challenges in Ukraine and tremendous opportunity in Georgia,” he said in a statement announcing the trip. “The constant basis for cooperation against existential threats in all three nations has been the Nunn-Lugar program, which has endured despite great differences and dramatic changes.

In a speech in Poland, Romney said the country had shown "what free people and free economies can achieve."

Your morning global affairs speed-read

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney wraps up his three-nation world tour in Poland with a visit to Warsaw, where he's slated to deliver a final foreign-policy address. Romney is also scheduled to meet with Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and President Bronislaw Komorowski before laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and visiting several World War II memorials.

The visit will cap a sometimes-contentious trip that has been marred by several high-profile incidents, such as Romney's comments about London's preparedness for the Olympics and statements about Israelis' cultural superiority over the Palestinians. In a sign of tensions created by the trip, the campaign's traveling press secretary told reporters to “shove it” when asked why the candidate has taken only three questions from U.S. reporters during the trip. [Associated Press]

Down in Africa: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaves on a 10-day of Africa, during which she'll emphasize U.S. commitments made under President Obama's U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa, issued last month, which aims to strengthen democratic institutions, spur economic growth, advance peace and security and promote opportunity and development for all citizens.

Clinton starts her trip in Senegal, where she'll meet President Macky Sall and other national leaders and deliver a speech applauding the resilience of Senegal's democratic institutions and highlighting America's approach to partnership, before heading to South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi and South Africa. 

Fresh blood: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds a hearing on Obama's nominees to be ambassadors to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“I wish you to be successful because this success is needed to the United States," Walesa told Romney.

“He’s now been to two countries . . . where he has made a series of fumbles," an Obama aide said.

Your morning global affairs speed-read

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney visits the Polish port city of Gdansk — also known by its German name of Danzig — where some of the first shots of World War II were fired. The visit to Poland caps Romney's five-day trip, which started in England and continued in Israel over the weekend.

Romney is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Donald Tusk and former President Lech Walesa. He'll also visit the World War II Westerplatte Memorial and the Solidarity Monument Site. Romney is expected to use the Polish leg of his trip to draw a distinction with President Obama in terms of his commitment to a European missile defense shield and standing up to Russia.

Life's a trip: Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is also on the move, with a five-day visit to Tunisia, Egypt, Israel and Jordan that's expected to focus heavily on the situation in Syria. During his visit to Egypt, Panetta will meet with new Egyptian President — and Muslim Brotherhood member — Mohammed Morsi. 

On Sunday, Panetta reiterated that Israel and the United States are united in their support for economic sanctions aimed at getting Iran to abandon its alleged nuclear weapons program. [Washington Post] The remarks come as Romney over the weekend sought to appear tougher on Iran by supporting a unilateral Israeli strike.

And Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is also traveling, with a meeting with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble planned for Monday afternoon in Sylt, Germany. In the evening, the secretary will meet with European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi in Frankfurt.

British PM David Cameron criticized Romney for suggesting the city wasn't ready for the summer Olympics.

Your morning global affairs speed-read

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's pre-election trip abroad got off to a rough start after unnamed campaign advisers criticized President Obama to the British press, creating an uproar in the Obama camp. Romney distanced himself from the remarks in an television interview.

Romney's stop in Great Britain is the first leg of a trip that will also take him to Poland and Israel. Today he's scheduled to meet with leaders of the main parties: Tory Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg (also the leader of the British Liberal Democrats), Foreign Secretary William Hague and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne; as well as former Labour Party Prime Minister Tony Blair and Labour Leader Ed Miliband.

Disability treaty: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee marks up the United Nations treaty on people with disabilities, which Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and several other Republicans on the committee held up last week. The treaty has broad bipartisan support, but some in the home-schooling movement believe it could impose international standards on how they raise their children.

Russian trade: The House Ways and Means panel, which has jurisdiction over trade, finally marks up legislation establishing permanent normal trade relations with Russia after Republicans and Democrats struck a deal on a way forward on human-rights legislation many lawmakers want to see attached.

Democrats hammered Romney on an anonymous quote from a campaign adviser in a British paper