Politics
US amendment on Turkish jets adds new factor in Athens-Ankara ties
The US House of Representatives approved last Thursday an amendment to the annual defence spending bill that restricts the sale of F-16 fighter jets and modernisation tools to Turkey unless the US president decided such a transfer is in America’s national interests.
Flashpoints fuel contest for centrist voters
As the battle intensifies between Greek parties for the support of centre ground voters, a group which could decide the outcome of the next elections, opinion polls continue to show that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has a strong appeal among centrists, and that PASOK-KINAL leader Nikos Androulakis has overtaken SYRIZA’s Alexis Tsipras.
Rule of law and media freedom in spotlight after arson attack and European Commission report
The publication of a European Commission report raising the issue of threats to the practice of journalism in Greece on the day that the headquarters of a Greek media group were targeted in an arson attack highlights the troubled relationship between the media and politics in the country.
Opposition parties step up pressure after back-and-forth over election date
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis may have taken the possibility of snap elections off the table, at least for now, but the opposition parties are showing no appetite for letting up in their efforts to improve their standing ahead of the next vote.
Universities bill expected to pass despite many critics and united opposition
The latest in a series of ambitious education reform bills brought by the Mitsotakis government is due to be debated in Parliament this week, with opposition parties set to confront the government on what both sides are framing as an ideological battleground.
Govt turns attention to more relief measures in absence of snap polls
Following the recent efforts by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to kill off speculation about snap elections, the government’s focus is turning to what measures it will be able to unveil over the coming months to win the support of voters ahead of the national vote, which now seems set for the end of New Democracy’s four-year term towards next summer.
Explanations sought as PM backs away from prospect of early elections
The fallout from Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s insistence this week that he does not have plans to call snap elections in the autumn continued on Friday as the local media attempted to explain his decision given that early polls were considered a near certainty over the last few weeks.
Mitsotakis insists on no early elections, accusing opposition of sowing division
The ongoing speculation about early elections took another twist on Wednesday, when Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis repeatedly asserted in Parliament that he intended to exhaust his term in office.
Ukraine war and Turkey tension top foreign policy concerns
Facing possible snap elections this autumn, there are two key issues of concern for the Greek government on the foreign policy front.
Mitsotakis turns to 2015 contrast again as MEPs give PM bumpy ride
Although Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis returned to what has become a favourite subject for him recently – comparing today’s Greece to the state the country was in when it held the referendum in 2015 – his speech to the European Parliament on Tuesday did not pass off as smoothly as he would have hoped.