Politics
Mitsotakis intervenes in EU migration debate as PASOK challenges wildfire policy
The political temperature in Athens has risen sharply in recent days, shaped by three converging dynamics: the Greek government’s alarm over the crisis in Ceuta and the wider debate on “weaponised migration”; PASOK’s intensifying pressure on the government over the wildfires that have devastated parts of the country; and the increasingly direct confrontation between PASOK and the new challenger ELAS, which is itself preparing to take the next step in its emergence ahead of the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF).
Extensive wildfires put extra strain on PM as he looks for clear path to TIF policy speech
The dense smoke that settled over Attica in recent days captured, with brutal clarity, the scale of the destruction Greece is facing this summer due to an extensive outbreak of wildfires.
PM urges ministers to focus on delivery, not be distracted by likely long election campaign
As Greece enters the final stretch before the August break, Kyriakos Mitsotakis has used the last cabinet meeting before ministers take their vacations to send a clear message: the government must accelerate delivery, sharpen its public presence and prepare for a long pre‑election period culminating in national polls in spring 2027.
Firefighter deaths overshadow cabinet meeting as exodus from Elpida party continues
Three firefighters died on Wednesday battling wildfires in Crete and the southern Peloponnese, casting a shadow over the government's last cabinet meeting before the summer recess.
PM uses island visit to highlight border control as Tsipras makes decentralisation play
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis used a visit to the Aegean island of Leros on Monday to sharpen the binary choice he wants voters to confront at the next election, contrasting the current state of border security and migration management with the record of SYRIZA-ANEL government he replaced in 2019.
PM and ministers go on the road as constitutional revision vote fails to yield consensus
The government is mounting an effort to reconnect with regional Greece ahead of the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), as Alexis Tsipras attempts to redefine the progressive space through an ambitious overhaul of local government.
PM offers more fuel relief as path to TIF pledges becomes more treacherous
As Greece moves towards the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) in early September, the government is being forced to deal with a cost‑of‑living crisis intensified by geopolitical instability, a shifting electoral landscape marked by new party dynamics and voter volatility, and the start of a major constitutional revision process that requires broad parliamentary support.
ND faces deadlock over constitutional revision as SYRIZA continues to unravel
Party leaders are due to debate this Friday the government’s proposals for the revision of the Greek constitution. But it was already clear from the opening session of the parliamentary discussion that New Democracy enters this process politically isolated, unable to secure the 180‑vote supermajority required for any meaningful change, and locked in a confrontational dynamic with an opposition that refuses to grant it even the minimum level of trust.
Tanker diplomacy gets Athens into hot waters over Russia sanctions
Athens's case for protecting its shipowners' commercial interests has come under unusually direct public criticism from other member states, as EU diplomats conclude negotiations on the 21st Russia sanctions package.
PM paves way to elections with three-year growth plan as ballot speculation simmers
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has been assembling the elements of the argument that he intends to make at the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) in September to convince voters to give New Democracy a third term. At the heart of the pitch is a three-year growth programme, which, he argues, will make Greece “a much better country by 2030”.