Politics
Vote on same-sex civil unions reveals common ground and divisions
Apart from being an important moment in terms of Greece aligning its civil rights with European Union norms, the passing of a bill on same-sex civil unions on Tuesday night also revealed some significant political fault lines.
Prior actions completed, coalition now faces up to first review and contentious reforms
The race to complete the second set of prior actions demanded by Greece’s lenders before Christmas appears to have been completed, providing the government with a much-needed injection of funds and a short break before a new round of negotiations begins.
Meimarakis and Mitsotakis make it into run-off vote for New Democracy leadership
New Democracy’s ex-interim leader Evangelos Meimarakis and former administrative reform minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis are to battle it out for the party leadership on January 10 after an inconclusive ballot on Sunday.
Greece welcomes Abbas after stalemate during visit by FYROM's Poposki
The President of Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas begins an official two-day visit to Athens on Monday.
Growing criticism of coalition's handling of public sector jobs
The government’s handling of public positions became an issue again this week as the opposition parties accused it of trying to cram its own people into the civil service.
Poposki visit significant but Greek-FYROM relations yet to find sure footing
A visit by the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki to Athens on Thursday is the first of its kind for many years and raises hopes that Greece and its neighbour are on the path towards settling their name dispute.
Stress-free vote on multi-bill but bigger challenges lie ahead for Tsipras
There were no surprises for the government in Tuesday night’s vote on the multi-bill of prior actions, including the sale of a first batch of non-performing loans (NPLs), as all 153 coalition MPs supported the legislation.
SYRIZA fails to make any friends with new public sector wage grid
The government has found itself under attack from all sides over the changes to the public sector wage grid, which are due to be voted on in Parliament on Tuesday evening.
Deflated SYRIZA shuns broader political cooperation for now
A meeting of SYRIZA’s central committee over the weekend ended with the members rejecting the idea of broadening the governing coalition and deciding to hold the party congress in April.
Gov't hopes deal with lenders on prior actions will prove politically palatable
Greece and its lenders have reached an agreement on the details of the 13 prior actions the government will have to pass to trigger the release of another 1 billion euros in bailout funds.