MacroPolis

Athens closes border, looks for EU support to ride out migration storm

The Greek government is hoping that it will be able to rely on European support in the coming days after tense weekend on the country’s border with Turkey and on the Aegean islands.

PM faces complex challenge as Turkey threatens free passage for refugees

The government scrambled to prepare on Friday for a potential sharp influx of refugees arriving in Greece over the next few days after Turkey intimated that it would provide free passage to Syrians seeking to reach the European Union.

Island unrest puts PM in tough spot

The government finds itself having to tackle two crises: The angry reaction on Aegean islands to the attempt to build closed reception centres for migrants and the arrival of the coronavirus in Greece.

Authorities struggle with islanders' resistance to closed centres for migrants

The government went on a charm offensive on Tuesday, deploying a wide range of arguments to re-build local communities’ trust and support its plan for the establishment of closed migrant reception centres on the eastern Aegean islands.

The "great replacement" comes to Greece - how a far-right meme appeared in mainstream politics

By: Georgia Nakou

While the popularity of the far right in Greece appeared to wane with the defeat of neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn at the polls, there are worrying signs that some of the extreme ideas once associated with the fringes of politics have been absorbed into the political mainstream.

ND targets NGOs in latest bid to bring migration under control

The government adopted on Tuesday legislation that paves the way for the creation of an official register for non-governmental organisations that deal with refugees.

Study sheds light on different experiences, aspirations of new and long-term migrants

A new report by the think-tank diaNeosis has shed light on the views of Greece’s migrant population in the first comprehensive study of its kind.

PM aims to maintain pace of economic reforms as public worries about migration

The tax bill submitted to Parliament this week, the pension bill due in the coming days and the draft legislation for the overhaul of the Public Power Corporation (PPC) topped the agenda of Thursday’s cabinet meeting, where Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis urged his ministers to keep up the pace set since New Democracy came to power in July.

ND tries to quash refugee backlash, protect strong poll ratings

The Greek government has been trying to assuage concerns about the transfer of migrants from the Aegean islands following more strong reactions by some local residents in mainland areas New Democracy wants to use to relieve the pressure on the larger refugee centres.

ND looks to asylum bill, strong rhetoric to ease pressure from migration flows

MPs have begun debating the government’s proposal for an overhaul of Greece’s asylum laws, which New Democracy sees as an important step towards facilitating the return of arrivals who are not eligible for protection and thereby easing the pressure on Greek islands and authorities in general.