Deadly wildfires have spread across Turkiye and Greece after weeks of devastation in Spain, France and Portugal. Two firefighters died battling a forest blaze on the Greek island of Crete on Wednesday, the fire department said, as several fires started around the country fanned by gale-force winds. Another died in a separate fire in the … Read moreWildfires spread in Greece and Turkiye as EU chief urges climate action
Greece’s relations with Ukraine have hit a new hurdle just weeks after clearing the last one, in a sign of how Europeans are trying to balance helping Ukraine with protecting their own economies. The European Commission is trying this week to reconfigure a 21st package of sanctions against Russia, after its original proposal foundered on … Read moreBaulking at shipping sanctions, Greece balances Ukraine aid, fear of Russia
Two boats, carrying 58 and 68 people and believed to have departed from Libya, were stopped on Monday, and their passengers were placed under guard at temporary shelters. More than 100 other refugees and migrants arrived on Crete over the weekend after strong winds eased. Greece’s conservative government last month suspended all asylum claims for … Read moreGreece’s Crete sees surge in boat arrivals despite harsher detention policy
Greece on Wednesday became the first European Union member to take advantage of relaxed spending rules for defence, announcing a 25bn-euro ($27bn) multi-year rearmament programme. The centrepiece of the programme was a multi-layered defence system called the Shield of Achilles, which Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament was “essentially a dome combining existing air defences … Read moreGreece launches ‘drastic’ rearmament programme to the tune of $27bn
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitotakis that there were “no unsolvable problems” between their countries as the leaders met in Ankara. Turkey and Greece have long been at odds over issues including maritime boundaries, energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean, flights over the Aegean Sea, and the division of Cyprus. … Read moreTurkey’s Erdogan meets Greek PM, sees ‘no unsolvable problems’ in ties
A major rescue operation is under way after a cargo ship carrying 14 crew members and a load of salt, sank off the coast of Lesbos island in Greece as high-speed winds tilted the vessel causing it to take on water. The Comoros-flagged ship Raptor, which was travelling from Dekheila, Egypt to Istanbul, sank 4.5 … Read moreRescue operation under way after cargo ship sinks off Greece coast
The leaders of Greece and Turkey have agreed to resume talks and confidence-building measures as they hailed a new “positive climate” in their often fraught ties. The two neighbouring countries have been at odds for decades over several issues, including energy resources, overflights above the Aegean Sea and ethnically split Cyprus. On Wednesday, Greek Prime … Read moreMitsotakis, Erdogan hail ‘positive climate’ in Greece-Turkey ties
Jubilant supporters clamoured around New Democracy’s headquarters, floodlit in the party’s trademark blue, to celebrate Prime Minister-elect Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s return for a second term. “For the second time, all of Greece is blue,” Mitsotakis said on Sunday night, referring to the electoral map, which showed only one of 60 electoral districts in the opposition Syriza … Read moreGreece’s New Democracy sets ambitious goals in second term
Greece’s opposition leader Alexis Tsipras has turned down a mandate to form a coalition government, saying he is preparing for a second election in June after a “painful” electoral defeat for his left-wing Syriza party. The conservative New Democracy party stormed to victory with 40.8 percent of the vote in Sunday’s poll which sent Syriza … Read moreGreece’s Alexis Tsipras rejects mandate to form coalition
When Iphigenia Zachou opened her café and bakery in Greece’s capital, she went through a bureaucratic wringer. Renting a property and spending almost $40,000 of her own and her parents’ money on baking ovens was only the first step. She then had to upgrade the power line to take the load. “It took a lot … Read moreThe Greek economy is changing – but not fast enough