Politics

On September 21, 2023, Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited Yale University’s Schwarzman Center to engage in a dialogue with Yale College Dean Pericles Lewis. The event, part of the Dean’s Dialogue Series, saw the Prime Minister emphasizing the importance of young people entering politics to drive societal change. Mitsotakis shared his personal journey from the private sector to politics and encouraged students and young professionals to consider a career in political leadership. He discussed the need for grooming the next generation of leaders and the challenges and rewards of working in politics. The event ended with a lively Q&A session and enthusiastic interactions with the audience. As he departed Yale to address the United Nations General Assembly, Mitsotakis l...

Greece plans to soon ban access to social media for children under 15, government sources say, adding that working groups have been set up. Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou said his office is ready to implement the measure from the day it is announced by the prime minister. Papastergiou said Europe was forced over the summer to issue common guidance on age verification and that Greece is the only country to have implemented it. He referred to the Kids Wallet parental control application developed by the Greek government and the Wallet application, through which users’ ages on social media platforms in Greece will be verified. He said France is expected to be ready for a similar type of age verification within the next two months, while other countries will likely adopt sim...

Pavlos De Grece and his family. File photo. Credit: AMNA In a high-stakes interview, Pavlos de Grèce, the former Crown Prince of Greece, delivered a carefully balanced message: he is a loyal citizen of the Republic but one whose “blood” and education keep him permanently tethered to the political arena. When pressed by Greek journalist Nikos Chatzinikolaou on whether he would follow the path of King Simeon of Bulgaria, who returned from exile to become Prime Minister, Pavlos did not issue a flat “never.” “Many things pass through my mind,” he admitted when asked about establishing a party. While he followed this up by adding he is “not a politician,” the phrase suggests he is at least weighing his options. He emphasized that politics is “in his blood” and that his life has been shaped ...

The leader of Greece’s main opposition party, PASOK, Nikos Androulakis submitted a no-confidence vote against the New Democracy government to the President of Parliament on Wednesday during a scheduled debate on the Tempi train crash.The motion was backed by the other opposition parties SYRIZA, Nea Aristera (New Left), and Plefsi Eleftherias (Course of Freedom). The 16-page agreement outlines the government’s responsibility, mistakes, and omissions in handling the Tempi train crash tragedy.Among other things, the document raises the issues of the lack of critical safety systems, severe staff shortages, and lack of proper oversight plaguing railway operations.It continues by stressing that despite receiving explicit and official warnings, both Prime Minister Mitsotakis and ex-Minister Karam...

When the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, visited Germany in mid-May, it was a welcome break from the difficult time he has been having at home. The Economic Council of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), the party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, awarded him the Ludwig Erhard Foundation Gold Medal, which gave the conservative politician the opportunity to highlight his successes in growing the Greek economy by 2.3% in 2024 and reducing unemployment by 9.5% in the same year. However, Mitsotakis' meeting with Merz also had its downside, especially with regard to refugees and migration. In theory, the two conservative governments are in agreement: both are determined to stop irregular immigration to Europe. Both have appointed known hard-liners as ministers responsible for ...

English peppered primarily with words of Greek origin. Credit: Public domain On Greek Language Day, many Greeks recall the speeches in English, peppered with words and phrases of Greek origin, delivered in the late 1950s by economist and politician Xenophon Zolotas. Zolotas was the director of the Bank of Greece when he appeared before an audience at an International Bank for Reconstruction and Development conference in 1959. He delivered two speeches in English using primarily Greek words to emphasize the wealth of the Greek language and the fact that countless Greek words enrich English. Greek remains a language that profoundly influences international scientific discourse; more than any other, it developed, shaped, and expressed the earliest scientific theories, philosophical thought, a...

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s conservative government is seeking to ban protests at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, an iconic monument outside Parliament in Athens which has frequently been the site of demonstrations. Opposition parties accuse the prime minister of intolerance and of sowing division.The area in front of the monument has become the focal point for protests by some of the relatives of victims of Greece’s deadliest train crash. The February 2023 disaster, in which a freight train and a passenger train heading in opposite directions collided after being put on the same track, killed 57 people, mostly students returning to university after a public holiday.Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ government submitted an amendment to the law governing the care of the monument that ...

Greece’s government is moving ahead with a constitutional reform that will significantly reshape the country’s controversial framework governing the criminal liability of ministers.At the center of the debate is Article 86 of the Constitution, a provision that has dominated public discussion for years and frequently sparked intense political confrontation. The article in question establishes a special procedure for investigating and prosecuting ministers for offenses allegedly committed while in office. Under the current system, Parliament holds decisive authority over whether investigations proceed, effectively giving lawmakers a monopoly over the process.The government has decided that Article 86 should not be repealed. Its position is that a procedural safeguard must exist when dealing ...

Maria Karystianou has issued fresh criticism of the conservative government’s approach to relations with Turkey, targeting Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis following his recent meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In a social media post on Friday, Karystianou – who is expected to launch a new political party after stepping down as president of the Tempe disaster victims’ association – accused the government of portraying what she described as a diplomatic setback as a positive development. She argued that the reception given to the Greek leader in Turkey did not reflect the level of engagement presented publicly. She also questioned references to meaningful dialogue between the two countries, citing what she described as Turkey’s longstanding violations of international l...

Of the three small right-wing parties that entered parliament in the last elections, the Spartans party is the most notable in that it includes former Golden Dawn members and received more votes than the others. As a result of the ban on the National Party-Hellenes, led by former Golden Dawn MP Ilias Kasidiaris, its candidates participated in the June 25 elections from the lists of an unnamed nationalist party called “Spartans.” In this way, the far right of the Golden Dawn line re-entered parliament after a four-year absence. Kasidiaris, who is still in prison, has signaled that he will lead a fierce opposition in parliament after the elections. However, given the recent sensitivity of the judiciary to far-right activities, the party may face judicial investigations if it pushes the bound...