Politics

South Melbourne FC hosted a distinguished pre-game VIP dinner on Saturday night ahead of the club’s match against NWS Spirit, bringing together political leaders, major sponsors, Greek Australian community figures and representatives from across Melbourne’s football scene. Held in the club’s VIP room, the event was attended by the full South Melbourne board, prominent financial supporters, officials from local Greek football clubs, former players, past administrators and members of the Greek Australian media. Among the political guests honoured with the historic South Melbourne jersey were Labor state MP Nina Taylor, Mayor of Port Phillip Alex Makin, and Victorian Labor MP Anthony Cianfione, who chairs the Victorian Parliament’s Friends of Football committee. The club’s Mai...

In the midst of shifting geopolitical sands, the ongoing war in Ukraine and President Trump’s determination to alter the world order as we know it, Greece is preparing one of its most ambitious defense investments in decades, pledging to spend €25 billion over the next ten years to modernize its armed forces and strengthen its domestic defense industry.According to the draft 2026 state budget, defense deliveries will reach €1.7 billion in 2025 and €2.3 billion in 2026, while total annual investment in military equipment is projected at €1.88 billion, or about 0.3% of GDP -one of the highest defense spending ratios in the European Union.Greece is making use of an EU National Escape Clause (NEC) that allows elevated defense expenditures to be temporarily excluded from its deficit calculation...

Greek Minister of Environment and Energy, Stavros Papastavrou, is set to visit the headquarters of oil giants Chevron and ExxonMobil in Houston, Texas, on May 8 and 9. His visit aims to discuss ongoing hydrocarbon exploration projects in Greece.The international tender for four offshore blocks in the Ionian Sea and off the coast of Crete was recently published in the Government Gazette and is scheduled to be posted in the Official Journal of the European Union. The four blocks include “South of Peloponnese,” “South Crete I,” “South Crete II,” for which Chevron has expressed interest, and “A2,” sought by HELLENiQ ENERGY.During his U.S. visit, Papastavrou plans to brief Chevron executives on the tender and request a timeline for seismic surveys. On May 8, the Greek delegation will visit Chev...

A Metron Analysis poll presented Thursday shows that the Greek government continues to face widespread public discontent, despite a slight increase in support within its own voter base. The survey indicates that a majority of citizens oppose the government’s performance, with dissatisfaction driven primarily by inflation and other economic pressures. Most Greeks Say the Country Is Moving in the Wrong Direction According to the poll, 69% of respondents believe Greece is headed in the wrong direction, a figure consistent with previous surveys. Most people say their personal financial situation has either worsened or remained unchanged compared to last year, while only 15% report improvement. The top concern for nearly half of respondents (49%) is rising prices, followed closely by broader...

ARCHIVE - Tanks of the Greek army take part in a military parade (archive photo). Photo: Thanassis Stavrakis/AP/dpa Keystone Greece is pressing ahead with a comprehensive reform of its armed forces. The most important component is the establishment of a corps of 150,000 reservists.Men between the ages of 45 and 60 are to take part on a voluntary basis. For the first time, women between the ages of 18 and 26 will also be given the opportunity to serve in the armed forces on a voluntary, twelve-month basis from 2026. The Greek Ministry of Defense presented the corresponding amendment to the law today. Low birth rate as the triggerReasons for the measures include the low birth rate - one of the lowest in the EU at 1.26 - and the exodus of young people ab...

ATHENS – With Piraeus under China’s shipping giant and Thessaloniki linked to Russian-Greek business interests, Washington is now seeking a foothold in Greece’s strategic ports – but analysts say it may be too late to push Beijing out. Athens’ legendary port of Piraeus, labelled the “dragon’s head” of the Mediterranean by President Xi Jinping, became a flagship Belt and Road asset, Beijing’s main vehicle for expanding its political and economic influence abroad, after Greece privatised it during the 2008 bailout. “We found ourselves at a time when we desperately needed foreign investment and no one else was investing,” a former conservative minister under Prime Minister Antonis Samaras (2012-2015), who requested anonymity, told Euractiv. The former minister added that the Americans and Eur...

[InTime News] Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis held a phone call Saturday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following an initiative by the Israeli side, according to a statement from the Greek government. During the conversation, Mitsotakis stressed the urgent need for de-escalation in the region. While acknowledging that Iran must not obtain a nuclear arsenal, he emphasized that diplomacy is the only viable path forward and warned against opening new fronts of conflict in the Middle East. The Greek leader also reiterated the necessity of an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, the release of hostages and the unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid to civilians in need. The call comes amid rising violence between Israel and Hamas in Gaza...

At the height of the Cold War, the activities of Greek migrants who had arrived in Australia after the second world war saw the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) take notice. At the time, immigrants were keenly sought to expand the postwar Australian economy: more than 160,000 arrived from Greece during this period. But migrants were nonetheless viewed with suspicion and distrust, especially those from southern European countries. During the assimilation era, from 1945 to 1966 – a time when the White Australia policy was still in force – immigrants were expected to shed their cultural identity and adopt what was described as “the Australian way of life”. They were supposed to disassociate with events from the homeland, disavow politics from overseas, and not to develop...

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met his Singaporean counterpart, Lawrence Wong, on Thursday, Nov. 20, in a visit aimed at expanding cooperation between the two nations. Later, he was received by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the Istana, Singapore’s presidential complex.In talks with Wong, Mitsotakis highlighted the strong potential for deeper bilateral collaboration across tourism, shipping, defense, and Greek exports—including agri-food products. The two leaders also examined investment prospects in Greece, an area where Singaporean interest has been steadily growing.Digital governance was another focal point, with both countries exploring opportunities for knowledge exchange on digital transformation and the use of artificial intelligence in public administration.Mitsotaki...

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will visit Singapore on Thursday for a two-day trip aimed at showcasing Greece as an emerging investment destination for Asian markets. During his stay from Nov. 20–21, he is set to meet Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.It will be his second encounter with a Singaporean prime minister, following his 2022 meeting in Brussels with Wong’s predecessor, Lee Hsien Loong, on the sidelines of the EU–ASEAN summit.According to government sources, Greece and Singapore share a commitment to multilateralism, international law and open trade. They note that Singapore is one of Asia’s most advanced economies, yet its investors remain less familiar with Greece compared with those in Europe or the United States—something Athens hopes...