Politics

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reshuffled his cabinet on Friday, appointing new finance and transport ministers and handing other key portfolios to younger officials. The reshuffle comes in response to recent mass protests over the nations's worst rail tragedy. Mitsotakis is trying to win back the public's trust after the train crash in 2023 that killed 57 people. The second anniversary, last month, of the Tempi railway disaster led to large protests over suspicions that the government is trying to cover up the case. Popular ministers get the nod in the reshuffle Mitsotakis' New Democracy party faces declining approval ratings amid the political fallout from the disaster. A poll for Star TV found that more than 50% of Greeks want early elections, and more than 65% of ruling...

“Every major energy project -be it pipelines, LNG terminals, or interconnection cables- carries distinct geostrategic weight and can reshape regional balances”. This has been the guiding principle of the Greek government as it attempts to upgrade its geopolitical position in the East Med through projects centred on natural gas and green energy.Athens seems to be banking on growing U.S. interest in hydrocarbon exploration in Greece’s western basin and more specifically in the south and west of Crete, where energy giants ExxonMobil and Chevron have already expre. The government also hopes to reinforce internal consumption of natural gas while establishing itself as a key route for US liquefied natural gas (LNG) into Europe. The aspiration is that such a move will bring the two countries clos...

People gather in front of the Greek parliament during a protest, marking the second anniversary of the country"s worst railway disaster, while an investigation continues, in Athens, Greece on Feb 28. Louiza Vradi / REUTERS In February 2023, Greece was stunned by the worst train crash in the country's history, which left 57 people dead and dozens more injured. But despite an inquiry ruling that inadequate staffing, poor maintenance, and human error had contributed to the incident, so far, no senior politicians have faced any action. Coming as this did on top of other major public safety incidents in previous years, following Greece's high-profile austerity program in the aftermath of the financial crisis, public anger has reached boiling point. The second anniversary of the crash sa...

Ruling conservative New Democracy (ND) leads second-placed PASOK in the latest opinion poll conducted by Interview.  Although ND still maintains a double-digit lead over PASOK, Prime Minister Mitsotakis failed to reverse the government’s negative momentum despite his recent pledges to raise one-off payments to pensioners and rent subsidies.At the same time, the survey shows a rise in support for PASOK, which has reclaimed second place, while support for the left-wing party Course of Freedom has declined.The poll also highlights the low electoral ceilings for all parties, suggesting that no single party appears capable of securing an outright majority. This development could make political alliances or new formations increasingly necessary.Specifically, in the poll conducted for Politic, Ne...

Greece has donated €10,000 (about A$18,000) to the University of Sydney’s Department of Modern Greek and Byzantine Studies, The Greek Herald reported. The donation was announced on Wednesday by Greece’s deputy foreign minister for Greeks abroad, Yiannis Loverdos, during an event at the university’s Chau Chak Wing Museum attended by political officials, diplomats, academics and members of the Greek diaspora. In his address, Loverdos described the donation as “a very small but heartfelt contribution” from the Greek state, symbolizing its appreciation for efforts in Australia to preserve the Greek language. “I wish we could give you much more,” he said. “We want to see more chairs of Greek studies across Australia to ensure the Greek language continues to be taught and spoken. Greeks are not ...

Capital Link Explore the Business and Investment Landscape in Greece NEW YORK, Nov. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Greek Government Officials and Industry Leaders will be presenting at the 27th Annual Capital Link Invest in Greece Forum entitled “Building on Success: Unlocking Greece’s Investment Potential,” on Monday, December 8, 2025, at the Metropolitan Club. Organized in collaboration with the New York Stock Exchange, the Athens Exchange Group, Lead Sponsors Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley & TEN Ltd., and the support of many other major global investment banks, this prestigious forum is the longest-running investment summit on Greece held abroad. Under the auspices of the Consulate General of Greece in New York, the event gathers Government officials, top industry leaders...

He said the government will focus on young people and families with children, but did not specify how the aid will be distributed. The Greek government will channel more than two billion euros in the coming months to boost disposable incomes and ease the impact of the rising cost of living, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced. “Our priority is to strengthen disposable income. Over the next few months, we will allocate more than two billion euros for this purpose. If we spent more, we would jeopardize fiscal stability,” he told state broadcaster ERT. He said the government will focus on young people and families with children, but did not specify how the aid will be distributed. Mitsotakis admitted that prices in Greece are exceptionally...

Minister of Environment and Energy Stavros Papastavrou described Sunday, 16 of November as “important,” on the occasion of the signing of the energy agreement between Greece and Ukraine.“Our country is, in practice and on the ground, becoming an energy hub, as the prime minister said from the very first moment of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” he stressed in an interview with the main news bulletin of ERTNews, and continued: “Our country stood by Ukraine, by the side of the defender. And how could it do otherwise, when we ourselves have suffered the national blow of Turkey’s invasion and illegal occupation of Cyprus? For us, the inviolability of borders is non-negotiable. And this stance by the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and by our country was, for a long time, criticized a...

European Chief Prosecutor Laura Codruța Kövesi said Greece was among only three European countries, the others being Croatia and Slovakia, that attempted to exercise political influence “one way or another” on her work as the top prosecutor of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO).In an interview with Romanian newspaper Libertatea, Kövesi, the former chief prosecutor of Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate, stated Greece was one of the EU members that doubled the independence of the European Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), while remaining oblivious to the office’s jurisdiction and scope of its investigations.She confirmed that there have been attempts at political interference in the work of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office since she assumed leadership, emphasizing the...

Amid an atmosphere of blame, recrimination and suspicion that the government isn’t being honest with its citizens, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis faces his biggest challenge since taking office in 2019. Given public concerns over the administration’s commitment to democracy and legal freedoms, his reaction to the protests is being watched closely. According to opinion polls, the vast majority of Greeks believe the government is attempting to cover up what really happened, and who was really to blame, when a freight train and a passenger train packed with students crashed head-on just before midnight on Feb. 28, 2023. There is speculation ― neither proved nor entirely disproven ― that highly flammable chemicals were being transported. It doesn’t help that two years on, a trial has ye...