Politics

Photo of the Parliament building. Credit: Gerard McGovern CC BY 2.0 A successful combat interception by a Greek Patriot PAC-3 battery in Saudi Arabia has triggered a heated political confrontation in Athens. On Thursday, the Hellenic Force of Saudi Arabia (ELDYSA), successfully neutralized two Iranian ballistic missiles targeting critical energy infrastructure. Despite government assurances that the action was a defensive one, the opposition warns that the interception is dragging Greece into the Middle East War. PM Mitsotakis: “A strictly defensive action” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis defended the operation as a fulfillment of strategic obligations. “The interception was a strictly defensive action under our 2021 agreement with Saudi Arabia,” the Prime Minister stated. He emphas...

Greece’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Greeks Abroad, Ioannis Loverdos, will make an official visit to New Zealand from Friday, October 10 to Sunday, October 12, the first by a Greek government representative in 18 years. He will be accompanied by Greece’s Ambassador to Australia, Stavros Venizelos, six officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a press officer, and a security officer. The last visit by a Greek official was in May 2007, when then-Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis travelled to NZ. The program includes community events in Wellington and Auckland, as well as official discussions with New Zealand parliamentarians. Community meet-and-greet functions will be hosted at the Acarnanian Brotherhood Hall in Wellington and the El Greco restaurant in Auckland. ...

Greece’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Greeks Abroad Ioannis Loverdos paid a special visit to the University of Sydney on Wednesday, October 8, where he announced a donation of €10,000 (approximately $18,000 AUD) to the Department of Modern Greek and Byzantine Studies. The event, held at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, was attended by distinguished guests, including the Secretary General for Home Affairs and Organisation from the Greek Ministry of Interior, Athanasios Balermpas; the Secretary General for Citizenship, Dimitrios Karnavos; the Ambassador of Greece to Australia, Stavros Venizelos; and the Consul General of Greece in Sydney, George Skemperis. The event was held at the Chau Chak Wing Museum. All photos copyright The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos. The visit underscore...

2026 finds the world particularly unstable and uncertain, almost undergoing a reshaping. Donald Trump’s policies shook previous geopolitical constants, called traditional relations and alliances into question, and changed global trade conditions, directly challenging the U.S.-inspired globalization of open and free markets.The turn toward protectionism and transactional power management multiplied geopolitical and economic uncertainties, intensified tensions, and created new sources of disruption worldwide.The War FrontsThe war zones in Ukraine and the Middle East remain active. Peace in Gaza is precarious, Iran faces social unrest and tension, Netanyahu highlights plans for potential new airstrikes if Tehran’s nuclear program is confirmed to be revived, Saudi Arabia is bombing Yemen’s mil...

Protesting farmers with their tractors on the Athens-Thessaloniki highway, near Larissa, Thessaly, December 22, 2025. Photo: EPA/APOSTOLOS DOMALIS. The Greek government on Monday announced new support measures to address the crisis over farmers who have been on the streets for almost 40 days protesting about high production costs, delays in subsidies and compensation, and the distribution of state support. At a press conference, the government said that 16 of 27 demands of the farmers have been resolved or are being addressed, while another four are being processed. Seven of them are deemed outside the EU budget limit and framework. The measures include the redistribution of about 160 million euros of basic support to farmers and livestock breeders and a reduction in the price of electrici...

Among his many achievements during his seven terms as Prime Minister, he was instrumental in securing Greek victory in the Balkan Wars (1912-1913), in reforming and modernizing the Constitution (1911), and facilitating the country’s economic modernization. He was also a highly respected statesman on the international scene and maintained close relations with Britain and France, whom he saw as Greece’s natural allies.His passing sent shockwaves across the Greek political and social fabric. Friends and enemies alike mourned him. His name had been so foundational to Greek political life that parties were identified based on their stance towards him, either Venizelists or Anti-Venizelists. Whether he inspired love or hatred, his influence, both domestic and abroad was undeniable.A Mournful Ser...

Gambling The Greek government is preparing to address one of the most troubling habits among young people: online betting. Authorities are considering a new framework under which anyone under the age of 21 would be automatically excluded from illegal online casinos and betting platforms. At the same time, minors would be restricted from accessing websites that sell tobacco products, alcohol, or pornographic content. In practice, this would place barriers on any digital service not intended for minors – potentially extending even to platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. Crackdown on illegal gambling According to nomimacasino.gr, the main focus is on unlicensed casinos that operate without identity checks. Due to lax controls and aggressive advertising on social media, these platf...

Stefanos Kasselakis (L) and his partner Tyler Mcbeth in Athens, June 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE/ORESTIS PANAGIOTOU Following the legalization of same-sex civil marriage in Greece in February, the head of the left-wing SYRIZA party, Stefanos Kasselakis, exchanged vows on Friday with his American partner Tyler McBeth at a ceremony in Chania on the island of Crete. Kasselakis and McBeth are the first openly LGBTQ+ couple in Greek politics. They first married in October 2023 in New York but decided to also marry in Greece following the legalisation of civil marriage for same-sex couples earlier this year. The marriage took place at 5 pm local time at the Botanical Garden, amid fruit trees, herbs, spices and medicinal and ornamental plants gathered from all over the world. Over the previous four days...

Greek voters just elected the first government in which a single party won a parliamentary majority since the economic crisis began in 2010. On July 7, a little fewer than 6 million people voted in more than 21,000 polling stations to elect the 300 members of the Greek parliament and install a new government. Twenty parties ran; only six of them got more than 3 percent of the vote, which is the threshold required to place a member in parliament. Source link

The Greek government has ruled out any involvement in the Strait of Hormuz, despite escalating tensions in the Middle East. Speaking during a regular briefing to political reporters, government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis said there is “no issue of Greece’s involvement in the Strait of Hormuz.” He clarified that Greece’s participation in regional security operations is limited to Operation “Aspides,” which operates in the Red Sea and is aimed at protecting maritime security in that specific area. Response to surveillance allegations Marinakis was also asked about renewed media reports concerning a surveillance case. Commenting on statements by businessman Felix Dillian, he said the matter has already been examined at the highest level of the Greek judiciary. According to the governmen...