Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the leader of the Greek conservative party Nea Dimokratia, says he wants to "liberate" Greece from left-wing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. He tells DW how he intends to accomplish this.
Deutche Welle
If Greece were to hold elections tomorrow, the pro-European conservatives Nea Dimokratia (New Democracy, ND) would clearly win. According to polls, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who has headed his party since January, has gained popularity. Many believe he would be a better prime minister than Alexis Tsipras.
The pro-European and neoliberal Mitsotakis, a scion of a Greek political dynasty, holds degrees from Harvard and Stanford. He has worked in politics and investment banking. His father, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, is a former Greek prime minister and his older sister, Dora Bakoyannis, former mayor of Athens, also served as Greek foreign minister and culture minister.
"Ό,τι η ψυχή επιθυμεί, αυτό και πιστεύει." Δημοσθένης (Whatever the soul wishes, thats what it believes, Demosthenes)
Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Eight Aboard Military Helicopter Seek Asylum in Greece
6:20 AM ET
Jul 16, 2016
Sat Jul 16 2016 09:20:46 GMT+0300 (GTB Daylight Time)
Niki Kitsantonis
ATHENS
The New York Times
Greece has arrested eight people aboard a Turkish military helicopter that landed in Alexandroupolis shortly before noon, the country’s Ministry of Public Order and Citizen Protection said.
The eight individuals have requested political asylum, the ministry said in a text message to reporters, and the helicopter has been placed under guard.
Jul 16, 2016
Sat Jul 16 2016 09:20:46 GMT+0300 (GTB Daylight Time)
Niki Kitsantonis
ATHENS
The New York Times
Greece has arrested eight people aboard a Turkish military helicopter that landed in Alexandroupolis shortly before noon, the country’s Ministry of Public Order and Citizen Protection said.
The eight individuals have requested political asylum, the ministry said in a text message to reporters, and the helicopter has been placed under guard.
Saturday, June 4, 2016
French Prime Minister Expresses Support for Greece
France is interested in investing in Greece in areas of energy, transportation and tourism
The Wall Street Journal
By NEKTARIA STAMOULI
June 3, 2016 11:52 a.m. ET
0 COMMENTS
ATHENS—French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Friday expressed his country’s interest in investing in Greece and promised the crisis-battered country more support with reforms needed to overcome the financial crisis, as well as help in dealing with the refugee crisis.
“A eurozone without Greece, a Schengen Treaty without Greece, represents another view of Europe that we do not share,” Mr. Valls said during a press conference with his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras.
He said he was confident the next bailout funds for Greece would be disbursed soon and added that he hoped a solution for Greece’s debt problems would be found.
The Wall Street Journal
By NEKTARIA STAMOULI
June 3, 2016 11:52 a.m. ET
0 COMMENTS
ATHENS—French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Friday expressed his country’s interest in investing in Greece and promised the crisis-battered country more support with reforms needed to overcome the financial crisis, as well as help in dealing with the refugee crisis.
“A eurozone without Greece, a Schengen Treaty without Greece, represents another view of Europe that we do not share,” Mr. Valls said during a press conference with his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras.
He said he was confident the next bailout funds for Greece would be disbursed soon and added that he hoped a solution for Greece’s debt problems would be found.
Labels:
Austerity measures,
Greece,
Grexit,
SYRIZA,
Third Memorandum
Monday, May 23, 2016
Euro Area Said to Plan $12 Billion for Greece After Review
Ian Wishart
Eleni Chrepa
Bloomberg
May 23, 2016 — 11:39 AM EEST Updated on May 23, 2016 — 1:23 PM EEST
Greece’s European creditors are preparing to disburse 11 billion euros ($12.3 billion) once the nation successfully completes a review of its bailout program.
The funds will be used to clear arrears and to cover debt servicing needs, including a 2.3 billion-euro payment scheduled to the European Central Bank in July, according to a draft of the European Commission’s compliance report for the Greek economic program seen by Bloomberg News.
Eleni Chrepa
Bloomberg
May 23, 2016 — 11:39 AM EEST Updated on May 23, 2016 — 1:23 PM EEST
Greece’s European creditors are preparing to disburse 11 billion euros ($12.3 billion) once the nation successfully completes a review of its bailout program.
The funds will be used to clear arrears and to cover debt servicing needs, including a 2.3 billion-euro payment scheduled to the European Central Bank in July, according to a draft of the European Commission’s compliance report for the Greek economic program seen by Bloomberg News.
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Forecast Bright for Greek Tourism, Despite Refugee Crisis
Voice of America
http://www.voanews.com/content/greece-tourism/3332701.html
Margaret Besheer
May 16, 2016 3:10 PM
Despite the ongoing migrant and refugee crisis, Greece expects to welcome a record 27 million tourists this year.
“I think it’s an achievement given the fact that we have capital controls, we still have the refugee and migration crisis - which make tourists think twice if they want to visit Lesbos or some other places that are migration hubs,” the government’s top spokesperson Lefteris Kretsos told reporters on Monday.
“Greece is a brand name in tourism. It was always, and I think it will always be,” he added.
http://www.voanews.com/content/greece-tourism/3332701.html
Margaret Besheer
May 16, 2016 3:10 PM
Despite the ongoing migrant and refugee crisis, Greece expects to welcome a record 27 million tourists this year.
“I think it’s an achievement given the fact that we have capital controls, we still have the refugee and migration crisis - which make tourists think twice if they want to visit Lesbos or some other places that are migration hubs,” the government’s top spokesperson Lefteris Kretsos told reporters on Monday.
“Greece is a brand name in tourism. It was always, and I think it will always be,” he added.
Monday, February 29, 2016
Migrant crisis: Greece needs EU help to avoid chaos, says Merkel
6 hours ago
From the section Europe
BBC
Europe cannot allow Greece to fall into "chaos", German Chancellor Angela Merkel says, amid sharp divisions among members over the migrant crisis.
Austria and several Balkan countries have introduced restrictions stranding migrants in Greece.
Mrs Merkel said EU nations had not battled to keep Greece in the euro just to leave it "in the lurch".
She also defended her decision to open German borders to migrants, despite a resulting slump in her popularity.
More than one million people arrived to claim asylum last year, sparking opposition within her governing coalition and a rise in far-right extremism.
From the section Europe
BBC
Europe cannot allow Greece to fall into "chaos", German Chancellor Angela Merkel says, amid sharp divisions among members over the migrant crisis.
Austria and several Balkan countries have introduced restrictions stranding migrants in Greece.
Mrs Merkel said EU nations had not battled to keep Greece in the euro just to leave it "in the lurch".
She also defended her decision to open German borders to migrants, despite a resulting slump in her popularity.
More than one million people arrived to claim asylum last year, sparking opposition within her governing coalition and a rise in far-right extremism.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Merkel unmoved by refugee crisis criticism
Deutsche Welle
Germany will stick to
its multifaceted response to Europe's refugee crisis, including aid delivered
via Turkey, Chancellor Angela Merkel has told parliament. She's also backed the
idea of a no-fly zone in northern Syria.
Merkel, in an address
to Germany's Bundestag on the eve of a two-day Brussels summit, said Europe
should work to improve the lives of refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan as
the way to meet "our goal" of reducing migrant flows into Europe.
She described as
"intolerable" the situation for besieged civilians in and around
northern Syria's war-torn hub of Aleppo, saying "nothing should be left
undone" in trying to establish a no-fly zone to save "many human
lives."
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Turkey Moves to Clamp Down on Border, Long a Revolving Door
By TIM ARANGODEC. 22, 2015
The New
York Times
Down south,
at the border with Syria , Turkey is
building a concrete wall, digging trenches, laying razor wire and at night
illuminating vast stretches of land in an effort to cut off the flow of supplies
and foreign fighters to the Islamic State.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
What China Can Learn From Greece
By SERGEI GURIEVDEC. 9, 2015
The
New York Times
As a
political economist, I make my living studying the impact of politics on
economics. My friends and co-authors who are political scientists focus on how
economics affects politics. Which is more relevant in real life? Do countries
with bad politics suffer from poor economic outcomes because bad economic
policies are driven by bad politics? Or because persistent economic
difficulties make reasonable politics hard to sustain?
Every year
offers examples of both kinds. The year 2015 was no exception, producing two
very important stories: Greece
and China .
Both are dramatic and multifaceted.
Thursday, December 3, 2015
EU presses Greece over migrants, weighs Schengen threat
Wed Dec 2,
2015 6:37pm EST Related: WORLD ,
GREECE , MIGRANT
CRISIS
ATHENS/BRUSSELS
| BY PAUL TAYLOR AND ALASTAIR MACDONALD
Some
central European officials, most prominently Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico,
have suggested excluding Greece
from Schengen. Diplomats and European Union officials say some governments have
raised the possibility informally but it would be a largely symbolic move, with
little impact on migration.
"It is
not said officially, but there is pressure," Greek Migration Minister
Yannis Mouzalas told reporters, denying a Financial Times report on Wednesday
that Athens had, among other things, refused an EU offer of devices designed to
share the identity data of incoming migrants around the bloc.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
The Hidden Debt Burden of Emerging Markets
OCT 9, 2015
8
Carmen
Reinhart
Carmen
Reinhart is Professor of the International Financial System at Harvard University's
Kennedy School of Government.
LIMA – As
central bankers and finance ministers from around the globe gather for the
International Monetary Fund’s annual meetings here in Peru, the emerging world
is rife with symptoms of increasing economic vulnerability. Gone are the days
when IMF meetings were monopolized by the problems of the advanced economies
struggling to recover from the 2008 financial crisis. Now, the discussion has
shifted back toward emerging economies, which face the risk of financial crises
of their own.
Monday, October 5, 2015
Greece's Euro-Area Ties Risk More Strain Amid Refugee Crisis
By Ian
Wishart Nikos Chrysoloras
Bloomberg
First
overwhelmed by debt and now overwhelmed by refugees, Greece offers a tempting
target for European leaders left to handle the fallout.
With wounds
only just healing after the euro area agreed to throw Greece another financial
lifeline, the country’s inability to process tens of thousands of refugees
turning up at its doorstep threatens to reopen them all over again. Local Greek
authorities are inundated by some 3,000 arrivals a day, most of whom are
allowed to head north through the Balkans toward Germany and Scandinavia,
sewing political tensions as they go.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Migrant crisis: Greece acts over Lesbos 'explosion' fears
BBC
The Greek
government and the UN refugee agency have brought in extra staff and ships to
deal with some 25,000 stranded migrants on the island of Lesbos .
A
processing centre has been also set up on an abandoned football ground to help
the migrants to get to Athens .
A Greek
minister said on Monday Lesbos was "on
the verge of an explosion".
Meanwhile,
hundreds of migrants broke through police lines on Hungary 's
border with Serbia and
started walking towards the capital, Budapest .
The
migrants faced down pepper spray used by police as they broke out of a holding
centre in a cornfield and marched down a motorway towards Budapest . They later agreed to be taken by
bus to another reception centre.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Germany used legal tricks to avoid WW2 reparations: Greece
BY LEFTERIS PAPADIMAS
ATHENS Tue Mar 10, 2015 4:04pm EDT
(Reuters) -
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accused Germany
on Tuesday of using legal tricks to avoid paying reparations for the Nazi
occupation of Greece
and said he would support parliamentary efforts to review the matter.
His
comments are likely to heighten tensions between Athens
and Berlin as Greece 's new, leftist government
struggles to persuade its euro zone partners to renegotiate the terms of a 240
billion euro ($260 billion) bailout.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Greece and geopolitics
A
semi-guided missile
The
Economist
Feb 28th
2015 | From the print edition
NEVER
imagine that the euro zone is the only club in which Greece is a maverick player. The
Hellenic relationship with NATO, and bilateral defence ties with the United States ,
have long been important (although many would say diminishing) and contested.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Turkey, Greece to Develop Economic Ties Despite Differences
Renewed
Tensions Over Gas Fields Off Cyprus
The Wall
Street Journal
By STELIOS
BOURAS
Dec. 6,
2014 8:22 a.m. ET
ATHENS—Greece
and Turkey confirmed Saturday their commitment to developing economic ties
between the two countries but admitted to disputes over energy and Cyprus
separating the two sides.
Turkish
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday wound up a two-day trip to the Greek
capital Athens
where he attended a forum on confidence-building measures between the two
countries that have nearly gone to war three times in the last four decades.
Friday, November 21, 2014
Greece Expects Primary Budget Surplus for 2015
But
Spending Plans Not Agreed with Creditors
The Wall
Street Journal
By STELIOS
BOURAS and ALKMAN GRANITSAS
Updated
Nov. 21, 2014 7:03 a.m. ET
0 COMMENTS
Labels:
Economy,
Greece,
Greek Crisis,
Primary surplus,
Troika
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Greek unemployment eases to 25.9 percent in August
(Reuters) -
Greece 's
jobless rate fell to 25.9 percent in August from a downwardly revised 26.1
percent rate in July as the country's six-year recession eases, Greek statistics
agency ELSTAT said on Thursday.
August's
reading was the lowest since August 2012 when unemployment stood at 25.5
percent. The record high was set in September 2013, when unemployment hit 28
percent.
(Reporting
by George Georgiopoulos, editing by Deepa Babington)
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Greece deserves respect for holding to its word
September
15 at 5:35 PM
Letters To
The Editor
The Washington Post
Instead of
applauding Greece for
meeting its responsibility to NATO during a time of unprecedented economic
crisis, Charles Lane
chose to take an unnecessary, sarcastic swipe at the United States ’ longtime ally in his
Sept. 4 op-ed column, “ Bombs or benefits? ”
During the
crisis, Greece
has resisted compromising its defense budget. It is one of four NATO members to
meet the alliance’s mandated standard to spend at least 2 percent of gross
domestic product on defense. Greece
spends nearly 2.3 percent.
Monday, June 23, 2014
Is Greece losing its reform drive?
By Hugo Dixon JUNE 23, 2014
Reuters
By Hugo Dixon
Hugo Dixon
is Editor-at-Large, Reuters News. The opinions expressed are his own.
Is Greece losing
its reform drive? Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has stuck to a harsh fitness
programme for two years. But just as it is bearing fruit, he has sidelined some
reformers in a reshuffle. There is only one viable path to redemption for Athens : stick to the
straight and narrow.
The Greek
economy is not out of the woods yet, although the measures taken to balance
public finances and restore the country’s competitiveness are having their
effect.
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