Harold James

Before the tumultuous year of 2015, Greece actually came close to leaving the eurozone in 2012, following the election of Antonis Samaras as prime minister. Chancellor Angela Merkel was notably apprehensive about the New Democracy leader's pre-election campaign. 

Winners and Losers

The long-relished and long-dreaded European Parliamentary elections are over and the composition of the new European Parliament is at long last known. The result is a mixed bag. The various anti-Europeans and populists were kept at bay, but the mainstream pro-European parties can also hardly be pleased with the outcome.