News archive of February 2020

Government sources on Friday stressed that authorities are boosting security at the country's border following reports that Turkey will no longer stop Syrian refugees from traveling to Europe.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis discussed the situation in Turkey and the movement of migrants towards Greek borders during a call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the prime minister's office said.

Mitsotakis briefed Merkel over Greece's initiatives, it said. [Reuters]

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is ready to help Bulgaria decarbonize its emission-intensive economy, its vice president said.

A shift from fossil fuels would pose a serious challenge to the Balkan country, which depends on coal-fired electricity plants.

The cost of insuring exposure to Turkey's sovereign debt climbed to a four-month high of 351 basis points yesterday as tensions in the region escalated following the death of 33 Turkish soldiers in an air strike in Syria.

Turkey's five-year credit default swaps (CDS) added 25 bps from Thursday's close, according to IHS Markit data.

The annual international food and drink exhibition Foodexpo, originally scheduled to take place next weekend (March 7-9), has been postponed until May 16-18, due to coronavirus concerns, it was announced Friday.
It will take place at the Metropolitan Expo Center next to Athens International Airport.

National Liberal Party (PNL) leader Ludovic Orban said that one of the reasons for the designation of Florin Citu as prime minister was to send "a strong signal of stability, balance, confidence to the markets", in a context marked by collapsing stock markets.

The junior ruling ethnic Albanian party in North Macedonia has reacted with dismay to the announcement of a new election alliance between its senior partner and another ethnic Albanian party.

A senior official from the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, said the new agreement between the Social Democrats and BESA would only damage the Albanian vote in the April general elections.

Turkish police, coastguards and border checkpoints have been instructed to stand down in the event of an increase in the flow of refugees to Europe, world news agencies said.

Turkey has decided to no longer stop Syrian refugees from reaching Europe by land and sea. This was reported by TASS and Reuters, citing a senior Turkish official.

March 20 will likely be the next key date in the process of saving Creta Farms from bankruptcy, as Thursday's extraordinary general meeting approved the streamlining agreement with a broad majority.

As health authorities confirmed the fourth case of coronavirus in Greece on Friday, the government pressed forward with its drive to contain its spread. 

The fourth case is a 36-year-old woman who recently returned to Athens from northern Italy, according to the head of the Health Ministry's committee of experts on contagious diseases, Athens University professor Sotiris Tsiodras.