News archive of June 2020

Two arrests were made on Friday over an alleged attempt to abduct a 14-year-old in the town of Pyrgos in southern Greece. 

"The important question is who is to blame. The number is growing everywhere in Europe and the world.
This has proved to us that we know little about the virus and that we should be careful. We are all to blame, because we expect someone else to solve the problem," Loncar said.

Police raided two anarchist squats in the downtown Athens neighborhood of Exarchia on Friday, a continuation of the conservative government's pledge to crack down on lawlessness in the broader area.

The European Commission confirmed that a new notification on the part of Bulgaria is needed if it wants to resume the construction of Belene nuclear power plant. The motives are the changes to the project, the development of safety standards and the amendment of the legal framework of the Euratom treaty which has changed considerably and has been enhanced since 2007 when the Commission issued a

The Single Social Security Entity (EFKA) has decided to break into its investments in order to meet its increased obligations for auxiliary pensions and retroactive payments, due to a drop in revenues that has emerged partly because of the pandemic.

Turkish Airlines, the airline that flies to more countries than any other in the world, will resume flights to and from Sofia on July 1st. In July, the carrier will operate a total of 5 flights a week from the Bulgarian capital - 2 in the evening on Monday and Thursday and 3 in the morning on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Two key members of the Rouvikonas anti-establishment group, Giorgos Kalaitzidis and Nikos Matarangas, were granted conditional release on Friday after appearing before an investigating magistrate in connection with the murder of a 36-year-old Egyptian man, an alleged drug dealer, in the downtown Athens district of Exarchia in June 2016. 

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci said via a Facebook post on Friday that he had landed in Tirana airport in Albania, after his office had declared that he would be back in Kosovo by Thursday. "On Sunday evening I will address you with a word from my office," Thaci wrote, referring to the general public.

The number of total coronavirus cases in Greece rose to 3,343 on Friday afternoon from 3,321 the previous day after the Health Ministry announced 22 new cases.

The death toll since the start of the crisis remained steady at 191, according to the National Organization for Public Health's daily bulletin, though the number of patients in intensive care rose to 11 from Thursday's nine.

Greece hopes to be able to set up an "air bridge" with Britain that would allow British tourists to visit from mid-July, its tourism minister said on Friday.

Britons are among the biggest national groups visiting Greece every year but flights from the UK, which has seen a high rate of Covid-19 infections, are currently barred from Greek airports until at least June 30.