Macropolis

With the exclusion of former party head Stefanos Kasselakis from its leadership election, it looks like SYRIZA is plunging into fresh turmoil.

Nick Malkoutzis, the co-founder of Macropolis.gr, joins Thanos Davelis with the key takeaways from Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' keynote address at the Thessaloniki International Fair, and break down the latest turmoil in SYRIZA that saw its leader Stefanos Kasselakis lose a no-confidence vote.

Making housing more affordable is going to be one of the central themes of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' keynote speech at the Thessaloniki International Fair in early September.

This week kicked off with two former prime ministers and leaders of New Democracy - Antonis Samaras and Konstantinos Karamanlis - launching maybe the most severe criticism of Prime Minister Mitsotakis and his leadership that we've heard so far, touching on foreign and domestic policy.

Yiannis Mouzakis, the co-founder and editor of Macropolis.gr, a political and economic analysis site that focuses on Greece, joins Thanos Davelis to look into Greece's debt, which has exceeded 350 billion euros in recent years, and break down whether it still puts the country at risk. 

With New Democracy set to cement its political dominance in the upcoming European elections, the battle for second place is heating up as SYRIZA and PASOK's leaders turn up the heat to see who will take on the leading role on Greece's center-left after the elections.

Last year was a record year for Greek tourism, with the latest statistics showing a remarkable comeback for the sector from the years of lockdowns during the pandemic.

While these trends are welcome, there are also some worrying signs, as 2023 saw an increasing use of the term "over tourism".

Over the past years Greece has seen a sharp increase in home prices and rents, with many talking about a housing crisis as Greeks are being priced out of the property market. This has put the spotlight on the Golden Visa scheme.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his cabinet have been under pressure these past days, as farmers and students across the country have taken to the streets in protest. This comes as Mitsotakis also prepares to pass a key marriage equality bill this month, and as the latest polls show a slight drop in support for New Democracy and the government.

One of the key figures that captured the hardship of the decade-long economic crisis in Greece was the unemployment rate, which peaked at 28 percent in the summer of 2013. Today, the latest statistics show that Greece's unemployment rate has fallen below 10 percent for the first time since the onset of the crisis.