Greece

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will participate in the Supporting Syria and the Region conference in London and is expected to face pressures on refugee issue especially after the article published by German magazine Spiegel, which claims that the Greek government deliberately fails on handling efficiently the refugee flows, because it wants to push the immigrants to move to other EU count

The European Commission calls Greece to accelerate the implementation of the reforms agreed in the framework of the ESM program noting that this the only way to achieve the recovery of economy.

EU also asks for additional fiscal measures for 2016 and 2017 in order Greek government to achieve the objectives set for the primary surplus.

Parts of Greece came to a standstill on Feb. 4 as thousands of people went on strike over pension reforms pursued by the leftist-led government to meet conditions set by international lenders to rescue the debt-crippled country. 

Greek farmers decided to escalate their protest actions and proceed to set long-hour blockades at highways, airports and ports.

They also decided to block main roads throughout Greece for 24 hours starting from Saturday 12pm to Saturday 12pm.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble brought up indirectly the Grexit issue speaking at an event in Hamburg.

Mr. Schaeuble expressed the view that Greeks would have suffered only once because of a Grexit avoiding this “endless painful process” and the “tough measures” that Greek people are now experiencing.

Two key border crossings between Bulgaria and Greece are expected to remain closed to traffic on February 04 as Greek farmers are taking part in Thursday's general strike.

Bulgaria has asked the European Commission to step in to help restore the free movement of goods across the country's border with Greece blocked by Greek farmers.

There are more children and women than adult males travelling along the so-called Balkan Route at present - for the first time since the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe started last year, UNICEF has said.

Children and women now make up nearly 60% of refugees and migrants crossing the border from Greece into Macedonia, UNICEF reported in a news note on Monday.

German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau published an article on Greece and the required reforms describing the social security reform as the main challenge that Tsipras’ government is called to overcome.

The renowned international travel network Lonely Planet highlights in a recent article 10 alternative experiences that visitors of northern Greece and especially the Halkidiki area can enjoy.