Latest News from Greece

Greek Deputy Transport Minister Resigns Over Offensive Twitter Messages

Greek Deputy Transport Minister, Dimitris Kammenos, announced his resignation on Wednesday just hours after he had assumed the position.

Kammenos, who is MP from the junior coalition party Independent Greeks (ANEL), resigned after a scandal over numerous offensive messages on his Twitter account, daily Kathimerini informs.

Was the lady who exposed the VW scandal Greek?

Anna Stefanopoulou, the Greek mechanical-engineering professor and engine expert at the University of Michigan, who reportedly exposed the Volkswagen emmissions scandal burst the Greek media bubble with a statement on her site:

I was not involved in the research or data analysis that exposed the VW issue as some Greek language articles and blogs stated.

Greece ranks first in the list of EU countries with excessive internet use

The EU average for internet use is 5%, but in Greece the rate is 31% according to figures by 31 lines of the Helpline Insafe Pan-European Network for the second half of 2014. Greece also has problems in the sector of protecting online privacy (16%, compared to the EU average of 12%).

Unbelievable! Ex-employer pours coffee over toddler, causes serious burns

Bulgarian Georgia Ratka Georgieva, aged 60, who lives and works in the region of Pyrgos, southern Greece, visited her former employer to demand 120 euros in wages that were owed to her. Angered by this, the man poured a pot of stinging hot coffee over the woman causing damage to herself and her grandson, aged 2, who had accompanied her on the visit.

Orban: If fence is unpopular, we'll let migrants pass

Hungary will either protect its "green border" with fences - or, "if this option is not so popular," it could let migrants travel to Austria and Germany.

This is what Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said early this morning in Brussels, adding that migrants "continue to arrive via Greece."

Greek FinMin’s first priority is to squeeze blood from a stone

Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said on Wednesday that the country’s top short-term priorities are shoring up capital levels in the country’s banks and kicking off discussions on debt relief with Greece’s creditors.

Macedonia Nowhere on New Greek Govt Agenda

Greece's new government, led by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, was sworn in Wednesday following Syriza's comfortable re-election on Sunday.

"Our aim is to implement the [bailout] agreement in a way that is fair," deputy Prime Minister Yannis Dragasakis said before the ceremony.

Hahn to Offer EU support for Serbia "Hotspot"

After EU heads meet on Wednesday, Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn is heading to Serbia on Friday to discuss the refugee crisis, after Serbia was marked a "hotspot" for refugees beside Italy, Greece and Turkey.

Armageddon for Greece’s elderly – Sweeping 7% pension slashes

Labor Minister George Katrougalos returned to his old post after 27 days of absence with renewed zeal in efforts to find a solution to the cash-strapped social security funds. No sooner did he receive his portfolio on Wednesday that he hinted that new cuts to the already butchered main and auxiliary pensions are inevitable.

Before D. Kammenos, another MP had aimed an anti-gay Tweet at Luxembourg PM

The resignation of a newly sworn-in deputy minister in the day-old leftist Tsipras government isn’t the first time a deputy affiliated with the rightist-populist Independent Greeks’ party (AN.EL) has attracted a firestorm of criticism for preposterous and odious posts.

EU refugee-sharing plan causes rift between east, west Europe

The European Commission has warned 19 EU member-states against failure to implement rules on handling waves of asylum seekers now flooding Europe.

European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans issued the warning as EU leaders gathered in Brussels for an emergency summit on the refugee/migrant crisis on Wednesday.

Bulgaria Names New Consuls General in Edirne, Toronto

Vasil Valchev will be Bulgaria's new consul general in Edirne, Turkey, the government in Sofia announced on Wednesday.

Valchev has been Bulgaria's consul general in Thessaloniki, Greece from 2011 to 2015. He will take over from Lyubomir Popov, whose term of office as the consul general in Edirne has expired, the government said in a statement following a weekly meeting.

Syrian migrants sit-in in second week in Turkey's northwest

Nearly 2,000 Syrian migrants have been holding a sit-in in the northwestern border province of Edirne for more than a week in the hopes of crossing to Greece, after they were prevented by security forces from traveling to European countries.

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