Latest News from Greece
Greece returns 11 failed asylum seekers to Turkey
Greece returned to Turkey eleven migrants who did not qualify for international protection, Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis announced on social media on Friday evening.
The group includes migrants from Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, and Tunisia.
"We are speeding up procedures, implementing the new law we voted recently," he said in his comment.
A president for all Greeks
The decision by Alexis Tsipras and Fofi Gennimata to endorse Katerina Sakellaropoulou for the position of president of the Republic guarantees that the senior judge will be elected with a comfortable majority to the highest position of state in the first vote to be held in Parliament six days from now.
Moderate quake recorded in Zakynthos
A moderate tremor measuring 4.6 on the Rickter scale hit the sea south of the island of Zakynthos in western Greece on Friday night, the Athens Geodynamics Institute said in a preliminary reading.
The epicenter of the tremor, registered shortly after 8 p.m., is located in the sea region 18 kilometers south of the Ionian island, at a depth of 28.2 kilometers.
Greek event in Paris on January 29
The French-Greek Chamber of Commerce and Industry is organizing a marathon of meetings in Paris on January 29 about investments in Greece in the context of the investment forum it is organizing in the French capital and an official visit to the city by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Konstantinos Floros becomes new head of Greek Armed Forces
Lieutenant General Konstantinos Floros was Friday appointed as chief of the Hellenic Armed Forces following a session of the Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense (KYSEA) headed by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Floros, who previously held the post of commanding general of the Hellenic First Army, replaces Christos Christodoulou who is retiring.
Turkey-Libya deal invalid, Haftar tells Greek PM
The agreement on maritime boundaries in the Mediterranean signed between Turkey and the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) is in violation of international law and is therefore invalid, Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar said after a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens on Friday.
EU border chief says migrant entries from Turkey on the rise
The number of migrants entering Europe from Turkey rose significantly last year as people fleeing strife in Syria and Afghanistan flooded into the country and then set out for Greece, the head of the European Union's border agency said Friday.
Editorial: A step toward progress
The broad acceptance of the candidacy of Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou for the highest office in the land vindicates the prime minister's choice.
It also sends a strong message of consensus which the country needs at this critical juncture.
Beyond the obvious symbolism this decision should signal the start of a new era in Greek politics.
Meeting of Libya military leader Haftar with PM Mitsotakis ends without statements
A meeting between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar ended on Friday without any statements to the media.
The meeting, which took place at Mitsotakis' office in Parliament, followed one between Haftar and Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias at the ministry.
Haftar's meeting with Mitsotakis ends without statements
A meeting between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar ended on Friday without any statements to the media.
The meeting, which took place at Mitsotakis' office in Parliament, followed one between Haftar and Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias at the ministry.
EU migration deal foresees all members sharing burden
Margaritis Schinas, vice president of the European Commission responsible for promoting the European way of life, on Thursday told Greece's Parliament that the bloc is planning a new migration and asylum agreement for the first quarter of 2020 that would take a "holistic" approach to the migration problem and oblige all member-states to pull their weight.
Greek PM calls Merkel over Libya talks snub
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Friday talked on the phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to express his dismay that Greece was not invited to attend Sunday's Berlin Conference on Libya.
On Thursday, Mitsotakis vowed to veto any solution on the North African country if the maritime border deal between the Tripoli-based government with Turkey is not scrapped.
Turkish industrial production overtakes 23 EU countries in November
Turkey's industrial output in November 2019 was higher than the EU's average in the same month.
While the EU average was negative 1.3 percent, the index dropped 1.5 percent in the eurozone, and rose 5.1 percent in Turkey, according to the data from Eurostat and TÜİK.
Greece expects Germany to safeguard European positions, Dendias says
After talks with Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar on Friday, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said Greece expected Germany to safeguard European positions at Sunday's summit on the Libya crisis in Berlin - which include that the Turkey-Libya maritime boundaries agreement is invalid.
Haftar seeks support in Greece
The commander of forces fighting the U.N.-supported government in war-torn Libya has begun meetings in Athens.
Khalifa Haftar met with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias after arriving for a previously unannounced visit late on Jan. 16.
He will continue meetings with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Jan. 17 as well as with other senior Greek officials.