Latest News from Greece

University occupations de-escalate amid student fatigue

After two months of university occupations in protest at new legislation allowing the establishment of non-state universities in Greece, the vast majority of students are expected to return to classes on Tuesday.

In fact, most occupations had already ended by Friday. At the peak of the mobilizations, approximately 200 schools were shut down by protesters.

Aversion toward mortgages

Greece continues to have the worst performance in household credit, registering a consistently negative rate, which was -1.7% in January against a 0.3% increase in the eurozone, according to a report published on Thursday by DBRS Morningstar, focusing on the "slow production of new mortgage loans."

First Zen monastery in Greece in the works

Konstantinos Sgoumpopoulos, a Zen abbot as well as shipping and real estate businessman, talks to Kathimerini about the first Zen monastery to be built in Greece and the wider region.

Hands off our cotton, Thessaly farmers tell PM

Representatives of farmers from the region of Thessaly in central Greece said Friday after a meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis that forcing them to abandon the cultivation of cotton would be a "red line" to them. 

Greek bonds are already on A rating for markets

The markets "rate" Greek bonds in the "A" category, five notches higher than their current average rating of "BBB-" that is in the lowest category of the investment grade, as the Bank of Greece pointed out on Friday.

Bill to free up space on Greece’s electricity grid

The Recovery and Resilience Plan is the "most ambitious program the European Union has ever conceived of planning and implementing," Environment and Energy Minister Thodoros Skylakakis said on Thursday, expressing satisfaction with the progress in its implementation and the loans envisioned under RepowerEU.

Greek police officer with 225 pounds of marijuana in patrol car arrested

A police officer on patrol duty in northwestern Greece was arrested on drugs charges Friday for allegedly using his service car to smuggle marijuana, authorities said.

The suspect was detained in the port town of Igoumenitsa following a road chase, together with an Albanian man found to be riding in the unmarked police vehicle.

New Democracy officials resign over voters’ list

Two conservative officials resigned and one was ousted on Friday amid a scandal involving the leak of an unspecified number of email addresses of Greek voters residing abroad.

Moody’s maintains Greece below investment level

Moody's remained on Friday the only major rating agency to maintain Greece outside the investment-grade states, as it affirmed the country's credit rating at "Ba1", with a stable outlook.

Last September the agency had raised Greece's rating two notches, from "Ba3". It has therefore maintained Greece one notch before investment level.

Cyclist Christos Volikakis positive for doping in retests from 2016 Olympics

Four-time Olympic cyclist Christos Volikakis tested positive for doping in retests of samples from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, the International Cycling Union said on Friday.

Volikakis won medals for Greece in track cycling at world and European championships but not the Olympics where he was selected at each edition from Beijing in 2008 through the Tokyo Games in 2021.

Save seagrass meadows, HCMR study says

If Greece takes steps to stem the destruction of its meadows of Neptune grass (Posidonia oceanica) in the Southern Aegean alone, it could reach 37% of its greenhouse gas emissions absorption target by 2030, a study spearheaded by the Hellenic Center for Marine Research has found.

A valuable opportunity for diplomacy

The European Commission president and the prime ministers of Greece, Italy and Belgium are going to Egypt on Sunday to provide serious economic assistance and a support framework for this difficult time, but they will also try to fortify the Union against the fallout from the region's troubles.

EU’s chief prosecutor investigating Tempe disaster critical of ministerial immunity

The current legal framework in Greece has not allowed the European Public Prosecutor Office (EPPO) to investigate the Tempe railway disaster fully because ministers enjoy immunity for their actions carried out during their time in office, the European Union's chief prosecutor has said.

Extremism rears its ugly head again in Thessaloniki

Brutality and extremism re-emerged in full force in the northern city of Thessaloniki in recent days, reminding us that far-right and ultra-conservative radicalization remains a serious challenge in Greece.

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