Fotis Kouvelis

Even those who argued that there should be no taboos in pre-election debate - including national issues - should now be convinced that the ongoing confrontation must come to an end.

The image of a political system that remains divided even on fundamental matters conveys the wrong message, both domestically and internationally.

Let self-restraint prevail, even at this moment.

The state of infrastructure at Greek ports is a major concern for cruise companies, it emerged from the 5th Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum that concluded on Wednesday in Athens.

Eleven residents of Pella in northern Greece filed suit Monday against local police for their illegal detainment on Sunday morning, ostensibly to prevent protests during a speech by Shipping Minister Fotis Kouvelis.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is visiting Kalymnos on Wednesday to inaugurate the Naval Academy on the southeastern Aegean island.

Tsipras is scheduled to meet with Kalymnos Mayor Ioannis Galouzis, before speaking at the opening ceremony of academy.

Greek authorities say a coast guard officer credited with saving thousands of lives off the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos at the height of Europes migration crisis has died at age 44.

The coast guard said in a statement that Lt. Kyriakos Papadopoulos suffered a fatal heart attack early Wednesday.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras reshuffled his cabinet on Monday, keeping key ministers in place while bringing in some new faces. 

As expected, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, Tsipras's coalition partner, kept their posts.

Aerial footage released on Tuesday by Greece's Ministry of Defense reveals the extent of the damage wreaked by a fire that swept down Mount Pendeli and across the coast of eastern Attica on Monday, claiming at least 50 lives by Tuesday and injuring more than 150 people.

Alternate Defense Minister Fotis Kouvelis expressed uncertainty Thursday about the release of the two Greek soldiers who have been detained after accidentally crossing into Turkey in early March.

Two days after a Turkish court ruled to keep the two soldiers in custody, Kouvelis told Skai radio that he was not in a position to predict when the pair would be released.

Athens is hopeful that the anticipated repeal on Wednesday of a state of emergency in Turkey, which was imposed following a thwarted coup two years ago, might facilitate Greek efforts to bring home two Greek soldiers who have been in a Turkish prison since they accidentally crossed the border in March. 

Pressure "on multiple levels" is being applied on Ankara for the release of two Greek soldiers held since early March, Greece's alternate defense minister, Fotis Kouvelis, said on Tuesday after a Turkish court rejected an appeal for their release for a fifth time.