Nikos Hardalias

After months of declarations from top Turkish government officials that Greece's sovereignty over a number of its islands in the eastern Mediterranean is contingent upon Athens demilitarising them, now Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar has reportedly decided that he wishes to forbid Deputy Defence Minister Nikos Hardalias from visiting the said islands without Ankara's permission.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has decided to send defensive military equipment and humanitarian aid to Ukraine following an emergency meeting that he chaired this morning with Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Konstantinos Floros.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis chaired a meeting on Wednesday on the close cooperation required between the ministries of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Environment and Energy and National Defence with respect to actions for the restoration of fire-stricken areas - especially flood protection - and the timely preparation of the 2022 firefighting period.

The die is cast. The reshuffle is now a fact and it held surprises.

At first, an autonomous Ministry of Civil Protection was set up, with a surprise minister: Retired Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis.

By George Gilson

Cabinet reshuffles are most often an attempt to transcend the serious errors of ministers in the handling of crucial issues in order to signal a new beginning for the government, free of the albatrosses of the past.

Three large wildfires churned across Greece on Aug. 7, with one threatening whole towns and cutting a line across Evia, the country's second-largest island, isolating its northern part. Others engulfed forested mountainsides and skirted ancient sites, leaving behind a trail of destruction that one official described as "a biblical catastrophe."

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At least 150 houses were destroyed by a raging fire that surrounded a monastery and a dozen villages on the Greek island of Evia on Aug. 4, one of over 100 blazes burning in the country.

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Firefighters were also battling a blaze near Athens, while the mayor of Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, pleaded for help as flames threatened the site.

 wildfire raged uncontrolled north of Athens on Tuesday (3 August), burning homes and forcing authorities to order more evacuations as they grappled with 81 forest fires during Greece's worst heatwave in over 30 years.

Firefighters were battling two large wildfires in Greece on Aug. 2, as the prime minister said the country was suffering its worst heatwave in more than three decades.

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Fires have also raged across Turkey, Spain and Italy over the weekend with experts warning climate change was increasing both the frequency and intensity of such blazes.

Portuguese bars and nightclubs will remain closed until October, after which they can reopen for customers presenting a COVID-19 vaccination certificate or equivalent, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Thursday. Meanwhile in Greece, several islands face the risk of local lockdowns as the resurgence of COVID-19 cases has caused the government headaches.