Vasilis Kikilias

A 77-year-old has been arrested for the fire that broke out Monday morning in Markopoulo, eastern Attica.

The man was apprehended by investigators of the Markopoulo Fire Department, held responsible for igniting flames in crop residues on his own plot of land. He received a 500 euro fine as per regulations and will face prosecution. 

The government will shut down motorways if necessitated by extreme weather events, Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vasilis Kikilias has told motorway operators at a meeting on measures to prevent and deal with heavy snowfall.

Governor-General of Australia David Hurley, who is on an official visit to Greece at the invitation of President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, was given a guided tour of the Acropolis in Athens on Tuesday by Tourism Minister Vasilis Kikilias. The "excellent level of bilateral relations" was confirmed during a meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Tourism's contribution to the Greek economy will be even greater in 2023 than it was in 2022, Tourism Minister Vasilis Kikilias predicted in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency released on Sunday.

By George Gilson

Five months after Italian Prime Minister took the bold step, the government has decided to impose compulsory vaccination for healthcare workers.

The Greek Minister of Health, Vasilis Kikilias, and the president of the Hellenic Society of Intensive Care Units and Head of the Intensive Care Unit of "Evangelismos" hospital, Anastasia Kotanidou, announced the new measures so as to shield the country against the fourth wave of Covid-19 pandemic.

By Ioannis Konidaris*

On Sunday, 25 July all Orthodox Churches around Greece were sent an Encyclical issued by the Holy Synod with the heading "To the People [Congregation]" with the purpose, according to the report of a creditable daily, "to mobilise priests and the people to be vaccinated".

Two volunteer firefighters have been intubated in the ICU of Athens' KAT hospital as Attica wildfires continue to rage.

The two firefighters have been hospitalised with pulmonary complications from burns.

A total of five burn victims have been admitted to hospital. It was deemed necessary for the two firefighters to be intubated.

Injured firefighter

Health Minister Vasilis Kikilias and Athens University Medical School Professor of Epidemiology Sotiris Tsiodras met today with the 12-member Permanent Holy Synod to persuade the Orthodox Church of Greece to join the state's massive vaccination push to build a wall of immunity by the end of August.

Following Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis national address in which he announced compulsory vaccination for doctors and healthcare workers, Health Minister Vasilis Kikilias today announced that those who do not comply will be suspended from work and docked pay.