Cretan State

MERDARE - Serbia will know how to protect its people and territory, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic stated on Sunday during the visit to the Merdare base, adding that the Gendarmerie will get new equipment so that they could perform their tasks with maximum efficiency and with added protection.

By Costas Iordanidis

Last Sunday’s Turkish presidential election confirmed Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the third most powerful political leader of the European system – in the broader sense of the word – after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The historic Sümela Monastery in the Black Sea province of Trabzon is preparing for a yearly service that will be held on Aug. 15.

Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew is expected to conduct the service, which is held in honor of the Assumption of Mary, a Christian feast that is marked on Aug. 15.

The Supreme Military Board (YAŞ) concluded its annual meetings a day before its schedule and appointed the current commander of the Aegean Army in İzmir, Gen. Abdullah Atay, as the new commander for the Gendarmerie Forces.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos met on Thursday to discuss a dispute within the government about public sector reforms.

Sources said Samaras and his aides are attempting to defuse tensions between Administrative Reform Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and PASOK deputies over an evaluation scheme for civil servants demanded by the troika.

Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos (photo) made it clear on Tuesday that Greece backs a United Nations Security Council resolution passed on Monday which demands that armed groups in eastern Ukraine allow “safe, secure, full and unrestricted access” to the site where Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed, killing all 296 people on board.

Greek Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos expresses confidence that Turkey and Greece can create fresh momentum for overcoming their chronic problems Turkey and Greece could “create fresh momentum for overcoming the chronic points of bilateral friction,” Greek Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos has maintained, voicing confidence

PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos said on Thursday that the results of the European Parliament elections on Sunday would have to be balanced against the outcome of the local polls that take place on the same day.

Europe wants a political solution to the Ukraine crisis that will not alienate Russia, Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos said on Friday during an informal summit of his European Union peers in Athens.

Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos has called for a “diplomatic and political” solution to the dispute in Crimea after a referendum on Sunday indicated that the vast majority of its citizens want the region to join Russia.