Eastern Macedonia and Thrace

The annual Αthena International Olive Oil Competition (Athena IOOC) will be held in Kavala, northeastern Greece from May 4 to 6, it was announced this week.

It will be jointly held with the Regional Authority of Eastern Macedonia & Thrace.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis presented the government's Eastern Macedonia & Thrace 2030 Development Program in the northern Greek city of Komotini on Friday, the premier's second stop on his day tour of the region after Xanthi.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has vowed he will not "step back from the protection of the [country's] borders and the safety of people living in border areas," during a speech at an event in the northeastern city of Komotini.

The premier was presenting the government's development plan for Eastern Macedonia and Thrace during a visit to the region.

Mainland Greece is aging alarmingly - faster than even the most dire predictions of demographers. One in three residents of the Prefectures of Arta and Evrytania is currently over 65 years old, a percentage that was expected in 2050, while in eleven prefectures of the country with a total population of 828,000 people one in four is elderly.

Greek special forces units have been deployed at the Evros borders

The operation took place in Xanthi

It will sail later to Alexandroupolis

It took place in Xanthi

Residents of Orestiada in the Evros border region in northwestern Greece greeted visiting Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis on Monday with a hail of stones, firecrackers, eggs and plastic cups of coffee to express their opposition to government plans to increase the capacities of the local reception and identification center for asylum seekers and the pre-departure detention facility.

The Greek government will send 400 troops to handle the increased migrant flow from Turkey. Thus, the government will strengthen the security along the Evros River, located in northeastern Greece.