Emmanuel Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Greece Thursday for the start of a two-day visit expected to focus on European affairs and Greece's financial crisis.

Security is tight for the visit, with Greek authorities banning protests through a large part of central Athens and mobilizing more than 2,000 police on the capital's streets.

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Emmanuel Macron will make Greece the launchpad for a major policy speech on the future of Europe as he starts his first official trip to the country on Thursday.
From the dramatic setting of the ancient Pnyx in Athens, the French president is expected to outline his vision for the continent in what is being called his most important overseas address since taking office in May.

Total expects approval from the Greek parliament by the end of the year to explore for oil off the western coast of Greece, the French company's chief executive told a Greek newspaper.

Greece and a consortium made up of Total, Italy's Edison and Hellenic Petroleum have signed a lease agreement to search for oil and gas in the Ionian Sea.

European Union member countries are presenting a divided picture on whether to continue full membership talks with Turkey, after German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed to call her European partners to either suspend or end Ankara's bid to join the 29-member club. 

Turkey remains a vital partner of the European Union and ties should be maintained even if the country has taken a worrying turn of late, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview published on Sept. 7.

Macron's comments come after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sept. 3 that talks on Turkish membership of the EU should be halted.

French President Emmanuel Macron expresses his optimism for the future of Greece in an interview with Kathimerini, describing his upcoming visit to Athens as a message of trust and an attempt to cast Greece as a country that is attractive for investments and entrepreneurship.

Lamda Development and its partners in the consortium that has been selected to transform the plot of Athens's former international airport at Elliniko, on the capital's southern coast, are still waiting for a concrete answer as to whether the project can go ahead, as the meeting of the Culture Ministry's Central Archaeological Council ended abruptly on Tuesday night.

French President Emmanuel Macron is sending a message of optimism to Greece, only hours before he lands in Athens on an official visit, in an interview to newspaper “Kathimerini”. “I am aware of the efforts made by the Greeks, I know the feeling of injustice they may have felt. But I am optimistic about the future of Greece.

Ahead of a landmark visit to Athens on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron has told Kathimerini that he is optimistic about Greece's future as a country for investments and entrepreneurship and underlined his support for the country as an ally and a member of the eurozone.