Government

Greece's Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense (KYSEA) is to convene at 9 a.m. on Friday morning at the Maximos Mansion under Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The issues to be discussed include the appointment of a new leadership to the Greek Police, with Citizens' Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis to propose candidates.

The election of Germany's Ursula von der Leyen as European Commission president is a positive development. Had she been rejected, the European Union would have suffered a fresh blow at a time when it is under pressure from within and without. However, we cannot ignore the fact that von der Leyen was imposed from "above" rather than being selected in the traditional manner.

Just 10 days after coming to power the government has abolished the finance ministry's Financial and Economic Crime Unit (SDOE), which was established 24 years ago, triggering staunch criticism from main opposition SYRIZA.

SDOE was abolished by Presidential Decree and will be replaced by General Secretariat for Tax Policy and Public Assets.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has accepted the resignation of Secretary-General Martin Selmayr, a spokesman for the institution said today.

The World Bank to support the financing of the Sofia-Skopje-Tirana transport corridor and to take over the supervision. Prime This is for what Minister Boyko Borissov has invited his guest - World Bank Group Managing Director and World Bank Group Chief Administrative Officer Shaolin Yang at their meeting earlier this morning. 

Greece on Thursday nominated European Commission's chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas as the country's representative in the European Commission, the prime minister's office at Maximos Mansion announced.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will inform new European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen of this selection, the press release said. 

The Greek government on Thursday is expected to nominate European Commission's chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas as the country's next European commissioner, Kathimerini understands.
Sources said the announcement will be made later on Thursday.
Schinas served as a member of the European Parliament from 2007 to 2009 with New Democracy.

Talks between Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and US National Security Adviser John Bolton focused on boosting the strong ties between the two countries, the latter said on Wednesday.

Italian prankster Tommaso De Benedetti struck again on Wednesday, falsely announcing the death of former Greek president Karolos Papoulias on Twitter using a fake account he created under the name of Deputy Prime Minister Panagiotis Pikrammenos.
"Karolos Papoulias, the former President of Greece, has died few minutes ago at 90," the tweet read.

According to him, what we have today in Europe hardly has anything to do with civil democracy that was introduced after the World War II.