Government of Greece

All opposition walked out of Tuesday's session of a parliamentary committee that is supposed to be investigating the Novartis affair as coalition lawmakers insisted that the probe focus on whether the panel is in fact competent to continue with the investigation or whether it should be returned to prosecutors. 

The Greek railway operator Trainose on Monday launched an internal investigation into claims that an inspector made a 14-year-old boy get off a train at a station in Patra because he was 10 cents short for his ticket fare.

In comments to Alpha 989 radio station, the boy's mother said she wrote to Trainose and to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to complain about the incident.

New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Sunday called for the departure of "the worst government the country has ever known."

In a speech before a convention of ND's youth chapter, Mitsotakis said the leftist-led government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras should leave without delay "so that our country can eventually become a normal European country."

Conservative opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis has accused Greece's leftist-led government of being under the tutelage of "a new generation of oligarchs," while vowing to reform the debt-wracked country's business environment by combating graft and safeguarding the rule of law if he becomes prime minister.

The leader of the new center-left Movement for Change, Fofi Gennimata (second from left), and other key players attend the party's inaugural conference in Athens on Friday.

Alternate Defense Minister Fotis Kouvelis on Wednesday differentiated his stance on Turkey's detention of two Greek soldiers from that of Defense Minister Panos Kammenos who last week referred to the two men as "hostages."

In a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington during an official visit to the US, New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis referred to a "new generation of oligarchs," saying that he deemed it is his duty to ensure that Greece "does not become a failing state when it comes to its institutions." 

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (left) speaks to his Greek counterpart Prokopis Pavlopoulos on Tuesday during a tour of the Acropolis Museum. Pavlopoulos hosted a lunch for the visiting dignitary at the museum.

Alternate Defense Minister Fotis Kouvelis on Tuesday visited the parents of the two soldiers being detained in Turkey after crossing the border earlier this month and pledged that Greek authorities were doing everything possible to secure their swift release.

With relations between Greece and Turkey in a downward spiral in recent months, President Prokopis Pavlopoulos reiterated his call to Ankara on Tuesday to "fully respect" international law so that it can remain on course for European Union accession. .