Greece

The Greek caretaker government has been forced to deal with the asphyxiating problems caused by the huge inflow of refugees to Greece’s border islands. Caretaker economy minister Nikos Christodoulakis said that financial support will be transferred to the islands with the greatest problems during a press conference on Thursday.

SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras appeared in a TV interview on Kontra TV channel. “A clear win by SYRIZA will be the final blow for the old political system,” he said. He admitted, however, that there is disharmony between the July 12 agreement and the popular mandate of January 25.

The latest poll count ahead of the Greek elections on September 20 is tightening with the difference between the two major parties being a close call. The latest round of polls show some voters deserting the Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA), putting the conservative New Democracy main opposition leader Evangelos Meimarakis slightly ahead.

Impressive results have been reported in excavations at the Zominthos site on Mt. Ida (Psiloritis), the highest (1,200 meters) in altitude Minoan-era settlement on Crete — the cradle of the specific Bronze Era Aegean civilization.

Combative Parliament President Zoe Konstantopoulou, now days away from the end of her tenure due to snap elections, launched into a stinging attack against her former SYRIZA comrades during an appearance in a TV newscast on Thursday.
“It would have been honorable for him (former PM Alexis Tsipras) to have asked for the Greek people’s mandate before he voted for the memorandum”.

Dueling campaign rallies were held on Thursday evening, with Alexis Tsipras choosing the working-class west Athens district of Egaleo and Evangelos Meimarakis speaking from Hania, on Crete,
The two front-runners in the snap elections for Sept. 20, as polls and pundits agree, each lobbed campaign slogans and “sound-bite” like phrase for supporters and reporters.

European Commission Vice-president Frans Timmermans and Migration & Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos met with Greek leadership on Thursday to focus directly on the migration crisis that has drastically affected several Greek isles and even replaced the “Greece-euro issue” as the main worry in Europe.

Main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Evangelos Meimarakis continued his pre-election campaign trail from another major Cretan city, Rethymnon, where he called on voters to refrain from choosing a ‘punitive vote’ in the September 20 elections.

Main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Evangelos Meimarakis’ smiles and friendly banter with former prime minister Alexis Tsipras at Herkleion airport at noon on Wednesday was just an interlude.

New Democracy (ND) leader Evangelos Meimarakis returned to his native Irakleio, Crete on Wednesday for a campaign rally on the same day as the first opinion poll indicated laser-thin lead for his party against leftist SYRIZA.