MeRA25

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias will hold meetings with representatives of Greece's opposition parties on Monday, as part of their regular briefing on current foreign policy issues.

A 2.5-billion-euro deal for the purchase of 18 Dassault-made Rafale fighter jets from France was ratified by Greece's Parliament on Thursday evening.

The deal passed with an overwhelming majority, securing the support of opposition lawmakers from SYRIZA, Movement for Change and Greek Solution. The Greek Communist Party (KKE) and MeRA25 voted it down.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is the most popular political leader in Greece (46 pct), despite a slight decline in his popularity, while the majority (57 pct) of people want the government to complete its term, according to a nationwide poll conducted by Prorata and published on Wednesday.

A parliamentary committee has given approval in principle to a bill opening the way for the purchase of 18 Dassault-made Rafale fighter jets from France for a total of 2.5 billion euros ($3.04 billion).

The leader of the leftist MeRA25 party, Yanis Varoufakis, submitted a proposal to Parliament on Tuesday for the establishment of an inquiry committee to investigate the causes of Greece's financial meltdown and bankruptcy in 2010 and its subsequent international bailouts.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias will brief representatives of the opposition parties on Thursday on the recent defense and foreign policy cooperation agreement and the Joint Declaration of Strategic Partnership signed by Greece and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last week.

The meeting is part of the regular briefing of parliamentary parties on current foreign policy issues.

Greece's National Council for Foreign Policy was convening on Wednesday to brief opposition parties about Turkey's activities and the ministry's new plan operational plan.

The mayor of Aegina island claimed in comments on Saturday that former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, head of the Mera25 party, refused to stop for a police inspection on the island where he has a summer home.

According to the mayor, Yiannis Zorbas, police had been conducting routine inspections last Thursday when they signaled to Varoufakis to pull over.

Mera25 MPs will give up half of their salaries to three hospitals in Athens, Thessaloniki and Crete, for as long as the lockdown continues, the anti-austerity party has announced.
Mera25 has nine deputies in the 300-seat Parliament.

Former Finance Minister Yianis Varoufakis will upload all Eurogroup conversations he surreptitiously recorder to his party's website later Saturday.