Orestiada

Breaking the indiscriminate cycle of spraying fields with pesticides is the objective of a major 28-month research program involving the Agricultural University of Athens, the Hellenic Mediterranean University, the Hellenic Agricultural Organization, the Benaki Phytopathological Institute, the Aristotle University, the Democritus University of Thrace and the Foundation for Research & Techno

Two Turkish nationals, aged 22 and 27, have been arrested in Hania, on the southern island of Crete, sparking speculation in the media about their activities.

Border police in northeastern Greece blocked four separate attempts by illegal migrants to cross into the country on Friday and Saturday and arrested a total of four traffickers, all foreign nationals.

Two fire fronts in the region of Evros continue to rage in the area of Leptokarya, particularly at Meghalo Rema and Kotronia.

The change of the wind direction from northeastern to southern on Wednesday pushed the blaze to another direction that seemed uncontrollable.

Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos expressed on Wednesday his support to those affected by the wildfires that have been raging for days across Greece, describing them as a "tragedy".

Ruling New Democracy has accused Kyriakos Velopoulos, the leader of the populist nationalist Greek Solution party, of disseminating "fake news" concerning Greece's border fence intended to prevent illegal migration along the Evros border with Turkey.

Five police officers accused of cooperating with human traffickers to facilitate the entry of at least 100 migrants into Greece are being held in custody pending trial.

The five officers had been testifying before an examining magistrate since Saturday morning at the border town of Orestiada, in northeastern Greece.

Greek authorities on Wednesday rescued a group of 39 migrants who had been abandoned by smugglers on an islet in the river that runs along the country's land border with Turkey, police said.

A police statement said the 13 men, 11 women and 15 children had been ferried across in a plastic boat from the Turkish side of the Evros river.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis pledged that a new conservative government will not compromise on matters of national security, while challenging the leader of Greece's leftist opposition, Alexis Tsipras, to clearly state whether he would continue the construction of the fence along the Greek-Turkish border or dismantle it if elected.

In the leadup to International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece (KIS) has said that the responsibility to pass on the memory of the Holocaust "is a sacred mission."

In a statement, the KIS noted that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the deportation of Jews from the German and Bulgarian occupation zones of Greece.