Politics of Greece

Wednesday's televised debate between party leaders ahead of the May 21 elections will not "make any difference if it's just a series of parallel monologues," SYRIZA's Alexis Tsipras said on Tuesday, accusing the prime minister of dodging a one-on-one debate with the main opposition leader.

MeRA25 was not founded in 2018 in order to play a backseat role in a government led by Alexis Tsipras, the head of the radical left party, Yanis Varoufakis, indicated on Tuesday, ruling out the possibility of joining a coalition with SYRIZA.

Authorities in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, said on Tuesday that they have identified five individuals from among a larger group that barged into an art gallery and demanded, with the use of threats, that the exhibition it was showing be taken down.

The president of SYRIZA - Progressive Alliance, Alexis Tsipras, addressed a new invitation on Saturday to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for a televised debate between the two men.

Sergej Andreevski, the artist from North Macedonia whose exhibition in a municipal gallery in the Thessaloniki suburb of Kalamaria was disrupted last week by a far-right group, released a statement to the media Monday thanking the municipality, Greek authorities, the public "who stood by art" and commenting on the place of art in today's world.

The full statement follows:

On May 21, Greece will hold its 20th round of general elections since the restoration of democracy in 1974, and the 67th general election since the founding of the modern Greek state. The election will use a simple proportional representation system, which was voted for in 2016.

The Independent Anti-Money Laundering Authority has ordered an investigation into allegations that the Greek Solution party took cash payments from its MPs without issuing receipts.

Outgoing party MPs Antonis Mylonakis and Aikaterini Alexopoulou said that the party, which is led by Kyriakos Velopoulos, took the money from its MPs.

SYRIZA has unveiled its state-wide list for the upcoming elections on May 21, the composition of which is equally balanced between male and female candidates.

A new opinion poll of voting intentions gives ruling center-right New Democracy a 4.8-percentage point lead over left-wing SYRIZA.

Asked about their voting preferences for the May 21 election by pollster MRB, 29.7% chose New Democracy, 24.9% SYRIZA, 8.3% socialist PASOK-Movement for Change, 5.1% Communist KKE, 4.6% nationalist Greek Solution and 3.2% left-wing MeRA25.

Speaking during a "fireside chat" at the Delphi Economic Forum on its opening day Wednesday, Greek opposition leader Alexis Tsipras noted that the big challenge for the country as it heads to general elections next month is "not whether we will remain in Europe, but whether we will become Europe, whether we will become a normal European country."