Thought

The union representing the Greek Police's special guards issued a complaint Wednesday over a decision by the force to take disciplinary action against union chief Vasilios Doumas over the latter's description of Exarchia, the central Athens neighborhood which has a reputation as an anarchist stronghold, as "the new state of Exarchistan."

There was a time when Greeks needed to have a permit of political affiliation in order to enjoy their full rights as citizens. That era is now behind us. During the period of transition, however, other such tools of license have come into force, such as that of political correctness.

With Britain's decision to leave the European Union - Brexit - on one side, and U.S. President Donald Trump's defiance of transatlantic ties on the other side, have Europeans finally awakened to the urgency that they need to take matters into their own hands, face the root of their problems, devise strategic solutions and eventually give new shape to their union?

Much has been said about the rise of populism across Europe and America in the last three to five years, tracing its roots to economic inequalities, excessive political correctness, cultural imperialism and uncontrolled migration.

New Democracy has slammed public broadcaster ERT for allegedly equating pro-European centrist President-elect Emmanuel Macron with his far-right rival Marine Le Pen during its coverage of last Sunday's French national elections.

The victory of centrist Emmanuel Macron in France's presidential election, in which he beat far-right candidate Marine Le Pen by a particularly wide margin, is a very positive development on a number of fronts.

It is true that there is an enormous need for measures and initiatives that will provide support to the most vulnerable members of our society, alleviating their anxiety and suffering.

It is not only the fact that we live in oppressive political circumstances, that freedoms are immensely curbed, and that submission is becoming the only option. Worse, we are now supposed to live under the terror of ambivalence.

Yet another new political force has emerged in France, Emmanuel Macron, sending a frisson of relief through the European establishment after he managed to snatch the first round of the French presidential election from Front National leader Marine Le Pen.

On the one hand, we have dozens of public opinion polls pointing to the fact that the government is no longer popular, that it has lost much of its credibility and is lagging significantly behind New Democracy in voter preference, to the extent that many experts believe the situation is irreversible and Greece is facing early elections.