Author: Despoina Calatou

Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis called on Sunday for SYRIZA leader Stefanos Kasselakis to expel MEP Nikos Pappas from the party after a private Instagram conversation in which Pappas appeared to make offensive remarks against a police officer was leaked online. “In a normal party, his expulsion would go without saying. Such behaviors have no place in our democracy,” said Marinakis, adding that a representative of Greece in the European Parliament should not insult police officers. “Mr. Kasselakis, there’s no need for many words in such cases, just the obvious decision of expulsion. We await your response,” he added. In his…

Greece was elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the period 2025-26, with 182 votes out of a total of 188 countries participating in the electoral process, on Thursday, ANA reports. “Today is a historic day for Greece, for our country’s imprint in the world. The UN General Assembly voted predominantly in favor of our country. This is a great success. This shows the important capital that Greece has in the world, in the international environment,” stressed Foreign Affairs Minister George Gerapetritis. In a post on platform X, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted, “Greece understands…

The Turkish Coast Guard Command early on Friday said it rescued dozens of irregular migrants pushed back by Greece along the Aegean coast and caught dozens more attempting to make the crossing. Some 16 migrants were found drifting on two rubber boats after being pushed back by Greek elements into Turkish territorial waters off the coast of Dikili and Çeşme districts in western Izmir province, the agency said. It also picked up 52 other migrants, including 16 children, who were trying to attempt to cross to Greece on rubber boats in the same region. Separately, it said it found 30…

All men in Russia are required to do a year-long military service, or equivalent training during higher education, from the age of 18. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree setting out the routine spring conscription campaign, calling up 150,000 citizens for statutory military service, a document posted on the Kremlin’s website showed on Sunday (31 March). All men in Russia are required to do a year-long military service, or equivalent training during higher education, from the age of 18. In July Russia’s lower house of parliament voted to raise the maximum age at which men can be conscripted to 30…

The U.S. military should reassess its force posture in Europe and reduce its reliance on revolving door-style unit rotations, a major think tank’s analysts concluded in a Monday report. The Center for Strategic and International Studies’ transnational threat team based their study on official documents, open-source materials and interviews with subject-matter experts. The report’s authors recommend that the Army abandon the rotational armor brigade deployment model that “eats up … the Army’s force structure and long-term readiness.” Currently, two armor brigades are deployed to Europe. Instead, the report said, the service should permanently station an Armored Brigade Combat Team in Poland to…

Financial hardship caused by out-of-pocket payments for medicines, medical products such as hearing aids, and dental care affects millions of people, even in Europe’s richest countries, reveals a new WHO report. On International Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day 2023, the report “Can people afford to pay for health care? Evidence on financial protection in 40 countries in Europe” highlights that out-of-pocket payments push between 1% and 12% of households into poverty or make them poorer. Out-of-pocket payments lead to catastrophic health spending for between 1% and 20% of households on average. This rises to between 2% and 69% of households in…

While it is only the third most reported disease transmitted from animals to humans, infections by mosquitos carrying the West Nile virus are growing in the EU, according to the EU Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Cases of mosquito-borne West Nile virus saw a more than sevenfold increase in 2022 on the previous year mainly due to an epidemic outbreak involving Italy and Greece, according to the latest EFSA report on zoonotic diseases. The transmission season documented in 2022 by the report published on 12 December was the second-highest ever recorded in Europe with 1,133 infections – up from 152 the…

Super League matches to take place without spectators for 2 months, says government spokesperson Greece on Monday announced a set of measures in football matches to deal with violence from fans. Speaking at the weekly press meeting, Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis football games would be played without spectators until Feb.12, 2024, and would also extend to the Greek Cup games and friendlies of Super League teams. He added that football supporters should undergo identity checks before returning to the stadiums. When asked why the measure was not extended to other sports, including basketball and volleyball, Marinakis maintained that the government…

Frankfurt (3/12 – 12) The relatively rapid cohesion of disparate nations, historically competitive or even at war with one another, into the European Union came about in part because of the ongoing threat from the Soviet Union. The specter of a tank invasion from Warsaw Pact nations, today forgotten, was such a reality that the German government kept a major portion of its gold bullion across the Atlantic. The USSR, an ally in World War II after being double-crossed by Hitler – remember the “Non-Aggression Pact signed in Moscow by von Ribbentrop and Molotov – was soon appraised as a…

Indonesian Vice President Ma’ruf Amin called on the Hellenic Parliament to collaborate to strengthen tolerance and respect for followers of different religions amid the inconducive global situation. Amin made the call for interfaith tolerance during his meeting with First Vice-President of the Hellenic Parliament Ioannis Ioshf Plakiotakis in Athens on Wednesday. On Thursday, Vice President Amin has been scheduled to meet Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos II. According to Vice President Amin, Indonesia and Greece need to continue efforts to promote interfaith tolerance and be good role models of how to maintain interfaith unity amid the unconducive global…