Author: Manolis Kappoglou

After the 2024 shock and the French elites are breaking into shell shock over the European Parliament outcome Europa’s slide to the right continues. The Christian Democrats remain firmly in power although the future of Van der Leyen and ilk is uncertain. The election had a few surprises, mainly the center left Renew Europe and the Non-attached Members (NI) and Others group. The pose with 12.50% an outlier. The ultra-right groups grouped at the Identity and Democracy Group (ID) although a minor group in the European Parliament, locally surprised many. In France, the ID block has the majority seats (30).…

Punishing hot weather affects not only a person’s health or work productivity but also affects couples’ fertility and birth outcomes, a project by the National University of Singapore (NUS) found. Rising temperatures could further reduce Singapore’s resident total fertility rate, which dipped below 1 – a record low – in 2023. The rate refers to the average number of babies each woman would have during her reproductive years. Researchers from the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine studied sperm samples from 818 men that were already stored at the National University Hospital’s (NUH) andrology section. The scientists then traced the men’s…

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis doesn’t expect the recent normalization of ties between his country and Türkiye to be without turbulence. “Maintaining the good climate is essential, but anyone who believes that the rapprochement will progress without disruptions, I would say, is out of touch with reality and time,” Mitsotakis was quoted by Greek media as telling a local radio interview on Tuesday. The premier’s remarks come amid his government’s ongoing defense agreement with the United States and efforts to acquire a “qualitative advantage” over Türkiye that will bolster its deterrence capabilities and modernize its armed forces. “There is a…

The sooner Greece goes to the markets in 2024, the better, say analysts, stressing that demand for Greek bonds during next year’s issues will be particularly strong. Regarding Greece’s first market foray next year, the Public Debt Management Agency has two scenarios in mind, as the change of track that Greek bonds have marked with their upcoming inclusion in international indices creates new conditions. Therefore, the PDMA will either issue the first bond of the year, which will probably be a new 10-year bond, within the second or third week of January – when the first wave of issuers is…

Europe on Friday reached a provisional deal on landmark European Union rules governing the use of artificial intelligence including governments’ use of AI in biometric surveillance and how to regulate AI systems such as ChatGPT. With the political agreement, the EU moves toward becoming the first major world power to enact laws governing AI. Friday’s deal between EU countries and European Parliament members came after nearly 15 hours of negotiations that followed an almost 24-hour debate the previous day. The two sides are set to hash out details in the coming days, which could change the shape of the final…

With the state the world is in, and with the particular challenges that Europe faces, it is very tempting to argue that Union will not last, that the continent’s people are condemned to return to endless warfare. It looks as if the things that kept Europe together are weakening: the memories of the most brutal war in history, a sense of State and Citizen based on the Enlightenment, the military (and thus diplomatic) hegemony of the United States in a Pax Americana that benefited the people of Western Europe. Today, the European Union appears incapable of hewing its own course,…

Greece and Italy are planning to triple their power interconnection capacity by 2031 by building a 1 GW undersea line. CEOs of Terna and IPTO agreed to begin the studies early next year. Chief Executive Officer of Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO or Admie) of Greece Manos Manousakis and his counterpart Giuseppina Di Foggia from Italy-based Terna spoke in Athens about accelerating the GR.ITA 2 cable project. The feasibility study, completed last year, showed that the two countries’ interconnection capacity should be tripled by installing a 1 GW undersea line. The heads of the transmission system operators – TSOs and other top executives agreed…

Greece and Turkey have agreed to begin construction of a new bridge linking the two countries at Evros. The construction of the bridge dubbed “Friendship Bridge” is expected to start in 2024 after officials from both countries greenlighted the project during the recent visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Athens. On the Greek side the project was awarded in 2022 to engineering firms Egis and Mavrakis & Partners. As a gateway between Europe and Asia, the “Friendship Bridge” will be an essential node of the future “Corridor IV”, a pan-European corridor comprising a 602 km road section between Thessaloniki…

Migration flows in Greece are largely being determined by the economic situation in the country. Financial difficulties once they obtain international protection, the lack of necessary support programs and homelessness are pushing many refugees to move on to other countries. The current economic situation in Greece, along with the housing crisis in the country, has made it increasingly difficult for migrants to build a life there, even when they receive international protection. Many migrants run into financial difficulties once their asylum claim is approved, and they no longer qualify for asylum seeker accommodation. Instead they are left to their own…

European governments have “systematically” shrunk their railways and starved them of funding while pouring money into expanding their road network, a report has found. The length of motorways in Europe grew 60% between 1995 and 2020 while railways shrank 6.5%, according to research from the German thinktanks Wuppertal Institute and T3 Transportation. For every €1 governments spent building railways, they spent €1.6 building roads. “This is a political choice,” said Lorelei Limousin, a climate campaigner with Greenpeace, which commissioned the report. “We see the consequences today with the climate, but also with people who have been left without an alternative solution to cars.” The report…