Author: Marios Chondrotzis

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Beijing, where Xi stressed the importance of further opening up and cooperation with the Greek side in advancing the two countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership. Win-win cooperation and exchanges between civilizations are the two bridges for China-Greece relationship, Xi noted, while also voicing hope for deep cooperation in areas including transportation, shipping, energy, communications, green and digital economy, among others. Xi said China encourages Chinese enterprises to invest in Greece, welcomes Greek enterprises to participate in cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries, and welcomes…

Visuals that the media reports from Palestinian enclave are terrible and inhumane, says health minister Greece is working with the UN and some countries to send aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, the country’s health minister announced Thursday. Michalis Chrysochoidis said during a speech in parliament that there should be both humanitarian corridors and humanitarian pauses in the war in support of Gaza’s civilians, according to the state-run AMNA news agency. The visuals that the media reports from Gaza are terrible and inhumane, he said, adding the conflict, which has so far led to the deaths of thousands of people,…

People in several European countries took to the streets Saturday to show solidarity with Palestine amid a worsening situation in the Gaza Strip. Hundreds gathered in Stockholm to protest Israel’s attacks on the seaside enclave. “Free Palestine”, “Free Jerusalem” and “Freedom for Gaza” were shouted and Palestinian flags were carried by Swedes, Palestinians, Arabs and people from different nationalities and all age groups. Banners included messages to stop the bombardment of Gaza and attacks on civilians. In Dublin, thousands marched in support of Palestine, chanting: “Palestine will be free” and “Occupation no more.” They also carried Palestinian flags and banners…

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters rallied in London, Paris and Berlin on Saturday calling for a ceasefire in Gaza after Iranians took to the streets against the United States and Israel. 30,000 protesters in London Amid ongoing bombardments by Israel after the deadly Hamas attack on its territory last month killed 1,400 people, the British capital saw a large turnout in support of Palestinians for the fourth consecutive week. Israel’s bombing campaign since the October attack by Hamas has killed nearly 9,500 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip. Police estimated that about…

Issues related to developing collaboration in agri-food products between Greece and India were discussed at meetings of Greek Agricultural Development & Foods Lefteris Avgenakis with Ministers Parshottam Rupala (Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries) and Piyush Goyal (Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution) during his visit to New Delhi on Friday. According to a Greek ministry statement, Avgenakis discussed, among other things, the exchange of technical know-how with Minister Rupala. At the same time, they agreed on sales of business delegations to strengthen collaboration between the two countries. They also discussed the issue of new certifications for Greek dairy products exported to India. Avgenakis then…

The first U.S. flight evacuating American citizens out of war-torn Israel landed in Greece on Friday, a State Department official confirmed. Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesperson, shared the news on X, saying that the first chartered flight landed in Athens. “While many U.S. citizens are departing Israel on commercial transportation, the State Department is chartering flights to provide additional options and capacity,” Miller wrote. “Our first flight carrying U.S. citizens and their immediate family members from Israel is wheels down in Athens.” “A big thank you to everyone involved in making this possible. Our work continues,” he added. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby first announced the news to charter flights for American citizens in Israel…

Some children love it, some children dread it, some children depend on it and some children simply do not get it. The midday meal that punctuates the school day across Europe differs wildly in cost and content from country to country. In some, it is paid for wholly or partly by the state; in others, parents foot the bill. Although in recent years there has been a shift towards more nutritious school lunches – note the increased presence of fresh fruit and vegetables on the meal trays below – there is a growing awareness of the role a decent meal a day…

The travel operator Tui has extended the season for Greece and Turkey to November in response to increased demand, after extreme temperatures over the summer disrupted some holidaymakers’ plans. More people have chosen to holiday in the cooler autumn months, after temperatures in parts of the Mediterranean jumped above 40C over the summer. Tui said demand for the usual final month of the season, October, was 8% higher than last year. The Anglo-German tourism company, which operates hotels, aircraft and cruise ships, took 13.7m bookings for this summer, up 5% from last year and close to pre-pandemic levels, at 96%. Sebastian Ebel,…

Greece plans to list the Athens International Airport, the country’s biggest, on its stock exchange next year, Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said on Tuesday. The airport’s shareholders have given the go ahead for the sale of a 30% stake currently owned by privatisation agency HRADF, which had been originally aimed for the first half of the year, a senior official from the agency has told Reuters. The shareholders have signed a memorandum of understanding, opening the way for Germany-based manager AviAlliance to acquire a further 10% stake, with HRADF’s remaining 20% to be sold through an initial public offering (IPO)…

That was one Cato Institute wonk’s response to a question about privacy regulation on a panel I moderated last week. It’s a time-honored libertarian complaint, yes, but also a pretty concise take on the big split emerging between the Western powers on what the future of technology is supposed to look like — from who’s watching out for citizens, to how aggressively to force innovation to follow new legal frameworks. To “Europe,” then, is to take a much more aggressive, regulation-forward approach to emerging technologies — which is why we’ve watched the EU so closely since the very beginning of this newsletter.…