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Turkey’s President Erdogan signed off on Finland’s NATO membership on Friday — removing the biggest obstacle to the Nordic country joining the alliance. With a difficult election coming in May, however, Turkey’s president keeps insisting that Sweden is harboring alleged Kurdish terrorists and other dissidents. So far, Sweden’s efforts to placate Turkey, including with the introduction of a new...

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News of the rapprochement between long-time regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran sent shockwaves through the Middle East. The fact that China brokered the deal also took many in Washington by surprise, as it adds to worries over how US partners are responding to growing competition between the US and China. Steven Cook, the Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies at...

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Earlier this week Nikos Christodoulides made his first official visit to Athens as the newly elected President of Cyprus, unveiling steps to significantly strengthen the cooperation between Cyprus and Greece, something Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said was “more necessary than ever” as Christodoulides takes office “in the midst of great geopolitical volatility”. At the same time, it was...

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With the US focus on Russia and China, regions like the Eastern Mediterranean appear to be on the backburner in Washington, DC. This is raising questions about Washington’s overall strategy for the region, which has grown increasingly important over the last years. Constantinos Filis, the director of the Institute of Global Affairs and associate professor at the American College of Greece,...

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Alexis Papahelas penned a powerful opinion piece in the wake of the tragic train crash - “The Sisyphean task of transforming Greece” - in which he argues that Greece is changing, but important areas are being left behind. He compares the Greek leaders looking to make important changes to the mythical figure Sisyphus, who was condemned to an uphill battle without ever reaching the summit. Endy...

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Turkey’s President Erdogan has finally made it official, setting May 14 as the date for elections that many see as existential for Turkey’s authoritarian leader. After twenty years of dominating Turkish politics, and given the stakes for Erdogan, there are questions as to how far he will be willing to go on May 14th to ensure the results are in his favor, and whether there will be a peaceful...

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Some Biden administration officials, notably Brett McGurk, White House coordinator for the Middle East, and Amos Hochstein, special presidential coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security, have been passing through Iraqi Kurdistan, encouraging Iraqi Kurds to sell oil to Turkey while arguing this will bolster US efforts to isolate Russia and Iran. Expert Michael Rubin, a senior...

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The head of the Bank of Greece, Yannis Stournaras, is adamant that 2023 will be the year when Greece finally regains investment grade after over a decade in the junk-bond wilderness. In an interview with the Financial Times, Stournaras also stressed the importance of the country maintaining fiscal prudence and reforms, while taking advantage of a “window of opportunity” to significantly lower...

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As the dust begins to settle following the tragic and deadly train crash in Greece last week, there are still a number of questions, from those related to the safety standards of the country’s railway system to who is to blame. In the meantime, we are continuing to see an outpouring of grief and anger in Greek society, with nationwide protests and demonstrations taking place on Wednesday. Tom...

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On Monday Turkey’s six-party opposition threw their support behind Turkish opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu as the main challenger to President Erdogan in landmark elections expected on May 14. This decision came after an intense few days that saw Meral Aksener - the leader of the second largest party in the coalition - splinter the opposition after publicly opposing Kilicdaroglu’s...

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In the wake of the tragic train crash in Greece, in which at least 57 people - mostly young students - lost their lives, the question on everyone’s mind is: How could this happen? While there have been promises to investigate the causes of the crash and ensure nothing like this happens again, this, as was recently pointed out by Nick Malkoutzis in an op-ed, is also an opportunity for Greek...

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Earlier this week two trains collided in Greece, killing 57 people. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called the collision “a horrific rail accident without precedent” in Greece, and pledged a full, independent investigation. The rail crash has shaken Greeks to their core, with protests erupting in Greek cities as many see this as an accident that had been waiting to happen. Iliana...

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Turkey’s President Erdogan and his government have come under fierce criticism for what many see as an inadequate relief effort following last month’s devastating earthquakes. In the meantime, the government appears to be getting ready to mount a strong crackdown on the dissent highlighting its mismanagement of disaster relief. Expert Sinan Ciddi joins Thanos Davelis to discuss this backlash...

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Energy has been at the top of the agenda over the past days. Last week’s 1st East Macedonia and Thrace Forum put the spotlight on the port city of Alexandroupoli, which is at the heart of key regional developments, while the recent announcement that seismic surveys were completed south and west of Crete is adding a new dimension to Greece’s plan to not only become an important transit hub for...

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Last week’s visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Athens, and the launching of the fourth round of the US-Greece Strategic Dialogue was by all accounts another positive step towards deepening the strategic relationship between Greece and the United States. While the Biden administration has built on the positive momentum set by former Secretary Mike Pompeo, is it failing to make the...

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The 1st East Macedonia and Thrace Forum took place in Alexandroupoli this week, and put a spotlight on the role of this region in upgrading Greece’s geopolitical footprint. Naturally, discussions focused on the role the port city of Alexandroupoli is playing as a major defense hub for Greece, the US, and NATO, as an energy hub, and more generally in strengthening the region's position as a...

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This week the UN’s highest court ruled that Azerbaijan needs to take all steps at its disposal to lift the blockade on the only highway that connects Nagorno-Karabakh, or Artsakh, with the outside world. This comes after months of Azerbaijan’s blockade, and as the situation for people living in Nagorno Karabakh has become increasingly desperate. Azerbaijan has argued that there is no blockade...

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Almost one year ago to the day, Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. This war has been described as a turning point not only for Europe, but for world history. As we’ve seen, the war’s impact has spread beyond the borders of Ukraine, with implications for the rest of the world, and Greece is no exception here. Yannis Palaiologos and Vassilis Nedos, who joined The Greek Current the day Putin...

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken just concluded a two-day visit to Greece, where he held key meetings with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, inaugurated the 4th Greece-US Strategic Dialogue with his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias, and also met with former prime minister and main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras. Deepening cooperation on defense and energy security was high on the...

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We’re heading to Cyprus today, where it’s been a little over a week since the Cypriot people elected a new president, Nikos Christodoulides. The 49-year-old former diplomat has set clear goals, vowing to put together a young government with women filling half of the Cabinet positions and to work to break the stalemate on the Cyprus problem. In terms of foreign policy, the new president’s...

11 λεπτά