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Turkey is facing a major turning point this year as the country heads to elections in May. As President Erdogan faces his toughest electoral challenge yet, the question being asked by leading experts like Prof. Henri Barkey is: what will Erdogan do to stay in power? The earthquake that struck Turkey on Monday and the ensuing tragedy is undoubtedly going to put a new spotlight on Turkey’s...

16 λεπτά

Former Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides led the first round of voting for Cyprus’s presidency on Sunday, and will face a runoff next week against second-place finisher Andreas Mavroyiannis. The winner will succeed outgoing conservative President Nicos Anastasiades, who has been at the helm of Cyprus for a decade, and will be called to address key issues like migration, growing...

10 λεπτά

January was a month in which Greece’s economic performance was in the spotlight. Whether it was at the World Economic Forum in Davos, during a high profile visit by Prime Minister Mitsotakis to Japan, or Fitch’s upgrade of Greece to one step below investment grade, the message is clear: all eyes are on Greece. Alex Patelis, the chief economic adviser to Greece’s Prime Minister, joins Thanos...

11 λεπτά

Over the last years housing costs - particularly rents - have shot up across the Athens area, with some rents jumping as high as 55% since 2017. The share of people in Greece who are overburdened with housing costs is rising, and nearly three quarters of tenants in Greece now spend over 40% of their monthly income on rent. This is quickly becoming a top priority for the government as well,...

13 λεπτά

After The Economist listed Greece as the unlikely economic winner of 2022, the Economist Intelligence Unit has now highlighted the country as one of the best performers on its Democracy Index for 2022, with Greece registering the fifth-biggest increase in score of all the countries covered by the index. Nikos Efstathiou, the deputy editor in chief at the weekly magazine LiFO and a former...

18 λεπτά

January 30th marked the 100 year anniversary of the signing of the Lausanne Convention, which led to the forced expulsion of 1.2 million Greek Orthodox Christians from Turkey and 400,000 Muslims from Greece. This traumatic moment in history fundamentally changed Greece and Hellenism, and its memory is still very much alive and well in Greece. Professor Alexander Kitroeff, a Professor of History...

16 λεπτά

27 years ago the Imia crisis brought Greece and Turkey to the brink of war. Almost three decades later, a lot has changed in terms of Greece’s defense doctrine. Today, as Turkey’s President Erdogan brings tensions in the Aegean to a boiling point, the lessons from this crisis are more important than ever. Vassilis Nedos, Kathimerini’s diplomatic and defense editor, joins Thanos Davelis to...

11 λεπτά

The UN Security Council just renewed the mandate for UNFICYP – the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus - for another year instead of for six months. The renewal comes amid controversy over the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative in Cyprus, and is also occurring less than a week before the first round of presidential elections in Cyprus. Endy Zemenides, HALC’s Executive...

12 λεπτά

Never Give An Inch - the new book by Former CIA Director and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo - was recently released. Aside from recounting his tactics in the Trump administration, the former Secretary also sheds light on key foreign policy priorities under his tenure. These include his dealings with Turkey and President Erdogan, his visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, his views on the...

10 λεπτά

Every year on January 27 we commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day. While this is a story of great pain and sorrow, as the Greek experience shows us, it’s also an opportunity to remember the brave individuals who decided to stand up to hate no matter the consequences - the Righteous Among The Nations. David Harris, a lifelong friend of Greece and the previous CEO of the American Jewish...

16 λεπτά

Greece is known for its historic ties to the sea - from the Battle of Salamis to its merchant shipping fleet today. As of last year, the Union of Greek Shipowners noted that Greece remains the top shipowning nation in the world with approximately 21 percent of the global fleet in terms of capacity. When breaking down the story of Greek shipping, two islands stand out today - Chios and...

16 λεπτά

Turkey’s president has announced May 14 as the date for the country’s next parliamentary and presidential elections. These elections are drawing the attention of the world, and many - including The Economist - are describing them as the country’s last chance for democracy. Steven Cook, the Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations...

16 λεπτά

This past week Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis traveled to Davos to participate in the World Economic Forum. Aside from a number of key meetings with leading business personalities, Mitsotakis also spoke to Fareed Zakaria in a wide ranging interview that covered Greece’s economic transformation, upcoming elections, and tensions with Turkey. The overall message was clear: Greece is back, and...

14 λεπτά

The recent announcement of a long-term energy agreement between Turkey and Bulgaria giving the latter access for 13 years to Turkish regasification terminals, came as a surprise to some and caused consternation in Athens. This comes as Greece is emerging as a key player in helping its northern neighbors in the Balkans - primarily Bulgaria - decouple from Russian gas through a number of...

18 λεπτά

The new year offers an opportunity to take stock of the many changes in Europe over the last year - a year marked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. George Pagoulatos, a professor of European politics and economy at the Athens University of Economics & Business and director general of the Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), joins Thanos Davelis with the view from Athens...

14 λεπτά

Last week news dropped that the Biden administration reportedly will ask Congress to approve a $20 billion sale of F-16s to Turkey, coupled with a separate sale of F-35 fighters to Greece. The sale of F-16s was also the focus of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington on Wednesday. Expert Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the...

13 λεπτά

Α global survey by Britain’s CIA Landlord Insurance has found that the lowest sale prices available for residential property, when compared to other European capitals, are in Athens. As a result, there has been a significant increase in investment interest from abroad in real estate in Greece, especially in the region of Attica which includes the city of Athens. Nikos Roussanoglou, a journalist...

10 λεπτά

For the first time in a while, the economic party is happening in the Mediterranean, and Greece is leading the way ahead of Spain and Portugal. As The Economist looked into the best and worst economic performers of 2022, Greece found itself at the top of the list, with high growth, narrow inflation breadth, plunging debt-to-GDP ratio and an outperforming stock market. Prime Minister Mitsotakis...

10 λεπτά

This week a Libyan court ruled to suspend an energy exploration deal that the Tripoli-based government signed last year with Turkey that ignored the rights of Libya’s neighbors and inflamed Libya’s own internal crisis. The energy deal struck down by the court followed up on an illegal MoU between Ankara and Tripoli that attempted to split the Eastern Mediterranean between themselves at the...

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Over the last years we’ve seen a wave of creativity sweep across Greece - from art and culture to the country’s growing gastronomical scene. As this past year’s tourist numbers indicate, the world is also taking notice. An integral part of this success story are Greece’s wines, as Greek winemakers rediscover ancient cultural traditions and varieties to produce world-class wines again. Ted...

15 λεπτά