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Efforts to defuse a crisis in Kosovo intensified on Wednesday as ethnic Serbs continued their protests over the installation of ethnic Albanian mayors in a northern town where recent clashes with NATO-led peacekeepers sparked fears of renewed conflict. This unrest has caught the attention of the international community, with the US and the EU both criticizing Pristina for destabilizing the...

17 λεπτά

Erdogan officially won re-election this past Sunday, defeating his opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu by four percentage points in a runoff election that international observers noted was conducted on an unlevel playing field that “contributed to an unjustified advantage” for Erdogan. Expert Alan Makovsky joins Thanos Davelis to explore what we should now expect from a newly emboldened Erdogan on both...

18 λεπτά

Rep. McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Politico this week that he is generally open to selling F-16s to Turkey, even if President Erdogan is reelected on Sunday. Rep. McCaul is one of four Congressional leaders who must all green-light the $20 billion transaction for it to go through. McCaul hastened to add that all four of the lawmakers currently agree on...

10 λεπτά

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ landslide victory on Sunday night in Greece’s elections had many talking about a political earthquake. The markets seemed to take note as well, with Greek stocks and government bonds rallying sharply following New Democracy’ win as Mitsotakis is keen to implement a pro-investment and pro-reform agenda. Wolfango Piccoli, co-founder of risk analysis company...

11 λεπτά

This week Sinan Oğan, the nationalist “kingmaker” who came third in Turkey’s elections, endorsed President Erdogan. Having won just over 5% of the vote in the first round, his voters could hold the key to victory on Sunday in Turkey’s runoff for the presidency. In the meantime, Turkey’s opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu is in the fight of his life, and the question remains whether he has a...

14 λεπτά

While Sunday was a resounding success for Prime Minister Mitsotakis, the election result has raised very real questions around the political future of Alexis Tsipras and the main opposition, Syriza. As Syriza and Tsipras look to figure out what went wrong and plan out their next moves, PASOK, which dominated Greece’s center-left up until the financial crisis, looks like it’s ready for a...

10 λεπτά

Greece’s ruling party New Democracy achieved a huge victory in Sunday’s election, managing to gain a double-digit lead over its main rival, the left-wing Syriza, which saw its support melt away. The margin far outstripped pollsters' forecasts, and raises questions about the future of Syriza and Alexis Tsipras. Prime Minister Mitsotakis described the victory as a “political earthquake” that...

14 λεπτά

Just two days before a critical local election last Sunday, Albanian authorities decided to arrest the ethnic Greek mayoral candidate for Himare, Fredi Beleri. This dictatorial decision has raised tensions between Greece and Albania, and has caught the attention of both the US and the EU, with Senator Menendez raising the issue during a Senate hearing this week. It also raises broader questions...

10 λεπτά

On May 19 we commemorate the genocide of the Greeks of Pontus, a chapter of the genocide perpetrated by the Turkish state in the early 20th century against its Christian inhabitants that resulted in the deaths of more than 2.5 million Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians. Dror Ze’evi, a professor of Middle Eastern studies at Ben Gurion University of the Negev and the co-author of the book “The...

12 λεπτά

With Turkish President Erdogan’s re-election essentially in the bag as the presidential election heads to a runoff, what should the West expect as Erdogan prepares for another term? Expert Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former Pentagon official, joins Thanos Davelis to look into this question, arguing that it is time for the US and the EU to prepare for...

12 λεπτά

From the depths of the financial crisis last decade, Greece’s economy is now one of the fastest-growing ones in Europe’s common-currency zone. While the country still has work to do to fully recover from the deepest economic slump suffered by any developed economy since the 1930s, there is optimism in the air as the Greek economy grew by nearly 6% last year. Maintaining this economic success...

11 λεπτά

A day after a hotly contested election, Turkish President Erdogan is in the lead, defying the polls to enter an expected run-off for the presidency at the end of May, a contest where Erdogan now appears to be the clear favorite. Ayla Jean Yackley, a journalist covering Turkey with stories in The Financial Times, Politico, and other major outlets, joins Thanos Davelis to break down the key...

13 λεπτά

President Nikos Christodoulides visited Israel this week where he met with President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The visit follows key trips to Greece, Egypt and France, and came despite the recent unrest affecting Israelis and Palestinians, underlining the importance of Cyprus’s ties with Israel. Prof. Gabriel Haritos joins Thanos Davelis to discuss the significance of...

15 λεπτά

Greece’s party leaders held a debate on Wednesday, touching on everything from the economy to foreign policy. While the three hour debate didn’t produce a clear winner, it was an opportunity for the party leaders to speak directly to voters. In the meantime, polls are indicating that New Democracy has recovered some of its lost ground, raising questions about what kind of coalition could be in...

14 λεπτά

Athens is currently on the radar for many looking to purchase real estate, but it has also emerged as a magnet for Israelis looking to escape a cost of living crisis at home, and more recently, Israel's political turmoil. The real estate boom is unique as it coincides with a strengthening of ties between Greece and Israel, underlining how deepening political relations are trickling down to...

11 λεπτά

With Turkish elections around the corner, the atmosphere in the country is becoming increasingly heated. President Erdogan and his coalition seem to be feeling the heat, and their rhetoric has become notably more intense in recent days as they double down on nationalism and culture wars issues. At the same time, the Sunday attack by government supporters on Istanbul opposition mayor Ekrem...

10 λεπτά

As Turkey gears up for momentous elections on Sunday, President Erdogan and his government are expected to use several tactics to undermine the vote and try to engineer a win as this year’s election is shaping up as the fiercest in the country’s modern history. Despite this, the opposition remains united and optimistic. Merve Tahiroglu, the Turkey program director at the Project on Middle East...

15 λεπτά

A topic that has gained particular attention over the last years, as was highlighted at the Delphi Economic Forum at the end of April, is Greece’s effort to become a global education hub. Alexis Phylactopoulos, the President of College Year in Athens (CYA) - the oldest and largest study abroad institution in Greece - and of its Athens subsidiary, The International Center for Hellenic and...

11 λεπτά

Once again, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended in its 2023 Annual Report that Turkey be placed on the Special Watch List for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom. Tugba Tanyeri Erdemir, the coordinator of ADL's Task Force on Middle East Minorities and a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute, joins...

11 λεπτά

Since 2020, the EU has suffered two large shocks - the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - that have increased longer-term fiscal pressures through higher debt and higher public investment needs. As the EU looks to address these challenges, its members are locked in a debate over how to adapt its long-standing fiscal rules to the economic reality that has emerged. Germany is leading the...

13 λεπτά