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A new government program in Greece is looking to give young Greeks a shot at becoming homeowners, offering mortgages for as little as 1% to address an affordability crisis. The move comes as many young Greeks are being priced out of the property market and forced to cover the cost of soaring rents despite little rise in their real incomes. Eleni Varvitsioti, the Financial Times correspondent...

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On Friday Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias hosted his Albanian counterpart in Athens in a visit that comes ahead of a trip next week by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Albania. This has put Greece’s relationship with its northern neighbor and its broader diplomatic approach to the Western Balkans into focus. A key issue on the table will be moving forward with referring the...

11 λεπτά

As Turkey threatens to mount a fresh ground assault against the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria, America’s Syrian Kurdish allies are warning that Washington and the Kremlin need to take a much firmer stance to prevent a Turkish offensive that will further undermine the battle against the Islamic State. While Washington has expressed “strong opposition” to a new Turkish...

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With time running out ahead of a Monday deadline for implementing a G7 price cap on Russian oil designed to hit Vladimir Putin's war fund, the pressure is on the EU to reach an agreement. Despite several rounds of negotiations and US pressure, the EU remains in a deadlock. Efi Koutsokosta, the EU Correspondent for Euronews and Skai TV, joins Thanos Davelis from Brussels to discuss the G7 plan...

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The last week has seen Greece take important steps in exercising its rights in its maritime space south and southwest of Crete. First, Athens and Cairo signed a deal on search and rescue missions across the Mediterranean - a move that follows up on their 2020 deal to delimit their exclusive economic zones. It also strikes at the heart of Turkey’s Blue Homeland doctrine. Second, Greece is...

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After years of tension between Turkey and Egypt, Turkish President Erdogan and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi shook hands at the opening of the World Cup in Qatar in what Cairo described as a new start in bilateral relations. Despite this meeting, there are still a number of unresolved issues between the two countries, from Libya, to the Eastern Mediterranean, to Turkey’s support...

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Turkish fighter jets carried out dozens of airstrikes in northern Syria and Iraq on Sunday, in what Turkish officials said was a retaliation for a bombing in Istanbul last week. Ankara has blamed the PKK and the YPG in Syria for the bombing, despite both denying any involvement, and, as many have pointed out, there are still a number of questions around the attack that have yet to be answered....

15 λεπτά

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias’ planned visit last week to Tripoli, Libya, to meet the head of Libya’s Presidential Council, Mohamed Menfi, ended before it even started when the Tripoli-based government’s foreign minister Najla Mangoush, who signed an illegal energy exploration deal with Turkey, that tried to force a meeting at the airport. Dendias refused to meet Mangoush, and without exiting...

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On Thursday the UN and other parties said an agreement that unblocked grain shipments from Ukraine and helped temper rising global food prices was to be extended by four months. There was a fear earlier this month that the deal would collapse after Russia’s President Putin abruptly pulled out. After rejoining, Turkish President Erdogan boasted that his relationship with Putin was key to...

14 λεπτά

A potential EU-wide cap on gas prices - an initiative supported by Greece - hangs in the balance as Brussels has yet to present a legislative proposal needed for its creation, while countries remain divided over the issue even as energy ministers prepare to meet next week to hammer out a deal ahead of what could be a difficult winter. Instead, the European Commission circulated a paper...

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Senator Bob Menendez led a stinging indictment of US policy in the Caucasus during a Senate hearing on Wednesday in which he called out the State Department’s both-siderism, citing its apparent refusal to clearly and unequivocally condemn Azerbaijani aggression. This all comes as the US is trying to broker a peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Aram Hamparian, the Executive Director of the...

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Prime Minister Mistotakis’ recent participation at COP27 in Egypt and the latest announcements by Greece that it is exploring for hydrocarbons at sea have put a renewed focus on energy in the Eastern Mediterranean, specifically Greece’s role as a key energy player. Greece’s gas ambitions, as the Prime Minister spelled out at COP27, are just a part of the broader picture as key investments in...

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While votes are still being counted following last Tuesday’s midterm elections in the US, there are a few things we can say with certainty. The anticipated Republican “red wave” failed to materialize, Democrats will hold the Senate, meaning Senator Menendez will remain Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Greek American and Philhellenic candidates across the country had a...

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This week Sweden’s Prime Minister went to Turkey in a bid to convince President Erdogan to green light its NATO membership bid. Instead, Erdogan demanded Sweden do more to get his approval. Holding up Sweden’s membership to NATO isn’t the only area where Turkey is creating problems for the transatlantic alliance. Its aggression against Greece - a NATO ally - has dominated headlines, while...

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With the US midterms behind us, we are turning our attention back to the Eastern Mediterranean, where Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey are all getting ready for national elections in 2023. Tom Ellis, the editor in chief of Kathimerini English Edition, joins Thanos Davelis to look at the general climate as the region moves into this pre-election period. We’ll break down the key issues that are likely...

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Greece is kicking off a delayed natural gas exploration project with ExxonMobil, reserving two areas off southwestern Greece this week. Potential natural gas reserves in the area are estimated to be between 70-90 trillion cubic feet, which would meet all of Greece’s gas needs and potentially cover 15-20 percent of Europe’s natural gas needs as well. The decision comes at a critical time as...

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We’re going on the campaign trail on today’s episode for an up-close look at the US midterm elections that are finding Americans deeply polarized. Petros Kasfikis, the Washington DC correspondent for the Athens News Agency and Greece’s Mega TV, who has been on the road covering key races in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire where he is following Representative Chris Pappas’s re-election campaign,...

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Turkey’s worsening economic crisis has eroded President Erdogan’s popularity ahead of elections in 2023, threatening to oust him from power for the first time in two decades. Yet a large number of voters continue to support him despite his role in creating the crisis. During his twenty years in power Erdogan has developed widespread patronage networks and built clientelistic relationships that...

19 λεπτά

The latest visit to Turkey of Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has put the Israel-Turkey relationship in the spotlight. Despite the continued tensions on a number of issues - from Turkey’s hosting of Hamas to Turkish President Erdogan’s aggressive rhetoric in the past against Israel - Ankara and Jerusalem have taken several steps to improve relations this year. Sinan Ciddi, the co-author of...

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Today we’re heading to Washington, DC, where the US Supreme Court recently turned down Turkey's bid to dismiss 2 lawsuits against it filed by demonstrators in the now infamous attack by Turkish President Erdogan’s bodyguards that took place at Sheridan Circle in 2017. Andreas Akaras, an attorney from the firm Bregman, Berbert, Schwartz & Gilday, LLC who also represents the anti-Erdogan...

15 λεπτά