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The Greek Current
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The Greek Current

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A podcast on Greece, Cyprus and the region brought to you by The Hellenic American Leadership Council and Kathimerini. Hosted by Thanos Davelis.

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Turkey's drone deal with Ukraine and its balancing act between Russia and NATO

Turkish President Erdogan visited Ukraine on Thursday where he reiterated Turkey’s support of Ukraine and signed a number of deals on trade and defense. These include joint production in Ukraine of Turkish drones, expanding a partnership that has seen Ukraine buy at least 20 unmanned aerial vehicles from Turkey. During the visit Erdogan offered to mediate between Ukraine and Russia, stressing...

What the rise in popularity of KINAL means for Greece's political scene

While the latest polls in Greece show the ruling New Democracy party maintaining a double-digit lead over opposition party SYRIZA, they also point to an impressive increase in support for the center-left Movement for Change (KINAL). Over the last months KINAL has been able to attract frustrated moderate voters from both New Democracy and SYRIZA, raising questions for both major parties. Expert...

Turkish airstrikes in Syria and Iraq and their impact on religious and ethnic minorities

Turkish warplanes struck suspected Kurdish positions in Iraq and Syria early on Wednesday in a new aerial offensive. The Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria condemned Turkey’s airstrikes and urged the international community to intervene to stop what it called “Turkish aggression.” It said the Turkish strikes came days after the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces...

Secretary Blinken: The US-Cyprus relationship is "stronger than ever"

Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department on Tuesday, where the two discussed deepening the bilateral relationship, which Secretary Blinken said was “stronger than ever.” They also discussed the 3+1 mechanism with Greece and Israel, and additional bilateral and regional issues. There was no mention in the readout, however, of...

The US-Cyprus relationship: A discussion with Nikos Christodoulides

On Tuesday Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides will meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department, putting the US-Cyprus relationship in the spotlight. Blinken and Kasoulides will focus on further deepening bilateral relations, the Cyprus problem, energy issues, the 3+1 format, as well as other issues of regional and international interest. Nikos Christodoulides,...

The Russia-NATO crisis puts Turkey's balancing act between Moscow and the West to the test

The Russia-NATO crisis over Ukraine is putting Turkey’s balancing act between Moscow and the West into renewed focus. Because it is a NATO country, and because Russia has been building a strategic relationship with Ankara since 2016 to counter NATO on missile defense, Turkey’s decisions are going to be watched carefully in Moscow, Washington, and Brussels should the Ukraine-Russia crisis...

The winter storm that swept through Greece and the government's response

The winter storm that swept through Greece this week and shut down Athens and other parts of the country has seen the government come under fire for its handling of this extreme weather event. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis issued an apology on Wednesday acknowledging the insufficient response of the state to the storm, which left thousands of motorists stranded in their cars, while...

EastMed diplomacy: "It’s not the pipeline, stupid"

Endy Zemenides, the Executive Director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council, joins The Greek Current to discuss his latest piece in Kathimerini, titled “It’s not the pipeline, stupid”, which breaks down the latest controversy over the US “non-paper” on the EastMed gas pipeline. We look at the series of public relations fiascos and laughable explanations from those responsible for the...

Turkey’s Israel agenda: Erdogan’s hints at reconciliation with Israel

Last week Turkish President Erdogan said that Israeli President Herzog would soon visit Turkey. The very next day, Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu held the first ministerial level call in 13 years with Israeli Foreign Minister Lapid. This comes as Turkey has been pushing the narrative that it wants reconciliation with Israel, and after it’s taken steps to reach out to regional rivals such as...

Why Halkbank's US Supreme Court appeal is a win for Erdogan

Late last week a US appeals court put the federal government's prosecution of Turkish state-owned lender Halkbank on hold while the bank appeals to the US Supreme Court. This decision means Halkbank can appeal without having to defend itself in a Manhattan federal court for its alleged role in helping Iran evade US sanctions. Halkank is accused of helping Iran secretly transfer $20 billion of...

What's in the way of North Macedonia's bid to join the EU?

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov and his counterpart from North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovacevski, met on Tuesday in Skopje in an effort to improve relations and reach a breakthrough on the Bulgarian policy of blocking North Macedonia’s path to EU membership. Since 2020, Bulgaria has blocked the opening of EU membership negotiation talks with North Macedonia because of disputes over history...

Greece strengthens its air force with new Rafale jets from France

The first six advanced Rafale jets, purchased from France, arrived in Greece on Wednesday marking the first major delivery to result from multi-billion euro defense deals the Greek and French governments signed last year. Prime Minister Mitsotakis welcomed the new jets, saying that they will make the Greek air force one of the strongest in Europe and the Mediterranean. Greece has earmarked...

Beyond the EastMed pipeline: An opportunity for Greece

The US decision to shift its focus from the EastMed gas pipeline to regional electricity interconnectors is an opportunity for Greece. That’s what energy expert Nikos Tsafos argued in his latest op-ed in Kathimerini - “Beyond the EastMed Pipeline”. Nikos Tsafos joins The Greek Current to talk about this piece, in which he explores the impact the proposed pipeline has had on the region despite...

US clarifies position on EastMed, refutes Turkish propaganda video

The EastMed gas pipeline has been dominating the news cycle over the last weeks. This attention follows a non-paper declaring Washington’s skepticism about the project and a recent online video published by Turkey’s TRT World which inaccurately portrayed US policy as favoring EastMed gas going to Turkey. As a result, the State Department issued in depth statements clarifying its positions on...

Turkey’s efforts to mend relations with rivals in the East Med and Gulf

In 2021 we saw Turkey slowly work to reduce tensions with a number of its regional rivals, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. While Turkey seems eager to move from active confrontation toward greater stability, its rivals have not all embraced rapprochement with the same zeal as Ankara. The question now remains how far regional dynamics will shift given that many...

Rule of law reforms, authoritarianism, and nationalism in the Western Balkans

EU auditors released a report on Monday that pointed out how the EU has been unsuccessful in its efforts to promote rule-of-law reforms in the Western Balkans. The bloc has spent about €700 million between 2014 and 2020 to help Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo make progress on reforms, and many EU governments see establishing high democratic standards...