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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.

επεισόδια 1411
διάρκεια 359 ώρες
συχνότητα εβδομαδιαία
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Christos Stylianides: Greece's new climate crisis minister

Greece has created its first-ever ministerial post to exclusively handle the fallout from climate change in the wake of this summer’s devastating wildfires — and it has brought in a former EU crisis management expert for the role. Christos Stylianides, a Cypriot national who previously served as the EU commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management, was sworn in as minister on Friday...

Lebanon announces a new government, ending political deadlock

On Friday Lebanon’s President and Prime minister announced a new cabinet after thirteen months of political deadlock and a spiraling economic downturn. Lebanon has been without a fully empowered government since the catastrophic August 4, 2020 explosion that rocked the port of Beirut and forced the resignation of then Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government. In the meantime, an economic...

Greece's Vaccine Diplomacy: From the Western Balkans to Africa

This week when Greece’s Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias travelled to Tunisia, he wasn’t just traveling with a diplomatic team. He was also bringing 100,000 Covid-19 vaccines with him. This follows a delivery to Rwanda last week of 200,000 vaccines. These are the latest steps Greece is taking to combat the global pandemic that has seen it deliver vaccines to Libya, Albania, North Macedonia,...

Renewable energy, the European Green Deal, and the Eastern Mediterranean

In December, 2019, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the European Green Deal, the EU’s ambitious plan to lead the world on climate action and make Europe carbon neutral by 2050. The record heat waves and destructive wildfires that hit Greece and other countries in the Mediterranean have only highlighted the need for action among experts and policymakers. Constantine...

Are tensions easing between regional rivals Turkey and the UAE?

Turkish President Erdogan and the de-facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nayhan, spoke on the phone earlier this week in the latest sign of a possible thaw between the regional rivals. Turkey and the UAE have been at odds over Ankara’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood and on opposing sides on a number of issues - from the conflict in...

What developments in Afghanistan could mean for Greece, and FM Dendias recent trip to North Macedonia

Vassilis Nedos, Kathimerini’s diplomatic and defense editor, joins us on The Greek Current today to look at his latest op-ed in Kathimerini, where he highlights what Greece needs to be paying attention to when we look at the ripple effects in the region to the US and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s takeover of the country. We also look into Vassilis Nedos’s latest coverage of...

With the world's attention on Afghanistan, Turkey carries out lethal airstrikes in Iraq

With the world and the US focused on Afghanistan, Turkey carried out airstrikes that hit genocide survivors in Iraq and members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in mid August. One of the airstrikes hit a medical clinic in Sinjar, killing eight people, while another airstrike saw a Turkish drone kill Yazidi leader Hassan Saeed on the day he was scheduled to meet with the Iraqi prime...

The significance of US Senator Menendez's visit to Greece and Cyprus

US Senator Bob Menendez, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was in Greece and Cyprus last week and this week, where he held a number of key meetings with leading officials, including Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades. His trip highlighted the increasing strategic value of Greece and Cyprus for US policy in the Eastern...

Turkey turns to the Taliban to reach a deal on operating Kabul airport

Earlier this year Turkey’s President Erdogan had hoped to build leverage over the US, the EU, and NATO by reaching a deal with Washington, DC to take over and secure Kabul’s international airport after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. That deal is all but dead after the Taliban took over Kabul. Turkey is continuing its dialogue with all the sides in Afghanistan, however, including the...

A mini-Schengen area in the Western Balkans? Examining the "Open Balkans" initiative

At the end of July, the leaders of Serbia, North Macedonia, and Albania met in Skopje, where they agreed to bolster regional economic integration, vowing to abolish border controls between their countries by January 2023. They named their initiative “Open Balkans” or “Mini-Schengen” – after the European Union’s free travel zone. The announcement comes as leaders in the Western Balkans are...

The climate crisis and its impact on the Mediterranean Sea

This summer has highlighted a number of challenges the world is likely to face as a result of climate change - from the deadly floods in Germany and northern Europe, to heatwaves and wildfires that ravaged Greece, Turkey, and Mediterranean countries. Another area that is increasingly under pressure is the sea. This year, we witnessed a thick, slimy layer of so-called “sea snot” cover Turkey’s...

Greece announces new restrictions as it sets record for new Covid-19 cases

On Tuesday Greece’s Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias unveiled a series of new public health safety measures that foresee tough restrictions on individuals that have not been vaccinated against Covid-19. The measures come as Greece continues to see a steady increase in confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths, as well as hospitalizations and intubations, over the past several weeks. Data shows...

Athens pledges to restore everything destroyed by wildfires and implement reforms as Greeks count the cost of the fires

Since the beginning of August, Greece has battled devastating wildfires on the island of Evia, in the Peloponnese, and in Attica. The biggest disaster, however, took place in northern Evia, Greece's second-largest island. Over a million square meters of land has burned, destroying forests, homes and business, and killing thousands of animals in what Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called...

Deadly clashes at Armenia's border; US House looks to block military aid to Azerbaijan

Armenia’s government said on Wednesday that three of its soldiers were killed after Azeri forces attacked Armenian positions near the border where clashes have become more frequent despite a ceasefire agreed to after Azerbaijan’s assault on Nagorno Karabakh last fall. Both sides later accepted a Russian ceasefire proposal to try to calm tensions. Meanwhile, this week the US House of...