People in Kryoneri, north-east of the Greek capital, receive SMS messages telling them to get to safe areas
A wildfire burned through a northern suburb of the Greek capital of Athens on Saturday and some residents were ordered to evacuate, the country’s fire service reported.
Residents of the town of Kryoneri, 12.5 miles (20km) north-east of Athens, received three SMS messages to evacuate to safe areas, fire service spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakoyannis told reporters.
Continue reading...Target of the explosion, Konstantinos Varsamis, is unharmed after ‘cowardly attack’ in Thessaloniki
Two people have been wounded in a bomb attack in a suburb of Greece’s second city Thessaloniki, damaging a block of flats and six cars.
The explosion in the early hours on Saturday morning targeted the home of the president of the Greek association of prison guards in the suburb of Sykies.
Continue reading...Tourists greeted on Syros by banner saying Stop the Genocide and prevented from disembarking
A cruise liner carrying Israeli tourists has been forced to reroute to Cyprus after being turned away from the Greek island of Syros after a quayside protest over the Gaza war.
Around 1,600 Israeli passengers on board the Crown Iris were prevented from disembarking amid safety concerns when more than 300 demonstrators on the Cycladic isle made clear they were unwelcome over Israel’s conduct of the war and treatment of Palestinians in Gaza. A large banner emblazoned with the words Stop the Genocide was held aloft alongside Palestinian flags.
Continue reading...Kyriakos Mitsotakis sets up taskforce over alleged scamming of EU agricultural funds after resignation of five senior officials
The Greek prime minister has vowed to get to the bottom of how a scheme of fraudulent EU subsidy claims could have operated undetected in the country for years, as he admitted that the scandal had revealed “the state’s inadequacy” in dealing with corruption.
Faced with revelations that “fake” farmers had been scamming designated agricultural funds to the tune of a reputed €290m (£249m), Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday a special taskforce would be set up to “immediately and exhaustively” investigate the illegal payments.
Continue reading...Tribunal rules Spartans lawmakers ‘deceived’ voters after convicted ex-leader of Golden Dawn found to hold influence over party
A landmark court decision has dealt a blow to the far-right movement in Greece after MPs with the neo-fascist Spartans party were deprived of seats in parliament.
Citing electoral fraud, a specially assembled electoral tribunal stripped three of the group’s lawmakers, including its leader, of their status in a move that, for the first time since the collapse of military rule, leaves Athens’ 300-seat parliament operating with just 297 MPs.
Continue reading...Contact from the Observer prompts withdrawal as dealers urged to do more to stop illicit trade in antiquities
A London antiquities dealer has withdrawn an ancient Greek amphora from sale after evidence arose that links it to a notorious smuggler.
The Kallos Gallery in Mayfair, London, has removed a black-figure amphora – a jar with two handles and a narrow neck made around 550BC – from sale after the Observer contacted it about concerns raised by an expert in the illegal trade of antiquities.
Continue reading...The country’s best-known director was refused by Greece’s culture ministry when he applied to shoot scenes for sci-fi comedy Bugonia at iconic Athens site
Greece’s leading contemporary director has had a request to shoot footage for his new film at the Acropolis in Athens denied by his country’s culture ministry.
Yorgos Lanthimos had filed a request to film scenes for sci-fi comedy Bugonia at the fifth-century BC site in April. But in a statement on Thursday, the culture ministry said permission had been refused because “the proposed scenes are incompatible with the symbolism … and the values the Acropolis represents”.
Continue reading...Authorities race to complete clean-up operation after devastation from gales and heaviest rainfall in 20 years
People on the Aegean islands, more used in April to the sight and scent of spring’s blossoms, have been left reeling from flash floods spurred by typhoon-strength gales, with authorities calling a state of emergency in some of Greece’s most popular destinations less than three weeks before Easter.
“It’s a total catastrophe and it happened in just two hours,” said Costas Bizas, the mayor of Paros, the island worst hit by weather not seen in decades. “We need all the help we can get.”
Continue reading...Shaken by rail protests, Kyriakos Mitsotakis brings in new transport minister while tacking right on migration
The Greek prime minister has appointed a former far-right student activist to the helm of the migration ministry as part of a broad reshuffle aimed at “resetting” his government amid public outrage over its handling of a deadly 2023 train crash.
In an attempt to stem declining approval ratings, Kyriakos Mitsotakis placed the self-described nationalist, Makis Voridis, in the sensitive post while selecting a number of younger officials to key portfolios including the transport ministry.
Continue reading...From Istanbul and Warsaw to Athens and Madrid, activists demand equality and the end of gender-based violence
Women took to the streets of cities across Europe, Africa and elsewhere to mark International Women’s Day with demands for ending inequality and gender-based violence.
On the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city Istanbul, a rally in Kadiköy saw members of dozens of women’s groups listen to speeches, dance and sing in the spring sunshine. The colorful protest was overseen by a large police presence, including officers in riot gear and a water cannon truck.
Continue reading...Kyriakos Mitsotakis says protests over train disaster emphasise the need for ‘safe and modern’ transport system
The Greek prime minister has vowed to upgrade the country’s railways as his embattled government braces for a vote of no confidence after huge protests over a 2023 train crash that killed 57 people.
Two days after hundreds of thousands took to the streets in fury over the response to the disaster on its second anniversary, Kyriakos Mitsotakis acknowledged that not enough had been done to build a “safe and modern” transport system, saying the largest protests in recent history had emphasised the demand for action.
Continue reading...Riot officers fire teargas at hundreds of hooded youths as protests across Greece mark anniversary of Tempe disaster
Peaceful protests in central Athens have been eclipsed by the eruption of full-scale clashes between rock-throwing youths and riot police, as demonstrations and strikes were held across Greece to mark the second anniversary of a fatal train crash.
Thousands of people who had crammed into Syntagma Square for a demonstration later fled, some even seeking refuge in the parliament, as riot police fired rounds of teargas at hundreds of black-clad hooded youths lobbying rocks at them.
Continue reading...The district of Plaka dates to neolithic times but a new wave of development is luring more tourists – and local people are fighting back
In a neoclassical building in Athens on the oldest street of one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the western world, residents gathered last week with much on the minds.
Items on the agenda included noise pollution, congestion and other modern afflictions, but there was one that was met with instant relief: Haris Doukas, the city’s mayor, had decided to set up a taskforce to save Plaka, the ancient quarter at the heart of the capital’s historic centre.
Continue reading...Greek civil protection authorities announce measures after an estimated 7,700 tremors in less than a week
Greek civil protection authorities have declared a state of emergency on Santorini as natural disaster experts voice mounting fears over the “intense” seismic activity that has rattled the island.
The emergency measures were declared by the island’s town hall hours after seismologists recorded a 5.2-magnitude earthquake – the most powerful tremor to be felt on Santorini since the first of an estimated 7,700 temblors were registered last week.
Continue reading...Schools shut as precautionary measure and people told to avoid shoreline after hundreds of seismic tremors
Greek authorities have dispatched special forces, rescue teams, tents and drones to the island of Santorini after hundreds of seismic tremors were recorded in the area.
Amid fears of a bigger earthquake that could cause a tsunami, people were advised to avoid the shoreline and derelict buildings, to empty swimming pools and to refrain from gathering in large numbers in enclosed spaces. The civil protection ministry said schools would be shut as a precautionary measure on Monday.
Continue reading...Work that made its creator a superstar then mysteriously disappeared is mesmerising art lovers once more
It was commissioned by a Greek king, made its creator a superstar and in his native Denmark attracted crowds like no other painting before. Then it mysteriously disappeared.
Now, nearly nine decades after it was last seen gracing the stairwell of the royal palace that would become the Athens parliament, Carl Bloch’s masterpiece, Prometheus Unbound, has found fame again in Greece.
Continue reading...In ‘potentially trailblazing’ decision, European court of human rights finds country engaging in illicit deportations
The European court of human rights has found Greece guilty of conducting “systematic” pushbacks of would-be asylum seekers, ordering it to compensate a woman forcibly expelled back to Turkey despite her attempts to seek protection in the country.
In a judgment described as potentially trailblazing, the Strasbourg-based tribunal awarded the complainant damages of €20,000 (£16,500), citing evidence that the frontline EU state was engaging in the illicit deportations when she was removed.
Continue reading...Four days of mourning declared for death of Pasok party co-founder, the architect of country’s entry into euro
Tributes have been paid to the former socialist prime minister Costas Simitis, who with dogged determination guided Greece into the eurozone and took the vital steps to ensure it was ready to host the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
News of Simitis’s death at the age of 88 was met on Sunday with outpourings from across the political spectrum, with friends and foes alike voicing admiration for a man credited with overseeing some of the country’s most momentous changes.
Continue reading...MPs vote to give leave to bring in private members’ bill on PR but it will have no practical effect
Lord Robertson, the former Labour defence secretary and former Nato secretary who is leading the government’s strategic defence review, is giving evidence to the Commons defence committee. He has told MPs that the Americans are being fully consulted about the review. This is from Shashank Joshi, the Economist’s defence editor.
Listening to George Robertson & Richard Barrons, who are writing the UK’s defence review alongside Fiona Hill, giving evidence to the Commons defence committee. They’re in “constant contact” with allies, Robertson says, and have a US officer on the review team.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Keir Starmer reiterates support for British Museum reaching deal with Greek PM, who visits UK on Tuesday
Talks concerning the Parthenon marbles between Athens and the British Museum are “well advanced”, the Guardian has learned, even if officials have decided the cultural row will be low on the agenda when the prime minister, Keir Starmer, meets his Greek counterpart on Tuesday.
The fate of the classical masterpieces, which caused a quarrel last year between Rishi Sunak and Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will not be actively raised by either side when the two leaders hold their first Downing Street discussions. Starmer’s spokesperson said on Monday: “Our position on the Elgin marbles has not changed.”
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