Category Archives: Greece

Refugee Covid case sparks ‘closed camps’ fears on Lesbos

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Greek government suggests need for ‘closed and controlled’ structures but NGOs fear virus is pretext for increased restrictions

The first recorded coronavirus case in Moria refugee camp on Lesbos, where just under 13,000 people are living in a space designed for 3,000, has led to fears that the government will use the pandemic as a pretext to create closed camps.

Notis Mitarachi, the minister for migration, told local news that the coronavirus situation demonstrated the need for “closed and controlled” structures. The migration ministry also released a statement on Thursday, which said that plans to create closed structures on the islands of Lesbos and Chios were progressing.

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Coronavirus: ‘selfish covidiots’ on flight to UK from Greek island criticised

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Tui launches investigation after almost 200 passengers told to isolate after outbreak

A flight from the Greek island of Zante was “full of selfish ‘covidiots’ and an inept crew”, according to a passenger among the almost 200 onboard who have been told to self-isolate after a coronavirus outbreak.

Tui said it had launched an investigation after 16 people tested positive for Covid-19 linked to its flight to Cardiff on 25 August, including seven passengers who were infectious or potentially infectious on the plane.

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Wildfire breaks out near tomb of Agamemnon in Greece

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Fire department said 27 firefighters were being supported by nine fire engines, two planes and a helicopter

A wildfire has broken out near the ruins of the bronze age stronghold of Mycenae in Greece, prompting the evacuation of visitors to the archaeological site.

According to local media, the fire started on Sunday near the tomb of Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae who was killed during the Trojan war.

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Greek lawyer in Harry Maguire case reveals details of hate mail he received

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Ioannis Paradissis says messages from supporters of Manchester United footballer have shocked him

The fallout from Harry’s Maguire’s calamitous holiday in Mykonos has been swift, brutal and revelatory, not least for the Manchester United captain.

Yet for Ioannis Paradissis, the Greek prosecution lawyer at the centre of the case following the footballer’s arrest after a late-night brawl on the isle, the drama is far from over.

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Coronavirus live news: Europe reporting 26,000 new cases a day; South Korea warns of ‘nationwide pandemic’

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WHO says European countries registering an average of 26,000 new cases a day; Germany records 1,707 new infections; South Korea has week of triple figure daily cases; India records highest daily infections yet

The coronavirus pandemic has reignited debate in Germany about cutting the working week to four days to help preserve jobs during and after the economic shock.

But the idea remains highly controversial.

Hi everyone, this is Jessica Murray, I’ll be running the global coronavirus blog for the next few hours.

Please do get in touch with any story suggestions or personal experiences you’d like to share.

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Greek military put on high alert as tensions with Turkey rise

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Dispute over exploration of energy reserves in eastern Mediterranean escalates

Greece has placed its military forces on high alert, recalling its naval and air force officers from holiday, as tensions with Turkey over exploration of potentially lucrative offshore energy reserves escalate in the eastern Mediterranean.

With Ankara dispatching the Oruç Reis, a drillship escorted by gunboats, to conduct seismic research in contested waters, Athens stepped up calls for Turkey to stop the “illegal” activities, intensifying a diplomatic offensive that has prompted the US, EU, France and Israel to express growing anxiety over the situation.

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Five ‘safe and legal’ asylum alternatives to cut Channel crossings

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Experts offer other options as UK government seeks to reduce numbers crossing in boats

The government insists the way to reduce the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats is to prevent the vessels from leaving France in the first place or by intercepting the boats and returning those attempting to make a crossing.

But humanitarian groups and refugee and asylum experts argue the way to reduce the number of attempted crossings is to offer alternative “safe and legal” routes to the UK to claim asylum.

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Coronavirus in Europe: France extends mask use as Greece says it is in second wave

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WHO says virus has shown no seasonal pattern and tells western Europe to react fast

Face masks have become compulsory in more than 100 Paris streets and tourist areas, Greece is “formally” in a second wave and new outbreaks are causing alarm in Italy and Spain as coronavirus infections continue to pick up again across Europe.

The Stockholm-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control called on member states that are seeing an increase in cases to reinstate control measures, warning of a “true resurgence” in several countries and a “risk of further escalation” across the continent.

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Greek floods: death toll rises as rescue teams search for survivors

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At least eight people dead after storm sparks flash floods on island of Evia

The body of a man missing after a storm sparked flash floods on the Greek island of Evia over the weekend has been recovered, Greece’s coastguard has said, bringing the death toll from the storm to eight.

Rescue crews had been searching for the 72-year-old since Sunday when he was reported missing after flooding swept away cars and sent residents of some villages scrambling to their roofs to await rescue.

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Greece’s refugees face healthcare crisis as Lesbos Covid-19 centre closes

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Patients on island camps face long wait for specialist help and mental health services, while in Athens others are left destitute

In a fresh blow to refugees and migrants experiencing dire conditions in Greece, frontline medical charity Médecins San Frontières (MSF) on Thursday announced it has been forced to closed its Covid-19 isolation centre on Lesbos after authorities imposed fines and potential charges.

From the island of Lesbos to the Greek capital of Athens, asylum seekers and recognised refugees, some with serious medical conditions, are unable to access healthcare or see a doctor as treatments are disrupted by new regulations.

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Thessaloniki’s Jews: ‘We can’t let this be forgotten; if it’s forgotten, it will die’

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New centre in Greek city will be lifeline for small community, mostly descendants of Iberian exiles

Five centuries after they were expelled from Spain and eight decades after they were almost annihilated in the Holocaust, the small community of Sephardic Jews that lives on in the Greek city of Thessaloniki is looking to its past to help safeguard its future.

On Tuesday, Thessaloniki’s Jewish community signed a deal with the Spanish government’s Instituto Cervantes to create a small centre where people will be taught modern Spanish while also learning about Sephardic culture and the exiles’ still-spoken language, Ladino.

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Erdoğan leads first prayers at Hagia Sophia museum reverted to mosque

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Turkish president recites Qur’an at monument as Greece declares day of mourning

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has led worshippers in the first prayers in Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia since his controversial declaration that the monument, which over the centuries has served as a cathedral, mosque and museum, would be turned back into a Muslim house of worship.

The Turkish leader and an entourage of senior ministers arrived for the service in the heart of Istanbul’s historic district on Friday afternoon, kneeling on new turquoise carpets while sail-like curtains covered the original Byzantine mosaics of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

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Greece braces for rise in refugees as relations with Turkey worsen

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Migration ministry ‘concerned Turkey may use migrants as instrument to exert pressure’

Greece is stepping up preparations for a possible increase in migrants and refugees reaching the Aegean islands from Turkey, as police arrested six alleged people smugglers at the weekend.

The ability of traffickers to circumvent the vast flotilla of naval ships and coastguard patrols conducting border surveillance in the area has reinforced fears of a surge in migrants arriving at a time of dangerously deteriorating ties between the two countries.

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Sun, sea, safety: Greece woos Europe’s pensioners with 7% income tax rate

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Athens offers generous tax incentives to lure retirees – and boost its own struggling economy

Most countries want to attract the young and the willing – entrepreneurs with ideas, students looking to learn, people prepared to do the jobs locals turn down. Greece, though, has decided on a different approach, by making a play for Europe’s retirees.

“The logic is very simple: we want pensioners to relocate here,” says Athina Kalyva, head of tax policy at the Greek finance ministry, who has helped design a scheme to get people to do just that. “We have a beautiful country, a very good climate, so why not?”

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Court ruling paves way for Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia to revert to mosque

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Status of Unesco-listed 1,500-year-old building has been hotly debated for decades

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has formally converted Istanbul’s crowning architectural jewel, the Hagia Sophia, from a museum into a mosque – a politically charged decision that has drawn international criticism but delighted his conservative base.

Turkey’s highest administrative court, the council of state, paved the way for the move after it ruled unanimously on Friday to annul a 1934 cabinet decree that stripped the 1,500-year-old building of its religious status.

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Stanley Johnson defends trip to Greece, saying he had to make villa ‘Covid-proof’ – video

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The prime minister’s father, Stanley Johnson, has defended travelling to his villa in Greece amid growing condemnation by saying that he was making the property ‘Covid-proof’. Interviewed by Greek media outside his mountain villa in Pelion overlooking the Aegean sea on Saturday, Johnson senior said: ‘I don’t know what the reaction of the British public is. I’ve been, you know, not particularly … I came here to have a quiet time, to organise the house, and so I’m not 100% up to speed’

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Stanley Johnson says Greece visit is essential to ‘Covid-proof’ villa

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Boris Johnson has refused to criticise his father over trip to holiday home during lockdown

The prime minister’s father, Stanley Johnson, has defended travelling to his villa in Greece amid growing condemnation by saying that he was making the property “Covid-proof”.

Government guidelines state that British nationals should avoid all but essential travel, but his son Boris has refused to criticise the trip and, on Friday, suggested the media should raise the issue directly with his father.

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Johnson’s father’s visit to Greece ‘could erode trust in guidelines’

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Trip by Stanley Johnson could weaken message on Covid-19 rules, warns Sage adviser

The decision by the prime minister’s father to travel to his Greek villa in apparent breach of Foreign Office guidance has been criticised by a government scientific adviser.

Boris Johnson has refused to condemn his father, Stanley, for flying to Greece, despite current advice for British nationals to avoid all but essential international travel.

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Global report: first tourists arrive in Greece as Brazil passes 60,000 deaths

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Spain and Portugal reopen border as global tourism industry predicted to lose up to £2.6tn

The first tourist flights in four months landed on the Greek island of Crete, and Spain and Portugal reopened their land border as European countries continued to ease travel restrictions, as Brazil recorded 60,000 deaths.

A charter plane carrying 172 passengers from Hamburg landed at Heraklion airport on Crete at 8am, minutes after another aircraft had arrived from the Czech Republic, re-establishing the island’s air links with the outside world.

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US visitors set to remain banned from entering EU

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Agreed shortlist of permitted countries also excludes Russia, Brazil and India

Most visitors from the US are set to remain banned from entering the European Union because of the country’s rising infection rate in a move that risks antagonising Donald Trump.

In an attempt to save the European tourism season, a list of 15 countries from where people should be allowed into the EU from 1 July has been agreed by representatives of the 27 member states.

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