Judges in turmoil over talks with Tsipras on pay

The heads of Greece's top courts have hit back at criticism regarding their meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Thursday, when he pledged to protect their salaries, but the Union of Judges and Prosecutors has insisted that only it has the right to discuss pay issues on behalf of judicial officials.

Reacting to Thursday's meeting, New Democracy said it suggested that an "exchange" was taking place between the judiciary and the government. In their statement Friday, the judges (the heads of the Supreme Court, Council of Audit and the Council of State) insisted there was nothing suspicious about the talks.

"The effort of some political parties to embroil the instruments of justice in political games is unacceptable and must stop," they said, adding that a similar meeting had taken place when Antonis Samaras, now a New Democracy MP, was prime minister a few years...