All News on Politics in Greece

Coalition leaders to hold final meeting ahead of Paris talks

A meeting between Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Deputy Premier Evangelos Venizelos on Wednesday evening is expected to result in the government settling on its negotiating strategy for the talks coalition representatives are due to hold with the troika in Paris at the beginning of September.

Defense minister wishes crash pilot a speedy recovery

A Hellenic Air Force fighter crashed on Tuesday during military exercises in the area between Rhodope and Evros on Greeces northeastern border though the pilot managed to eject from the aircraft before impact.

Defense Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos contacted the pilot, who suffered minor injuries, to wish him a speedy recovery.

Greek coast guard intercepts 129 migrants in eastern Aegean

Coast guard officers on Tuesday intercepted a total of 129 undocumented immigrants off the islands of Chios and Agathonisi in the eastern Aegean in three separate operations.

In the first operation, a coast guard vessel spotted 46 migrants off the northeastern coast of Agathonisi.

A few hours later another 43 would-be migrants were found on a beach in southeastern Chios.

Venizelos to attend ceremony for Turkey's new president

Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos is to represent Greece at the official inauguration ceremony for Turkeys new president, former Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Greek Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

The ceremony to install Erdogan as Turkish president is to take place in Ankara on Thursday.

Greeks ask for lower tax on empty properties

The association representing property owners in Greece on Tuesday demanded that the government ensure that empty properties, or ones that have been disconnected from the power grid, are taxed at a lower rate.

In a statement, the Panhellenic Federation of Property Owners (POMIDA) said it was directing a request and warning to the government regarding the properties in question.

Fighter pilot confirmed safe after plane crashes during exercises

The Hellenic Air Force pilot of an A7 Corsair attack aircraft that went down during military exercises in the mountainous north of Greece was confirmed safe by military sources on Tuesday.

West Balkans PMs Flag Up Adriatic Highway

Ahead of an important German-hosted meeting in Berlin on Thursday, the Prime Ministers of Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Montenegro met on Monday in Cavtat, Croatia, to discuss the planned construction of an Adriatic-Ionian highway.

The highway will connect Central and Western Europe with Greece through the Western Balkans, running down the coast.

The battle against progress

By Angelos Stangos

The rabid reactions to the anti-racism bill are neither random nor unheard-of. They are in the same vein as reactions against the construction of a mosque in Athens and common-law marriage, and before that against the removal of religion from identity cards and long before that to womens right to vote.

Air force jet goes down in northern Greece; pilot believed safe

A Hellenic Air Force fighter jet was seen crashing to the ground during exercises in the area between Rhodope and Evros on Greece's northeastern border though the pilot is believed to have managed to escape, Skai TV said on Tuesday morning.

According to initial reports, eye witnesses saw a parachute eject from the A-7 Corsair's cockpit moments before the crash.

Greece prepares trial against Golden Dawn

Avramopoulos, Hagel hammer out 'roadmap' of defense cooperation

Defense Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos emphasized, after talks with his American counterpart Chuck Hagel late on Thursday, the "truly excellent level of the Hellenic-American defence cooperation" and said the two men agreed that "today, more than ever, the defence cooperation between the USA and Greece has a geostrategic and essential significance."