Greece’s

Greece’s main opposition party has committed a serious institutional blunder in suggesting that any MPs breaking from party lines in the ongoing presidential vote are essentially “apostates.”

There are forces inside and outside the country that would like to see Greece collapse. Outside, there are certain international players who are testing the tolerance of Greece’s society and political system. Maybe they want to be proven right for saying that Greece does not belong in the eurozone. Within Greece, the powers of extreme populism and hate seem to be gaining the upper hand.

The past few days have shown that some people inside Greece’s main leftist opposition party do in fact seem to grasp just how critical a position the country finds itself in right now and the need to forge at least a minimum consensus with the conservative-led government on key national and economic issues.

Reports that Greece’s national tourism agency (GNTO) had used footage of an Australian landmark in its latest official campaign video have prompted a response from the country’s media.

Greek companies’ attempts to lure investors are being held back by next month’s European Central Bank health check of its lenders, which is weighing on local stocks.

Executives from 31 listed companies held three days of meetings with investors at the annual Greek Roadshow last week in London, at Bloomberg LP’s European headquarters.

Ilias Stavrou, a former Golden Dawn candidate, has filed defamaion charges against the jailed leader of Greece’s neofascist party Nikos Michaloliakos, MP Ilias Kasidiaris and the administrator of the GD website after online posts described him as “mentally ill.”

Administrative Reform Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed opposition on Friday to New Democracy’s apparent plans to bring back into the fold politicians who had left the party in the past and went on to be part of what he termed “populist” parties.

Greece is to continue to resist calls from the International Monetary Fund to have a private collection agency to chase up millions of euros in unpaid social security contributions, Kathimerini understands.

Opponents of plans to privatize EYATH, the state-run company that provides the northern port city of Thessaloniki with water and sewage services, hope to reverse the process by putting it to a referendum on Sunday.