Bob Menendez

Marco Rubio looked carefully at the map of the Eastern Mediterranean spread across his desk. He focused his gaze on Greece and Cyprus circled in thick black marker and nodded condescendingly.

The current US elections are of increased interest to Greece. In addition to electing a new president, Americans are electing, always by a majority system, the new 435 members of the House of Representatives, representing an equal number of constituencies in the country, and 33 senators, one-third of the members of the Senate.

A Greek-American, and a billionaire at that, mayor of New York City? Why not? Developments are already racing ahead at breakneck speed. Incumbent mayor Eric Adams may well be counting down the days in office after the Manhattan District Attorney’s office brought a slew of serious corruption charges against him.

US Senator Bob Menendez and his wife face new charges that they obstructed justice while they were being investigated over allegations that they accepted bribes of gold bars, cash and a luxury car from three favor-seeking New Jersey businessmen.

The obstruction charges were added Tuesday to a rewritten indictment returned against the Democrat and his wife, Nadine.

Main opposition SYRIZA has called on the government to brief Parliament whether there are conditions attached to the sale of F-16s to Turkey by the United States, following a relevant statement regarding their procurement by Ankara on Friday by US Senator Bob Menendez without proper terms. 

The U.S. Congress has given its final approval for the sale of 40 new F-16 fighter jets to Türkiye under a $23 billion deal as the 15-day objection period concluded on Feb. 10.

The approval follows the official notification from the Biden administration to Congress on Jan. 26.

Defense Ministry sources have expressed confidence that the proposed measure in the U.S. Senate to prevent the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Türkiye is unlikely to impede the process.

In response to inquiries, sources said they "do not expect any negativity" in the approval of the F-16 sale despite a recent proposal by Republican Senator Rand Paul.

If there's one important thing we have learned, it is that you don't give up on your friends when they are down. This applies to life, it also applies to international relations. US Senator Bob Menendez is facing serious charges of corruption and everything indicates that, even if he is not forced to resign immediately, he will not be able to be re-elected in 2024.

The Justice Department is weighing possible charges against Sen. Bob Menendez after a yearslong public-corruption probe, the Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 25. 

Prosecutors are expected to meet with his lawyers in the coming weeks ahead of a final decision, the people familiar with the matter said. 

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Bob Menendez, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, have discussed Greek-American relations and developments in the wider region over lunch in Athens.

Deputy Foreign Minister Alexandra Papadopoulou and the US Ambassador to Greece George Tsunis also attended the lunch.