Evangelos Apostolakis

A major disruption within the SYRIZA Progressive Alliance was triggered by the news of Eyaggelos Apostolakis’ decision to leave the party. The admiral’s move took both the party’s new chairman, Socrates Famellos, and the natural leader of SYRIZA, Alexis Tsipras, by surprise, as he announced his intentions late yesterday afternoon.

The Timeline

The resignations on Wednesday of three top executives from SYRIZA's executive bodies are further testing the cohesion of the party that has been riveted by infighting.

According to Murphy's Law, "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

That adage appears to be haunting Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his government over the past weeks.

The government reshuffle that was announced yesterday was designed to give the government a fresh start after the disastrous August wildfires, yet it was overshadowed by former admiral and former defence minister Evangelos Apostolakis' last-minute decision to reject his appointment as minister in the newly-created Civil Protection Ministry.

The government reshuffle that was announced yesterday was designed to give the government a fresh start after the disastrous August wildfires, yet it was overshadowed by former admiral and former defence minister Evangelos Apostolakis' last-minute decision to reject his appointment as minister in the newly-created Civil Protection Ministry.

The extension of a defense agreement between Athens and Washington, signed on Saturday, and increasing the US military presence around the country will help boost Greece's sense of security and modernize domestic military infrastructure, according to former defense minister Evangelos Apostolakis.

Greece and Israel share common values and objectives as they seek to promote peace and stability in the wider region, Greek Defense Minister Evangelos Apostolakis said Tuesday at Herzliya Conference 2019 in Tel Aviv.

Describing Turkey as a "difficult neighbour", Defence Minister Evangelos Apostolakis has underlined that accumulated tensions could lead to a military accident and escalation.

Greek and Turkish defense ministers Evangelos Apostolakis and Hulusi Akar embrace during Wednesday's NATO summit in Brussels. The two men met on the sidelines of the summit amid heightened tensions between the two countries over Turkey's actions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea.

By George Gilson