Heads of state

It was 1989 when theatre director and playwright Enver Petrovci locked himself in his apartment in Belgrade and started putting ink on paper for a play that would then go on to gather dust for many years to come.

President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday that he was determined to get involved in taking the Romania-US strategic partnership further and called last week's violence against the Capitol as a "sad" event. "American democracy is a very solid one and it will outlive this stage, but it is sad what happened at the Capitol.

President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday that reforms can no longer wait and that this year the foundations for a healthy settlement of the Romanian society must be laid. "Reforms can no longer wait. 2021 is the year in which the foundations of a healthy resettlement of the Romanian society must be laid," the head of state said at a news conference at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.

By George Gilson

After a year of Turkish threats to Greek sovereignty on land, at the Evros border region, and at sea, in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, the Greek foreign ministry in a curt statement announced that the 61st round of Greek-Turkish «exploratory talks» will begin on 25 January in Istanbul.

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou will be presiding over the swearing-in of the country's new cabinet members on Tuesday. Due to coronavirus concerns, the newly appointed ministers and deputies will be sworn in, in separate groups, starting at 11 a.m.

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou (front, center), Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not pictured) and other officials of the country's political, religious and military leadership attended a special service for the New Year at Athens Metropolitan Cathedral, on Friday.

Athens' Court of Appeal convicted Independent Greeks leader Panos Kammenos of slander, ordering him to pay 50,000 euros plus interest to Andrikos Papandreou, the brother of former Socialist Premier George Papandreou, whom he had accused of involvement with a firm that profited from the purchase of credit default swaps (CDS) insuring against a Greek bankruptcy.

The first vaccinations against the coronavirus in Greece are expected to take place Sunday, starting with an intensive care unit nurse.

Efstathia Kambissiouli will be vaccinated at 1 p.m. at central Athens' Evangelismos hospital, followed half an hour later by Michalis Giovanidis, a nursing home resident.

The first batch of Pfizer-BioΝTech vaccines against the novel coronavirus arrived in Greece by refrigerator trucks through Promahonas, the border crossing with Bulgaria, on Christmas Day, a day earlier than planned.

September 17-21, 1975. Official visit of French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing to Greece (Athens and Thessaloniki). Substantial talks with Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis, in a warm atmosphere. Dinner at the Presidential Palace. Greek civilization and French enlightenment.