Kyriakos

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis appointed a new citizen protection minister on Wednesday, following a mini cabinet reshuffle in a bid to bolster the conservative administration's security agenda.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to visit Greece in the upcoming days, as reported by Lena Argiri, Kathimerini's Washington correspondent, citing sources on Wednesday. 

The sources also suggest that Blinken is anticipated to have a meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Saturday.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis voiced his growing concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and tension on the Lebanon-Israel border to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, during a phone conversation on Wednesday to congratulate him on his re-election.

Changes to the cabinet are expected to be announced on Wednesday by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. 

Rumors of imminent government changes had been circulating since before the winter holidays.

Details are currently undisclosed from the Maximos Mansion; however, indications suggest a potential announcement of the reshuffle within the next few hours.

Α government official reiterated that an announced plan to realize same-sex marriage will also include an extension of parental rights to gay couples. 

A bill to legalize same-sex marriage will be presented in Parliament "in time," government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said on Tuesday. 

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had announced last July that he plans to legalize them during his second term in government, without specifying when. 

In what was a difficult day for Greece, 31-year-old riot police officer, Giorgos Lyggeridis, who died on Wednesday after being injured outside a volleyball arena by a flare fired by a hooligan on December 7, and 40-year-old pilot Epaminondas Kosteas, whose T-2 aircraft crashed this week, were laid to rest on Friday.

The government remains one of the Greek diaspora's "steadfast supporters, honoring its invaluable contribution to the national path towards progress," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said in a New Year's message to Greeks around the world.

The government is seeking to move ahead with the relevant legislation regarding same-sex marriage, despite the reactions already expressed, especially by the Church. 

With the final formulation of the relevant legislation, it is expected the debate will seek to focus on the issue of rights, particularly with regard to parental rights of gay couples. 

The past year confirmed in many ways that we are living in an era of great change and insecurity. We saw that the certainties of past decades no long apply, that the way our country functions is not good enough for us to meet the challenges of the time. The climate crisis and instability in the international system of political and economic governance demand a radical change of mentality.