Politics of Greece

Fotis Kouvelis, the head of Democratic Left (DIMAR) who quit the current ruling coalition last June over the closure of former state broadcaster ERT, played down links between his party and former Socialist Premier George Papandreou over the weekend ahead of a scheduled joint appearance by the two men at a book launch in Athens on Monday.

Former Prime Minister George Papandreou angered PASOK colleagues on Friday by agreeing to sit on the same panel at a book launch as Democratic Left leader (DIMAR) Fotis Kouvelis a month before European Parliament elections.

Plans by former prime minister George Papandreou to appear at an Athens book launch on Monday with Fotis Kouvelis, the head of Democratic Left (DIMAR) who quit the current ruling coalition last June over the closure of the then state broadcaster ERT, fuelled criticism on Friday from coalition MPs in both PASOK and New Democracy.

PASOK remained tight-lipped on Monday about a row that broke out with its coalition partner, New Democracy, late on Monday after Prime Minister Antonis Samaras announced the creation of homeless shelters without consulting with the Socialist party.

Conservative New Democracy on Tuesday announced its candidates for the European Parliament elections next month, a mix of hopefuls including moderates and several names from the non-political arena.

Conservative New Democracy is to announce its list of candidates for next month's European elections on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who leads conservative ND, is due to present the list to the party's political committee at 2 p.m.

The European Union was slow in its efforts to aid Greece in the wake of the country’s debt crisis, according to former Prime Minister George Papandreou.

New Democracy has finalized its candidate list for the May 25 European Parliament elections. It contains nominees from a range of backgrounds, including academia, sports and journalism, and is due to be announced in the next few days.

Police in Central Macedonia on Saturday said that they have a arrested a 63-year-old man in the town of Giannitsa over unpaid debts to the state in excess of 1.1 million euros.