Theano Fotiou

Eleven independent MPs who broke away from main opposition SYRIZA in recent weeks have agreed to form a new parliamentary group, the name of which will be announced on Monday. 

Chairman of the group is Alexis Haritsis, while Euclides Tsakalotos and Nasos Iliopoulos are the parliamentary representatives. Peti Perka is secretary.

Greece's first integrated online platform for adoption and fostering is set to open within the next few days, Alternate Minister for Social Solidarity Theano Fotiou said on Thursday.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity will begin distributing school lunches on Monday, as part of a program aimed at helping youngsters whose families are having trouble making ends meet.

The distribution will cover 831 schools and 90 percent of the families who applied across Greece for assistance.

The remainder are expected to be covered within the next few days.

Greek parliament approved in principle on Wednesday a bill that allows couples with cohabitation agreements, including same-sex ones, to foster a child.

Draft legislation that aims to grant same-sex couples the right to adopt a child has divided leftist SYRIZA, with several MPs raising objections to the proposed reform, arguing Greek society is not "ready" for such a change.

Alternate Minister for Social Solidarity Theano Fotiou on Wednesday inaugurated a special secretariat that is to focus on improving the social inclusion of the country's Roma population and tackling the poverty within the community.

As a protest against subsidy cuts to families with three children,  members of such families made Greek dishes of gemista (stuffed peppers and tomatoes) and took these with them outside the Ministry of Labor, Social Insurance and Social Solidarity.

Political developments in Greece ahead of next month’s snap election – the third time voters will head to the ballot box in 2015! – turned surreal over the weekend, with one top SYRIZA MP threatening to commit … suicide, while former leftist comrades continued their “civil war” over the airwaves.