The President of the Republic of Türkiye, H.E Mr Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic, H.E. Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, representing their respective Governments (jointly referred as “the Parties”), having chaired the 5th meeting of the High-Level Cooperation Council between the Republic of Türkiye and the Hellenic Republic on December 7th, 2023, in Athens, in a spirit of goodwill and cooperation,
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The case of the missing Marbles
If the Prime Minister’s visit to China at the beginning of the month was conducted in a positive atmosphere, avoiding controversy, the same cannot be said of his trip to the UK last weekend, which ended prematurely after an incident which has left commentators on all sides scratching their heads in puzzlement, and scrambling to find the reasons behind it.
Continue readingThe Prime Minister visits Beijing
Unusually among Western countries, Greece has shown little hesitation in furthering its relationship with China, both economic and cultural and in the field of tourism. The acquisition of the port of Piraeus by the Chinese company COSCO, which owns a majority share in the operating company and runs the port in return for an annual payment of €100 million to the Greek government, has been a success. COSCO has expanded the port’s handling facilities, enacted staffing efficiencies and tripled container throughput.
Continue readingThe Prime Minister explains Greece’s position on Gaza
At the end of October, the 27th Economist Annual Government Round Table conference was held at the Grand Resort Lagonissi 35 km south of Athens. The theme was “The great transition: Geopolitics – Environment – Technology”, and the discussions held from October 24th to 26th assembled a heavyweight array of Greek and European government ministers, academics, leaders from industry and finance and senior staff of the Economist. Familiar domestic figures included former Defence minister and Chania MP Dora Bakogiannis, the mayor elect of Athens Haris Doukas and the new leader of SYRIZA Stefanos Kasselakis.
Continue readingOxi Day celebrations in Chania
As most readers will know, 28th October is Oxi Day in Greece, the anniversary of the rejection by the Greek dictator Ioannis Metaxas of an ultimatum from the Italian leader Benito Mussolini. According to Wikipedia, the ultimatum was presented to Metaxas by the Italian ambassador to Greece Emanuele Grazzi, who had just come from a party in the Italian embassy in Athens, shortly after 3.00 am on 28 October 1940. It demanded that Greece allow Axis forces to enter Greek territory and occupy certain unspecified “strategic locations” or otherwise face war. Although Metaxas was afterwards alleged to have replied with the single word “Oxi” – “No”, what he in fact said was “Alors, c’est la guerre!”
Continue readingSpeech of Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the 87th Thessaloniki International Fair
The annual International Fair held every autumn in Thessaloniki is traditionally the occasion of a keynote speech by the Prime Minister, highlighting the achievements of the past year and outlining the government’s plans and ambitions for the next. Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s speech at the 87th Thessaloniki International Fair this year was unusual for a couple of reasons.
Continue readingAfter their swearing-in, the first meeting of the new government
(reposting of the post “Composition of the new government” under a new title)
Following his swearing-in as Prime Minister on Monday 26th June, Kyriakos Mitsotakis lost no time in appointing the members of his new government. A full list was published on Monday afternoon, and on Tuesday at 1.00 pm the 63 new ministers, alternate ministers and deputy ministers arrived at the Presidential Mansion to be sworn in by Archbiship Ieronymos in the presence of the Prime Minister and the President Katerina Sakellaropoulou.
Continue readingNea Dimokratia wins a comfortable majority
The election results
The national elections held on Sunday 25th June produced a result which confirmed the general picture indicated by the polls but also held some surprises. Nea Dimokratia, with the help of the new system of “reinforced proportional representation”, achieved a comfortable majority of 158 seats. SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance retained its position as the official opposition party, albeit with a substantially reduced representation, while both PASOK and KKE registered marginal improvements on their position on the May 21st election in terms of votes, but with reduced numbers of seats because of the reapportionment of the bonus to the leading party.
Date for national elections fixed
The date for national elections has now been set at 21st May. On Friday 21st April, the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met the President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou to confirm the date, and shortly after 8.00 pm on the same day, the Presidential Decree announcing the dissolution of Parliament was posted outside the Presidential Mansion. By convention, the members of the current government remain in their posts until the election date, with the exception of the minister of the Interior, who is replaced with a stand-in, and the Government spokesman who is replaced by the minister of State.
Continue readingRestoration under way at the former royal estate at Tatoi
Green light for the restoration of the Tatoi palace gardens
The restoration of the Palace gardens at the former royal estate of Tatoi is to go ahead as part of the overall restoration of the site, according to an announcement from the Ministry of Culture and Sport.
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