Page 2 - Greece

Wary of Ukraine and Gaza war, Turkey and Greece test friendship initiative

Old foes Turkiye and Greece will test a five-month-old friendship initiative on Monday when Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visits Ankara. The two NATO members, which share decades of mutual animosity, a tense border and disputed waters, agreed to sideline disputes last December. Instead, they're focusing on trade and energy, repairing cultural ties and a long list of other items placed on the so-called positive agenda. Here's a look at what the two sides hope to achieve and the disputes that have plagued ties in the past: FOCUSING ON A POSITIVE AGENDA Mitsotakis is to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Monday as part of efforts to improve ties following the solidarity Athens showed Ankara after a devastating earthquake hit southern Turkiye last year. The two leaders have sharp differences over the Israeli-Hamas war, but are keen to hold back further instability in the eastern Mediterranean as conflict also continues to rage in Ukraine. We alwa

Paris 2024: Things to know about the flame-lighting ceremony in Greece

A priestess prays to a dead sun god in front of a fallen Greek temple. If the sky is clear, a flame spurts that will burn in Paris throughout the world's top sporting event. Speeches ensue. On Tuesday, the flame for this summer's Paris Olympics will be lit at the birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games in southern Greece in a meticulously choreographed ceremony. It will then be carried through Greece for more than 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) before being handed over to French organizers at the Athens venue used for the first modern Olympics in 1896. Here's a look at the workings and meaning of the elaborate ceremony held among the ruins of Ancient Olympia ahead of each modern Olympiad. COULDN'T THE FRENCH JUST LIGHT IT IN PARIS? Couldn't the Academy Awards just be announced in a conference call? The pageantry at Olympia has been an essential part of every Olympics for nearly 90 years since the Games in Berlin. It's meant to provide an ineluctable link between the modern event a

Greek golden visa: New rules on property use, investment from March 31

From now on, investors aiming for residency rights will face heightened investment requirements, especially in high-demand areas such as Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini, and other islands

Greece entry point for Indian firms to tap European market: PM Mitsotakis

Greece and India have a "lot of complementarities" in shipping, pharma and other sectors, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday as he emphasised that his country is the natural entry point for Indian companies to tap the European market. Addressing the 'India-Greece Business Forum', organised by FICCI and Enterprise Greece here, he said Greece and India have a "lot of complementarities" in shipping, pharma, such as defence, drones, agriculture, information and communication technology, tourism. He said "we expect to make concrete announcements very soon regarding the signing of the mobility migration agreement, enabling more Indian labour to come to Greece in an organised manner". On a sector-to-sector approach, the prime minister said, "You will realise that there's a lot of complementarities between sectors where Greece has a comparative advantage and where India is also quite strong." "I can see interesting natural synergies emerging in the technology space,"

India key ally, will boost connectivity, says Greek PM Mitsotakis

Migration and mobility pact to be finalised soon; working group on defence and security to be set up

India, Greece agree to firm up migration & mobility agreement soon

India and Greece on Wednesday agreed to work towards co-production and co-development of military hardware and decided to firm up a mobility and migration pact as soon as possible with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his visiting Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis holding extensive talks to impart "new energy" to the bilateral ties. Modi said the two sides have common concerns and priorities in the fight against terrorism and there was a discussion in detail on how to further strengthen cooperation in this area. Mitsotakis is on a two-day visit to India primarily to grace the Raisina Dialogue as the chief guest. In his media statement, Modi said he and Mitsotakis discussed many regional and international issues and it was agreed that all disputes and tensions should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy. India welcomes Greece's active participation and positive role in the Indo-Pacific and it is a matter of happiness that the European nation has decided to join the ...

Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis to arrive on Wednesday for two-day trip

Talks on fast tracking mobility agreement expected

Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis to visit India next week for two days

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will pay a two-day state visit to India from February 21 with an aim to further deepen the strategic partnership between the two countries. It would be the first visit to India by a head of state of Greece to India after a gap of 15 years. India-Greece relations were elevated to 'strategic partnership' during Modi's visit to Greece in August last year. Mitsotakis will be the chief guest and keynote speaker at the Raisina Dialogue in the national capital, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Saturday, announcing his visit. The Greek prime minister will be accompanied by senior officials and a high-powered business delegation. "Prime Minister Mitsotakis's visit is expected to further strengthen and deepen the strategic partnership between India and Greece," the MEA said. Mitsotakis will also visit Mumbai before returning to Athens. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi and PM Mitsotakis will hold bilateral discussions and Prime Minister M

Greek parliament passes landmark law legalising same sex marriage

The Greek parliament passed a law legalizing same-sex marriage making it the first majority Orthodox Christian country to establish marriage equality for all, CNN reported

Greek parliament set to vote on legalising same-sex marriage today

Greece's parliament is set to vote on Thursday to legalise same-sex civil marriage, in a first for an Orthodox Christian country and despite opposition from the influential Greek Church. Opinion polls suggest that most Greeks support the proposed reform, and the issue has failed to trigger deep divisions in a country more worried about the high cost of living. The landmark bill drafted by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis ' centre-right government is backed by four left-wing parties, including the main opposition Syriza. That would secure it 243 votes in the 300-seat parliament. Several majority and left-wing lawmakers are expected to abstain or vote against the reform but not enough to kill the bill. Three small far-right parties and the Stalinist-rooted Communist Party have rejected the draft law. State Minister Akis Skertsos stressed at the opening of the two-day debate Wednesday that most Greeks already accept the idea of same-sex marriages. We are not deciding on change in

EAM Jaishankar, Greek NSA Athanasios Ntokos discuss key regional issues

In August last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Greece for his maiden visit to Greece at the invitation of his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis

Greece to soon present legislation allowing same-sex marriage: Official

Greece's centre-right government will soon submit legislation allowing same-sex civil marriages, despite reservations from its own lawmakers and the country's influential Orthodox Church, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday. But he stressed that the proposed law would not extend the right to parenthood through surrogate mothers to same-sex couples an issue that has divided Greek society. What we are going to legislate is equality in marriage, Mitsotakis said. We will remove any discrimination concerning sexual orientation in the issue of marital relationship. But, he added, "we won't change the law on assisted parenthood. The idea of women who are turned into child-producing machines on demand ... that is not going to happen. Several lawmakers from the right wing of the governing New Democracy party have expressed opposition to any overhaul of Greece's marriage and parenthood laws to include same-sex couples. Mitsotakis said in Wednesday's interview with state-ru

Migrant boat sinking off Greek island leaves 3 dead, 2 missing, 8 rescued

A search and rescue operation was underway Monday after a dinghy carrying migrants sank overnight off the coast of the small eastern Greek island of Symi, leaving at least three people dead, the coast guard said. Eight people were rescued, with two of them transported to a hospital on the nearby island of Rhodes and the rest transferred to the main port in Symi, according to the coast guard. Authorities said they recovered the bodies of two men and one woman from the sea. Survivors said two more people in the dinghy were believed to have managed to reach the shore on their own. Two coast guard vessels, four private boats and an air force helicopter were searching the area for the two missing people. The nationalities of those on board the dinghy were not immediately known. Greece lies along one of the most popular smuggling routes for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia and trying to get into the European Union. Many use small dinghies to head f

Rescue op underway off southwestern Greece for around 90 migrants on yacht

A rescue operation was underway Wednesday morning for dozens of migrants on board a yacht reported to be in difficulty off the southwestern coast of Greece, authorities said. The coast guard said the yacht, believed to be carrying around 90 people, was spotted about 40 nautical miles (74 kilometres) west of the small town of Pylos. Six of the people on board were picked up by another yacht sailing in the area and transported to Pylos, where one woman was transferred to a hospital in the southern city of Kalamata. Another 25 people were picked up by a passing tanker ship and were being transported to Kalamata, while the remaining passengers were being transferred to another passing cargo ship, the coast guard said. A coast guard lifeboat was on the scene, and another coast guard vessel was on the way. There were no reports of any missing passengers. The area is near where a deadly migrant shipwreck in June left hundreds of people dead and missing and led to allegations that Greek .

India to be invited to trilateral summit of Israel, Greece, Cyprus next yr

At the Summit, the leaders said that they reaffirmed their commitment to continue strengthening the dynamic cooperation of the trilateral partnership platform

Migrant boat sinking off Greek island leaves 4 dead, 18 rescued: Officials

Greek authorities said that four people died and 18 were rescued Monday after a boat carrying migrants apparently sank northeast of the Greek island of Lesbos, which lies near the Turkish coast. The coast guard said one of its vessels collected the 18 survivors and four people found unconscious and transported them to the island's main port of Mytilene. Over the weekend, the coast guard has said it has picked up dozens of people from boats near eastern Aegean Sea islands, part of an increase in new arrivals over the past two months. For decades Greece has been one of the preferred entry points into the European Union for people fleeing conflict or poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia and hoping for a better life in Europe. More than 14,000 people have reached Greece by land and sea so far this year, according to United Nations figures. That's about a tenth of the total successful Mediterranean crossings, most of which about 104,000 were to Italy. Arrivals in Greece for the

Firefighters in Greece discover another body, death toll reaches 21

Authorities battling a major wildfire in northeastern Greece that has been described as the European Union's largest single recorded fire have recovered another body, the fire department said Friday, bringing the total death toll from wildfires in Greece this week to 21. The fire department said firefighters recovered the body of a man from the Dadia forest national park, which lies near the border with Turkey, on Thursday. Eighteen bodies were discovered Tuesday near a shack in an area near the northeastern city of Alexandroupolis and the body of one more person had been found Monday in a forest. In central Greece, a man was found dead Monday in a sheep pen after reportedly trying to save his livestock from an advancing wildfire. With no reports of missing people in northeastern Greece, authorities suspect the bodies found in the area are those of migrants who may have crossed into the country recently from the nearby border with Turkey. Greece's Disaster Victim Identification Team

PM Modi conferred with Grand Cross of Order of Honour by Greek President

President of Greece Katerina N Sakellaropoulou feted PM Modi with the Grand Cross after the latter called on the former during his day-long official visit to Greece

PM Modi lands in Greece amid chants of 'Bharat Mata ki jai', 'Modi, Modi'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a rousing welcome upon his arrival at the Hotel Grande Bretagne with chants of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai,' 'Modi, Modi'

PM Modi lands in Greece for first prime ministerial visit in 40 years

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Greece to hold talks with top leadership; Indira Gandhi was the last Indian leader to visit the country in 1983