New Democracy’s strong results in last Sunday’s elections significantly increase the chance that it will form a government after the repeat elections to be held at the end of June, Moody’s credit rating agency noted on Thursday. This means that there will be continuity in fiscal and economic policy and …
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Burundi-born ex-police officer seeks to be Greece’s first black lawmaker
In working-class neighborhoods on the outskirts of Athens, Spiros Richard Hagabimana is going door-to-door in an election campaign that could see him become Greece’s first black lawmaker. It is a remarkable journey for Hagabimana, who just eight years ago was jailed in his native Burundi for refusing to open fire …
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Poll of the polls: Neck-and-neck race between ND and SYRIZA
Greeks are casting their ballots on 21 May in one of the most unpredictable national elections in years, with the formation of a new government uncertain and the leading politicians bickering over the credibility of current opinion polls that favour the ruling conservatives. Ruling conservative New Democracy has been leading …
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German WWII reparations: Greece’s gov’t spokesman revokes own statements
“The government’s position on war reparations and the occupation loan is clear,” government spokesman Akis Skertsos said on Friday, revoking his own statement a day earlier that the government does not look in the past but towards the future. Among others, the spokesperson said that Greece’s position on the issue …
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Gov’t grants inviolability to Experts Committee investigating the train tragedy
In a last-minute amendment, ruling New Democracy granted inviolability to the Experts Committee investigating the deadly train collision that cost the lives of 57 people on February 28. The amendment was part of a broader bill concerning ,among others also “support measures for the victims’ relatives and survivors” of the …
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Fist Poll after Train collision: Causes, vote intention, ND losses
The first public opinion poll after the deadly train collision on February 28 was published by ANT1 TV on Thursday. Overwhelming majority of citizens want thorough investigation of the crash, while ruling New Democracy is suffering vote intention losses. In voting intention, the conservative Mitsotakis government New Democracy has lost …
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Ruling ND suspends MEP Spyraki’s party membership amid fraud investigation
Ruling New Democracy on Friday suspended the party membership of MEP Maria Spyraki amid an ongoing fraud investigation. Spyraki will not be able to run in next year’s nationwide elections until her status has been restored, a statement stressed. Reacting to the news Friday morning, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described …
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“Who doesn’t adjust, dies!” minister tells Greeks who can’t afford switching to heating oil
Cynicism among ministers of the conservative Greek government reached another level on Tuesday, when a minister told a TV magazine: ” Who doesn’t adjust dies!.” Deputy interior minister Stelios Petsas appeared on the Morning Magazine of ANT1 TV to discuss the energy crisis and the natural gas prices in the …
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Ruling ND MPs abstain from voting to establish wiretapping inquiry committee
Members of the Greek Parliament voted on Monday evening to set up a committee of inquiry into the wiretapping of the mobile phone of PASOK-KINAL leader Nikos Androulakis. The motion received the backing of 142 opposition MPs of the total 299 lawmakers present at the voting procedure. All 157 MPs …
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New Democracy expels MEP for “discrediting Greece” with gov’t critical posts
Greece’s conservative New Democracy expelled from the ruling party MEP Giorgos Kyrtsos on Friday, following a decision by ND Political Committee secretary Pavlos Marinakis. ND expelled the MEP because his posts on social media “discredit Greece,” the party said in a statement. “Mr. Kyrtsos, who was elected with ND’s ballot …
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Minister forced to resign, Sparta Mayor expelled from New Democracy over video how party won elections
The Minister for Agriculture Development in Mitsotakis government was forced to resign and a former deputy finance minister in Karamanlis government, now mayor in the town of Sparta, was expelled from conservative New Democracy on Monday. Reason for the “drastic measures” was a video showing the Minister, the mayor and …
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SYRIZA files censure motion against Mitsotakis gov’t over snowstorm, pandemic handling
Main opposition left-wing SYRIZA submitted a censure motion against the conservative government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis over its mishandling of the snowstorm that swept through central and south Greece since Monday. The motion was submitted short before Thursday noon during a debated over a new development law. “The snowstorm buried the …
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Kurz’s resignation in Austria sparks political row in …Greece
The resignation of Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz amid a corruption probe has sparked a political row in Greece as main opposition SYRIZA accused the government of blocking scrutiny efforts in public opinion polls published in Greek media. On Sunday, SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras unleashed an attack on the government claiming …
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PM Mitsotakis ousts MP Bogdanos from ND over anti-communist rant
With express procedures, New Democracy lawmaker Konstantinos Bogdanos was expelled from the parliamentary group of the ruling party on Tuesday evening after a anti-communist rant in the Parliament where he claimed among others that communists were a bigger threat to Greece than Turkey. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis who is in …
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Poll: ND-SYR difference drops to 10.9%, majority of Greeks say policy measures “do not affect them”
Over half of the Greeks consider that the economic policy measures announced by PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis do not affect them. At the same time, ruling New Democracy is losing in public opinion polls in September 2021, when compared to a year earlier. According to a MRB public opinion poll conducted …
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Pressure on New Democracy to expel MP for “targeting migrants’ children” (UPD)
A public outcry broke out on Tuesday when New Democracy MP and former journalist Konstantinos Bogdanos retweeted a post of a website that was targeting children of migrants in a kindergarten in Athens. The website owned by the MP’s wife had published a list of the children’s names as well …
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Presidency cancels decoration of rescuer Jason Apostolopoulos after pressure from ruling party
The Greek Presidency had officially announced that rescuer Iasonas Apostolopoulos was among those citizens to be decorated for their actions on the occasion the 47. restoration of democracy on Saturday. However, Apostolopoulos’ decoration was cancelled without any justification apparently following political pressure by some members of ruling party New Democracy. …
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Joe who? Greece’s PM claims the patent for “vaccines patent waiver”
It may seems hard to believe but it is true: The decision of US President Joe Biden and his administration to support a temporary waiver on patents and other intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines triggered a major political dispute in …Greece. The conservative government to claim that it was …
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Ruling ND distances itself from MEP who voted against abortion in EU Parliament
Ruling New Democracy MEP Stelios Kympouropoulos joined a far-right anti-abortion motion in the European Parliament triggering a public outrage in Greece where abortion is legal and there is not any kind of debate to revoke it. It was only after the outcry on Tuesday that New Democracy issued a statement …
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Gov’t spokesman Tarantilis resigns less than 2 months from appointment
Government spokesman and Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister Christos Tarantilis announced his resignation Sunday noon. According to a letter he submitted to Prime Minister, he said that he resigns for “family reasons.” He said further that he will continue his work as a member of New Democracy parliamentary group. …
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