Greece's opposition Syriza party splits as several prominent members defect
Greeceโs main opposition party has suffered a split after a left-wing faction announced it was breaking away, accusing the partyโs recently elected leader of abandoning its core ideology for a sort of โright-wing populism.โ.
Greece's center-right in landslide election victory, but will need new vote to form government
Despite inflicting the most crushing defeat in half a century on the opposition, Greeceโs center-right Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to seek a second election within weeks, as he lacks the majority in Parliament to govern alone.
Polls open in Greece's first election since international bailout spending controls ended
Polls have opened in Greeceโs parliamentary election, the first since the countryโs economy ceased to be subject to strict supervision and control by international lenders who had provided bailout funds during its nearly decade-long financial crisis.
As wiretap claims rattle government, Greece bans spyware
Lawmakers in Greece have approved legislation banning commercial spyware and reforming rules for legally-sanctioned wiretaps following allegations that senior government officials and journalists had been targeted by shadowy surveillance software.
Greece: "Lockdown fatigue" blamed for fueling mass protests
Faced with a surge in coronavirus infections and a wave of violent anti-government demonstrations, Greeces center-right prime minister accused political opponents Friday March 12, 2021, of exploiting lockdown fatigue. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)ATHENS โ Faced with a surge in coronavirus infections and a wave of violent anti-government demonstrations, Greeceโs center-right prime minister accused political opponents Friday of exploiting lockdown fatigue. Speaking in parliament, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis claimed opposition parties had acted irresponsibly and ignored his appeals for calm. Alexis Tsipras, a former prime minister and current left-wing opposition leader, argued that the governmentโs use of heavy-handed policing had backfired. โI am speaking as the health minister and not through party affiliation,โ Vassilis Kikilias said during a health briefing.
In Greece, political spat over lockdown turns personal
A spat has erupted over competing claims that the prime minister and his main rival broke the spirit of pandemic restrictions that have renewed financial hardship for many voters. Conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was photographed last weekend posing with his mountain bike, without a mask, alongside five motocross riders on a hillside trail outside Athens. Greece's lockdown rules exempt people who've gone outdoors for exercise, including cycling, from the obligation to wear a mask. Greeceโs pandemic death toll reached close to 3,100 on Monday, with most deaths occurring after Nov. 1. The current lockdown was launched on Nov. 7 and initially planned to last for three weeks.
Police fire tear gas to break up banned gatherings in Greece
Protesters from the communist party-affiliated PAME union run away to avoid tear gas thrown by riot police during clashes in central Athens, on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020. Nov. 17, the day the uprising was quashed, is marked each year with wreath-laying ceremonies at the Athens Polytechnic commemorating those who died there, followed by marches to the U.S. Embassy. But a later, larger gathering by about 1,500 people in central Athens dissolved after police detained several people and eventually used tear gas and a water cannon. โDemocracy and historical memory cannot be quarantined.โEarlier in the day, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis laid a wreath at the Athens Polytechnic amid tight security. ___Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki, Greece, and Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed to this report.
North Macedonia: Social Democrats score narrow election win
The leader of the ruling SDSM party Zoran Zaev wearing a face mask celebrates his victory at the North Macedonia general election, in Skopje, early Tuesday, July 16, 2020. A suspected hacking attack caused the site of North Macedonia's electoral commission to crash for hours after polls closed in the country's national elections Wednesday, delaying preliminary results that showed the Social Democrats narrowly leading the center-right opposition. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)SKOPJE North Macedonia's pro-Western Social Democrats said they were ready Thursday to start complicated power-sharing negotiations after winning a narrow election victory in a poll held up for months by the COVID-19 pandemic. Former Prime Minister Zoran Zaev's Social Democrats declared victory after receiving 36% of the vote with 94% of ballots counted, according to official results. Coalition talks will involve parties representing the countrys ethnic Albanian minority, which makes up nearly a quarter of the countrys 2.1 million population.