Latest news with #GreekParliament
Libya Review
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Libya Review
Greece Suspends Asylum Process for Migrants from Libya
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Wednesday that Greece will suspend asylum hearings for migrants arriving by boat from North Africa for a period of three months, citing a sharp rise in migrant arrivals from Libya. Speaking before the Greek Parliament, Mitsotakis stated that Greece is 'closing the route' to the country, warning that 'any migrant entering illegally will be arrested and detained,' according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). Haftar Refuses to Meet Interior Ministers of Italy, Greece, and Malta This move comes just a day after the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, canceled a scheduled visit by a European delegation to Benghazi. The delegation included high-ranking officials, such as the European Commissioner for Migration, Magnus Brunner, along with the interior ministers of Italy, Greece, and Malta. According to the Greek news outlet Proto Thema, the delegation's aircraft landed on schedule at Benina International Airport in Benghazi. However, members of the delegation were informed upon arrival that Haftar refused to meet them privately, insisting that any meeting must include the Libyan government appointed by the House of Representatives, headed by Prime Minister Osama Hammad. Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis described the incident as 'unprecedented,' saying it reflected the Eastern Libyan authorities' clear stance on the migration issue. Meanwhile, in Tripoli, the European delegation held talks on Tuesday with the Head of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba, Acting Interior Minister Imad Trabelsi, and Labour and Rehabilitation Minister Ali Al-Abed. Discussions focused on addressing irregular migration and mechanisms to halt migrant flows from Libyan territory. Previously, the government appointed by the House of Representatives accused the European delegation of 'grossly violating diplomatic protocols and international conventions' and failing to respect Libya's national sovereignty. Earlier this week, the same government ordered all foreign delegations and diplomatic missions to refrain from visiting Libya or traveling within its territory without prior authorization. Tags: benghazieuGreecelibyamigrants
Reuters
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Greek court strips three far-right lawmakers of parliamentary seats
ATHENS, June 10 (Reuters) - A Greek court has stripped three far-right lawmakers of their seats in parliament on accusations they deceived voters in a June 2023 national vote, the semi-official Athens News Agency and a legal source said on Tuesday. The ruling means parliament will operate with 297 lawmakers instead of 300, while the number of seats needed for an absolute majority drops to 149. The three former lawmakers were elected with the far-right Spartans party in 2023. An election court, however, ruled that the party was receiving guidance from a politician who is serving a jail term for his leadership role in the banned far-right Golden Dawn party. Parties in Greece legally cannot run in elections if their "real leaders," not only their official representatives, have been convicted for crimes that carry a sentence of up to life imprisonment, ranging from treason or spying to participating in a criminal organization. The court ruled that a repeat election was not necessary, the Athens News Agency said. Greece's conservative government is backed by 155 members of parliament.
Forbes
23-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Bond Market Is Revolting - Will There Be A Debt Crisis?
TOPSHOT - Students clash with riot police in front of the Greek Parliament during a demonstration ... More against the government's plans for private universities, in Athens, on February 1, 2024. (Photo by Angelos TZORTZINIS / AFP) (Photo by ANGELOS TZORTZINIS/AFP via Getty Images) In 2013 President George W. Bush referred to the Greeks as 'Grecians'. At the time the 'mis-speaks' of the second Bush president provoked much amusement and some concern, though by comparison to the current occupant of the White House, the author of the disastrous invasion of Iraq is a strategic genius. The 'Grecians' came to mind this week when tuning into commentary by the Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba who compared his country's fiscal situation to Greece in the early 2010's as he rejected calls for tax cuts. By the staid standard of Japanese political pronouncements this is controversial and will help draw attention to the rise in Japanese interest rates in the past two weeks. Ishiba's comments are a harbinger of what is to come as we head into the 'Age of Debt', an era where indebtedness will dominate politics, economics and geopolitics. I have spent enough time in Greece over the years to know how brutally painful the consequences of austerity were, and how reckless economic policy had become in the late 1990's and early 2000's. Indeed, I recall the late years of the (Andreas) Papandreou period, when the social debate in Athens revolved around his younger, second wife 'Mimi'. Papandreou was a very interesting character, and an example I often deploy to show that an education in economics is no guarantee of good policy – before he entered politics Papandreou was the Dean of the economics faculty at Stanford. Often a finance minister will need political as well as policy skills. In his book, Stress Test, Tim Geithner, who was appointed Treasury Secretary by President Obama and who as head of the New York Fed had very good technical skills, worried aloud that he did not have the political skills for the role (arguably Robert Rubin was the master here) and the Obama team spent some time coaching him in this field. There is a small but interesting literature on the backgrounds of finance ministers, which hypothesises that more left leaning governments (like Obama?) will choose economics experts to bolster their economic credibility, while right leaning governments often choose a finance minister with a financial services background – Donald Trump's two Treasury Secretaries, Steven Mnuchin (ex Goldman Sachs banker) and Scott Bessent (hedge fund manager who worked with George Soros for some time) fit this profile. The point of my dragging up the cv's of finance ministers is to state that difficult times are ahead, and will require political courage and policy acumen, most of all in the US as President Trump takes aim at the budget deficit. Unfortunately, his lead policy manoeuvre on tariffs have shown that he has neither of these attributes. In the US, President Trump has driven hard to have his budget (Big, Beautiful Bill) passed by Congress. It contains some elements that are quite sinister such as the ending of an excise tax on gun silencers, and one particular policy I agree strongly with – the introduction of MAGA (Money Account for Growth and Advancement), whereby the Treasury would create tax preferred savings accounts for children and give each one an initial deposit of USD 1,000. Europe should do the same! However, the broad strokes of the budget look like they could rob many Americans of what they need most, notably MEDICAID. Worryingly from an economic point of view the budget is expected to add nearly USD 3.5 trillion to the budget deficit over the next ten years, according to a range of bodies from the Penn Wharton Budget Model to the Joint Committee on Taxation, and the implication is that the indebtedness of the US will rise further (estimates point to a historic debt to GDP ratio of 125% in ten years' time). The Congressional Budget Office publishes an intimidating chart that puts this in perspective and shows that the debt to GDP ratio in the US has only been higher (going all the way back to 1790) in the post-World War II period. This is the daunting backdrop to two poor bond auctions last week (demand for US and Japanese bonds was well below the norm). In this respect, the case of Greece is instructive – notably the devastating effect of forced austerity, the difficulty in trying to make policy when a government has lost the confidence of markets and the reality that once this confidence is lost, it can take time to regain it. Ultimately, Greece was a small economy in the scheme of things, though its membership of the euro made it systematically important. The US and Japan are on a different scale altogether. We are all Grecians now.
Euronews
02-04-2025
- Business
- Euronews
Greece to spend €25 billion over next decade on hi-tech overhaul of military
ADVERTISEMENT Greece will spend €25 billion over the next decade to adapt its military to evolving high-tech warfare technologies, officials have said. Defence Minister Nikos Dendias told parliament the overhaul will be built around a planned air defence system called "Achilles Shield," primarily aimed at addressing tensions with neighbouring Turkey. The two NATO members have long-standing disputes over boundaries in the Aegean Sea and eastern Mediterranean that have brought them close to war several times in recent decades. Dendias said Greece plans to shift from traditional defence systems to a high-tech, networked strategy centreed on mobile, AI-powered missile systems, drone technologies, and advanced command units, reducing reliance on conventional fleets. Members of the Greek army take part in the military parade at the northern port city of Thessaloniki, 28 October, 2022 AP Photo The plan also includes new programmes such as next-generation troop gear equipped with sensors and communication systems and the development of dedicated satellite capabilities to ensure secure communications during conflict. "What we are proposing is an existential issue for the country — a complete shift in our defence approach, a total change in doctrine," Dendias said. "We're moving away from the traditional thinking that the Aegean is defended solely by the fleet." The overhaul, which will be presented to lawmakers behind closed doors in the coming weeks, also involves greater inclusion of local tech start-ups and a major personnel reorganisation; merging units, closing underused bases and addressing a top-heavy command structure. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis speaks during a presentation of military spending plans at the Greek Parliament in Athens, 2 April, 2025 AP Photo The initiative comes as European countries ramp up military spending in response to the ongoing war in Ukraine and indications that the Trump administration wants to reduce the United States' commitment to European defence. Greece's modernisation drive, launched after years of defence cuts during the 2010–2018 financial crisis, already includes all branches of the armed forces and focuses on cooperation with France, Israel and the United States. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior Israeli defence officials in Israel on Sunday. And on Wednesday, he dismissed calls by some opposition parties to abandon plans to buy US-made F-35 fighter jets in favour of European alternatives, describing the program as an important "long-term investment."
