Greece

ATHENS, July 2 (Xinhua) -- A group of 28 Romanian firefighters was welcomed by Greek authorities in Athens on Saturday during the launch of a European pilot program for forest protection against fire this summer, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

ATHENS, July 2 (Reuters) - An Iranian-flagged tanker seized by Greece in April, part of whose cargo was confiscated by the United States, was being towed to the port of Piraeus on Saturday, Greek coast guard officials said, after Greek authorities approved its release.

For over two months the Iranian-flagged Lana has been anchored off the Greek island of Evia in a diplomatic impasse which strained Athens' relations with Tehran amid growing tensions between Iran and the United States.

ATHENS, June 30 (Reuters) - Greece has sent an official request to the United States for the purchase of 20 Lockheed Martin-made F-35 fighter jets, the country's prime minister said on Thursday.

NATO member Greece spends more than 2% of its gross domestic product on defence spending. It has beefed up its military purchases in recent years as tensions with its neighbour, historic rival and NATO ally Turkey, have resurfaced.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Greece is also examining the purchase of a second group of the jets.

28 June 2022; MEMO: Greece's coast guard, on Monday, said it had prevented more than a thousand migrants and refugees from crossing its islands in boats from the nearby coast of Turkiye over the past three days, AP reports.

According to the report, it had turned back boats in 24 separate incidents, involving an estimated 1,130 people, near five Greek eastern Aegean Sea islands, with most of the interceptions occurring off Lesbos.

ATHENS, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Greece's Coast Guard rescued 108 migrants after a sailing boat sank off Delos island in the Aegean Sea on Sunday, Greek authorities announced.

Four people were missing based on statements of the survivors, according to an e-mailed press release of the Coast Guard.

Twenty-one minors were among the rescued. All have been transferred to the nearby Mykonos island. Their nationalities have still not been identified.

A rescue operation continues as winds up to 7 on the Beaufort scale are blowing in the area, according to the press release.

ATHENS, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Citizens in Greece and Turkey share pessimism for economy and skepticism over the Ukraine crisis and the role the U.S. and NATO play in security in Europe, according to the results of a joint public opinion survey released on Sunday.

According to the survey, 80.4 percent of Turkish people and 57.4 percent of Greeks believe that things are not going well in their country in general, and 68.2 percent and 60.7 percent respectively expect the financial situation in Turkey and Greece to worsen over the next 12 months.

18 June 2022; MEMO: The Turkish authorities published a report prepared by Turkiye's Ombudsman Institution on Friday stating that Greece had violated the rights of tens of thousands of refugees attempting to enter its territory through Turkiye.

ATHENS, June 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Greece on Thursday published a series of historical maps looking to refute Turkish accusations that Athens is violating peace treaties that followed World War I and World War II.

Turkish authorities say the Greeks have stationed troops on Aegean islands in violation of the peace treaties that followed the two 20th century conflicts.

Athens counters that the troops are stationed in response to the presence of Turkish military units, aircraft and landing craft on the opposite coast, in addition to Turkiye’s invasion of Cyprus in 1974.

ATHENS, June 8 (Reuters) - A Greek court on Wednesday overturned an earlier court ruling that allowed the confiscation by the United States of part of a cargo of Iranian oil on an Iranian-flagged tanker off the Greek coast, three sources familiar with the matter said.

The incident had led to an angry response by Iran, with Iranian forces last month seizing two Greek tankers in the Gulf after Tehran warned it would take "punitive action" against Athens. 

Iran had also appealed the original court decision, one legal source said, declining to be named.

 ATHENS, May 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Greece’s coastguard on Sunday said it had rescued 106 migrants including many children from a half-sunken sailing boat on the Aegean Sea.

  A coastguard statement said the migrants were found late on Saturday near the southeastern island of Kos, a short distance from the Turkish coast.

  The group, of various nationalities which were not disclosed, included 14 women and 20 children.

  No other people are considered to be missing in the incident, the coastguard said.