Greece

03 May 2023; MEMO: Greece issued a series of warnings to ship-owners to avoid sailing close to Iranian waters days before Tehran seized two tankers amid heightening tensions in the region, according to documents and industry sources, Reuters reports.

Iran seized a second oil tanker in a week on Wednesday in Gulf waters, the US Navy said, the latest escalation in a series of seizures or attacks on commercial vessels in Gulf waters since 2019.

30 Apr 2023; MEMO: Athens and Ankara should take bolder steps to improve relations, the Greek foreign minister said Saturday, reports Anadolu Agency.

ATHENS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis requested on Saturday the dissolution of the parliament ahead of the May 21 general elections.

He announced the news in a televised address to the nation, after making the formal request during a visit to President Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

The relevant presidential decree will be issued within the day and Greece will officially enter pre-election period, Greek national broadcaster ERT reported.

20 Apr 2023; MEMO: The Greek government, on Wednesday, morning admitted the opposition's claim that Israeli-made Predator spyware was exported to Sudan via Greece, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Speaking to major national radio station, REAL FM, Deputy Foreign Minister, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said: "The license to export Predator to Sudan was given but this has nothing to with the civil war there."

11 Apr 2023; MEMO: Israel on Monday announced a nearly $400 million agreement to supply Greece with guided anti-tank missiles, says Anadolu Agency.

In a statement, the Israeli Defense Ministry said it would provide Greece with Spike missiles, made by the state-run company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

10 Apr 2023; MEMO: Greece on Monday reiterated its optimism on relations with Turkiye, which has seen a major thaw in the last two months.

It would be wrong for Greece not to reach out to the hand extended by Turkiye, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said in an interview he gave to major broadcaster SKAI TV.

"It would be a critical act for our national interests," he said.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece has pledged military assistance to Ukraine for “as long as it takes” but officials cautioned that the country needs to keep much of its Russian-made weaponry for its own defensive needs.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov visited Athens Thursday as part of regular meetings with officials from NATO countries. He was promised more artillery and small arms ammunition shipments, access to Greek hospitals for wounded military personnel and additional Soviet-era BMP infantry fighting vehicles.

ATHENS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- In the wake of the banking turmoil triggered by the collapse of three U.S. banks, and the crisis at Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse this spring, Greek experts have called for vigilance and rapid action.

Greek experts have said that despite there are no imminent threats to the Greek or European banking system and economy and a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis is unlikely, vigilance is required after such banking turmoil.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A general strike in Greece called in response to a rail disaster last month grounded flights and extensively disrupted services, with protests in cities across the country planned for Thursday.

The strike also kept ferries to the Greek islands at port, left public hospitals running with emergency staff, halted public transport services and led to class cancellations at state-run schools.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Thousands of people protested on Sunday against safety deficiencies in Greece’s railway network nearly two weeks after dozens were killed in the country’s deadliest train crash.

The demonstrators also demanded punishment for those responsible for the head-on collision between a passenger train and a freight train that killed 57 people Feb. 28. Police said that more than 8,000 people in Athens gathered outside Parliament to protest on Sunday.