The Agora

In February 2023, a freight train and a train carrying dozens of passengers crashed in Tempe, central Greece, killing 57 people. A year on from Greece's deadliest train accident, many questions remain unanswered and doubts are growing about whether the truth will ever come to light regarding what caused the disaster. Opposition parties and relatives of the victims, many of whom were university stu...

Five years ago SYRIZA was in power in Greece, but it is currently languishing in third place in the opinion polls and the nascent leadership of Stefanos Kasselakis is being constantly buffeted by internal disputes. In this episode, Phoebe Fronista and Nick Malkoutzis set out how the left-wing party ended up in this uncomfortable position. Nick also speaks to MacroPolis co-founder Yiannis Mouzakis...

Phoebe Fronista and Nick Malkoutzis return after a prolonged absence to discuss what's behind Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's political dominance in Greece and whether things are more complex than they look. Their discussion was prompted by a piece Nick wrote recently for The Agora on MacroPolis's website after listening to Mitsotakis speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the Gree...

This episode of The Agora involves a departure from our normal format as we mark 10 years since MacroPolis was launched. During that time, so much has happened in Greece: The debt crisis, political turmoil, social upheaval, the migration crisis, diplomatic breakthroughs and impasses, and natural disasters. So, with the help of 10 friends and colleagues, we looked back on their most memorable momen...

Storm Daniel hit Greece in early September, leading to almost 20 deaths and widespread destruction, as well as recriminations about whether there had been sufficient warnings and anti-flood works. The villages and communities of Mount Pelion were among the worst affected by the extreme weather. Tourists and locals lost their lives, infrastructure was damaged, buildings were demolished and business...

For our final episode of the fourth series of The Agora, we take a look at what is happening just across the Aegean from Greece, where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is back for a third term and already prompting questions about whether he is shifting his foreign policy. In the wake of the recent NATO summit, where he withdrew objections to Sweden joining the military alliance, but also se...

On the night of June 14, a fishing boat called the Adriana, packed with hundreds of migrants who had paid traffickers to get them from Libya to Italy, sank in the deep waters of the Mediterranean, about 90 kilometers southwest of the town of Pylos in the Peloponnese. It was one of the worst tragedies of its kind ever witnessed in Greece and Europe. What makes the Pylos shipwreck such a standout ca...

At the second time of asking, Kyriakos Mitsotakis has been re-elected as the Greek Prime Minister and his centre-right New Democracy party has won a second term in office. The June 25 elections saw the conservatives cruise to an eight-seat majority in Parliament as the collapse of their main rival, left-wing SYRIZA, continued. However, the results were notable for the emergence of three fringe par...

Greeks are voting again in national elections on June 25 after an inconclusive ballot on May 21. New Democracy is set to return to power following a big victory last month. The results have raised lots of questions for the main opposition parties, SYRIZA and PASOK, but were also notable for the emergence of some new small parties. Lamprini Rori , an assistant professor in political analysis at Ath...

The national elections held on May 21 in Greece produced a landslide victory for the ruling centre-right party, which posted a winning margin of more than 20 points over its main rival, left-wing SYRIZA. As the dust settles from this resounding victory for Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, The Agora host Nick Malkoutzis gathers with MacroPolis co-founder Yiannis Mouzakis and features editor Geor...

Greece is holding general elections on Sunday, May 21. The vote might lack the drama of previous elections, when the country’s fate was on the line amid a devastating economic crisis, but it could still end up being a rather complicated and tense process. The Agora returns to examine the key issues going into this ballot, who the main players are, what the parties are promising, how the vote might...

After decades of making little progress in securing the return of the Parthenon Marbles from the British Museum, Greece appears to be edging closer to a possible deal for the repatriation of the ancient sculptures. Last December, Greek daily newspaper Ta Nea reported that Greek government officials, including Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, had held talks with the British Museum’s chair, Georg...

Recently Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis dismissed concerns about media independence in his country and labelled the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) assessment of Greece as lying in 108th place in the organisation's annual World Press Freedom Index as "crap". In this episode, Nick Malkoutzis and Phoebe Fronista look into why Greece has scored so badly in the RSF ranking and try to find ex...

Since the summer, a surveillance scandal has been gripping Greece. It emerged that the leader of Greece’s third party, PASOK, was being spied on by the country’s National Intelligence Service (EYP) but that there had also been an attempt to install spyware on his mobile phone. Over the last few weeks, there have been further revelations about the use of wiretapping in Greece. Lists of dozens of al...

The leaders of Greece’s three main parties have set out their policies, but also the political parameters, that will define next year’s elections. So, what are the key issue at stake and what will decide the outcome of the vote, or more likely votes, that are due to take place in 2023? Co-hosts Nick Malkoutzis and Phoebe Fronista discuss what we can take away from the appearances made by the leade...

Like so many other countries, Greece is feeling the impact of the Ukraine war in many ways, whether this is through spiralling energy costs, turbulence in the global economy, a shifting geopolitical balance or the flow of refugees into the country. In this episode of The Agora, we take a closer look at the reverberations from Ukraine being felt across Greece. More than 40,000 Ukrainian refugees ha...

Greece’s socialist party, PASOK, was the powerhouse of Greek politics since the early 1980s. However, the debt crisis that emerged from 2009 sucked the life out of the centre-left grouping. Its share of the vote fell from 44 pct that year to roughly a tenth of that in 2015 as PASOK became a toxic political brand. Recently, though, the party has been making something of a comeback. It elected a new...

Following a deadly attack on a 19-year-old football fan in Thessaloniki in early February, the Greek government has announced new measures aimed at reining in hooliganism. However, we've been here before in Greece. So, will the latest measures actually make any difference or are they just a knee-jerk, ineffective reaction to a problem that needs a much wider, consistent approach? We start by askin...

Greece recently received the first six state-of-the art fighter jets it has ordered from France, hoping that their arrival marks the start of an upgrade of its military capabilities, but also an improvement in its geopolitical standing. The Rafale planes - of which Greece is expecting another 18 - touched down in Greece to much fanfare and excitement. This episode of The Agora examines whether thi...

The Greek economy is back in focus on this episode of The Agora as we take a peak at the 2022 budget and a closer look at broader trends and challenges. MacroPolis co-founder Yiannis Mouzakis provides a whistlestop tour of the budget, explaining its key elements and what obstacles the Greek government's economic plan could encounter next year. Two men with extensive knowledge of the Greek economy,...

In the wake of the COP26 meeting, The Agora analyses what Greece brought to the discussion and how this tallies with the efforts being made on the ground to tackle the climate crisis. The head of policy at WWF Greece, Theodota Nantsou , evaluates the Greek authorities' actions. With the help of journalist Evridiki Bersi , we also take a closer look at wind power and why there are concerns about ho...

The outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel was a ubiquitous figure during the Greek crisis, often making her a target for the frustrations generated by the austerity policies she and her party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), advocated. Some of that is water under the bridge now and her recent visit to Athens was accompanied by compliments and diplomatic niceties. As she continues her fare...

Greece recently signed two major defence deals, one with France and another with the USA. On this episode, Nick Malkoutzis and Phoebe Fronista examine the significance and implications of these agreements. MacroPolis foreign policy analyst Alexandra Voudouri explains why we should take note of these pacts, which include the purchase of at least three new French frigates. Alexandra also looks at so...

Earlier this month, Greece lost one of the most emblematic figures of its modern era, composer Mikis Theodorakis, who died on September 2 at the age of 96. Theodorakis was a multi-talented and multi-faceted figure who left his mark due to his radical politics and public interventions as well as his ground-breaking music, which blended Greek popular sounds with classic elements. On this show, we ta...

The long, hot Greek summer is underway. But will it be like the summers we have grown to love or will Covid-19 get in the way again? The Agora podcast is back: Co-hosts Nick Malkoutzis and Phoebe Fronista launch the third season by trying to find out whether Greece has cause to feel optimistic this summer. Phoebe speaks to the manager of a private beach in southern Athens to find out if the custom...