The Greek Current

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to visit Lebanon in the coming days, an important diplomatic move that underscores Greece’s commitment to fostering stability and security in the region. It would also make Mitsotakis the first EU leader - as Kathimerini notes - to visit Lebanon since a ceasefire was reached between Israel and Hezbollah. Steven Howard, the Director of Policy and Outre...

While Greece and Turkey’s foreign ministers are working to lay the groundwork for a key summit between Prime Minister Mitsotakis and President Erdogan early next year, there are growing concerns that progress in resolving differences in the Aegean Sea is proving all but impossible. Tom Ellis, the editor in chief of Kathimerini’s English Edition, joins Thanos Davelis for a look at the ongoing Greek...

Ex-German chancellor Angela Merkel’s memoir was recently released, and many are racing to see what she has chosen to reveal about key moments and players from Europe’s recent past - from the financial crisis to migration and the pandemic. Naturally, Greece is at the heart of a number of these developments. Xenia Kounalaki, a journalist, columnist, and foreign editor at Kathimerini, joins Thanos Da...

In a lightning offensive Syrian rebels seized Aleppo and are threatening other regime-held territories in the country. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s closest allies, Russia and Iran, pledged unconditional support to his government on Monday, while a number of other countries invested in Syria - including Turkey, Israel and the US - are watching developments closely. Steven Cook, the Eni Enrico...

Developments over the past few months in Greece have seen SYRIZA lose its position as the main opposition in parliament to PASOK in the wake of leadership elections in both parties, the creation of a new political party on the left, and the ouster of a former prime minister from New Democracy. At the same time, the ripple effects of the US election are also being felt in Greek politics - as in the...

The launch of a strategic dialogue between Cyprus and the US last month was quickly followed up by another historic development: President Christodoulides’ visit to the White House. With US-Cyprus ties deepening at a rapid pace, this was a chance for Christodoulides to present his strategic vision for Cyprus, including, as reports indicate, the potential future integration of Cyprus into NATO. Len...

Earlier this month we saw a mini crisis break out in the southern Aegean as Turkey deployed four frigates near the Greek islands of Kasos and Karpathos thinking that an Italian ship - which had been at the center of a 40-hour crisis last July - was in the area conducting research for the future deployment of underwater cables linking Greece and Cyprus. While this was ultimately a misunderstanding,...

This week Greece saw workers in the public and the private sector go on strike, demanding better wages in the face of rising costs across the board. This comes despite Greece’s economic success story, whether it's achieving investment grade or outperforming its Eurozone partners, and as the government announced it is set to make another early repayment of €5 billion of bailout-era loans. Nikos Vet...

On November 17th Greeks commemorated the 51st anniversary of the Polytechnic uprising - a seminal moment that effectively delivered the first real blow to the military dictatorship, or the junta, that was ruling Greece. While the story of the uprising itself is well known, the Greek diaspora around the world also played an important role in the fight against the junta. Alexander Kitroeff, a profes...

On Monday the US warned Turkey against hosting Hamas leadership after reports emerged that some Hamas leaders had moved to Turkey from Qatar, with State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller saying Washington will make it clear to Ankara that there can be no more business as usual with Hamas. Sinan Ciddi, a non-resident senior fellow at FDD and an expert on Turkish politics, joins Thanos Davelis...

This weekend Prime Minister Mitsotakis took a bold and risky move to expel former prime minister and lawmaker Antonis Samaras from New Democracy. The story, and its potential impact on the government, is the main issue dominating the headlines in Greece over the past few days. Wolfango Piccoli, the co-founder of the risk analysis company Teneo, joins Thanos Davelis to look into this latest develop...

In 2016 European leaders treated Trump’s win as an aberration, something to ride out. Eight years later, European leaders are now trying to gauge what a second Trump presidency will mean for the continent. While Jean Monnet famously said “Europe will be forged in crisis,” the political turmoil in Germany and France, Europe’s two largest economies, has many asking if Europe is up for the challenge....

This week President-elect Donald Trump unveiled his picks for a number of positions that will have a direct impact on US diplomacy and national security - including his nominations of Senator Marco Rubio for Secretary of State and Representative Michael Waltz for National Security Adviser. As Trump’s national security team takes shape, Jonathan Schanzer, the senior vice president for research at t...

This past weekend Stefanos Kasselakis announced the formation of a new political movement as SYRIZA prepares for a key leadership race. The decision not only throws the party into further turmoil, but leaves it weaker than ever and on the verge of being replaced as Greece’s main opposition party. Nikos Efstathiou, an Athens based journalist and author, joins Thanos Davelis to discuss Stefanos Kass...

Last Friday Greece and Turkey’s foreign ministers held a much anticipated meeting in Athens to see if there is a way forward on resolving differences between the two countries, primarily in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. While there were no major breakthroughs last week, continued talks between the two countries on critical issues are seen as important - especially when it comes to managing...

Last month Greece unveiled a new and ambitious National Energy and Climate Plan that will almost eliminate electricity sector emissions by 2030. While these steps are massively important for the environment, they are also seen as an opportunity to unshackle Greece’s economy and create thousands of jobs. John Psaropoulos joins Thanos Davelis with an inside look into Greece’s ambitious climate goals...

Over the past weeks we’ve seen Prime Minister Mitsotakis and his government put tax cuts and wages front and center, something made possible as a result of increased state revenue from economic growth, GDP gains, debt reduction, and a crackdown on tax evasion. Yiannis Mouzakis, the co-founder and editor of Macropolis.gr, a political and economic analysis site that focuses on Greece, joins Thanos D...

The US election is now behind us and President-elect Donald Trump is set to return to the White House in January. As the congratulatory messages streamed in from around the world, one of the world leaders who was quick to call Trump was President Erdogan. Turkey expert Nicholas Danforth, a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and Editor at...

At the end of last month Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited the site of the Holocaust museum that is being built in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, a city that was home to a thriving and important Jewish community numbering in the tens of thousands before World War II. The museum has been years in the making, and, as The Guardian reported recently, is set to open in 2026....

Europe has closely watched the US presidential election over the past months, anxiously waiting to see who will be elected and what America will emerge after the elections. Yannis Palaiologos, a journalist at large with Kathimerini, joined Thanos Davelis on Tuesday as the polls were still open in the US to break down what it has been like watching - and covering - this high stakes US election from...

While all eyes are on the US elections today, in Greece it seems that there is a permanent state of campaigning. After the PASOK elections a few weeks ago, SYRIZA is now preparing for its own leadership elections this month. In the meantime, internal drama in New Democracy and PASOK’s improved poll numbers have caught the media’s attention as well. Panos Koliastasis, adjunct lecturer in politics a...

The past years have seen an exponential increase in the number of Americans who choose Greece for their vacation, and this trend is expected to continue in 2025. While Americans are arriving in Greece in droves, what do they really think about the country? That’s the focus of a recent poll that not only puts the spotlight on perceptions and impressions of Greece in the US, but also raises question...

With the US elections around the corner, discussions are already underway about how a new administration will tackle the question of Turkey. As this discussion intensifies, just a few days ago we saw members of Congress call out Turkish President Erdogan’s aggressive rhetoric against NATO and key allies. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Sinan Ciddi and Endy Zemenides, the Executive Direc...

Earlier this week Greeks around the world celebrated “OXI Day” - the day 84 years ago that saw Greece reject the ultimatums of Italy’s Mussolini. The heroics of the Greek army during World War II are well known, as they showed occupied Europe that the Axis was not invincible. Today, however, I want to focus on another side of this story, and that’s the ongoing search for the remains of Greek soldi...

The Greek and Turkish foreign ministers are set to meet on November 8th in Athens to explore whether there is genuine room for substantive discussions on Greek-Turkish differences, particularly issues in the Aegean Sea. In the lead up to this meeting, neither Greece nor Turkey have deviated from their core positions, something diplomats say is expected. Vassilis Nedos, Kathimerini’s diplomatic and...