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Briefs from Greece – May 2018

Posted by estiator at 17 May, at 10 : 18 AM Print

Kammenos: Nobody should dare challenge our sovereignty – They have seen it all – Too late for FYROM to join NATO – New ferry route linking the Ionian islands – A Mirage 2000-5 jet has crashed – Michalis Sallas for exit from the memorandum – ‘Hellenic Youth in Action’ Forum – A high surplus of 3.7% of the GDP – Residents tired of people using streets as toilet – No backtracking on reforms, Dombrovskis warns Greece – Aegean Airlines passengers up – Greek business tycoon, Stelios Sklavenitis – Greece beats budget target for third year, debt edges down – Electronic auctions of foreclosed properties – Prospect of bailout program extension – More migrants crossed over from Turkey – Fighting Greece’s plastic trash problem – Two more million tourists – Lesvos mayor puts onus for violence on government – Greek runner wins world’s coolest marathon – Number of Greeks studying in UK rising – Just 18 percent of Greeks think life is fair – Just 18 percent of Greeks think life is fair – First Turkish UAV drone – First Turkish UAV drone

Fears of escalation in tensions

Amid rising tensions between Greece and Turkey in the Aegean, the decision by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to call snap elections for June 24 intensified concerns for bilateral ties against a backdrop of growing nationalist fervor in Turkey.

Kammenos: Nobody should dare challenge our sovereignty

Greece will not tolerate any challenges to its national sovereignty, Defense Minister Panos Kammenos said on Monday, speaking at the Infantry School in Halkida during an event to celebrate St. George, patron saint of the Hellenic Army.

They have seen it all

Customs authorities may have had a remarkably fruitful year in 2017 as regards inspections on tobacco products – confiscating 154 million contraband cigarettes and imposing taxes and fines of 581 million euros – but they also excelled in original catches, which included the confiscation of crocodiles, eels, sturgeon eggs, underwear and cutlery.

Too late for FYROM to join NATO

There is not enough time for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to join NATO at the alliance’s summit in July, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said during a lull in momentum in talks between Athens and Skopje on the “Macedonia” name issue.

New ferry route linking the Ionian islands

Greece is expanding its transport network with a new ferry route linking the Ionian islands. It is the first time the islands will have a connecting service, which will be introduced on 1 May and will run through the summer right up until 31 October. The news was announced this week by Greece’s Minister of Shipping and Maritime Affairs, Panagiotis Kouroumblis. The service will be run on a 30-metre long vessel, which can carry up to 206 passengers.

A Mirage 2000-5 jet has crashed

A Mirage 2000-5 fighter jet has crashed north of Skyros Island. According to Greek defense sources, the Mirage Baltadoros was flying was one of the two Greek jets that had been sent on a mission earlier in the day to intercept Turkish jets in the Aegean.

Despite this however, they said that they did not believe any hostile activity was involved in the crash.

Turkey’s military has denied any involvement in the crash, claiming that there were no Turkish planes in the area at the time of the incident, reports Haber Turk newspaper.

Michalis Sallas for exit from the memorandum

Former Piraeus Bank CEO Michalis Sallas, one of the most prominent banking executives in Greece over the past quarter of the century, reiterated that he’s in favor of an exit from the memorandum era without a precautionary credit line, a position mostly aligned with the coalition government, rather than European creditors and the Bank of Greece (BoG) governor.

The looming end of the third – and last – bailout program ends in August 2018, with both Athens and its institutional creditors now anxiously looking towards the post-memorandum period, when Greece will have to turn to the markets for its borrowing. In a lengthy article in the latest edition of Foreign Affairs, Sallas says the amassing of a “cushion” of between 18 to 20 billion euros, by the Greek side, is enough to proceed into the post-memorandum period.

‘Hellenic Youth in Action’ Forum

Three hundred and fifty young Greeks; 20 countries; one shared passion – the motherland. These are the elements that ensured the success of the first ‘Hellenic Youth in Action’ Forum which took place in Athens. Organized by nine Global Hellenic Unions, as part of the ‘Olympia 2016-2018’ events program, run by the Zappeion Megaron’s Olympia and Bequests Committee, the Global Forum was hailed as a unique opportunity for the Greek Youth diaspora to strengthen their relations with the homeland, and learn how to cooperate in order to achieve common goals and objectives.

A high surplus of 3.7% of the GDP

The GDP rose by 1.9% in the fourth quarter of 2017 and the economy grew for a second consecutive quarter, resulting in a rise in GDP by 1.4% for all of 2017. All three credit rating agencies that raised Greece’s rate with a positive outlook (S&P and Fitch by one point and Moody’s by two) foresee a growth of 2% for the current year. Unemployment dropped to 20.8%.

Private deposits rose last year by 5.73 billion euros, leading to lesser dependence of banks on ELA and to a relaxation of capital controls, according to schedule.

The current account deficit dropped in 2017 to 1.45 billion euros, as travel receipts rose by 10.5% to 14.6 billion euros.

Residents tired of people using streets as toilet

Athens’s bohemian neighborhood of Exarchia, the stamping ground of artists, anarchists and addicts, is being plagued by late-night revelers relieving themselves in the street, locals have complained to Kathimerini.

No backtracking on reforms, Dombrovskis warns Greece

The European Commission’s vice president, Valdis Dombrovskis, warned Greece in an interview with Kathimerini of the importance of “continuous adherence to reforms and post-program fiscal targets.”

Aegean Airlines passengers up

Greece’s largest carrier Aegean Airlines said on Thursday its passenger numbers rose 12 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2017, mostly on international routes where traffic rose by 16 percent. Aegean, a member of the Star Alliance airline group, increased its load factor to 81.2 percent, from 76.8 percent in the same period in 2017. The airline said its passenger numbers totaled 2.36 million in the three-month period compared to 2.10 million in January-March last year. The carrier is adding 11 new routes this year, including Basel in Switzerland, Malaga in Spain and Palermo, Turin and Bologna in Italy. Last month, Aegean picked Airbus for an order of 42 aircraft worth $5 billion (4 billion euros) to renew its fleet of single-aisle planes and add capacity for future expansion.

Greek business tycoon, Stelios Sklavenitis

Greek business tycoon, Stelios Sklavenitis, has died suddenly at the age of 53. He was one of three brothers behind one of the biggest supermarket companies in Greece, also called Sklavenitis. The Sklavenitis Group has 538 branches across Greece and Cyprus.

Greece beats budget target for third year, debt edges down

Greece has beaten its bailout budget targets for a third successive year and eased its massive debt burden by a fraction as the country prepares to exit its international rescue program in four months, according to the country’s independent statistics agency.

Electronic auctions of foreclosed properties

Seventy-one out of 123 electronic auctions of foreclosed property held around Greece were successfully concluded, with a highest bidder declared. No bids were received in 38 e-auctions, while 14 were postponed and will be repeated. Resuming auctions of foreclosed properties, primarily by lien-holding commercial banks, has been a press demand by Greece’s institutional creditors in order to, among others, reducing the massive debt load entailed in non-performing loans (NPLs) burdening banks’ portfolios.

Prospect of bailout program extension

Greece’s creditors are considering the extension of the Greek bailout program beyond August, according to a report by German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

More migrants crossed over from Turkey

A total of 607 refugees and migrants over the Greek Easter holidays crossed over from Turkey to the northern Aegean islands and were registered at Reception and Identification Centers. Between Holy Thursday and today, 418 migrants reached Lesvos, 69 arrived on Chios, and 120 on Samos. In total, between April 1st and 15th, 1,173 refugees and migrants arrived on the islands – 630 on Lesvos, 281 on Chios, and 262 on Samos.

Fighting Greece’s plastic trash problem

Dressed all in black and preparing his diving gear with loud zips and clicks, George Sarelakos looks like he’s part of a Greek naval operation. He’s not – but he and four other volunteer divers do have a challenging mission: Clearing the plastic trash from the sea floor that’s suffocating Greece’s marine life.

Two more million tourists

At least two million more tourists will visit Greece this year in comparison with 2017, stated Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura adding that the exceptional upward course in the last three years will continue in 2018 with the trend to be even more upward this year.

Lesvos mayor puts onus for violence on government

The mayor of the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos, which experienced some of the worst violence it has seen since the start of the refugee crisis in 2015, put the onus for the events that unfolded in downtown Mytilini squarely on the leftist-left government.

Greek runner wins world’s coolest marathon

With the Greek flag in one hand and ice smothered across his face, runner Argyrios Papathanasopoulos fell to his knees in exhaustion – and celebration – after winning the North Pole Marathon, the northernmost race on Earth.

Number of Greeks studying in UK rising

The British Council has been active in Greece since 1939 and in those 80 years “our vision and goals have not changed,” says Anastasia Andritsou in her first interview as director of the institution.

Just 18 percent of Greeks think life is fair

Most Europeans feel that they are treated fairly in terms of opportunities to get ahead at 58 percent, but there are huge disparities in the 28-member block, with just 18 percent of Greeks telling a Eurobarometer survey that life is fair, against 81 percent of Danes.

First Turkish UAV drone

Greek warplanes reportedly intercepted the first Turkish UAV “drone” operating in the Aegean, and specifically over the Dodecanese island of Rhodes. According to the Athens daily “Kathimerini”, the unmanned aircraft, identified as an UAV ANKA and operated by the Turkish navy, was pinpointed at an altitude of 19,000 to 20,000 feet over the large island. The same reports state that the UAV made at least two foray into Greek airspace before being chased off by a pair of Greek F-16s.

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