Latest Greece News

North Macedonia’s new president seeks to sidestep disputes with EU neighbors

May. 13, 2024 21:14 PM EDT

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — European Union candidate North Macedonia sought Monday to calm disputes with EU neighbors Greece and Bulgaria that flared up following the landslide election victory of a conservative-backed coalition and president. North Macedonia changed its name...

Greek and Turkish leaders seek to stress thawing relations but tensions remain under the surface

May. 13, 2024 12:45 PM EDT

ISTANBUL (AP) — The leaders of Greece and Turkey met Monday for talks aimed at underlining their efforts to put aside decades-old disputes, but they also revealed deep divisions over the Israel-Hamas war. Speaking at a news conference in Ankara following the two-hour face-to-face...

North Macedonia's new president reignites a spat with Greece at her inauguration ceremony

May. 12, 2024 11:24 AM EDT

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova was sworn as the first female president of North Macedonia on Sunday and immediately reignited a diplomatic spat with neighboring Greece. At the ceremony in the country’s parliament, Siljanovska-Davkova referred to her...

Wary of wars in Gaza and Ukraine, old foes Turkey and Greece test a friendship initiative

May. 12, 2024 00:16 AM EDT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Old foes Turkey and Greece will test a five-month-old friendship initiative Monday when Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visits Ankara. The two NATO members, which share decades of mutual animosity, a tense border and disputed waters, agreed to...

Olympic torch begins journey across France after festive welcome in Marseille before Summer Games

May. 08, 2024 23:25 PM EDT

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Tens of thousands of people welcomed the Olympic torch Wednesday in the southern French city of Marseille, marking another milestone in the lead-up to the Summer Games in Paris. French Olympic swimmer Florent Manaudou became the first torch carrier in...

AP PHOTOS: Greek Orthodox mark Good Friday with solemn bier processions

May. 04, 2024 03:04 AM EDT

NAFPAKTOS, Greece (AP) — The procession of “Epitaphios," symbolizing the bier that carried the body of Jesus to his grave, took place across Greece on Friday, which was Good Friday in the Orthodox Christian calendar. The solemn processions, with the flower-adorned biers followed...

Head of Greek extreme far-right Golden Dawn party is granted early release from prison

May. 02, 2024 14:58 PM EDT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The head of Greece's extreme far-right Golden Dawn party was granted conditional early release from prison Thursday, after serving part of his sentence for running a criminal organization blamed for violent hate crimes. A council of judges accepted the request...

Greece boosts special firefighting units to cope with its growing heat risk

May. 01, 2024 12:04 PM EDT

KRYO PIGADI, Greece (AP) — Skimming over miles of hills blackened by wildfires west of Athens, Fire Lt. Col. Ioannis Kolovos readies his elite fire crew crouched inside a helicopter. The 10-member group from the 1st Wildfire Special Operation Unit bristles with tools needed to hold...

5 former officials are convicted over Greece's deadliest wildfire but are freed after being fined

Apr. 29, 2024 08:05 AM EDT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A Greek court convicted five former firefighting and disaster response officials on Monday over the deadliest wildfire in the country's history, with more than 100 people killed outside the capital. But some survivors were outraged when they were fined and let go. ...

1 migrant dies and 25 are rescued from a sinking dinghy in eastern Greece

Apr. 29, 2024 04:10 AM EDT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Authorities on the Greek island of Samos said Monday that a migrant died and 25 others were rescued from a sinking dinghy that had left the nearby coast of Turkey. A search and rescue operation was launched, assisted by the European border protection agency,...