Latest Greece government News
Greece signs deal to buy 20 US-made F-35 jets in major military overhaul
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece formally approved an offer to buy 20 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters from the United States as part of a major defense overhaul, government officials said Thursday. Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said while visiting a military air base near Athens that the...
Turkish president dampens hopes for restarting talks on Cyprus' 50-year ethnic split
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Turkey's president on Saturday put a damper on hopes for a quick resumption of talks to heal a half-century of ethnic division on Cyprus, reaffirming his support for a two-state deal that Greek Cypriots dismiss as a non-starter. President Recep Tayyip...
Ethnic Greek politician returns to prison in Albania after attending European Parliament opening
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — A member of Albania’s ethnic Greek minority returned to prison Saturday after a five-day reprieve to attend the opening session of the European Parliament where he was elected to represent Greece's ruling party. Fredis Beleris, who holds dual Greek-Albanian...
Greece shuts Acropolis, 2 firefighters killed in Italy as southern Europe swelters in a heat wave
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A heat wave across southern Europe forced authorities in Greece to close the Acropolis Wednesday for several hours and two firefighters died while putting out a fire in the Basilicata region in southern Italy, Italian authorities said. Italy added Palermo,...
Ethnic Greek politician jailed in Albania arrives in Athens en route to European Parliament opening
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A jailed member of Albania’s ethnic Greek minority — recently elected to the European Parliament with Greece’s governing conservative party — arrived in Athens Monday en route to Strasbourg, after being granted a five-day leave from prison to attend parliament’s...
Cocked rifles and infrared cameras along Cyprus buffer zone stoke tensions that could spread farther
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The clang of unseen assault rifles being cocked carries across the United Nations-controlled buffer zone in ethnically cleaved Cyprus, ratcheting up concerns that the embers of the island's stagnant conflict could again be rekindled. The rifles are just the...
Albanian authorities grant leave to jailed ethnic Greek ex-mayor for European Parliament opening
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s prison department Sunday granted a five-day leave to an ethnic Greek minority former mayor to attend the opening session of the new European Parliament in Strasbourg. The prison department’s statement said Fredis Beleris, 51, was granted leave...
The gods must be angry: Mexico 'cancels' statue of Greek god Poseidon after dispute with local deity
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The gods must be angry — or just laughing at the hubris of humanity. Authorities in Mexico have slapped a “closure” order on a 10-foot-tall (3-meter) aquatic statue of the Greek god of the sea Poseidon that was erected in May in the Gulf of Mexico just off...
Albania's supreme court leaves ethnic Greek ex-mayor in prison
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s Supreme Court on Friday upheld a verdict of the lower courts keeping a former elected mayor from the country’s Greek minority in prison after he was convicted of buying votes. A Supreme Court statement said that it upheld the verdicts of the...
Greek authorities tame a wildfire that forced the evacuation of a hospital and a retirement home
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities on Tuesday evacuated a children's hospital and a retirement home on the outskirts of the southern city of Patras after a summer wildfire flared in the area amid hot, windy weather. Fire service spokesman Vasilis Vathrakoyiannis said the...
