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Season’s Greetings from Athens [InTime News]
Happy Holidays from Athens and welcome to the weekly round-up of news by Kathimerini English Edition. The festivities began on Saturday with Greece’s political leaders receiving carollers from across Greece, before in turn sending out their messages on Sunday to mark the occasion. President Katerina Sakellaropoulou focused on the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, particularly emphasizing its effect on children. “Their most beautiful, their most careless years have been swept away by war,” she said, adding that “when they are asked, they only ask for two presents from Santa Claus. For an end to the war and for their fathers to return home.” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who travelled to Chania on the island of Crete, sent a more personal message on the day, focusing on family. “This holiday season, I hope that you enjoy the moments we often only realize are valuable after they have gone. The moments with the younger and older members of your families. The people who you love, and in return love you,” he said. Leader of main opposition party SYRIZA, Alexis Tsipras, shared his wish for the return of hope and justice to Greece during what he called the most difficult festive period in a decade. Despite this brief respite, the entirety of Greece’s political world is looking ahead to 2023 and the upcoming elections, with the latest indications pointing to a potential date of April 9. However, also looking ahead is Yannis Stournaras, Governor of the Bank of Greece, who on Wednesday called on the country’s political forces to avoid engaging in a “bidding war” of subsidies and handouts which could endanger the country’s efforts to regain investment grade. The Intermediate Report on Monetary Policy released by the Bank stated that political parties should co-ordinate to “implement the basic commitments of economic policy and preserve what the economy has achieved in the last decade.” He doubled down on that message in an interview on Thursday where he stated that “I would tell the political system that we are doing well, but that we should be careful ahead of the elections,” emphasizing that the parties must find an understanding and consider the attainment of investment grade in 2023 as a national goal. Οn Cyprus, the Holy Synod of the Church of Cyprus elected Georgios of Paphos as the new Archbishop of the island. Georgios, who received 11 of 16 votes in the secret ballot, is widely considered to be pro-western and likely to continue supporting an independent church in Ukraine, in line with his predecessor Chrysostomos II. In Brussels, it was decided on Thursday that Greek Member of the European Parliament Eva Kaili will remain in custody for a further month while investigations into her alleged involvement with the Qatargate scandal continue. Finally, Turkey continues to conduct overflights over Greek islands and islets in the Aegean while many prominent officials, like Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, continue to level threats and accusations despite a high-level meeting in Brussels last Sunday. Ahead of critical elections in both Greece and Turkey in 2023, Greek officials are bracing for a potential increase of tension in the Aegean. |
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OPINION
 Tax evasion remains one of Greece’s systemic deficiencies. It was a major contributor to the deficits that led to last decade’s economic crisis and remains an impediment for managing the country’s finances in an efficient and fair way. Still, there is light at the end of the tunnel. With pressure from the IMF and European institutions, Greece’s agency responsible for taxes, the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), has made significant progress in several areas. A number of specific moves have proven surprisingly successful and in doing so have even attracted the interest of America’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS); the latest one being the Appodixi application, which essentially puts taxpayers in the role of auditor, as they can scan a receipt they were given to check whether it is authentic and whether the relevant data has been forwarded to the tax authorities. Following the introduction of incentives to report cases of fake or tampered receipts, the number of citizens who in essence are actively participating in the battle against tax evasion, is growing. Other successful actions of the fully digitized agency include several online applications, from Electronic books, to pre-filled declarations, and one through which businesses can issue their documents; Greece is one of the few countries that has full electronic submission of declarations for both businesses and individuals. A key to the progress being made is the fact that AADE seems to function as a truly independent agency. Its Governor was chosen on his merits by the previous center left government in 2016, and his term was renewed last year by the present center right one, a rare case of continuity that confirms the fact that this is a professional technocrat delivering results. It is true that despite the forward looking moves, tax compliance is still lagging. But for people who live or have lived in major western countries, including the US, and can appreciate and compare, the increasingly efficient AADE proves a success story that can only contribute to Greece’s modernization. |
| CHART OF THE WEEK |
 Greeks have been out in droves over the last week to celebrate the festive season. Many of the capital’s residents have already left Athens, with all the country’s winter destinations having been fully booked for weeks. However, many Athenians have remained in Athens to celebrate in Syntagma Square and finish their shopping in the capital’s busy Ermou Street nearby. The large Christmas tree of Syntagma Square has for decades been the epicenter of Athenian celebrations of the season. [Photo Credit: InTime News] |
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| ECONOMY IN A NUTSHELL |
| “The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 921.25 points on Friday, up 1.03% on a weekly basis. The current account payments balance deficit rose by 6.3 billion euros year-on-year for the period January to October 2022.” |
| “The government announced that it will double existing subsidies on energy bills for Greek households and businesses to 840 million euros in January. The increased cost will be funded by a windfall tax on power generation companies and electricity suppliers.” |
| “More than 26.4 million tourists visited Greece this year between January and October according to a report compiled by the Bank of Greece, marking a 92.1% year-on-year increase. Most of these (16.3 million) traveled to Greece from within the EU, however international arrivals from outside the EU (10.1 million) increased by 147%.” |
| WHAT'S ON THE AGENDA |
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Editor's Pick There must be a shift in Greece’s cultural policy and diplomacy toward a comprehensive and coherent planning of cooperation with museums abroadKostas StratisRead the article |
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