ekathimerini.com the Greek letter ; happy Easter from Athens April 16, 2023

 

Happy Easter from Athens![InTime News] Constantine CapsaskisNewsletter Editor Happy Easter and welcome to the weekly round-up of news by Kathimerini English Edition. The Greek Orthodox Holy Week saw a mass exodus of city dwellers to celebrate Easter and observe local customs and traditions. Also leaving the capital for the countryside were Greece’s political leaders, who sent messages marking the occasion. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on the island of Tinos spoke of Easter as an “opportunity for personal and collective introspection, which also acts as springboard for hope”, while also commemorating the victims of the Tempe rail collision on February 28. Ηοwever, with elections in just over a month, on May 21, the opposition leaders in their various statements tried to outdo themselves in comparing Easter to the ballot. “These days are also days of hope for our people, who look forward to a collective Resurrection”, said main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras from Corfu, while PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis wished that “may the light of the Resurrection mark a new beginning” from Crete. Greek Communist Party (KKE) Secretary General Dimitris Koutsoumpas, who spent the weekend in the town of Lamia, was more straightforward in his statement of “happy Resurrection to the Greek people with a strong KKE”. On the island of Aegina, the leader of leftist party Mera25 Yanis Varoufakis, while saying that we should put the election aside for a few days, focused on the message that “light defeats darkness even when we do not expect it to, as long as we let it, as long as we also light a candle”. Kyriakos Velopoulos of the nationalist Greek Solution party directly stated that “we wish that in a few days, May 21, you all play a part in resurrecting Greece”. Finally, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias travelled to the Turkish island of Imvros on Holy Friday to attend the service officiated by Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios, before meeting with Greek residents of the island and having dinner with the Patriarch and the Metropolitan of Imvros and Tenedos Kyrillos. Spotlight The visit by Dendias coincides with what may be the beginning of the end for the Greek-Turkish honeymoon in the Aegean. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu repeated claims this week that there are islands in the Aegean whose sovereignty has not yet been determined, and that if Greece and Turkey choose to resolve their differences at the Hague it should be on what Cavusoglu calls “all issues”. “This positive atmosphere can disappear soon,” he emphasized. Dendias from Imvros stated that following elections in both countries, there will be an opportunity to reassess what unites them.   Dendias also met with visiting Egyptian FM Sameh Shoukry in Athens this week to discuss the deepening co-operation between Athens and Cairo in the Eastern Mediterranean. Shoukry also met with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Aside from the convergence between the two countries, which includes the signing of a maritime agreement in 2020 that set out Exclusive Economic Zones and several other bilateral treaties, the proposed “GREGY” undersea power grid interconnector between the two countries was high on the agenda.

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OPINION Tom EllisEditor-in-Chief, Kathimerini English Edition New Democracy's alienated voters and potential coalition partners[InTime News] During the Easter holidays prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis continued his efforts to lure back the part of the electorate that voted for New Democracy in 2019 but has become alienated as a result of issues that range from the high cost of living and a perceived inability to listen to the average person, to the wiretapping cases and, lately, the train tragedy at Tempe. The prime minister promised changes in some policies, more forceful implementation of others, and new faces, including more women during his second term, if he wins one. In his effort to deal with internal divisions Mitsotakis has invited the two former conservative prime ministers, Costas Caramanlis and Antonis Samaras, to the May 9 celebration of Greece’s accession to the then European Economic Community. Given the high symbolic importance of the event, both accepted the invitation. In addition to keeping the party united, the other crucial part of the equation of remaining in power is planning on a potential coalition if the ruling Conservatives win the second election but come up short of an absolute majority as seems very likely. Centrist PASOK remains the preferable choice of most, but given the insistence of its leader, Nikos Androulakis, that in order to enter into a coalition with ND, Mitsotakis should not be the Prime Minister, some are eyeing the possibility of working with far right Greek Solution, an anathema to many in the liberal wing of New Democracy, as well as to some western capitals who are nervous because of the alleged Russian influence on Greek Solution. The pursuit of power often leads to moves that seemed unthinkable before. SYRIZA acted in a similar way when it teamed up with the anti-moratorium right-wing Independent Greeks to form the previous government.

CHART OF THE WEEK

In an effort to stave off massively upsetting Greek household budgets due to the rising cost of money, Greek banks have introduced a freeze on variable interest rates on all current mortgage loans. So far, rising interest rates have not affected the loan portfolio of Greek banks (worth 27 billion euros) but there is a realistic danger. Indicatively, a household with a 20-year 100,000-euro mortgage is already paying 1,907 every year (159 euros a month) to cover it at a 5.5% interest rate, with payments going up to 2,251 euros annually at 6%.

ESCAPADE Unique Easter Traditions and Customs in Greece Throughout Greece, there are many wonderful places with their own special approach to celebrating the Orthodox calendar’s most important week. Go to article >

ECONOMY IN A NUTSHELL

“The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index climbed over the 1,100-point mark once more, closing at 1,102.79 points on Thursday. The 2.68% weekly growth for the index marks the fourth consecutive positive week.”

“The international Monetary Fund revised its forecast of Greek economic growth to 2.6% this week, up from its 1.8% forecast in October 2022. At the same time, the IMF projects a 0.4% primary budget surplus this year. Debt as a percentage of GDP is expected to reach 166% this year, down from 200.7% in 2021.”

“Greek exports reached a historic high in 2022, with  growth not being driven solely by the usual agricultural suspects. While demand for Greek olive oil did grow by 29%, there was also a massive uptick in high-tech items such as LED lamps (388%), electricity meters (55%), and solar water heaters (11%).”

WHAT'S ON THE AGENDA

18/04/2023Alexis Tsipras in Lavrio: The coastal town of Lavrio in Attica will be the next stop for SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras following the Easter break in political campaigning. 20/04/2023Androulakis on Lesvos: PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis will address supporters on the island of Lesvos, at the Municipal Theater of Mytilene. 21/04/2023Mitsotakis visits Kalamata: Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will visit the Peloponnesian city of Kalamata, where he is expected to hold a pre-election rally and make announcements relating to nearby projects.

Editor's PickThe truth is that you can hardly avoid thinking that history is once again insisting on teaching us, using irony, even though it knows we are unteachable.Pantelis BoukalasRead the article

PODCAST

12/04/2023 • 14:38The reasons why Erdogan might be re-electedProf. Cengiz Aktar joins Thanos Davelis to discuss the reasons he believes the odds are in Erdogan’s favor leading up to Turkey’s May 14th election, from Erdogan’s domestic policies to his foreign policy, and look at why the opposition may be possessed by an ever-growing overconfidence.

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