The Greek Letter - ekathimerini - 13 April 2025 - the Tempe railway disaster continues to dominate political discourse in Greece, and more...

 

Tempe continues to dominate political agenda[AMNA] Constantine CapsaskisNewsletter Editor Welcome to the weekly round-up of news by Kathimerini English Edition. As the issue of the Tempe railway disaster continues to dominate political discourse in Greece, with the opposition accusing the government of a cover-up, New Democracy continues to remain ahead of the pack despite the ruling party’s thinning majority. The parliamentary debate over referring former deputy minister Christos Triantopoulos to the judiciary, to face criminal charges for breach of duty, was very heated with opposition parties accusing the government of covering-up by refusing to allow their MPs to participate in the investigation. “What is taking place is a process that infringes on our institutions and Constitution”, noted PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis, but differentiated himself from the remaining opposition parties by voting in favor of the referral of Triantopoulos while dissenting from the inquiry’s report. SYRIZA leader Sokratis Famellos called for the parliamentary session to end, referring to it “as illegal and unconstitutional” before walking out with his party’s MPs. Course of Freedom leader Zoi Konstantopoulou said that New Democracy “violently stopped the work of the Parliamentary Committee before its work had even started”, and reiterated claims that the government’s decision to refer Triantopoulos to the judiciary was illegal. It is worth noting that in the latest poll conducted by MRB, Course for Freedom has narrowed the gap in voter support with New Democracy to only 6.9 percentage points (20.4% to 13.5%), currently cementing itself in second place. PASOK has receded to third place with a 9.4% share of the vote. Finally, it is worth noting that the New Left party, and its 11 MPs who continue to fail to resonate with voters as evidenced in these latest polls, have devolved into three factions over the proposed formation of a wider coalition of the center-left. Former Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos and former MP and spokesperson Gavriil Sakellaridis have objected to a possible partnership solely with SYRIZA, while party leader Alexis Haritsis has been more open to working with other parties to form a “popular front”.   Spotlight The resignation of the Deputy Chairman of the Hellenic Air and Rail Accident Investigation Authority (HARSIA) Christos Papadimitriou on Wednesday was the capstone of a contentious week for the investigation into the railway disaster at Tempe. The crux of the issue is whether there was a fireball at the site of the collision, and whether the freight train was carrying any flammable material. HARSIA’s report, published in February, noted that an unknown substance could have contributed to the fire and attributed its conclusions on the existence of the fireball to foreign experts from the Universities of Ghent and Pisa, who have since distanced themselves from the authority’s findings. Following intense scrutiny by government officials, Papadimitriou resigned citing personal reasons but noted in his letter to Deputy Transport Minister Konstantinos Kyranakis that the issue of the fireball required further investigation.   The “Weseayou” observatory, which was set up by several environmental NGOs (including WWF Greece, Greenpeace Greece, and others), notes that Greece is failing to live up to its obligations to preserve protected marine areas. The observatory, which monitors and assesses the implementation of Greece’s commitments made at the 9th Our Ocean Conference in 2024, states that only 15% of these have been realised. “The beginning of the process of granting licenses for the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in two new areas next to the proposed national maritime park in the Ionian Sea is particularly worrying,” it emphasizes. Additionally, the observatory’s report highlights that Greece is institutionally failing to fulfil its obligations as they are laid out by European environmental law, and points to two condemnations by the European Court of Justice in 2020 and 2025.

MUST READS The fog of TempeGo to article > The center-left’s big itchGo to article > A relationship that’s here to stayGo to article >

OPINION NewsroomEditor-in-Chief, Kathimerini English Edition Mitsotakis’ “win-win” approach, and Trump’s response[AMNA] As nations, governments and leaders, try to navigate the new world order that is being shaped by the actions of Donald Trump, it is usually better not to be on the radar, as this would most probably be for the wrong reasons, like being – or viewed as being – in a collision course with the US president. Things change if one ends up in the news for the right cause, as a factor that aims, supports, and could contribute, to the extent allowed by the intricacies of the situation, to a solution that would be beneficial to all sides, including the US. That is exactly what happened with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis last week and his interview with Breitbart News’ Matt Boyle, an influential journalist and an intriguing personality, who was in Greece in order to, in addition to interviewing the PM, attend the Delphi Economic Forum. During the interview at his office in Athens, the Greek PM had expressed the opinion, and hope, that “there is a possibility of finding a win-win solution when it comes to trade, a solution that is mutually beneficial”. He noted that “this has been my firm belief from the beginning, before the tariffs were announced. There is still room for negotiation before we consider any major reciprocal response beyond what was announced today, which was the expected EU response anyway. I think at the end of the day, Europe and the European market is very important to the US and the US is important to Europe, and we need to work out a solution“. Donald Trump was quick to respond to Mitsotakis’ interview as Breitbart News is widely read in this White House: “I agree. I know him, he’s a good man, I appreciate his comments,” Trump told reporters, and added: “Yes, a deal can be made with any of them. A deal will be made with China. A deal will be made with every one of them. And there will be fair deals with all of them.” Mitsotakis’ statement was the right thing to do on substance, a welcome development in the effort to repair the traumatized EU-US relationship, and a smart move with respect to projecting a positive image for Greece which could prove useful in so many ways.

CHART OF THE WEEK

The second “Spiti Mou” housing program, which provides young first-time buyers with mortgage interest rate subsidies, has led to hikes in the asking prices of properties, confirming the concerns of real estate experts. Indicatively, prices in central Athens, where the majority of properties that qualify for the program are located, rose by 11.8% and currently stand at 2,317 euros per square meter, from 2,073 euros per square meter in 2024. Asking prices also rose in Thessaloniki by 12.6%. This was largely expected as landlords increased their prices to benefit from the surge of prospective buyers, with the government measures increasing the demand for, rather than the supply of, housing.

ESCAPADE Milos: A race to protect the ‘syrmata’ These unique island buildings are gaining protected status on the island, with 52 of them already subject to use and modification restrictions. Go to article >

ECONOMY IN A NUTSHELL

“The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,582.59 points, down 0.94% from last week.”

“Greece is set to repay the first of the three debt-crisis bailout loans by 2031, ten years before they expire. The payments, which will be in annual increments of five billion euros, will help further reduce the country’s public debt, the largest in the Eurozone.”

“Foreign investment in the Greek real estate market continues to grow, with a historic high in 2024. According to the latest data released by the Bank of Greece, the total inflow of capital rose to 2.75 billion euros, a 30% increase from the 2.1 billion euros the year before.”

WHAT'S ON THE AGENDA

14/04/2025EU Foreign Affairs: European Union Foreign Ministers will meet in Luxembourg for a series of meetings including the first EU-Palestine High-Level Political Dialogue and the fourth Accession Conference with Albania. 15/04/2025Taxi drivers on strike: The union representing taxi drivers in the capital region of Attica has announced a 24-hour strike on Tuesday to protest remarks by government ministers that taxis will not be permitted to use bus lanes. This will be preceded by a 24-hour strike by drivers in Thessaloniki. 20/04/2025Greek Orthodox Easter: Greek Orthodox faithful will celebrate Easter.

Editor's PickA substantial portion of Greek society, however, seeks both: development and environmental protection. Both are possible. Both construction and the preservation of the islands’ landscapes can coexist,Yiouli EptakiliRead the article

PODCAST

10/04/2025 • 10:47How the East Med is transforming Middle East securitySince the discovery of natural gas almost 15 years ago in the Eastern Mediterranean, we’ve seen this region come together in unexpected ways. Ties have expanded beyond Greece, Cyprus and Israel to include a number of Middle East countries, the US, and the EU, and have moved well beyond energy into the security realm as well. Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and Gregg Roman, executive director of the Middle East Forum, join Thanos Davelis to look at how East Med diplomacy is transforming the security landscape of the region.

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