Greece

26 Dec 2022; MEMO: Greece has moved to postpone a major arms purchase from Israel, local media reported on Saturday.

Defense Ministry officials fear that the purchase of Spike NLOS missiles, a particularly desired system for the navy's fast attack boats and the ground forces' AH-64 attack helicopters, risk being postponed indefinitely, private broadcaster CNN Greece reported.

26 Dec 2022; MEMO: Greece plans to extend its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles to the south and west of the island of Crete in March, local media reported on Sunday.

LYKOFI, Greece (AP) — Accompanied by a cloud of mosquitos, Police Capt. Konstantinos Tsolakidis and three other border guards set out on a boat patrol along the Evros River that forms a natural frontier between Greece and Turkey.

The route takes them through a maze formed by tall reeds, past clusters of flamingos and boat trippers visiting a nature reserve where the river fans out to meet the Mediterranean.

21 Dec 2022; MEMO: Greece lags behind Turkiye in strategic communication, a major Greek daily argued on Tuesday.

Greece deals with the process of the synthesis, formulation, and promotion of the main national positions at the international level very amateurishly, said Kathimerini daily.

14 Dec 2022; MEMO: Greek police have raided the offices of an intelligence company owned by a former Israeli army intelligence officer, amid a scandal caused by its spyware targeting Greek opposition politicians, journalists and possibly civilians.

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — A Greek police officer accused of shooting and seriously wounding a Roma teenager during a police chase over an allegedly unpaid gas station bill will remain under house arrest, after a prosecutor and an investigating judge disagreed Friday on whether he should be jailed until his trial.

About 200 protesters from the Roma community were gathered outside the courthouse in Greece’s second-largest city of Thessaloniki Friday, where the 34-year-old officer appeared amid tight security.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A dilapidated fishing boat crammed with hundreds of migrants that lost its steering and had been drifting in the wind-lashed Mediterranean Sea south of the Greek island of Crete was successfully towed to port Tuesday, Greek authorities said.

Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said there were approximately 400 people on the vessel, down from his earlier estimate of 500. He said it was not immediately clear where it had sailed from.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek rescue teams searched for dozens of migrants reported missing Tuesday after the overloaded sailboat they were on capsized and sank in rough seas off an island near Athens, authorities said.

The incident overnight was the latest in a series of recent shipwrecks involving migrant boats that have left dozens of people dead or missing in Greek waters.

Nine survivors, all men, were discovered on an uninhabited islet south of the island of Evia and told authorities there had been around 68 people on board the sailboat when it sank.

ATHENS, October 28. /TASS/: The EU countries have not managed yet to create a mechanism to influence gas prices on the level of the Exchange, a participant of the gas market in Greece told TASS. He was speaking after a meeting of the EU energy ministers in Luxembourg.

So far, there is no understanding how such a mechanism should function, the industry expert added.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A man drowned and there are reports of missing people as storms batter Crete, causing rivers to overflow and flooding locations across Greece’s biggest island on Saturday.

The worst damage seems to have been done in the seaside town of Agia Pelagia, about 25 kilometers (16 miles) northwest of Iraklio, Crete’s largest city. This is where firefighters found the 50-year-old man, whose car had been swept up by raging waters.