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Tag: Greece government

  • Greece shuts Acropolis, 2 firefighters killed in Italy as southern Europe swelters in a heat wave

    Greece shuts Acropolis, 2 firefighters killed in Italy as southern Europe swelters in a heat wave

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    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, Sicily, to the list of 13 cities in the country with a severe heat warning. Elderly people in the city of Verona were urged to stay indoors, while sprinklers were set up to cool passersby.

    Greece’s Culture Ministry ordered the closure of the Acropolis — the country’s biggest cultural attraction — from midday for five hours.

    Tourists hoping to visit the Parthenon temple atop the Acropolis queued early in the morning to beat the worst of the heat, while the Red Cross handed chilled bottled water and information fliers to those waiting in line.

    “We got it done and got out quick, and now we’re going to some air conditions and some more libation and enjoy the day,” said Toby Dunlap, who was visiting from Pennsylvania and had just toured the Acropolis. “But it’s hot up there, it really is. If you don’t come prepared, you’re going to sweat.”

    Meteorologists said the hot air from Africa was forecast to continue through Sunday, with heat wave temperatures expected to peak at 43 degrees C (109 F).

    In Albania, the heat led the government to reschedule working hours for civil servants, making it easier for some to work from home. Neighboring North Macedonia struggled with dozens of wildfires that had broken out in the previous 24 hours. One major blaze stretched across nearly 30 kilometers (21 miles). Firefighting aircraft from Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Romania and Turkey responded to the country’s call for assistance.

    In western Turkey, firefighters — aided by more than a dozen water-dropping aircraft — managed to bring a wildfire near the town of Bergama under control several hours after it ignited. The cause of the blaze, which was fanned by strong winds, was not immediately known.

    The municipality of Turkey’s largest city Istanbul issued a heat warning on Tuesday, saying temperatures would rise between 3-6 degrees C (5.4-10.8 degrees F) above seasonal norms until July 28.

    Several Spanish cities, including Granada and Toledo, are bracing for temperatures as high as 44 degrees C (111 F) forecast for later in the week in the country’s hottest spots in the south.

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    Barry reported from Milan, Italy. Srdjan Nedeljkovic in Athens, Greece, Nicole Winfield in Rome, Konstantin Testorides in Skopje, North Macedonia, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey and Llazar Semini in Amsterdam contributed to this report.

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    This story corrects Fahrenheit conversion to 5.4-10.8 degrees F.

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  • Pope returns Greece’s Parthenon Sculptures in ecumenical nod

    Pope returns Greece’s Parthenon Sculptures in ecumenical nod

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    VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has decided to send back to Greece the three fragments of Parthenon Sculptures that the Vatican Museums have held for centuries, the Vatican announced Friday.

    The Vatican termed the gesture a “donation” from the pope to His Beatitude Ieronymos II, the Orthodox Christian archbishop of Athens and all Greece, “as a concrete sign of his sincere desire to follow in the ecumenical path of truth.”

    The Vatican thus becomes the latest Western state to return its fragments of the Parthenon marbles, leaving the British Museum among the holdouts.

    But the Vatican statement suggested the Holy See wanted to make clear that it was not a bilateral decision to return the marbles from the Vatican state to Greece, but rather a religiously inspired donation. The statement may have been worded in order not to create a precedent that could affect other priceless holdings in the Vatican Museums.

    The sculptures are remnants of a 160-meter-long (520-foot) frieze that ran around the outer walls of the Parthenon Temple on the Acropolis, dedicated to Athena, goddess of wisdom. Much was lost in a 17th-century bombardment, and about half the remaining works were removed in the early 19th century by a British diplomat, Lord Elgin.

    The British Museum recently pledged not to dismantle its collection, following a report that the institution’s chairman had held secret talks with Greece’s prime minister over the return of the sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles.

    The Parthenon was built between 447-432 B.C. and is considered the crowning work of classical architecture. The frieze depicted a procession in honor of Athena. Some small bits of it — and other Parthenon sculptures — are in other European museums.

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  • As wiretap claims rattle government, Greece bans spyware

    As wiretap claims rattle government, Greece bans spyware

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    ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Lawmakers in Greece on Friday approved legislation banning commercial spyware and reforming rules for legally-sanctioned wiretaps following allegations that senior government officials and journalists had been targeted by shadowy surveillance software. The 156-142 vote in parliament followed two days of debate, during which opposition lawmakers accused the government of attempting to cover up the illegal surveillance. They demanded that the date of a general election — due before next summer — be brought forward. Under the new law, the use, sale or distribution of spyware in Greece will carry a penalty of a two-year minimum prison sentence. Additional safeguards were also planned for legal wiretaps as well as for hiring the director and deputy directors of the National Intelligence Service, or NIS. Critics, including human rights groups and an independent transparency authority, argue that the changes followed a poorly-planned consultation process and lack sufficient oversight. Opposition lawmakers all voted against the bill Friday.

    In August, a top government aide and the country’s security chief resigned following revelations that Socialist politician Nikos Androulakis had been the subject of telephone surveillance by the NIS that the government insists had been legally sanctioned. Androulakis was later elected leader of Greece’s third largest party.

    Reports followed in the news media that cell phones belonging to members of the cabinet as well as other senior officials and journalists may have been targeted with powerful Predator spyware.

    The government insists its agencies have never used the spyware — a position that political opponents have repeatedly questioned.

    “Was the NIS monitoring other politicians besides Mr. Androulakis? The heads of the armed forces? members of the European Parliament, yes or no?” opposition leader Alexis Tsipras, who heads the left-wing Syriza party, said in parliament. “I hope the answer is ’no′ and I expect to hear it clearly. But if it turns out that you are lying, you will be duty-bound to resign.”

    The government of Prime Minister Mitsotakis’ center-right New Democracy party, has seen its strong lead in opinions polls in recent weeks suffer as a result of the wiretapping allegations and the ongoing cost of living crisis.

    A prosecutor from Greece’s Supreme Court is heading an investigation into the surveillance allegations, while the use – alleged or otherwise – of spyware in Greece and several other European Union members is also the subject of a European Parliament inquiry.

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  • Greece to ban spyware as wiretap scandal grows

    Greece to ban spyware as wiretap scandal grows

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    ATHENS, Greece — Lawmakers in Greece are set to approve plans to outlaw commercial spyware following weeks of allegations that senior government officials may have been targeted.

    The revelations have hurt public support for the country’s center-right government as it faces elections in 2023.

    Under the draft legislation to be voted on later Thursday, the use, sale or distribution of spyware in Greece will carry a penalty of a two-year minimum prison sentence. Additional safeguards were also planned for legal wiretaps as well as for hiring the director and deputy directors of the National Intelligence Service, or NIS.

    Speaking in parliament, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described the reforms as “a bold institutional response to a challenge that — and I want to emphasize this — does not only concern our country.”

    Reports in the news media that multiple members of the cabinet as well as other senior officials and journalists may have been targeted with the spyware that can snoop on cell phone calls, stored contacts and data, and access devices’ microphones and cameras have prompted a judicial investigation.

    In August, a top government aide and the country’s security chief resigned following revelations that a Socialist politician who was later elected leader of Greece’s third largest party had been the subject of NIS telephone surveillance that the government insists had been legally sanctioned.

    The resignations were followed by weeks of newspaper reports that senior officials were being tracked using Predator spyware, which is similar to the more widely known Pegasus surveillance software.

    The government insists its agencies have never used the spyware.

    The use and alleged use of surveillance software in European Union member states is also the subject of an ongoing inquiry by a European Parliament committee, whose members visited Athens last month.

    Facing elections before next summer, the government of Prime Minister Mitsotakis’ center-right New Democracy party, has seen its strong lead in opinions polls in recent weeks suffer as a result of the wiretapping allegations and the ongoing cost of living crisis.

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  • After years of EU scrutiny, Greece promises balanced budget

    After years of EU scrutiny, Greece promises balanced budget

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    ATHENS, Greece — Greece has promised to return to a budget surplus in 2023, submitting its first spending blueprint in 12 years that is not under the direct scrutiny of European bailout lenders.

    Finance Ministry officials said Monday that Greece was planning to return to a primary surplus — the annual balance before debt servicing costs — of 0.7% of gross domestic product in 2023 from a primary deficit of 1.7% of GDP this year.

    Achieving a balanced budget was a key demand from lenders during three successive international bailouts between 2010 and 2018 funded by European Union institutions and the International Monetary Fund. A so-called enhanced surveillance monitoring program of Greek public finances by European lenders expired earlier this year.

    Deficit rules in the 19 countries that use the euro currency were suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but budgets remain under pressure due to high energy costs and additional defense spending — both related to the war in Ukraine.

    “The 2023 budget is being prepared under conditions of extremely high uncertainty, regarding geopolitical developments at a global level,” Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said.

    Budget forecasts, he said, are subject to change due to “geopolitical challenges” including the war in Ukraine, supply of natural gas to Europe, energy and fuel prices more broadly and European monetary policy.

    The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, wants to reform fiscal rules, making them more growth friendly, before they are due to be fully implemented again in 2024.

    Under budget figures submitted to Greece’s parliament Monday, growth is expected to be 2.1% next year, and debt-to-GDP reduced further to 161.6%, from over 200% in 2020.

    The growth forecast for 2022 was revised upward to 5.3%, thanks in large part to a better-than-expected tourism season this year.

    Staikouras said the budget provided for a 1 billion euro ($978 million) cash reserve — above planned support for businesses and households to cope with energy bills — to address potential additional price increases.

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