KOSTIS FAFOUTIS

Emerging wiser, until the next disaster

The taste that always lingers after a disaster is bitter and sour.

Polakis: A hybrid arrangement

One of the prevailing illusions within SYRIZA during the leftist party’s time in government was the belief that its rise and prominence in the political arena stemmed from an ideological and political transformation within Greek society. This transformation was expected to eventually sweep through Europe and shift the balance of power in favor of the Left.

26.05.2023 / 11:25

Voters are putting the past behind them – can SYRIZA?

Apart from the obvious, which is the complete triumph of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the devastating defeat of main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras, the outcome of the May 21 election marked an important turning point in the country’s history.

05.01.2023 / 15:55

Erdogan’s mad dash to the polls

Without having planned it, Greece and Turkey will be marching to the pace imposed by each country’s upcoming general elections in the first half of this year.

18.08.2022 / 14:55

Dreams and recognition

Miltos Tentoglou is known to most most people in Greece. After all, he is an Olympic gold medalist while he was also the favorite to win in the men’s long jump event at the European Championships in Munich on Tuesday.

27.05.2022 / 11:49

Party strategy as Greece heads to the next election

The terms of the political game leading up to the next general election in Greece – whenever that ends up taking place – have become much clearer following the conclusion of the congress of the PASOK-KINAL (Movement for Change) socialist party.

07.08.2020 / 21:03

SYRIZA back to its old tricks

SYRIZA’s reaction to the recommendations outlined in a report earlier this week by the expert committee headed by economist and Nobel laureate Christopher Pissarides and advising the Greek government on economic policy is fresh evidence of the opposition’s tendency to allow its ideology to get the better of it.

31.07.2019 / 19:48

A misguided narrative

Protest rallies are already in the works against the new legislation being introduced by the recently elected center-right government to abolish a ban on law enforcement authorities from entering university and technical college campuses.

27.06.2019 / 18:22

Too much hypocrisy

A successful advertisement is invariably one that becomes a topic of conversation, that provokes reactions and goes viral. Whether an advert is good or bad, politically correct or not, vulgar or sexist is something quite different and is related to one’s aesthetic standards – in short it is a matter of opinion.

17.08.2018 / 19:53

Diplomacy without the rhetoric

The news of the release on Tuesday of the two Greek soldiers who had been held in a Turkish prison in Edirne since March was accompanied by the usual hyperbole and unrestrained reaction.

19.08.2017 / 10:24

Coalition partners falling into their own trap

The first cracks in the glue holding the two governing parties together are starting to show, although they’ve been there all along. Independent Greeks voted against civil unions and granting citizenship to those born in Greece to migrant parents. This hindered SYRIZA’s ability to sell its progressiveness on two bills that were passed due to the positive stance of the “cursed” opposition and despite the no votes of its own coalition partner.

12.08.2017 / 14:38

It’s lonely at the top

A bright moment is a rare but welcome occurrence in a country going through the seventh year of a multifaceted crisis and whose residents are sick and tired of the repeated dead-ends they come up against.

29.07.2016 / 11:49

Be careful what you wish for

In October 2017, Alexis Tsipras will complete eight years as a deputy in Parliament. He was first elected as an MP on October 4, 2009.

29.07.2015 / 10:06

When a threat becomes a possibility

“The memorandum, whether we like it or not, is the only political text which set out specific targets, which were binding to the Greek state as a whole,” noted Yannis Stournaras in October 11, 2013, during his tenure as finance minister.

23.07.2015 / 22:03

Erratic SYRIZA

Just before submitting her resignation, former Alternate Finance Minister Nadia Valavani said that when Parliament gave Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras the authority to negotiate a new bailout with creditors on July 11, she voted “yes” because she believed that there would eventually be no deal.