Faster tempo by Antonis D. Papagiannidis The tempo of change is getting faster and faster - in more than one fields. This makes it increasingly difficult for public opinion to adapt; but also for the political system - the supposed driving force - to keep up with expectations. In the circle of Greek public life, the changes in style, but also in essence in the major field of Greek-Turkish relations get fiendishly difficult to follow. After months of increasing Turkish [...]

Of Europe, the US, Turkey. Irini and eye-openers by Antonis D. Papagiannidis The bit of information – it started as a leak, it soon morphed into news – that the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would join in the (videoconference) deliberations of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on Monday is the very first step of some importance proving that the EU is starting to deal with the “extremely important” matter of Turkey’s behavior in the Eastern (and Central/Libya) Mediterranean. [...]

Christoforos Pissaridis at the Delphi Economic Forum - upd by Antonis D. Papagiannidis In this year’s DEF, economia has had the pleasure to present to the diverse audience of the Forum – conducting in a digital environment, due to the Covid pandemic – LSE Professor and 2010 Nobel laureate Christoforos Pissaridis, who accepted to broach a wide range of issues. Economia Publishing managing editor Antonis Papagiannidis was to discuss with Chr. Pissaridis but technical glitches made this impossible. DEF’s Yannis [...]

The “Restart Tourism” controversy by Antonis D. Papagiannidis Greece being what it is, we Greeks being who we are, the «Restart Tourism» national promotional campaign for the post-coronavirus era was expected to become a matter of contention. Inevitably. The summer of 2020, however successful the policies implemented to contain the onslaught of the virus in Greece and however promising the establishment of tourism “corridors” to bring visitors to Greece, will quite probably a disappointment – at least if compared to [...]

Of Recovery Fund enthusiasm by Antonis D. Papagiannidis The mid-Eighties is a long time back, but that era still resonates warmly in Greek consciousness. Back then, Greece as new EEC (at that time…) entrant under its firebrand, Euro-sceptic, Andreas Papandreou-led Government turned pro-European through a heavy dose of regional and agricultural spending. Greece was made a test case for the cohesion policies gradually implemented in the Delors years – starting with the Integrated Mediterranean Programmes and evolving all the way [...]

The Evros border in the limelight – an overview by Antonis D. Papagiannidis Some ten weeks ago, the Evros/Pazarkule Greek-Turkish border had become a site of humanitarian concern, of political contention and of potential conflagration. A reminder: the Turkish practice of allowing refugees/migrants/asylum seekers to (try and) cross over to Greece en masse was resisted at the Greek side, with the EU joining in to keep what became known as “the European border” shut. Makeshift camps were formed at Pazarkule. [...]

Of unemployment, of flexibility and of the nature of labour, post-Covid by Antonis D. Papagiannidis Greece has been quite successful in dealing with the health aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Public opinion has appreciated the Government’s performance in keeping the spread of the virus at bay; international media have shown their appreciation. Now that opening-up the economy is the main concern, public opinion seems to keep its trust to public policy – that is, to the forward planning of support [...]

Corona pandemic, energy prices and power-play in Eastern Mediterranean by Antonis D. Papagiannidis In an effort to rebuff criticism over a bill brought to (and voted in) Parliament that will allow for (i.a.) hydrocarbon explorations to be undertaken in protected Natura regions of Greece, Energy-and-Environment Minister Kostis Hadjidakis shrugged away objections pointing out that curent energy prices make the whole discussion a matter of theoretical interest. He was right. Which once more brings to the limelight the recurring consequence of [...]