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50 years of achievement and failure
50 years of achievement and failure: Democracies may slide to a slow death if we do not pay attention, if there is no social participation to the political process The star-studded, three-day Conference “50 years of the Metapolitefsi” (thus is known in Greek political parlance the country’s post-dictatorship course starting with the fall of the dictatorship the restoration of democracy and lasting until now) had several high points. From one who made it a habit to attend most of its [...]
The loss of a dedicated benefactor
The loss of a dedicated benefactor Kostas Apostolidis died at the age of 76, after a short battle with cancer. A man full of will and an unquenchable vision of progress. Born in Drama, in a family with refugee roots, he studied at the National Technical University of Athens, then in Canada and then at Harvard, with his own financial resources. By establishing Raycap in 1987, he gradually became one of the most renowned international "players" in the field of [...]
Hard to understand
Hard to understand Foreign journalists – be they correspondents based in Athens, stringers or just visiting during one of Greece’s multiple crises – often have an issue with understanding the inner workings of the Greek political system, the circumvolutions of its seasoned practitioners and occasional newcomers. Of the latter, one might remember the near-Grexit architect Yanis Varoufakis, more recently the resolutely off-the-beaten-track Stephanos Kasselakis. The ten years of economic and social upheaval marked by three successive EU /IMF Adjustment Programmes [...]
Privatisations in the banking sector: The end of the road?
Privatisations in the banking sector The end of the road? After the sale of the entire stake held by the State-controlled Hellenic Financial Stability Fund in Alpha Bank (Unicredit acquired the 9%) and a large part of the stake in National Bank (22% out of a 40% total), the Greek government is reportedly considering the complete disengagement of the HFSF from the banking system by next summer. As long as market conditions allow it, so that the State can ensure [...]
From the Archipelago to the Oceans
From the Archipelago to the Oceans The perspectives, challenges, achievements and also the history of Greek-French cooperation at sea were highlighted during the conference entitled "From the Archipelago to the Oceans" held in Paris. The conference took place in the context of a scientific initiative undertaken by professors Michel Foucher and George Prevelakis and under the auspices of the Sorbonne Ocean Institute and the Delphi Economic Forum. Cradle to the western civilization, since the ancient world the sea has played [...]
University of Sydney: Greek History and Culture Seminars
UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY GREEK HISTORY AND CULTURE SEMINARS: WHY BYZANTIUM? THE CONTEMPORARY RELEVANCE Olympia Thea Nelson, a PhD candidate in the Department of Modern Greek & Byzantine Studies at the University of Sydney, will present a lecture entitled "Why Byzantium? The Contemporary Relevance," on Thursday 7 March, at 7:00 pm. Held at the Mezzanine Level of The Greek Centre on 168 Lonsdale Street, this lecture promises to unravel the enduring mystery and allure of Byzantine culture in today's world. In this [...]
Balkans and Black Sea Forum: still talking of connectivity in an era of geopolitical upheaval
Balkans and Black Sea Forum: still talking of connectivity in an era of geopolitical upheaval It takes quite some courage to hold a conference on “Trading arteries and global supply chains at stake” at this point in time – that is, with the Gaza Strip-Israel conflagration three months on and the Houthi attacks increasingly inhibiting sea-going traffic from the Far East/South East Asia through the Red Sea towards the Mediterranean and Europe for the last several weeks. It is even [...]
Changes to the Stability Pact bring cuts in public spending
Changes to the Stability Pact bring cuts in public spending The representatives of the Euro area governments and the European Parliament concludes the final text of the revised fiscal rules, based on the set-up agreed in the Eurogroup, just before Christmas. Governments with excessive debt will have more time to reduce it and so will not need to drastically cut public investment. In return, they accepted the establishment of annual public debt reduction targets and limits on public spending. Analysts [...]
Of data protection and privacy in Greece – 2024 version
Of data protection and privacy in Greece – 2024 version Matters of privacy and of data protection have never been of high importance in Greek public debate nor of high relevance to the functioning of its political system. Truth be told, extensive lip service is paid to data protection as a significant value in our times – from political worthies, the judicial system, the media, you name it! But when a Watergate-style and -size scandal erupted in 2022, with Predator-based [...]
The halt in greening European farming – and the Greek pat on the back
The halt in greening European farming – and the Greek pat on the back The calculation was easy: throughout Europ/ the EU “27”, just over 2.2% of the population are farmers – and growing food accounts for just 1,4% of total GDP. For the better part of the Sixties and through to the Nineties, their interests were as close to the heart of the European edifice as possible, with the CAP at its core. The CAP absorbed a sizeable portion [...]
Believing in the digital revolution, but not investing in it
Believing in the digital revolution, but not investing in it Optimists are more numerous than pessimists, for the first time since the era of the fiscal crisis in Greece. Recently, the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises presented the results of the "The Pulse of Business" survey, as it has done every year since 2017. The estimate for the course of the economy is 'good' by 27.6%, 'bad' by 23.3% and 'neutral' by 49.2%. More than half of the respondents (53.2%) consider [...]
Nikos Garganas on Greece’s sovereign debt crisis – and the day after
Nikos Garganas on Greece’s sovereign debt crisis – and the day after Former Bank of Greece Governor Nikos C. Garganas has embarked on a detailed explainer covering the debt crisis Greece has lived through for the better part of a decade starting 2009. The resulting book Greece’s Sovereign Debt Crisis and its Economic aftermath: Analysis and Lessons delves deep into the factors that caused the Greek debt crisis; goes through the response of the country’s European partners and the efforts [...]
A Survey of Greek Agroindustries
A Survey of Greek Agroindustries Although every year this time around agricultural mobilizations are a common occurence in Greece, this year such a trend seems to be pan-European. In France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland, farmers are rebelling against the EU's common agricultural policy, complaining over their low incomes, high production costs and ever-increasing restrictions due to the priority given to environmental protection. It seems, in fact, that the EU will not finally proceed with the adoption of a [...]
When the law of unintended consequences comes into play: from the Texas border to Taylor Swift
When the law of unintended consequences comes into play: from the Texas border to Taylor Swift In a typically American way, the law of unintended consequences came recently into play – in two totally dissimilar matters. As is wont, since things American always overflow to the whole world, we may well witness renewed unpleasantness spreading. First take the events unfolding over the fight over the Texas border and the fencing of migrant passages from Mexico as well as the mustering [...]
Foreign Investment in Greece: Lessons from the past
Foreign Investment in Greece: Lessons from the past A roadshow for Greek companies was organized in New York, on January 24-25, by JP Morgan and the Athens Stock Exchange. The Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, participated online in a discussion between the heads of the 4 Greek systemic banks and the head of JP Morgan, Jamie Dimon. More than 200 fund managers, with total assets of more than 10 trillion dollars, and representatives of 24 Greek companies, listed and not, [...]
The soul of “Grande Bretagne”
The soul of “Grande Bretagne” This year the Hotel Grande Bretagne commemorates 150 years of enduring luxury and rich heritage since it first opened its doors, in 1874. The Hotel Grande Bretagne is an Athenian landmark that has borne witness to all the major events in recent history. It was the first luxury hotel in Athens, offering private bathrooms right from the beginning. First owner of the hotel was Savvas Kentros. However the transformation of the hotel into something of [...]
Crying wolf or real concern in Davos
Crying wolf or real concern in Davos by Antonis D. Papagiannidis The themes put forward for discussion in the Davos get-together of leading industrial, financial, political, diplomatic, academic, even media personalities can sound inspiring (“Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution”/2016, “Stakeholders for a Cohesive World”/2022), slightly ominous (“A shared Future for a Fractured World”/2018, “Cooperation in a Fragmented World”/2023) or stiff-upper-lip encouraging (“Working Together, Restoring Trust”/2022, plus this year’s “Rebuilding Trust”). This way of revisiting the notion of trust – a [...]
Greek ship owners ordered 164 vessels in 2023
Greek ship owners ordered 164 vessels in 2023 While the Christmas and New Year period typically signals a holiday for many, there was no such rest in the newbuilds market as we begin 2024 with a very healthy list of orders, totaling roughly 50 firm orders over the past few weeks if one includes the exercise of previously held option. COSCO led the way with their contracting of 2 VLOCs, backed by TC to Vale, 3 Aframaxes, 2 LR1s, and [...]
Speaking of productivity and growth prospects in Greece
Speaking of productivity and growth prospects in Greece by Antonis D. Papagiannidis Productivity is rather technical a notion for a general-interest reader to digest; notwithstanding which, it has a key role to play for economies in their aspiration to grow – especially so in a long-term perspective: So, if one turns to the findings of the 2023 Annual Report of the Greek National Productivity Board and the policy suggestions based on such findings, one will not miss the point that [...]
Blinken, kalitsounia and a shot of raki
Blinken, kalitsounia and a shot of raki On Saturday, 6/1, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at his home in Chania, Crete. Αfter a private meeting, an extended working meeting followed. They exchanged views on international and regional issues and discussed the Greek-US relations. They talked about further positive steps in the field of defense cooperation and focused on developments in the Middle East and Ukraine. The situation in the Eastern Mediterranean was [...]
From the Blinken visit to the future of Greek-Turkish disputes
From the Blinken visit to the future of Greek-Turkish disputes by Antonis D. Papagiannidis U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Greece just after Turkey in his (fourth within months) tour to nine countries of the wider, conflict-ridden Near-and-Middle East area where flare-up looms if the Hamas-Israel war spills over. Blinken kept the pressure low by choosing Istanbul instead of Ankara and Crete instead of Athens to mark the working-visit dimension of the latter. In Turkey, meeting with both his [...]
Wolfgang Schaeuble – Jacques Delors: two variants of “Europe”
Wolfgang Schaeuble – Jacques Delors: two variants of “Europe” by Antonis D. Papagiannidis Jacques Delors (at 98) and Wolfgang Schaeuble (at 82) departed our vain human existence on the very same day - just as 2023 was waning. Both were hailed as “standard-bearers of the European idea” as it has morphed into the economic-political construct of the 20th century as it ended and the beginnings of the 21nd. Such statements of an eulogy kind are factually correct; they provided moreover [...]
From 2023 onwards to 2024: unfinished business ahead
From 2023 onwards to 2024: unfinished business ahead by Antonis D. Papagiannidis Having received the penultimate accolade from the ECONOMIST – “country of the year” for 2023, that is “the place that has improved the most”; top of the chart for the second year running in aggregate economic performance (based on a composite index of GDP, jobs growth, stock market performance, inflation and “inflation breadth”) – Greece could easily rest on her laurels entering 2024. It should not; that is [...]
When transactional diplomacy dresses up as a rules-based system
When transactional diplomacy dresses up as a rules-based system by Antonis D. Papagiannidis We all know that we live in a world blessed with a rules-based international system. Still, there are moments when the transactional nature of diplomatic and/or foreign policy moves becomes so pronounced, that one cannot deny it. The EU choreography around the exercise of the Union’s soft power by opening accession talks with Ukraine was, well, truly European. European Council President Charles Michel welcomed the decision, barging [...]
A post-script to the Erdogan visit to Athens: “win-win” or “go slow”?
A post-script to the Erdogan visit to Athens: “win-win” or “go slow”? by Antonis D. Papagiannidis The international media reception of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visit to Athens and the extensive talks with Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis (in full reversal of Erdogan’s dismissive formulation “Mitsotakis yok!” 18 months ago) was more-than-positive; at times verging to ebullient. Erdogans’ own proclamation of “a new chapter” in Greek-Turkish relations, to which the quote was added “if differences are addressed through dialogue and [...]