GREEK NEWS

Earlier, the results of an exit poll conducted by four polling companies with 100 percent of the returns in gave New Democracy an 8.5 percentage point lead

Government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos in an initial effort at damage control said that result is not the strategic defeat of the government that its opponents had strived for.

The looming question now is whether the PM will call a general election immediately or wait until October when his term ends in an effort to turn the tide.

To some extent the passion for power that the PM has developed and his ambitions are understandable, but Greece’s future cannot be determined or bound by them.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said that if Tsipras is defeated in the 26 May European Parliament election 'he should go to Zappeion Hall, tender his resignation and declare that elections will be held in four weeks'.

Mitsotakis’ choice of Thessaloniki to wrap up his campaign was linked to his staunch opposition to the Greece-North Macedonia Prespa Agreement, which is extremely unpopular and a vote-getter there.

The IMF's report underlines that the delay in the restructuring of the debt undermined the prospects of a Greek economic recovery and questions the efficacy of the 2012 haircut on the Greek debt (PSI).

The finance minister said that the worst thing that the government did was to cut pensions, “although we tried to make it less painful than the right-wing would have”.

The Supreme Court Prosecutor said that the Volos judicial council had wrongly interpreted the provisions of the penal code that apply to the case and that N17's top gun was formally entitled to the furlough.

No country – and especially Greece – can on its own ensure better conditions than those created by the EU for its citizens and economy in the hugely competitive world in which we live.

Main opposition New Democracy (among other parties) has long maintained that there are links between SYRIZA and anarchist groups.

One is not dealing with a small group of enraged youths but rather with a decisive and organised group which without compunction on an almost daily basis degrades institutions and the democratic system in general.

The bi-annual report projects growth of 2.1 percent of GDP for 2019 and 2.0 percent for 2020, whereas the government’s projection is 2.2 percent for each of the two years.

Worst of all, the government is signaling to citizens that the crisis is over and that the county is just a step away from returning to the good old days.

Following the report Kretsos lashed out at the newspaper for allegedly maligning the effort to attract foreign productions and that such junkets are par for the course.

For decades Greek private sector and public sector employees received holiday bonuses for Christmas, Easter, and summer, which were factored into the labour cost.

The octogenarian decided to commit suicide after a winning lottery ticket in a 20 March draw was stolen by his second wife of 20 years, who also proceeded to initiate eviction procedures against him.

Voters must decide if they will settle for petty, piecemeal responses to problems and arrangements or whether they will spread their wings and seize the opportunity that lies before them.

The government is continuing the old party practice of cutting ribbons at half-finished public works in order to demonstrate their efficiency.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz noted that all eurozone countries must pinpoint problems which could affect their borrowing from markets.