After going through a really difficult time during the country’s long economic crisis, the Greek property market is booming, but that's creating a whole new set of problems. High rental and purchase prices are pricing out much of the local population as foreign investors snap up apartments and entire buildings in pursuit of profits. Host Nick Malkoutzis is joined by Stelios Bouras, a journalist who covers real estate and other economic issues for the Business Daily, to discuss a range of...

In the wake of the Covid pandemic, the European Union launched the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) - a package of around 700 billion euros to help member states recover from the economic impact and build for the future. Greece's portion of these funds is considered vital for the country's efforts to overcome the effects of its long economic crisis, as well as the disruption caused by the pandemic. The Greek government dubbed its RRF-related scheme "Greece 2.0", claiming it would help...

Phoebe and Nick are back to examine the contrasting images of Greece abroad and how they sit side by side. A few months ago, rating agencies started to restore the investment grade for Greece's sovereign debt - more than a decade after it was lost. It was a reflection of the growing confidence that markets have in the political situation, the government's policy choices and the country's prospects. However, while this has been happening, there has been growing concern about the rule of law...

In February 2023, a freight train and a train carrying dozens of passengers crashed in Tempe, central Greece, killing 57 people. A year on from Greece's deadliest train accident, many questions remain unanswered and doubts are growing about whether the truth will ever come to light regarding what caused the disaster. Opposition parties and relatives of the victims, many of whom were university students, feel that the Greek authorities are preventing a proper investigation into the incident,...

Five years ago SYRIZA was in power in Greece, but it is currently languishing in third place in the opinion polls and the nascent leadership of Stefanos Kasselakis is being constantly buffeted by internal disputes. In this episode, Phoebe Fronista and Nick Malkoutzis set out how the left-wing party ended up in this uncomfortable position. Nick also speaks to MacroPolis co-founder Yiannis Mouzakis and features editor Georgia Nakou about Kasselakis's unusual approach and the recent stormy party...

Phoebe Fronista and Nick Malkoutzis return after a prolonged absence to discuss what's behind Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's political dominance in Greece and whether things are more complex than they look. Their discussion was prompted by a piece Nick wrote recently for The Agora on MacroPolis's website after listening to Mitsotakis speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the Greek PM shed light on the political strategy that has helped his centre-right New Democracy party...

This episode of The Agora involves a departure from our normal format as we mark 10 years since MacroPolis was launched. During that time, so much has happened in Greece: The debt crisis, political turmoil, social upheaval, the migration crisis, diplomatic breakthroughs and impasses, and natural disasters. So, with the help of 10 friends and colleagues, we looked back on their most memorable moments of the last decade in Greece. Thanks to Alexandra Voudouri, Georgia Nakou, Omaira Gill, Jens...

Storm Daniel hit Greece in early September, leading to almost 20 deaths and widespread destruction, as well as recriminations about whether there had been sufficient warnings and anti-flood works. The villages and communities of Mount Pelion were among the worst affected by the extreme weather. Tourists and locals lost their lives, infrastructure was damaged, buildings were demolished and businesses had to close. To start of series 5 of The Agora, we spoke to Joel von Trapp, an American...

For our final episode of the fourth series of The Agora, we take a look at what is happening just across the Aegean from Greece, where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is back for a third term and already prompting questions about whether he is shifting his foreign policy. In the wake of the recent NATO summit, where he withdrew objections to Sweden joining the military alliance, but also seemed to gain concessions, especially in relation to the supply of F-16 jets from the USA,...

On the night of June 14, a fishing boat called the Adriana, packed with hundreds of migrants who had paid traffickers to get them from Libya to Italy, sank in the deep waters of the Mediterranean, about 90 kilometers southwest of the town of Pylos in the Peloponnese. It was one of the worst tragedies of its kind ever witnessed in Greece and Europe. What makes the Pylos shipwreck such a standout case, though, is that it seems this tragedy could have been avoided. A series of reports by...

At the second time of asking, Kyriakos Mitsotakis has been re-elected as the Greek Prime Minister and his centre-right New Democracy party has won a second term in office. The June 25 elections saw the conservatives cruise to an eight-seat majority in Parliament as the collapse of their main rival, left-wing SYRIZA, continued. However, the results were notable for the emergence of three fringe parties, two on the far right. They managed to pass the 3 pct threshold for electing MPs to take the...

Greeks are voting again in national elections on June 25 after an inconclusive ballot on May 21. New Democracy is set to return to power following a big victory last month. The results have raised lots of questions for the main opposition parties, SYRIZA and PASOK, but were also notable for the emergence of some new small parties. Lamprini Rori, an assistant professor in political analysis at Athens University, joins us on The Agora to discuss these issues with Nick Malkoutzis and to look...

The national elections held on May 21 in Greece produced a landslide victory for the ruling centre-right party, which posted a winning margin of more than 20 points over its main rival, left-wing SYRIZA. As the dust settles from this resounding victory for Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, The Agora host Nick Malkoutzis gathers with MacroPolis co-founder Yiannis Mouzakis and features editor Georgia Nakou to discuss what contributed to this result. They examine what New Democracy got right,...

Greece is holding general elections on Sunday, May 21. The vote might lack the drama of previous elections, when the country’s fate was on the line amid a devastating economic crisis, but it could still end up being a rather complicated and tense process. The Agora returns to examine the key issues going into this ballot, who the main players are, what the parties are promising, how the vote might turn out and why Greece could need a second election, if not a third as well, to choose a...

After decades of making little progress in securing the return of the Parthenon Marbles from the British Museum, Greece appears to be edging closer to a possible deal for the repatriation of the ancient sculptures. Last December, Greek daily newspaper Ta Nea reported that Greek government officials, including Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, had held talks with the British Museum’s chair, George Osborne, about coming to an arrangement for the Marbles to be sent back. Further details of...

Recently Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis dismissed concerns about media independence in his country and labelled the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) assessment of Greece as lying in 108th place in the organisation's annual World Press Freedom Index as "crap". In this episode, Nick Malkoutzis and Phoebe Fronista look into why Greece has scored so badly in the RSF ranking and try to find exactly where the problem with Greece's media lies. They speak to Pavol Szalai, the head of...

Since the summer, a surveillance scandal has been gripping Greece. It emerged that the leader of Greece’s third party, PASOK, was being spied on by the country’s National Intelligence Service (EYP) but that there had also been an attempt to install spyware on his mobile phone. Over the last few weeks, there have been further revelations about the use of wiretapping in Greece. Lists of dozens of alleged targets have been published in the local media, fuelling a clash between the centre-right...

The leaders of Greece’s three main parties have set out their policies, but also the political parameters, that will define next year’s elections. So, what are the key issue at stake and what will decide the outcome of the vote, or more likely votes, that are due to take place in 2023? Co-hosts Nick Malkoutzis and Phoebe Fronista discuss what we can take away from the appearances made by the leaders of the three leading parties at the Thessaloniki International Fair in September. MacroPolis...

Like so many other countries, Greece is feeling the impact of the Ukraine war in many ways, whether this is through spiralling energy costs, turbulence in the global economy, a shifting geopolitical balance or the flow of refugees into the country. In this episode of The Agora, we take a closer look at the reverberations from Ukraine being felt across Greece. More than 40,000 Ukrainian refugees have come to Greece since the Russian invasion began in February, six months ago. Over a quarter of...

Greece’s socialist party, PASOK, was the powerhouse of Greek politics since the early 1980s. However, the debt crisis that emerged from 2009 sucked the life out of the centre-left grouping. Its share of the vote fell from 44 pct that year to roughly a tenth of that in 2015 as PASOK became a toxic political brand. Recently, though, the party has been making something of a comeback. It elected a new leader, MEP Nikos Androulakis, at the end of last year and has seen its poll ratings increase to...

Following a deadly attack on a 19-year-old football fan in Thessaloniki in early February, the Greek government has announced new measures aimed at reining in hooliganism. However, we've been here before in Greece. So, will the latest measures actually make any difference or are they just a knee-jerk, ineffective reaction to a problem that needs a much wider, consistent approach? We start by asking whether Greece's thinking and methods when addressing sports-related violence are outdated. We...

Greece recently received the first six state-of-the art fighter jets it has ordered from France, hoping that their arrival marks the start of an upgrade of its military capabilities, but also an improvement in its geopolitical standing. The Rafale planes - of which Greece is expecting another 18 - touched down in Greece to much fanfare and excitement. This episode of The Agora examines whether this pomp and circumstance is deserved and how their arrival fits into the broader diplomatic...

The Greek economy is back in focus on this episode of The Agora as we take a peak at the 2022 budget and a closer look at broader trends and challenges. MacroPolis co-founder Yiannis Mouzakis provides a whistlestop tour of the budget, explaining its key elements and what obstacles the Greek government's economic plan could encounter next year. Two men with extensive knowledge of the Greek economy, Bob Traa and Jens Bastian, join us for a broad discussion about causes for optimism, but also...

In the wake of the COP26 meeting, The Agora analyses what Greece brought to the discussion and how this tallies with the efforts being made on the ground to tackle the climate crisis. The head of policy at WWF Greece, Theodota Nantsou, evaluates the Greek authorities' actions. With the help of journalist Evridiki Bersi, we also take a closer look at wind power and why there are concerns about how this form of renewable energy is being expanded in Greece. First, though, we start with a look...