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On 10 June, the Cypriot daily Phileleftheros reported that Nicosia has issued international arrest warrants for 25 individuals linked to Turkish Petroleum’s illegal offshore drilling in Cyprus’ EEZ.

Turkey’s intentions must be viewed from the vantage point of both its expansionist agenda and the desperation emanating from the state of the Turkish economy.

'Turkey may quite possibly send a ship to a portion of the continental shelf which Greece considers Greek and Turkey considers Turkish,' the former PM Simitis stated.

No other government promised so much only to break one after another of the pledges that it handed out right and left.

After defeating SYRIZA by nearly ten percentage points in the 26 May European Parliament election, Mitsotakis hopes to ride the wave of what George H.W. Bush had famously called “the big mo”, political momentum.

It is well known that the Tsipras administration was the most pliant and convenient of all bailout memorandum-era governments for the country’s creditors.

Although Justice Minister Michalis Kalogirou initially defended the original version, he backed down after at least five SYRIZA MPs said that they would vote down the provision as tabled.

In Greece, the PM and his government are opening a budget gap of billions of euros with measures they announced a few weeks before the election.

Specifically, the report underlines that the measures announced by the PM jeopardise primary surplus targets for 2019 and subsequent years.

The government’s basic argument that after the completion of the third bailout programme the economy would turn a page has been belied by events.

'The chances of the climate changing until then are minimal. The opinion polls point to a clear victory for opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis,' the report concluded.

During its four years in power the ruling party created dissatisfaction with the government’s policies in society and a loathing of the government itself.

The residents of Greece’s great port city embraced and rewarded Marinakis, recognising his contributions to the city for which he has always shown a passionate dedication.

It is obvious that voters had already condemned the government in their conscience before they did so at the ballot box.

According to official Interior Ministry returns, candidates supported by New Democracy secured a clear lead in six of the seven prefectural run-offs today

The entire economy has fallen victim to over-taxation, for which the government opted so to collect funds for electoral handouts at the end of its term.

Suffice it to say that the list of areas that pose an increased fire risk has not been updated since 1984.

George Gerapetritis, a constitutional law professor and top advisor to Kyriakos Mitsotakis, says that the Presidential Decree approving appointments made by the government can be annulled by the Council of State on constitutional grounds.

SYRIZA will “take into account the message of citizens by turning our attention to the future of Greek society while at the same time waging the battle of ideas in order to achieve the goal of victory in the general election”.

There are serious problems with Greece’s productive model and growth will be impossible without adhering to timely and deep reforms.

Article 29 (par. 3) of the Greek Constitution states that: “All types of activity for or against a political party are absolutely prohibited for judicial functionaries and all serving in the armed forces and security forces [police].”

The Greek Police Chief has also been spotted and photographed at political party gatherings in the provincial cities of Agrinio and Xanthi. Was he overseeing security as he sat in the first row there as well?

Olympiacos FC leader Evangelos Marinakis has once again has garnered the most votes of any candidate in the Piraeus City Council election of 26 May.

'Now that SYRIZA’s MEP was not [re-]elected, does anyone know if she will be going back to work? I am looking for a woman for general cleaning on Saturday and I still have not found one!' said Kostas Stefanidis. 

The exams involve tens of thousands of families, many of which must travel long distances to cast their ballots because they have chosen to retain their voting rights in their ancestral provinces.

The main opposition party chose not to outdo the government as regards promises of benefits and citizens appeared to have rewarded it for that prudent stance at the ballot box.

The decimation of the ruling party cannot be intrerpreted as a huge victory for the main opposition party.

Tsipras opted for a major gamble by framing the election as a referendum on his stimulus package and for the first time in nearly four years he lost the bet.

'The electoral result does not satisfy me and I will not ignore it…I cannot ignore it. The final verdict is always delivered by the people. I will not escape,' the PM said.

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.

Mitsotakis’ choice of Thessaloniki for his final outdoors campaign speech was linked to his staunch opposition to the Greece-North Macedonia Prespa Agreement, which is very unpopular there.

For the first time one faces the danger that a European Parliament with enhanced powers will not be controlled by either the EPP or the Socialists, the two blocks that laid the foundations of the European edifice.

New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis - whose brother-in-law and conservative MP Pavlos Bakoyannis was murdered by N17 in September, 1989 – said yesterday that he will respect and not comment on any ruling by the high court but that if he comes to power he will change the law