No end to wildfires

By Constantine Capsaskis

Newsletter Editor

Welcome to the weekly round-up of news by Kathimerini English Edition. Greece continues to struggle with the implacable destruction caused by wildfires that continue to burn across the country, with the front in northeastern Greece still active after nine days in?the largest recorded fire on European soil?in years.

Despite the efforts of?over 600 firefighters from all over Europe?that have been working around the clock, supported by a fleet of aircraft and helicopters, there is no end in sight.

Aside from the raging fire in northeastern Greece,?with evacuations being ordered as late as Sunday, there are large fires in other parts of Greece, including a major blaze on the island of Andros.

A total of?21 people have also perished?in this latest round of fires, among them two children. Most of the bodies were found in northeastern Greece.

With?conspiracy theories on the causes of the fires swelling, there was a breakdown of social order this week when?three men filmed a group of 13 migrants they had locked up in a trailer, accusing them of arson.

The vigilantes were placed under house arrest pending their trial, while the migrants whom they had imprisoned are facing charges of attempted arson. The?first four migrants of the group were released?without restrictions following a meeting with a magistrate.

The environmental damage caused by the fires has also dismayed both the public and experts, with the latter warning that?regeneration in the burnt areas may take decades. As of Thursday there were a total of 128,148 hectares of burnt land,?almost a 200% increase compared to the annual average. In Attica alone,?more than 33% of wooded areas?have been burnt in the last seven years.

There is also a significant degradation of air quality due to toxic particles from the fires, something?experts warn will continue for a long time?after the fires are put out. In fact, the volume of particles is so high that?they have reached Malta and southern Italy.

The?fires even damaged the monastery of Osios Loukas in Central Greece, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most important Byzantine monuments in the world.

Spotlight

• Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis hosted an informal dinner on Monday focusing on European enlargement, attended by leaders of the Balkans, Moldova, Ukraine, and high-ranking European officials. The only leader not invited, particularly?following the continued detention of Himare mayor-elect Fredi Beleri, was Albania’s Edi Rama. Following the dinner, the assembled leaders issued the ‘Athens Declaration’?that set the goal of an “EU enriched with the Western Balkans, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova”. The visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, that was held a secret prior to his arrival, allowed for a joint press conference with the prime minister following a bilateral meeting. Mitsotakis reiterated Greece’s support for Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity, with Zelenskyy announcing that?Greek pilots will help train their Ukrainian colleagues?to handle the newly supplied F-16 fighter jets.

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• Greece also received Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week, who visited following his trip to South Africa to attend the meeting of the BRICS. The first official visit of an Indian prime minister to Greece in 40 years, the?meeting is set to act as a restart in Greece’s relationship to the world’s largest democracy. In fact, a joint statement by Mitsotakis and Modi?referred to the relationship as a “strategic” one, highlighting its renewed importance. Aside from the wide framework established by the delegations of the two governments, there was also a?business luncheon held in Athens to bring the Greek and Indian economies closer.

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OPINION

Greece and India

By Tom Ellis

Editor-in-Chief, Kathimerini English Edition

Greece’s geographic location, along with its membership in the EU,?make it?the ideal country to act as India’s gateway to Europe.

The bilateral relationship between the world’s first and today’s most populous democracy, can prove to be mutually beneficial. An effort to deepen relations should be pursued,?not limited to just the sphere of economics but also including defense and security.

Athens is deeply committed to its western orientation, with an unwavering dedication to Euro Atlantic institutions,?enhanced by?a total fulfilment of its obligations?and?a?steadily growing?reliability.

At the same time,?and in the context of pursuing its?interests, a closer cooperation with the third largest economy in the world is self-evident.

As two nations with a long-standing maritime outlook, Greece and India are proponents of a rules based order in the seas – that?holds true for both the Aegean and the Mediterranean as well as for and the Indo-Pacific – and?both highlight the need for respecting the provisions of the Law of the Sea?and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations.

The Indian prime minister Narendra Modi noted in an interview with Kathimerini, that Athens and Delhi share the goal of “value chains linking Indian and Greek companies to the wider EU market”.

For Greece, the mere size of India – from its economy to its clout in the world –?offers enormous?opportunities in a multitude of sectors. Exploring them should be part of a national?strategy.

CHART OF THE WEEK

Data released by the European Union statistics agency Eurostat on Greece’s Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices confirms that Greek food prices are not mirroring the de-escalation seen in other European countries. This was exacerbated by Greece’s inflation rate increasing in July. Overall, Greece has the ninth highest food inflation rate in the EU. Despite a small de-escalation of prices in April, unlike the EU and the Eurozone countries, Greece has seen a growing rate of food inflation for months. Dairy products, and in particular cheese, remain one of the worst “offenders” with a year-on-year price growth of 16.9%.

ESCAPADE

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The once obscure Malagousia grape variety has been winning over oenophiles in recent years, producing elegant wines with stone and citrus fruit aromas.

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ECONOMY IN A NUTSHELL

1. “The Athens Exchange (ATHEX)?general index broke a four-week losing streak?and climbed back to just under 1,300 points this week, with the benchmark closing 1,299.76 points. The general index grew by 2.88% from last week.”
2. “The Greek real estate market saw a flurry of activity this year, with over 112,000 transactions concluded by August 10 in comparison to a total of 139,000 for the total of 2022 and 105,000 in 2021.?Foreign investors remain one of the key drivers?behind this increasing sales volume.”
3. “Greece’s four largest banks (Alpha Bank, Eurobank, National Bank of Greece, and Piraeus Bank) have repaid 31.1 billion euros of the 50.9 billion that they had drawn from the European Central Bank and Eurozone country central banks. This is largely due to?increasing interest rates that made retaining the liquidity unsustainable.”

WHAT'S ON THE AGENDA

31/08/2023

August Blue Moon: Dozens of archaeological sites across Greece will be open to celebrate the August supermoon, with cultural events being held in several sites including the National Archaeological Museum.

01/09/2023

Theodorakis Festival: To mark?two years since the death of celebrated Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis, a four-day international festival is being held in his honor in the city of Hania on Crete.

02/09/2023

SYRIZA Conference: Main opposition party SYRIZA will be holding its party conference on Saturday, focusing in particular on the upcoming leadership contest that will be held on September 10.

PODCASTS

Greece, the US, and the work to advance LGBTQI+ rights

Jessica Stern, the US Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons, and Nikos Efstathiou, a journalist and author from Athens and the current Managing Editor at the magazine LiFO, join Thanos Davelis to talk about the LGBTQI+ rights in Greece and around the world, and look at what Greece and the US can learn from each other as they work to advance these rights.