On the road again

By Constantine Capsaskis

Newsletter Editor

Welcome to the weekly round-up of news by Kathimerini English Edition. Once again, in a span of less than two months, the chief of the Parliament Police and Security Detail?posted the presidential decree dissolving parliament?and calling for a new round of elections on June 25.

Once again,?party leaders and cadres are setting out on the campaign trail?to bring their message and vision of the country’s future to all of Greece, from Crete in the south and Macedonia in the north and from the Ionian islands in the west to the Dodecanese in the east.

Just this week, New Democracy leader Kyriakos?Mitsotakis visited Crete?and was scheduled to visit northern Greece, including Mt. Athos,?before testing positive for Covid-19. SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras travelled to the island of Evia, PASOK’s Nikos Androulakis was also on Crete and visited the Dodecanese, and Greek Communist Party secretary-general Dimitris Koutsoumpas toured central Greece.

However, this is not just déjà vu all over again.?The results of the May 21 elections loom heavy over all candidates. The striking success of New Democracy two weeks ago allows room for complacency by its less fervent voters, something?Mitsotakis and his inner circle are adamantly trying to squash. Among the?sticks and carrots used to energize voters is the possibility of a third ballot, if New Democracy again fails to achieve a majority.

Apart from voter complacency, or even voters moving towards other parties sensing that New Democracy’s victory is all but guaranteed,?there is another threat to Mitsotakis’ majority. Two parties which barely missed the 3% threshold to enter parliament, “Freedom Sailing” led by former SYRIZA parliamentary speaker Zoi Konstantopoulou and?Dimitris Natsios’ far-right religious party “Niki”,?are expected to pick up enough votes to make up the difference this time around. With a seven-party parliament, as a possible minimum,?the requirements for a ND majority increase.

There is also the struggle between SYRIZA and PASOK. The disastrous result of SYRIZA on May 21 has left it reeling, with?Tsipras calling for the party to show resilience and overcome the shock?of its painful outing. However, PASOK, which has been the dominant force in leftist politics from the 1980s until the financial crisis and which lost many of its voters to SYRIZA during those years, will be looking to win back its lapsed supporters and regain its standing as the main party of the Greek center-left. This competition between the two has certainly impacted their conduct with?SYRIZA seeking to appeal to more moderate and centrist voters, while?PASOK is making all efforts to ensure that it does not lose any momentum?heading into the next election.

Spotlight

• PASOK heavyweight Theodoros Pangalos passed away this week, aged 84. Pangalos was one of the party’s most prominent members at its peak in the 1980s and 1990s, and served as Foreign Minister from 1996 to 1999. During his tenure at the ministry,?he was called upon to manage the Imia crisis of 1996 as well as the capture of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan in Nairobi?by Turkish operatives that eventually led to his resignation. Always outspoken, he is perhaps best remembered by many in Greece for his response in the early days of the financial crisis that “we all ate from the trough together” when asked how public money had been squandered in the run-up to the memoranda.

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• The Panhellenic national university entrance exams got off to a bad start this week when the centralized?examination platform suffered what has been described as Greece’s worst cyberattack. The distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks overwhelmed the system with 165 million hits from 114 countries over two days, leading to massive delays on Monday and Tuesday as teachers were unable to access the Greek Research and Technology Network (GRNET) to choose topics for the exams. Supreme Court Prosecutor Isidoros Dogiakos?ordered an investigation into the incident, while it also led to a?political confrontation ahead of the upcoming elections. Overall, the attack highlights the risk posed to critical infrastructure by cyber attacks.

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OPINION

Turkey: All the president’s men

By Tom Ellis

Editor-in-Chief, Kathimerini English Edition

With the formation of his new government, the all-powerful Turkish president confirmed his absolute control over foreign policy and will implement his strategic choices based on his personal desires and goals,?without the burden of internal political calculations.

The new foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, is the man of special missions. Head of the Intelligence Service (MIT) for the past 13 years,?he had access to all the sensitive information, and has been credited with early detection of the 2016 coup attempt to the point that one could argue?Erdogan owes him his life.

He is a man of the?president’s complete confidence, as is Erdogan’s close associate and adviser, Ibrahim Kalin, who replaces Fidan as the?head of the secret service.

Kalin was the one who participated on behalf of Turkey in the two meetings organized by the diplomatic adviser of the German chancellor, Jens Ploetner, with the directors of the diplomatic office of the Greek prime minister, Eleni Sourani in July ’20 and Anna-Maria Boura, in December ’22.

The new Minister of Defense and until yesterday Chief of the General Staff, General Yasar Guler, who is also very close to Erdogan, has?complete and personal control over the leading echelons?of the armed forces.

All three know well and in detail all the sensitive security issues that concern Turkey,?including the Greek-Turkish equation.

Greece will be waiting to see what the intentions of the new Erdogan government are and whether the re-elected president?means it when he talks about a “new beginning”.

In that context the likely meeting of the leaders of the two countries, on the sidelines of the upcoming NATO summit in Lithuania, on July 11-12, will have added value.

However, Tayyip Erdogan’s speech at yesterday’s swearing-in might have had elements of internal reconciliation, but?it was full of references to the “century of Turkey”?and the?narrative of the “Blue Homeland”.

It is clear that the pressure is from the right, from the ultra-nationalist streak that was also reflected in the recent elections, both presidential and parliamentary.

If Erdogan chooses a shift towards realism and cooperation with the West, as he seems willing to do in the economic sector by placing Mehmet Simsek in this particular ministry,?there might be a shift in Greek-Turkish?relations as well.

The choice of the all-powerful president will not be the product of political calculations, internal associations or even the “deep state”, but a?personal decision of his own.

CHART OF THE WEEK

The Panhellenic national exams began this week with students from vocational high schools starting earlier than their counterparts in general high schools. Approximately 95,000 students will contend for 68,574 spots, without accounting for military and police academies and tourism schools whose entry rate is determined by their overseeing ministry. New rules were introduced this year that will affect those examined in the arts and humanities with changes in both Ancient Greek and Modern Greek. The new guidelines are expected to make it harder for those sitting these subjects to get perfect scores.

ESCAPADE

6 Must-Visit Wineries on Cycladic Paros

These boutique wineries on Paros produce wines that epitomize the iconic Cycladic terroir: robust, full-bodied, and bursting with sun-ripened flavor.

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ECONOMY IN A NUTSHELL

1. “The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,217.86 points on Friday, declining by 0.25% and?snapping the positive streak?recorded in recent weeks.”
2. “Just short of 40% of Greek taxpayers declare an?annual income of less than 5,000 euros, with just 27,000 (0.42%) declaring an annual income of more than 100,000 euros. At the same time, about 80% of companies declare?losses or smaller annual profits than the income of a minimum wage employee?(less than 10%).”
3. “Greece recorded the?fifth lowest inflation rate in the Eurozone?this May with its EU-harmonized consumer price index standing at 4.1%, compared to a 6.1% mean rate in the rest of the area. It was the?lowest inflation rate in Greece over the last twelve months.”

WHAT'S ON THE AGENDA

05/06/2023

Holy Spirit?Monday: Greek Orthodox faithful will celebrate the Monday of the Holy Spirit, a national holiday.?Most businesses and schools will be closed.

06/06/2023

Funeral of Gen. Kostarakos:?General Michail Kostarakos, former Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff and Chairman of the European Union Military Committee,?will be laid to rest?in Thessaloniki.

10/06/2023

Athens Pride Parade: The Athens Pride Festival?will culminate on Saturday with the Pride Parade?in Syntagma Square.

PODCAST

The crisis in Kosovo and what it means for the region

Professor James Ker-Lindsay joins Thanos Davelis to explain why tensions are flaring in Kosovo, and break down what’s at stake for the wider region. Prof. James Ker-Lindsay is a visiting professor at the University of Kent, a research associate at the London School of Economics, and has written extensively on the Balkans and Southeast Europe, including on Serbia and Kosovo.