Greece is calling for the removal of wording it considers revisionist or irredentist from school textbooks in North Macedonia, with Athens arguing that such content is incompatible with the obligations stemming from the Prespa Agreement. The issue is increasingly being linked to Skopje’s broader European path and its responsibility to fully implement bilateral commitments.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Rumen Radev are set to seal an agreement in Thessaloniki carrying significant political and symbolic weight: Bulgaria is returning 48 ecclesiastical treasures taken to Sofia in 1917, while Greece is handing over to the Bulgarian side the remains of Tsar Samuel. The artifacts will first be displayed at the Museum of Byzantine Culture before returning to the monasteries and ecclesiastical authorities from which they originated.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced four new interventions at the Cabinet meeting, targeting household debt, loan servicers and fuel costs. The government’s approach is to review support measures every 15 days while seeking greater EU-level fiscal flexibility to respond to the wider energy shock.
The European Fiscal Board warns against turning the energy crisis into a back door for further fiscal easing. Greece has already secured a positive Commission recommendation for energy-security investments, but cutting excise duties at the pump is a different matter — and would either have to be financed nationally or covered by a new European decision.
Q8 joins Eni and SOCAR/IP in moving to contain prices at the pump, with Eni capping petrol at €1.99 and diesel at €2.19 per litre. Behind the voluntary measures lies a bigger political fight: Rome is keeping a windfall tax on the table as six EU governments push Brussels to make energy companies share the cost of the crisis.
Iran is sharply escalating its rhetoric toward Washington and the Gulf: Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that if Tehran is prevented from selling oil, other regional producers should not expect to export theirs either. His additional warning — “if our security is not guaranteed, no infrastructure will be safe” — puts energy security and the Strait of Hormuz back at the center of the US-Iran confrontation.
Hakan Fidan’s talks with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed come as Houthi advances reshape the battlefield in Yemen and the crisis around the Strait of Hormuz puts Gulf energy routes under mounting pressure. Ankara wants freedom of navigation through both Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, backs a peaceful and territorially united Yemen and has signaled readiness to support Saudi Arabia’s defense needs — without committing Turkish forces to another Middle Eastern war.
Greece is pushing for faster returns of people who are no longer entitled to international protection, placing itself at the forefront of a new European migration strategy. Athens, Copenhagen, Berlin, Vienna and The Hague are working on return hubs in third countries, with a first pilot project targeted for early 2027.
Benjamin Netanyahu made a previously unannounced trip to the United Arab Emirates for talks with President Mohamed bin Zayed. According to Al-Monitor, the Israeli prime minister sought an Emirati denial of explosive reports that Abu Dhabi had warned Israel ahead of Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack — a claim Netanyahu categorically rejects and the UAE has not publicly confirmed.
The EU found €90 billion for Ukraine and temporarily avoided the explosive question of confiscating Russia’s sovereign reserves. But more than €200 billion remains immobilised at Euroclear, and the battle has now shifted from European summits to courtrooms in Moscow, Brussels and Luxembourg. The question Europe postponed is becoming harder to avoid: who ultimately gets the money?
Alexandros Exarchou put his finger on the critical dilemma facing Europe ahead of winter 2026–27: when Europe and Asia are competing for the same LNG cargoes, energy security, affordability and regulatory requirements begin to collide. The Financial Times describes a global bidding race that could push Asian LNG prices as high as $35/MMBtu, while Brussels’ debate over delaying parts of the EU methane framework shows how quickly market realities are reshaping energy policy.
Isabel Schnabel’s early departure, Philip Lane’s term ending in May and uncertainty over exactly when Christine Lagarde will leave are creating a rare window for reshaping power at the European Central Bank. Paris, Berlin and Madrid are already positioning themselves, while political instability and the rise of radical and far-right parties across Europe add urgency to a succession battle that could determine the ECB’s direction for years.
Two upgraded electricity interconnections, with a combined length of 35.2 kilometres, are replacing decades-old infrastructure and strengthening security of supply across Zakynthos, Kefalonia, Ithaca and Lefkada. IPTO is completing another major step in the systematic modernisation of the Ionian grid, while the next project is already advancing: the new Corfu–Igoumenitsa interconnection.
Michalis Ignatiou highlights a new strategic dilemma facing Ankara: Washington continues to link the S-400 dispute to US legal requirements and any possible Turkish return to the F-35 programme, while Moscow insists that the Russian-made systems cannot be transferred to a third country without its consent. The United Arab Emirates has emerged as a possible destination — bringing Israel into an increasingly complex US-Russia-Turkey equation.
Athens has categorically rejected claims that US Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle threatened the Greek government during a heated exchange with Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou. Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said he had made the “necessary communications” before issuing his denial, while the Wall Street Journal has reported a disputed account of a March 2026 dinner in Athens. Guilfoyle’s lawyer has also denied the episode as described.
Athens and Washington are building a strategic relationship increasingly shaped by pipelines, LNG infrastructure and hydrocarbon exploration. Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis described Greece–US ties as “closer and more stable than ever,” as Europe’s move away from Russian gas increases the strategic value of Greece’s northbound energy routes.
While France, Germany and Italy struggle with growth around or below 1%, Morningstar DBRS expects Greece to expand by 1.8% in both 2026 and 2027. The labor market is set to improve further, but the new Greek growth story faces a major external threat: oil, the Strait of Hormuz and an energy shock capable of rewriting Europe’s economic outlook.
Five years after the landmark defense agreement was signed in Paris, Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias has put the Athens–Paris strategic partnership back in the spotlight, recalling his own role in the 2021 deal and pointing to its renewal earlier this year.
Brussels is reaching again for the tools that helped Europe survive the 2022 gas crisis — storage, demand restraint and coordinated action. But this time the shock is broader: Hormuz, Bab el-Mandeb, constrained LNG supply and, above all, a diesel market already under severe pressure.
New signal from ND MP Angelos Syrigos on Greece’s response to the energy shock: Athens will seek European fiscal flexibility for temporary support measures, as high oil prices put growing pressure on households, transport and the wider economy.
Washington and Beijing agreed on more favorable tariff treatment for $30 billion in “non-sensitive goods” in each direction after the Trump-Xi summit, opening another crack in the trade wall between the world’s two largest economies. China is also committing to buy at least 10 million metric tons of U.S. coal in both 2027 and 2028 — but the crucial battle over rare earths remains unresolved.
