NIKOS KONSTANDARAS

Paradoxes strange and revealing

Political parties, news media, trade unions and nongovernmental organizations lie together in a heap at the bottom of the ladder of Greeks’ trust in institutions, each with 1.9 points out of 5.

A healthy diet for people and the environment

The climate crisis is becoming a direct threat to all. Extreme weather phenomena are accelerating in frequency and intensity, provoking death and disease, social and economic turmoil.

16.04.2024 / 17:03

Israel-Iran clash: Escalation or off-ramp?

Iran’s attack on Israel with more than 300 missiles and drones is a signification escalation of the conflict between the two. For the first time, Iran struck directly at Israel itself, not through proxies.

12.04.2024 / 21:30

Truths and lies about construction

In raging fury, Giorgos Stasinos, president of the Technical Chamber of Greece, on Thursday intervened in the public debate to defend the incentives that the New Construction Regulation (NCR) offers contractors – it allows higher and larger buildings if these are “climate-friendly.”

11.04.2024 / 15:30

In praise of positive improvisation

A common strand of failure runs through our disasters – at the crucial moment, we were either unprepared or indifferent to what might happen.

10.04.2024 / 16:00

Government both dominant and fragile

Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his government find themselves in an enviable but precarious position – both dominant and fragile at the same time.

06.04.2024 / 16:00

Tempe and the lost year

“At Tempe, our country collided with all that plagues it,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during the no-confidence motion against his government.

05.04.2024 / 21:30

What was Israel aiming for?

Israel’s attack on a humanitarian organization in Gaza and on the Iranian Consulate in Damascus on April 1 will have serious consequences in our already shaken region.

02.04.2024 / 21:00

Erdogan’s dilemma a crossroads for Turkey

Turkey is entering a most interesting time. Its president and the re-elected mayor of Istanbul were both right in describing Sunday’s election as a victory for democracy – this was the definition of democracy, as the side that did not hold all the levers of power won.

30.03.2024 / 18:00

A tragedy’s inconceivable aftermath

The head-on collision of two trains on the country’s main railway line at Tempe on the night of February 28, 2023, was inconceivable. It cost the lives of 57 people, left many more injured, and plunged their relatives and all of Greece into mourning. We had an urgent need to understand how this could happen.

25.03.2024 / 20:00

The West and the extremists’ trap

The liberal democracies of the West find themselves in a trap so dangerous that it is hard to believe their enemies were capable of planning it.

22.03.2024 / 21:30

Reform and politics

The decision by Moody’s to keep Greece’s credit rating one step below investment grade shows once again how the problems in our judicial system cost a lot of money, in addition to their undermining citizens’ confidence in institutions. There has been progress in several economic indicators in recent years, yet the problems on which the […]

18.03.2024 / 16:00

Three allies, two envoys, one conclusion

Turkey and Hungary are both difficult allies of the United States. Both held up NATO’s enlargement just when Washington needed the greatest possible coalition against Russia and maximum support for Ukraine.

18.03.2024 / 12:42

Istanbul sets the scene for Turkey’s politics

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is playing all his cards in his effort to retake Istanbul in the municipal elections of March 31.

17.03.2024 / 16:00

‘What was Mitsotakis doing in Ukraine?’

“So a Russian ballistic missile nearly killed the Greek prime minister as he was visiting Odesa with Zelensky today. The Greek prime minister. The leader of the NATO and EU member with the largest sympathies for Russia,” Yaroslav Trofimov, chief foreign affairs correspondent of The Wall Street journal and author, commented on X on the day of the attack.