Greece and the economic crisis 2020

NEWS ARCHIVE - June 29

June 29, 2020

Earthquake near Rhodes

Story at Eleftherostypos [Greek]

"Great Walk of Athens" continues to advance

Pictures and story at iefimerida [Greek]

Macron and Putin talking together about Turkey

Story at Tovima [Greek]

Tourist season on the verge of starting

Story at Cyclades 24 [Greek]

EU recommendations will allow 14 countries entrance to Europe

Pressure from governments (for example, Washington DC) to get their particular country onto the July 1 "safe list" for back and forth travel has caused a lot of conversations this weekend in the capitols of the 27 EU countries (and in the outside capitols impacted). Ultimately, America didn't make it onto the safe list, neither did Russia, Israel, Turkey or Saudi Arabia, all are currently excluded. The burden of dividing up the various countries into a whitelist and a blacklist, however temporary, was put on the Croatian Presidency of the EU Council. The way the choices were made presents a few questions, for example, China is offered a spot on the "safe list" if it will have a reciprocal agreement allowing EU citizens into China (the logic of this, in terms of limiting the spread of the pandemic, seems entirely not applicable).The more tourism-dependant countries of southern Europe want a looser list with more countries added, and the northern countries (like Sweden) want a shorter list. However the movement of visitors are regulated in Europe, it will continue the inevitable spread of the virus, which is not stoppable anyway, but a surge in cases will test the nerve of politicians across the globe as the need to conduct commerce will conflict with the need to meet the demands for safety from their respective populations. Story at Protothema [English] and at Forbes Magazine [English] and at Le Monde [French]

How the July 1 testing will proceed

Details at Skai [Greek]

The Top destinations in Greece for tourists

A lot of focus is on the initial visitors coming to Greece in a post-pandemic environment, with the expectation that their reports on social media could have a significant impact on coverage and thus impact what follows for the rest of the season. Story shows that Spain and Italy maintain a high profile for Mediterranean visitors, but Greece is securely ahead of other locations, such as Croatia, Turkey, etc. Article, with a large number of stats, at Tovima [Greek]