Greece has repaid its debts to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) two years ahead of schedule, the Greek Ministry of Finance announced on Monday.
Greece’s Finance Minister, Christos Staikouras, hailed the early payment as “a very positive development” that would mean significant savings in debt servicing costs totalling 230 million euros.
“This closes a chapter that opened in May 2010, when Greece appealed to the fund for financial support,” Staikouras said in his statement.
“We are continuing, fully aware of the great difficulties and the new external challenges… to make Greece comprehensively stronger, with its economy more productive, extroverted and more socially just.”
Greece’s European Union bailout lenders gave the formal go-ahead last week for the early repayment of the outstanding loans worth 1.86 billion euros.
Between 2010 and 2018, three successive bailouts totalling some 260 billion euros prevented Greece from going bankrupt and exiting the shared euro currency.
Despite exiting the bailout program in 2018, Greece remains under an enhanced surveillance program created by European lenders to monitor spending, an arrangement due to end later this year.
In a significant move, US representatives in Cyprus have asked the government whether they would be willing to transfer the country’s Russian-made weapons to Ukraine,Ekathimerini reports.
The request was received positively by Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades who gave the go-ahead for further discussions to be done quickly. This would mean that Cyprus will no longer remain neutral in the war, as is usually the case.
Kathimerini’s sources said that the Americans specifically asked for Cypriot anti-aircraft weapons, as well as attack helicopters.
Consequently, if weapons from the Cypriot armed forces are to be deployed to Ukraine they will be replaced with corresponding American weaponry.
Greece condemns Bucha killings:
This comes as Greece has condemned the killings of unarmed civilians in Bucha on the outskirts of Kyiv.
“Those who perpetrated these crimes must be held accountable,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement in Greek on Monday.
“We call for the immediate investigation of the crimes and the punishment of those responsible.”
Το @GreeceMFA καταδικάζει απερίφραστα τα ανατριχιαστικά εγκλήματα που διαπράχθηκαν κατά την αποχώρηση των ρωσικών δυνάμεων κατοχής εναντίον Ουκρανών πολιτών αμάχων στην πόλη Μπούκα της 🇺🇦. Οι υπεύθυνοι των εγκλημάτων πρέπει να λογοδοτήσουν (από την ανακοίνωση του @GreeceMFA).
Ukraine on Sunday accused the departing Russian forces of carrying out a “massacre” in Bucha while Chechen fighters controlled the area.
It said that the bodies of at least 410 civilians were found, many with bound hands, close-range gunshot wounds and signs of torture.
The destruction and civilian deaths in Bucha looks set to galvanise the United States and Europe into additional sanctions against Moscow, with officials raising the prospect of restrictions on Russia’s energy exports.
Cypriot communities across Australia have honoured the heroes and heroines of the EOKA (National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) struggle against British colonial rule with a number of church services and wreath laying ceremonies.
In Melbourne, there was a special memorial service and wreath laying ceremony at the Greek Orthodox Parish of St Andrew the Apostle in Forest Hill to honour those who lost their lives in the EOKA struggle.
But that’s not all. Here is The Greek Herald‘s list of what else was held across Australia to mark the significant event
Queensland:
In Queensland, a memorial service and wreath laying ceremony was held to mark the 67th anniversary of the EOKA struggle.
There was also a Divine Liturgy held at St George Greek Orthodox Church in Brisbane, which was presided over by His Grace Bishop Emilianos of Meloa.
The wreath laying was attended by the High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus in Australia, Martha Mavrommatis; the Honorary Consul of Greece in Queensland, Dimitris Raftis; the President of the Cypriot Community of Queensland, Stathis Zambas, and members of the board; as well as other representatives of Cypriot and Greek organisations of Queensland.
The formal proceedings were followed by a commemorative event at the Community centre, with speeches, a short film from diaspora children all around the globe celebrating the EOKA struggle, poems and traditional Cypriot dancing by the Community youth.
New South Wales:
The Cyprus Club, the Cypriot Community and other Cypriot Associations of NSW honoured the 67th anniversary of the EOKA struggle for Cyprus with a Doxology and memorial service in honour of the fallen heroes.
The Doxology, which was performed on Sunday, April 3 at the Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady in Redfern, was followed by the laying of wreaths at the cenotaph located on church grounds and coffee in the adjacent hall.
Thalia Achilleos, the wife of the President of The Cyprus Club Panayiotis Achilleos, who was unable to attend the ceremony, was emcee for the day.
Among the officials who laid wreaths were the Treasurer of the Cypriot Community of NSW, Andros Antoniou representing the High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus in Australia, Martha Mavrommatis; Giannis Tsingos on behalf of His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia; Costas Giannakodimos representing the Consul General of Greece in Sydney Christos Karras; as well as the President of SEKA NSW, Agapitos Passaris and a number of other representatives of cultural and expatriate organisations.
South Australia:
With a doxology and memorial service led by Grace Bishop Silouan of Sinope accompanied by St George Thebarton Parish Priest Father Diogenis Patsouris, Cyprus Community of SA honoured on Sunday those who lost their lives in the EOKA struggle.
Present at the ceremony were, among others, the President of SA’s Cypriot Community, Professor Andreas Evdokiou; the Consul General of Greece in Adelaide, George Psiachas; the President of the Cypriot Aged and Pensioners subcommittee, Christos Ioannou; the President of the Ladies Auxiliary, Thekla Petrou; and the President of SEKA SA, Panagiotis Pyros.
Mr Evdokiou spoke to The Greek Herald after the Doxology and said it is important to continue to remember and commemorate the heroes who fought for the freedom and independence of Cyprus.
“Of course we achieved an independence that may not have been what we wanted. After 48 whole years, we are still under the occupation of the Turkish invader,” Mr Evdokiou said while making a parallel between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and that of Turkey in Cyprus.
“The invasion of Ukraine brings back memories that we had then, in 1974, and we continue to live this nightmare,” Mr Evdokiou stressed.
“We condemn the invasion of Ukraine but it is also a great hypocrisy by the great and powerful who impose sanctions on Russia and ignore the Cyprus issue. Where were these sanctions and this upheaval of the world when Turkey invaded Cyprus?” Professor Evdokiou said.
As a first-term Councillor in the Inner West, Zoi Tsardoulias has hit the ground running.
Ever since she was elected to represent Marrickville Ward – Midjuburi (Lillypilly) in the recent NSW local government elections, she has worked hard to ensure her electorate has access to better community services such as childcare, libraries and parks.
Cr Tsardoulias is also incredibly passionate about the arts and culture.
This passion saw her announce that she, along with Councillor Mat Howard and ethnic community organisations such as the Hellenic Lyceum of Sydney, will be leading a new multicultural plan for Marrickville Town Hall.
Cr Zoi Tsardoulias (left) and Cr Mat Howard.
She’s also determined to continue advocating for Marrickville Road to be named ‘Little Greece.’
With all this being said, we just had to find out a little bit more about Cr Tsardoulias and her plans for the future of the Inner West. This is what she had to say.
1. Why did you decide to get into politics?
I chose to get into politics because it is important that there are diverse voices in our councils and because I wanted to give back to our wonderful community and represent ordinary, working Australians – people working hard at their jobs and in their small businesses with a council that listens to them and delivers for them.
Zoi Tsardoulias.
2. What are the challenges and rewards of being a Councillor?
One of the rewards of being a Councillor is having the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives by helping them with significant issues. I want to help people connect to council services and be there when they need it most.
3. What are your goals and plans for Inner West Council?
I am passionate about building better community services like childcare, libraries, parks, arts, and culture and making sure that they’re accessible for everyone in our community.
Crs Tsardoulias and Howard.
4.You recently announced a new multicultural plan for Marrickville Town Hall. What will your role entail?
It’s been great working with my friend and colleague Councillor Mat Howard on our plan to convert Marrickville Town Hall into a home for multicultural performances and live music.
We’re doing this because the Inner West is the birthplace of multiculturalism, and this is a fantastic way to reflect that diversity in the most recognisable building in Marrickville that recently celebrated its 100th birthday.
The announcement has been very well received and the local communities are incredibly supportive and are ready in anticipation as to what happens next.
The announcement at Marrickville Town Hall.
5. What is the importance of working with ethnic organisations to get this plan up-and-running?
It is extremely important that we work with local multicultural communities so they can express their vision for Marrickville Town Hall and to ensure the plans reflect the needs of the community.
6. Are there any other multicultural projects in the works?
Inner West Labor is committed to building on the work which was done in the last term of council, including the Racism Not Welcome campaign, developing an Anti-Racism Strategy and naming Marrickville Road “Little Greece.” We want to strengthen Little Greece by supporting more public art, local migrant businesses and by paying tribute to the significant role the Greek diaspora have played in making Marrickville the place that it is today.
Greek flags in Marrickville to mark Greek Independence Day.
7.Is there anything else you would like to say?
My late husband Councillor/Deputy Mayor Emanuel Tsardoulias (who was on the former Marrickville Council from 2008 up until his passing in 2014) remains my greatest inspiration. The community library in Dulwich Hill was named in Emanuel’s honour. Through Emanuel’s work, I was able to witness first-hand the difference he made in people’s lives. Emanuel approached every task with enthusiasm, optimism, and commitment and I believe I can also do the same and honour his legacy.
Opinion piece by Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison.
Budget 2022
The last few years have challenged our nation.
Our Greek Australian community can be rightly proud of how they have met this test.
From home schooling to disruptions to your traditional gatherings to family separations, you’ve toughed it out.
I am grateful for your leadership, resilience and keeping each other safe.
Every community will know from your former homelands that Australia’s performance during this pandemic is a standout.
We’ve saved over 40,000 lives.
We have world-leading vaccination rates and one of the lowest COVID fatality rates.
Photograph: Getty Images.
Our economic recovery is stronger than the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
But there is more to do.
The 2022-23 Budget outlines the next stage of our recovery.
It delivers cost of living relief now – and a long-term economic plan that creates more jobs. With record investments in essential services, and stronger defence and national security in these uncertain times.
Australia is the most successful multicultural nation in the world.
That’s why it’s so important to defend and protect the liberty and freedom of so many who have come here to shelter and contribute by building their businesses and raising their families.
Events abroad are pushing up the cost of living. Our temporary, targeted and responsible cost of living package will help. For the next six months, fuel excise will be cut in half, saving Australians 22 cents a litre.
A one-off $420 Cost of Living Tax Offset will help over 10 million low-and-middle income earners.
And pensioners and other concession card holders will get a one-off $250 Cost of Living Payment.
At the same time, we have delivered the largest improvement to the Budget bottom line in more than 70 years.
Over five years, the Budget will be over $103 billion better off (compared to last year’s mid-year projections).
This Budget will strengthen our economy.
A strong economy is what supports our pension scheme, Medicare and our migrant support and settlement services for those who we’ve welcomed from the most trying circumstances.
To assist Ukrainian citizens forced to flee, we have issued over 5,700 visas – with more underway.
More than 1,400 Ukrainians have already arrived in Australia.
The Budget will also support Australians by delivering record funding for schools, hospitals, Medicare, mental health, aged care, women’s safety and disability support.
And it will support small businesses, increase apprenticeships and invest strongly in manufacturing and infrastructure.
Our migrant communities have a tremendous record of entrepreneurialism over many generations.
We’re backing this very strongly in the Budget.
Our government has supported small businesses with the lowest tax rates in 50 years (reduced from 30 per cent to 25 per cent) and investment incentives, like the instant asset write-off.
To further encourage small businesses, the Budget provides a $120 deduction for every $100 spent on training staff, or on digital technologies.
There are now 220,000 trade apprentices – the highest number on record.
To encourage more apprentices, we will provide $5,000 payments to new apprentices and up to $15,000 in wage subsidies for employers.
Despite Australia’s challenges, our economic recovery is leading the world.
We have done it by working together.
The Greek Australian community across the country have done an extraordinary job.
This is not a time to change course.
This is a time to stick to our plan, with cost of living relief, a strong economy and a stronger future.
Professor Paul Cartledge will present an online lecture entitled Ancient Sparta: Myths versus Reality on Thursday, April 7 at 7pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.
The ancient Spartans have given us three words in our English language (spoiler alert: ‘spartan,’ ‘laconic,’ ‘helot’).
That’s a tribute to the Spartan myth – which was started in antiquity by the Spartans themselves, then taken up by pro-Spartan ‘lakonizers,’ and has continued to this day (‘Spartans’ on the US Capitol, ‘Spartans’ in the UK House of Commons). But what was the ‘reality’ of ancient Sparta?
Prof Cartledge has the answer for those who attend the seminar.
Who is Prof Cartledge?
Professor Paul Cartledge is the AG Leventis Senior Research Fellow of Clare College, and formerly the inaugural AG Leventis Professor of Greek Culture in the University of Cambridge.
He is the author, co-author, editor or co-editor of some 30 books, most recently Democracy: A Life (Oxford University Press, 2018) and Thebes: the forgotten city of ancient Greece (Picador & Abrams, 2020).
Professor Paul Cartledge.
Cartledge’s field of study is Athens and Sparta in the Classical Age, he has been described as a Laconophile. He was chief historical consultant for the BBC TV series The Greeks and the Channel 4 series The Spartans, presented by Bettany Hughes.
Professor Cartledge is also a holder of the Gold Cross of the Order of Honour of Greece and an Honorary Citizen of modern Sparta. Most recently he has been awarded the Commander of the Order of Honour (Ταξιάρχης τῆς Τιμῆς), for his ‘contribution to enhancing Greece’s stature abroad.’
The Victorian Council for Greek National Days has released the program of events for this year to mark the 100th anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe.
The program involves more than 20 Greek organisations with over 35 events.
Some of these events are also linked to Greek Independence Day, as they were unable to be held last year due to COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria. This includes a visit by the Evzones on Anzac Day.
“We call on the Greek community to participate actively and to share the events as appropriate,” the Chairman of the Victorian Council, Tony Tsourdalakis, said in a press release.
“We have an obligation to our ancestors to remember them.”
A wave of seafood shortages has hit suppliers this month, prompting warnings of price hikes ahead of Easter,Nine News reports.
Easter favourites such as prawns, Sydney rock oysters and Tasmanian salmon have all been affected by a combination of wild weather, COVID-19 and international demand.
Last month a kilogram of salmon could be bought for $29.99. The price is now $10 higher.
In response, the man behind Manettas Seafood Market, Peter Manettas, is urging people to get their seafood orders for Easter in early.
“It’s like the perfect storm,” Manettas told goodfood.com.au.
Peter Manettas. Photo: Janie Barrett.
“There’s a huge shortage of everything at the moment, so it’s 100 per cent a possibility that Easter shoppers may not be able to find what they’re looking for.
“Give your fish mongers time to source that supply for you and ensure they’ve got the active supply in their shop.”
There is some good news though. There’s likely to be plenty of white-fleshed, whole-fish alternatives for the Easter table centrepiece.
High quality blue-eye trevalla, snapper, ocean perch, gurnard and rock flathead are all expected to be available in abundance this year.
Melbourne fertility clinic operator, Natalie Kringoudis, has been fined almost $70,000 for withholding thousands of dollars in parental leave entitlements from an employee, ABC News reports.
Ms Kringoudis, who is the sole-director of the Pagoda Tree Clinic in Victoria’s Albert Park, was taken to court by the Fair Work Ombudsman after complaints from an employee to the Department of Human Services.
The affected employee worked as a Chinese Medicine Practitioner at the clinic when she took parental leave in 2018 to have her first child.
According to the National Tribune, she was owed $12,948 in government-funded parental leave payments but was paid less than half of that.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court found the Pagoda Tree withheld more than $7,000 in parental leave payments, as well as more than $10,000 in annual leave entitlements.
Kringoudis is the sole-director of the Pagoda Tree Clinic in Victoria’s Albert Park.
The Pagoda Tree had received the parental leave funds from the federal Department of Human Services but failed to pay Sarah, the court found.
The outstanding payments were instead transferred to the personal bank accounts of Ms Kringoudis and used to pay for living expenses, including restaurant meals, alcohol and travel.
Following this outcome, the affected employee told ABC News she was surprised to learn that the payments had been intentionally withheld.
“I never expected anything like this to happen. It was very hard financially, it was very hard emotionally,” she said.
Ms Kringoudis was personally fined $10,962, while the company was fined $58,590 for contraventions of the Fair Work Act.
Greece is backing NATO forces in the Alliance’s east wing with light anti-aircraft artillery in line with its commitment to join the NATO Response Force (NRF), which was activated immediately after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to Ekathimerini, the transfer is largely part of NATO’s central decision to support Bulgaria and Romania, the Alliance’s two main eastern coastal countries in the Black Sea.
More specifically, Greece is dispatching four units of light anti-aircraft systems, such as ASRAD-HELLAS, with their personnel and the relevant command liaisons, that comprise about 30 members of the artillery.
ASRAD-HELLAS. Photo: GreekMilitary.net
At the same time, the transfer of forces to Bulgaria and Romania is continuing through the port of Alexandroupoli in northern Greece.
This comes despite local protests in Athens, which saw pro-Russian citizens taking to the streets on foot and in their cars to show their support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine and their dislike of NATO expansion in Greece.
