Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Greece
Newsline: Protesters drop golden turd by Athens embassy
Ten German protesters were arrested in Athens after leaving a giant golden turd on the doorstep of the Berlin embassy in the Greek capital. The protesters, members of a political-artistic collective, topped their offering off with a huge photo of the German national emblem – the eagle – that had the head of Chancellor Angela Merkel and very large breasts. The model was a lifelike replica of a curled turd- several feet tall and covered in gold paper. Greek police soon arrested ten of the 13-strong group and confiscated their fake faeces.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002565811
Newsline: Thieves rob Albanian embassy in Athens
Greek police say thieves have broken into the Albanian embassy in Athens, escaping with an unknown sum from two bank cash machines in the consular section. A police statement says nothing else was taken in the break-in at the building in the Athens suburb of Filothei. Amid its acute debt crisis, since the start of 2011 Greece has suffered a 10 percent increase in thefts and armed robberies compared to the same period last year, according to police figures. Armed robberies on homes have more than doubled.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/2012/03/13/thieves-rob-albanian-embassy-in-athens
Newsline: Greek police say Libyan embassy in Athens surrenders cache of weapons, explosives
Greek police say Libyan embassy officials in Athens have handed over a large weapons and explosives cache, following instructions from the Libyan government. A police statement says the cache included 30 handguns, two submachineguns, 15 kilograms of plastic explosives, detonators, two hand grenades and more than 1,200 rounds of ammunition for various types of firearms.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/greek-police-say-libyan-embassy-in-athens-surrenders-cache-of-weapons-explosives/2012/02/21/gIQACoi1QR_story.html
Newsline: Afghanistan Plans To Open Embassy In Greece
Afghanistan will open an embassy in Greece within a few months to help deal with the tens of thousands of Afghan illegal migrants there. Greece is the main entry point into Europe for migrants from across the Middle East and North Africa, including Algerians, Pakistanis, Somalis and Iraqis as well as Afghans. Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Janan Musazai said the new embassy in Athens should be open by the end of March. Kabul will close its embassy in Bulgaria at the same time, he said. About 50,000 Afghans illegally enter Greece each year, Musazai said. Most are seeking a better life in the European Union and choose Greece because of its porous land border with Turkey. But many are either caught and jailed or find themselves stranded. Musazai said a government delegation late last year provided 650 passports to Afghans who wanted to return home, and persuaded authorities to free 100 Afghans held in detention centers for illegal entry.
http://m.wfiu.npr.org/news/front/144855085
Newsline: Parcel Bomb Disabled at Greek Embassy in Paris
An official at the Greek Embassy in Paris says a package bomb was sent to the embassy but was discovered by authorities and safely disabled. The official said it caused no injuries or damages. The official said the package arrived with no external markings, prompting suspicious embassy staff to call the police. French police arrived and discovered a low-power explosive device inside, and detonated it under controlled conditions, the official said. The embassy was evacuated for about 40 minutes, the official said. The origin of the package was unclear.
http://world.foxnews.mobi/quickPage.html?page=26264&external=1247015.proteus.fma
Newsline: Greek protesters clash with police at US Embassy
Masked youths clashed with riot police outside Greece’s parliament and the U.S. embassy Thursday as thousands of austerity-weary Greeks marched throughAthensin an annual commemoration of a bloody student uprising in the 1970s. Police fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the rioters, and some 78 people were detained for questioning. Eleven people were arrested. Police also reported four injured police officers. A young protester was reportedly hospitalized after injuring both legs in an attempt to evade police. Some 28,000 people took part in the march, according to police estimates, making it one of the biggest Nov. 17 protests in years. Seven thousand officers were monitoring the crowd. Thursday’s annual protest commemorates the squashing of a pro-democracy student uprising in 1973 by the military dictatorship that ruled Greece from 1967-74 — and whose backing from the U.S. still rankles in the country. But the embassy march has traditionally served as a vent for anti-government protests that often turn violent.
Newsline: Pro-Palestinians occupy Spanish embassy in Athens
A group of Spanish activists from an international flotilla banned by Greek officials from setting sail for the Gaza Strip continued to occupy their country’s embassy in Athens for a second straight day Wednesday, embassy officials said. Embassy officials said four activists were currently inside the embassy as part of a ‘symbolic occupation,’ while another 17 were gathered at the entrance outside. The activists had draped a Palestinian flag from one of the embassy’s balconies. The group of 21 Spanish activists are from the Spanish boat Gernica, which has been docked on the southern Mediterranean island of Crete for the past few weeks, awaiting an opportunity to sail. The Spanish activists insist they will continue to ‘peacefully’ occupy the premises of the embassy until their government asks Greek authorities to allow them to sail to Gaza. Greek authorities have banned a 10-vessel flotilla, loaded with aid and carrying several hundred pro-Palestinian activists from 22 countries – including Greece, Canada, France, Spain and the United States – from sailing towards Gaza.
Newsline: Swedes up in arms over Greek envoy’s remarks
A Greek diplomat in Stockholm was recalled to Athens after claiming that Swedish women often cried rape falsely, media said yesterday, amid outrage at reports of discrimination against Swedes in rape cases in Greece. Vassilios Bakalis, the head of economic and commercial affairs at the Greek embassy inStockholm, was reportedly ordered back toAthensshortly after the publication late on Friday of an e-mail he had written accusing Swedish women of using fake rape allegations to make money. Swedes “should be ashamed about the behaviour of Swedish women, on vacation at any part of the world (sic) and with foreign residents in their own country”, Bakalis wrote in the e-mail. “Plenty of taxi drivers in Stockholm have warned me not to take drunk Swedish women to my apartment as there is a high probability ‘they will sue you for rape to get insurance money after they wake up in the morning and realise who you are’.” The e-mail was a response to a message Bakalis received following reports that Greek authorities had decided not to press charges on behalf of a Swedish woman who alleged she was raped during a vacation on the GreekislandofSamosin 2008. Although the woman was examined shortly after the alleged rape at a Swedish hospital where doctors confirmed she had suffered a serious, sexual attack, Greek authorities reportedly have decided to charge her instead for false testimony and slander. In an open letter earlier this week, two Swedish lawyers representing the woman accusedGreeceof violating the European Convention on Human Rights, pointing out that Greek authorities largely based their decision to charge her on their explicit assumption that Scandinavian women often make false rape accusations. According to media reports, the decision to try the woman as well as Bakalis’ statements reflect false rumours inGreecethat Scandinavians can purchase “rape insurance”, believed to prompt fake rape accusations to receive a pay-out. Many Swedes have been outraged by the reports. Embassy spokeswoman Eleftheria Spilotakopoulou meanwhile insisted in a TV4 interview that “whatever has been said by Mr Bakalis does not represent at all the views of the Greek embassy and government”. More than 500,000 Swedish tourists visitGreeceeach year, according to the Swedish foreign ministry.
Newsline: Greek protesters occupy Chile consulate in support of hunger strikers
A group of Greek protesters have briefly occupied the Chilean consulate in central Athens in support of jailed hunger strikers in the South American country. Police say the occupation on Monday lasted for an hour and ended peacefully with no arrests being made. The protest was held in support of 14 hunger strikers in Chile, most of whom have been refusing food for more than a month. The suspects are in pre-trial detention in connection with arson attacks and small bombings carried out by anarchist groups and groups representing demands by Mapuche Indians for improved indigenous rights. In November, the Chilean embassy in Athens was targeted in a spate of mail bombings claimed by an armed anarchist group. Police destroyed the device by controlled explosion.
Newsline: Italian anarchists sent Greek embassy bomb to respond to Greek anarchist appeal
Police confirmed a link between Italian and Greek anarchists, saying the Italian group that sent parcel bombs to three Rome embassies was responding to an appeal from a Greek counterpart to step up attacks. The Informal Anarchist Federation, an Italian group which claimed responsibility for sending mail bombs to the Swiss and Chilean embassies last week, also sent the mail bomb that was discovered at the Greek Embassy on Monday. The Swiss and Chilean bombs exploded Dec. 23, wounding the two people who opened them. The Greek bomb was safely defused. In Monday’s claim of the Greek package bomb, the group said it wanted to show solidarity with detained Greek anarchists and further their agenda of “revolutionary violence.” “We’re striking again, and we do so in response to the appeal launched by our Greek companions of the Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire,” the Italian group wrote in the claim. “For this reason we’re sending this new attack to a structure that represents the Greek state and its servants, in solidarity with our companions arrested in Athens and the Conspiracy’s project which, like ours, is based on the action and method of revolutionary violence.” The group said it was protesting a host of abuses of the “structure of dominion” and cited crackdowns on anarchist comrades in Switzerland and Chile. A group called Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire claimed responsibility for having sent 14 mail bombs to foreign embassies in Athens last month. Two of the devices exploded, causing no injuries.
