2023

Events

January

• January 16: The funeral of former King Constantine II is held in Athens.
• January 27: The government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis survives a no-confidence motion put forth by opposition leader, Alexis Tsipras, over a wiretapping scandal targeting politicians, army top brass and journalists.
• January 27: Stefanos Tsitsipas defeats Karen Khachanov to reach the final of the Australian Open.
• January 27: Fitch Ratings upgrade Greece’s credit rating to BB+ with a stable outlook.
• January 29: Stefanos Tsitsipas loses to Serbia's Novak Djokovic 3-0 sets in the final of the Australian Open.

February

• February 5: The first round of the presidential elections is held in Cyprus. Nikos Christodoulides receives 32.04% of the vote. Andreas Mavroyiannis finishes second with 29.60%. The two will meet in a runoff.
• February 8: The Hellenic Parliament passes a controversial bill barring parties from the legislature whose leaders have been convicted of serious crimes and are deemed a potential threat to democracy. The measure is aimed specifically at the "National Party - Hellenes" party whose leader, Elias Kasidiaris, is currently in jail.
• February 9: A Greek EMAK mission flies out to Turkey, in the aftermath of a 7.8 earthquake, to assist in rescue operations.
• February 12: Nikos Christodoulides is elected President of Cyprus defeating Andreas Mavroyiannis. Christodoulides received 51.97% of the vote to 48.03% of his opponent.
• February 28: A passenger train, carrying hundreds of people, collides at high speed with an oncoming freight train, killing at least 36 near Tempe.

March

• March 1: As the death toll rises to 46, Kostas Karamanlis resigns as Minister for Transport.
• March 2: Greeks take to the streets to protest the neglect of their transport system which led to the Tempe tragedy.
• March 4: The train collision death toll rises to 57.
• March 5: Miltos Tentoglou claims his third straight long jump title at the indoor European Championships of Istanbul with a jump of 8.30m.

April

• April 21: Standard & Poor’s upgrades Greece’s outlook from “Stable” to “Positive".

May

• May 6: President Katerina Sakellaropoulou represents Greece at the coronation of King Charles III of England. The coronation ceremony included a Byzantine Chant Ensemble which sang Psalm 71 in Greek.
• May 14: AEK clinch their 13th football championship.
• May 14: Ethnic Greek Fredi Beleri is elected mayor of Chimara, Northern Epirus despite being jailed by Albanian authorities two days earlier.
• May 21: PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis' New Democracy party win the first round of the 2023 parliamentary elections with 40.8% of the vote however they capture only 146 seats which leaves them short of a majority.
• May 24: AEK defeat PAOK 2-0 to clinch their first double in over four decades.

June

• June 14: A fishing boat, carrying migrants trying to reach Europe, capsizes and sinks off Pylos, Greece. At least 79 are dead.
• June 25: PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis' New Democracy party win the second round of the 2023 parliamentary elections with 40.55% of the vote, capturing 158 seats in the Hellenic Parliament.

July

• July 17: Wildfires SE of Athens force the evacuation of thousands of homeowners and tourists. Meanwhile, more wildfires force the evacuation of people from Loutraki.
• July 23: Wildfires rage on the islands of Rhodes and Corfu forcing the evacuation of thousands of locals and tourists.
• July 27: A wildfire triggers a series of massive explosions at an air force ammunition depot near Nea Anchialos, Thessaly.

August

• August 7: Croatian hooligans enter Greece illegally and attack AEK supporters at Nea Philadelphia, killing one and injuring eight others.
• August 19: A massive fire breaks out near the city of Alexandroupolis, Thrace. Eventually, it will burn 93,000 hectares of land, making it the largest blaze to hit an EU country since records began. Twenty people will lose their lives.

September

• September 5: Record-breaking torrential rains hit part of central Greece. One man dies in the city of Volos after a wall collapses.
• September 8: Flooding continues to affect Thessaly and other parts of Greece. So far, seven people are confirmed dead.
• September 11: Six Turkish citizens are ambushed and gunned down in Loutsa, Attica.
• September 23: Maria Sakkari defeats American Caroline Dolehide 7-5, 6-3 to win the WTA 1000 tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico.
• September 25: Stefanos Kasselakis is elected leader of SYRIZA replacing former PM Alexis Tsipras.

October

• October 15: Charis Doukas is elected Mayor of Athens, Stelios Angeloudis is elected Mayor of Thessaloniki.

November

• November 27: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak cancels his scheduled meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis after the latter, in an interview on BBC, called for the return of the Parthenon marbles to Greece.

December

• December 1: Fitch Ratings upgrades Greece to investment grade, raising its sovereign credit rating to BBB- from BB+
• December 4: A new political party, called the "New Left", is formed from 11 disaffected MPs who withdrew from SYRIZA.

Deaths

January

• January 10: Former King Constantine II of Greece.
• January 22: Nikos Xanthopoulos, actor

February

• February 17: Moses Elisaf, mayor of Ioannina, the first Jewish mayor of a Greek city.

March

• March 4: Christos Zanteroglou, footballer
• March 15: Mimis Papaioannou, footballer

April

• April 3: Rena Koumioti, singer

May

• May 15: Yiannis Vogiatzis, singer.
• May 24: George Maharis, Greek-American actor.
• May 31: Theodoros Pangalos, politician.

June

• June 10: Yiannis Markopoulos, composer.
• June 24: Yiannis Dontas, footballer
• June 29: Angela Zilia, singer, actress

July

• July 1: Roberto Gramajo, ex-Panathinaikos footballer

August

• August 11: Lizeta Nikolaou, singer

October

• October 4: Yiannis Ioannidis, basketball player and coach.
• October 6: Mary Chronopoulou, actress
• October 12: Yiannis Michalitsios, football player and coach.

November

• November 7: Nikos Gioutsos, football player
• November 10: Spiros Focas, actor
• November 25: Despina Papadopoulou, wife of dictator George Papadopoulos
• November 28: Antonis Paragios, footballer
• November 30: Vasilis Vasilikos, author

December

• December 12: Kostas Nestoridis, footballer
• December 23: Chronis Aidonidis, singer
• December 24: Vasilis Karras, singer