2008

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Events

January

February

March

  • March 3: NATO secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer comes to Athens to discuss Greece's threat to veto the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's (FYROM) bid for NATO membership. NATO member Greece has vowed to block FYROM's bid to join the alliance unless the name issue is resolved.
  • March 3: Georgi Vasilev resigned as coach of Greek Super League club Levadiakos - a day after his team slumped to a 3-0 home defeat by fellow struggling team OFI Crete.
  • March 6: NATO foreign ministers debated whether to invite three Balkans countries (Albania, Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to join the military alliance, as Greece threatened to veto the entry of FYROM because of the Macedonia name dispute.
  • March 8: A train derailed near Larisa causing injuries to 23 persons.
  • March 11: Greek electricity utility unions vowed to extend their strike in protest against a pension reform bill with more power cuts, and council workers joined a strike over the bill that unions say cuts benefits.
  • March 11: Olympiacos CFP parts company with head coach Panagiotis Lemonis despite the club lying in second place in the Super League.
  • March 13: The tourist ship "Giorgis" runs aground 3 nautical miles from Poros.
  • March 19: Millions of Greeks walked off the job in the third general strike since December, causing the cancellation of dozens of flights, stranding ships at ports and shutting down public services including schools, ministries and banks. Tens of thousands of people took part in a march through the Greek capital Athens to protest the conservative government's plans to overhaul the country's debt-ridden pension system, which risks going bankrupt in 20 years.
  • March 20: Greece's parliament has narrowly passed the conservative government's controversial pension reform bill that triggered mass public protests. The bill passed with 151 votes in favor, 13 against and 136 abstentions.
  • March 25: Republic of Macedonia (Skopje) is the latest name proposal in the UN-led talks between the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Greece. The proposal was presented by United Nations envoy Matthew Nimitz in New York.
  • March 26: Greece's opposition Socialist party submitted a censure motion against the government over pension reforms, raising the possibility that the government could fall by the end of the weekend.
  • March 31: The IAAF, track and field's international governing body, awarded Katerina Thanou with Marion Jones's 100-meter silver medal from the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton.
  • March 31: Apostolos Vavilis, a mysterious character who became a confidant of high-ranking Church of Greece figures, including the late Archbishop Christodoulos, and was implicated in a series of church scandals, posted bail of €10,000 and walked out of Korydallos Prison, where he had been kept in custody for two years. Three years ago, Apostolos Vavilis was Greece's most wanted man. He was released because there was "not enough evidence to try Vavilis for breaching state secrets or for fraud."

April

  • April 2: Greece stands by its threat on Wednesday to veto NATO membership for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia despite pressure from U.S. President George W. Bush.
  • April 4: Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis's popularity has received a boost after Greece stopped the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) from joining NATO; most Greeks agree that ties between the two countries need to improve.
  • April 7: Greek media reported that 11 members of the weightlifting team tested positive in a surprise inspection by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
  • April 9: Suspended national weightlifting coach Christos Iakovou protested his innocence, insisting that he did not knowingly give 11 weightlifters banned substances. He blamed a Chinese company that allegedly supplied what he thought were approved food supplements for the mix-up.
  • April 10: Greek police asked Interpol to help shed light on a doping case involving positive tests from 11 of the country's top weightlifters.
  • April 11: Turkish Cypriot leader, Mehmet Ali Talat, used the newly-opened Ledra Street crossing to visit the Greek side of Lefkosia. Talat called his impromptu visit a "message of friendship".
  • April 20: Strawberry farmers clash with their workers in Nea Manolada, Elis.
  • April 20: Olympiakos beat Iraklis in the final game day of the Greek Super League to claim the championship title, pending a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland for the outcome of game Apollon Kalamaria-Olympiakos
  • April 21: The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland turns down the appeal by Apollon Kalamarias against their point deduction for fielding Roman Wallner in an Apollon Kalamaria vs Olympiakos game.

May

June

Evangelia Vlami and Dimitris Tsabounis, address reporters during a news conference in Athens June 5, 2008.
  • June 2: Evangelia Vlami became the first woman to marry another woman in Greece, and Dimitris Tsabounis was the first man in the country's first same-sex marriages that were conducted on the tiny Aegean Sea island of Tilos. They said they went ahead with the weddings after being ignored by the state. The civil ceremonies, conducted by Tilos mayor Tassos Aliferis.
  • June 4: Panathinaikos BC win their sixth consecutive A1 Division basketball title.
  • June 4: Soap opera actor Nikos Sergianopoulos was found stabbed to death in his apartment in Pangrati, eastern Athens.
  • June 4: Custom authorities of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) prevent a Greek KFOR military contingent from entering the country on its way to Kosovo.
  • June 5: Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's president cancels a trip to Greece because Athens refuses to allow his plane to land due to the ongoing dispute over the name Macedonia.
  • June 7: Former Princess Alexia and husband Carlos Morales Quintana christened their seven-month-old daughter Amelia Morales in Lanzarote, a Spanish island, is the easternmost of the Canary Islands. Amelia Morales was baptished in the Greek orthodox ceremony.
  • June 8: A strong earthquake (6.5 on the Richter scale) rocks Andravida, causing 2 fatalities.
  • June 9: Police said three gunmen kidnapped Giorgos Mylonas, 49, as he drove up to his home in the northern city of Thessaloniki with his wife. They forced his wife out of the car and drove off. The vehicle was found abandoned shortly afterward about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away.
  • June 10: European soccer champions Greece began the defence of the title won as outsiders during the last tournament with a disappointing 0-2 defeat at the hands of Sweden.
  • June 12: PASOK leader George Papandreou informed former Prime Minister Costas Simitis that he would no longer be considered a deputy of the Socialist party after publishing a letter criticizing his successor’s choices. Simitis responded by firing off another letter to Papandreou, highlighting the fact that PASOK has lost every election since he took control of the party.
  • June 14: Greece lose 1-0 to Russia and are eliminated from Euro 2008.
  • June 15: Goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis and defender Paraskevas Antzas both announced their retirement from international soccer after Greece's early exit from Euro 2008.
  • June 15: Aphrodite Skafida breaks the Greek pole vault record with a jump of 4.55m
  • June 15: Stella Papadopoulou breaks the Greek hammer throw record with a 71.80m performance.
  • June 15: Piyi Devetzi jumps 14.92 meters – a world best for this year – to win the triple-jump final at Athens’ Olympic Stadium where the Greek championship was held.
  • June 18: Greece lose to Spain (1-2) in their 3rd and final game in the group stage of Euro 2008. Angelos Charisteas scores Greece's lone goal in the tournament. The defending Euro 2004 champions, Greece, finish last in their group with an embarrassing three loses and zero points.
  • June 19: National volleyball team coach Alekos Leonis quit his post suddenly, to take over at Panathinaikos. He has agreed to manage the Greens for the next two years, according to the federation.
  • June 22: Three policemen, one of whom was shot in the head, were rushed to the hospital after being fired at as they approached a cannabis plantation near the village of Malades, 9 miles (15 kilometers) south of Heraklion, Crete. The incident revived memories of an ambush on police in the mountain village of Zoniana, in Rethymnon prefecture, last year.
  • June 22: Giorgos Mylonas, head of Greece's Alumil Aluminium company and Federation of Industries of Northern Greece (SBBE) president, who was kidnapped two weeks ago, was freed unharmed, after his family paid a ransom -- quoted police sources saying it was 12 million euros (£9.5m). Hours after his release, he announce his resignation from the post, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.

Deaths

January

March

April

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