It includes the following 14 rights: Right to preventive measures, access to care, information, consent , free choice, privacy and confidentiality, respect for patients' time, adherence to quality standards, safety, innovation, avoidance of unnecessary suffering and pain, individualized treatment, right to cancel, right to compensation. The doctors of the Therapeutic Clinic (Alexandra Hospital) of the EKPA School of Medicine Theodora Psaltopoulou (Pathologist, Professor of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine), Yannis Danasis and Thanos Dimopoulos (former Chancellor of EKPA, Professor of Oncology - Hematology and Director of the Therapeutic Clinic) report that all this the rights, based on the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, are vital for European citizens and healthcare services. Most of these rights were also incorporated in the Council conclusions on common values and principles in the health systems of the European Union adopted in June 2006. Strengthening these rights will only become effective with the cooperation and commitment of all healthcare stakeholders in every European country. Therefore, it is necessary to raise awareness about the importance of patients' rights and everyone's responsibilities to ensure their respect, EKPA scientists report. The celebration of the European Patients' Rights Day on 18 April each year in all EU Member States will contribute significantly to achieving this goal, as a common opportunity to inform, discuss and make commitments to improve patients' rights in Europe and in each member state. For this reason, they add, the Active Citizens Network - together with citizens and patient organizations across Europe - took the initiative to organize a European conference to celebrate the European Patients' Rights Day for the last fifteen years. Now, the European Patients' Rights Day has become a regular annual event on the European and national political agenda to inform, debate and make commitments to improve patients' rights in Europe and in each Member State. Every year, also thanks to the network's more than a hundred patients' and citizens' associations, the European Patients' Rights Day is celebrated in hundreds of cities and in various ways across Europe, allowing civil society to fully enter policy-making processes and achieve important goals.

"Any escalation at this time would be a critical threat for regional stability and security. We continue to stand by Israel but, at the same time, we urge all sides to show the necessary restraint in order to avoid a probably very dangerous further escalation," Mitsotakis noted at the start of his meeting with the European Commission vice president. Speaking of issues relating to the rule of law, he underlined that cooperation with the Commission continues to be excellent. "I believe that significant progress has been made, which is also acknowledged by the European Commission. We always take the recommendations of the annual report on the rule of law very seriously and try to comply in the best possible way. I am happy with the progress we have achieved and our teams are all at your disposal to examine the details of the issues you have raised and to ensure that we will respond as much as is possible", he said. On her part, the vice president of the European Commission referred to her very good cooperation with the Greek authorities. "You are aware that all four issues we cover in the report on the rule of law are essential for our democratic systems, whether this has to do with justice and the prosecution stage, or with the legislative process, or the state of the media, the tackling of corruption and the overall the system of institutional controls. It is a very important set of factors or areas that we would like to see working well in all member states," she said.  

Tsitsipas sat holding his head in his hands, briefly crying as he took in his first title of the year and biggest tournament victory for two years.  “I’m very proud of myself today. I had been waiting for a moment like this for a long time,” said the 12th-ranked Tsitsipas, who reached a career-high No. 3 ranking in 2021. “I did not know what was going to happen this week.” The big-serving Greek also won the title in 2021 and 2022 and this latest trophy at the Monte Carlo Country Club took him to 11 career titles overall. “It has been very difficult, so to be back on the podium, winning tournaments, just feels amazing,” Tsitsipas said. “The third time is even more special than the first or second time. This is an unbelievable win for me. Capturing that win today was nerve-wracking, I really wanted this trinity.” It was his first trophy since August last year, when he won a modest ATP 250-level tournament on outdoor hard courts at Los Cabos in Mexico. This was much more prestigious and he shared a warm hug at the net with Ruud, who is chasing his first title of the year and remains stuck on 10 overall. The match featured former French Open runner-ups and offered an early indication of form heading into the clay-court major at next month’s Roland Garros. Tsitsipas was an outsider coming into this tournament, where he was seeded 12th. But he got the better of Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner in the semifinals, handing him only his second defeat of the season to set up a perhaps unexpected final against Ruud, who beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic in Saturday’s other semi. Tsitsipas took an early control. He broke Ruud’s serve and held for 3-1, then secured another break of serve when eighth-seeded Ruud flapped a loose forehand into the net from the back of the court. A nervous-looking Ruud double-faulted on set point. Ruud improved in the second set and pressured Tsitsipas, who saved three break points and took 13 minutes to hold serve in a tough seventh game. That seemed to be Ruud’s last chance while also summing up his erratic match, where he made too many unforced errors and failed to convert any of his eight break-point chances. Tsitsipas hit an ace to win his next service game, leaving Ruud needing to hold serve to stay in the match.  An unforced error at 30-30 saw Ruud patting a straightforward-looking backhand long to offer Tsitsipas a first match point.  He seized the moment. Tsitsipas dominated a brief rally and clinched victory with a forehand winner, then slid on his back with his arms outstretched and put his hands on his face.  “I managed the point relatively well and finished it with the winner,” Tsitsipas said. “I showed some ruthless tennis. From the beginning to the end, my play was cohesive.” Tsitsipas will improve to No. 7 when the ATP rankings are released on Monday.

The oenochoe has a trefoil-shaped mouth and a cover, and is dated to 620-600 BC. Traces of the decoration around its neck are still visible. The vessel had been given to the August Kestner Museum by geology professor Hannfrit Putzer in 1986. It was accompanied by a letter of provenance, which said it had been handed over to him after being discovered by Germans in 1943 during excavations at the southernmost end of the Corinth Canal. The vessel was also accompanied by a description of the trench and its position in it. Commenting on the return of the antiquity, Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said, "The August Kestner Museum joins the group of international museums that have in recent years made great efforts to investigate provenance issues of artifacts in their collections. These (are) museums whose officials have the courage to publicize the results of their research and return to Greece the objects they have determined are linked to illegal acts. The Municipality of Hanover, in its commitment to return cultural artifacts that were stolen during the Nazi occupation to their legal owners, is returning this object of antiquity to Greece. The decision of the Municipality of Hanover and the August Kestner Museum is actual proof of their wish to contribute to the restoration of the damage Greece's cultural heritage suffered, but also to defend the reputation of the August Kestner Museum.  "The Greek state, in the first years after the end of the war, expended systematic effort to locate and repatriate the antiquities that were looted by occupying forces. This indefatigable effort continues to the present by the relevant Directorate for Documentation and Protection of Cultural Property at the Ministry of Culture, bearing fruit consistently. Museums such as the August Kestner one that assume such initiatives are our valuable allies in this effort. I express my sincere thanks to Mayor Belit Onay, Museum Director Anne Gemeinhardt, Greek Consul General in Hamburg Ioannis Vikelidis, and the Ministry staff members who worked for the repatriation of the oenochoe." The oenochoe's provenance was researched by Dr Johannes Schwarz, who was assigned by the Museum the research into the provenance of its objects. The Museum also reached out to the ministry's Directorate of Documentation for the archaeological excavation background. The entire process took two years, until the vessel was handed over by the mayor to the Greek consul general in a ceremony at the Museum in Hanover on Monday that included ministry and Museum officials and members of the local Greek community as well.  

The 12th-ranked Greek player dropped only five points on his first serve and hit 20 winners. He will next face either Jannik Sinner or Holger Rune for a spot in the final at the clay-court event. Tsitsipas won back-to-back titles at the Country Club in 2021 and 2022. Top-ranked Novak Djokovic takes on Alex De Minaur and Ugo Humbert faces Casper Ruud in Friday’s other quarterfinals. 

On the occasion of the inaugural flight, representatives from the Municipality of Athens (This is Athens-CVB), executives from the Athens International Airport, as well as other key players in Athens' tourism market travelled to Shanghai to promote Greece as a top destination to major Chinese travel agents. At a related event held in Shanghai called “ Bridging Cultures in Travel: From Asia to Greece”, the This is Athens-CVB’s team presented the Greek capital to selected travel agents in China and held B2B meetings at the trade event that followed. The event, organized by Hellas Group and My Odyssey Travel, was held at the Hellas House. It is a 1930s building in the heart of Shanghai, that has evolved into a reference point for the cultural and business community of the Chinese city, hosting many important events. Among the passengers on the first flight from Shanghai to Athens were 4 journalists-influencers from China who were hosted in the Greek capital as guests of the Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau (This is Athens-CVB) and the Athens International Airport. As part of the strategy to promote Athens to attract the Chinese market, Athens will take part for the first time in the large tourist exhibition “ ITB China” to be held in Shanghai in May by participating in the Greek National Tourism Organization's (GNTO) stand.  

The temporary rules known as the Temporary Crisis Framework were adopted in March 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and have been tweaked several times since then. Specific rules for the agricultural sector, which allow governments to provide limited aid to companies in the agriculture and fisheries sector hit by sanctions related to the Russian invasion, high energy prices and green measures, are set to expire on June 30th. “The limited prolongation will allow member states to continue providing limited amounts of aid to farmers where needed and ensure that crisis support measures are implemented effectively,” the EU executive said in a statement, without saying how long the limited extension would be. Farmers have staged months of protests in France, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Greece and other countries to draw attention to various complaints, among them EU green policies, cheap supermarket prices and low-cost imports from outside of Europe.  

Amid mounting dissent from both the right and left, the momentous vote proceeded on Wednesday afternoon, despite uncertainties. Dubbed the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, the legislation awaits final approval from member states at the end of the month. The pact aims to manage asylum seekers’ reception and relocation collectively, addressing tensions stemming from the 2015-2016 migration crisis, without altering the long-standing “Dublin principle,” which says the responsibility for an asylum application lies first with the first country of arrival.  The proposal involves various intricate issues like fundamental rights, unaccompanied minors and financial contributions, which slowed down the legislative process. Despite challenges, MEPs unified their position, endorsing the compromise Wednesday. However, the vote saw protests and slight delays, reflecting the controversy surrounding the pact.   “The European Parliament should be setting a higher standard for a humane and sustainable common asylum policy,” Amnesty International said ahead of Wednesday’s vote. “However, this package of proposals shamefully risks subjecting more people, including families with children, to de facto detention at EU borders; denying them a fair and full assessment of their protection needs.” The reform’s success could shape the upcoming June elections, as mainstream parties aim to showcase the EU’s ability to deliver on critical issues. Yet, whether the reform meets expectations remains uncertain, with full implementation expected in about 2 years. [Euronews] Moreover, the approval of a new migration pact by the European Parliament is a major reform on the issue, Hellenic Migration and Asylum Minister Dimitris Kairidis said on Wednesday. Welcoming the result, Kairidis said that following "tough 3-year negotiations," the pact "brings a great change and is a very significant step to a joint - and therefore more effective - management of migration challenges of our times." The Greek government supported this effort from the very start, he added, which "undoubtedly is a historic day for European unification, on a critical issue around which some chose division rather than compromise. Today we proved that European peoples can manage better when united." (Photo: Men return from Libya on the way back to their countries of origin, in Agadez, Niger, Dec. 18, 2023. For years, Niger outlawed migration out of Agadez, a desert outpost in the West African country, in a deal with the European Union, but now the gateway city to the Sahara has reopened to migrants traveling north to Europe. [Carmen Abd Ali/The New York Times])

“57 murdered souls ask for justice,” the large PAOK banner proclaimed, along with an offensive reference to Hellenic Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The fans chanted “No peace without justice” and “in the name of the dead let’s be a voice, let this crime not be covered up.”

The EU mission – dubbed Aspides, from the Greek for “shield” – has escorted 68 ships and repelled 11 attacks since it was established less than two months ago. It only defends civilian vessels and does not take part in any military strikes. The southern part of the Red Sea is deemed a high-risk zone. “Just a single transit of one of our ships between the two larger distances to the area might take about 10 days, and also to cross the high-risk area takes almost two days,” Greek Navy Rear Admiral Vasilios Gryparis, the commander of the mission, told reporters in Brussels on Monday. He said the high-risk zone “has seen multiple attacks in the past months” ranging from threats and intimidation to “complex attacks” using “shore, air and sea-based assets, drones and ballistic missiles.” No one has been hurt. Nineteen of the 27 EU nations are involved in the mission but only four frigates are patrolling. Iran-backed Houthi rebels, which control much of Yemen’s north and west, launched a campaign of drone and missile attacks on shipping in the Red Sea in November. They have also fired missiles toward Israel, although those have largely fallen short or been intercepted. The attacks have hit maritime trade to Egypt and Europe, with only around half the usual number of ships moving through the area. It’s added up to two weeks of transit time for vessels that want to avoid the Suez Canal, hiking transport costs and shipping insurance. The rebels have described their campaign as an effort to pressure Israel to end its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The ships targeted by the Houthis, however, largely have had little or no connection to Israel, the US or other nations involved in the war. Their campaign has continued despite more than two months of US-led retaliatory airstrikes. The EU mission also remains “very vigilant” for any spike in attacks following last week’s airstrike, widely blamed on Israel, which destroyed Iran’s consulate in Syria, killing 12 people, including 2 elite Iranian generals, Gryparis said. Top Iranian officials have promised to retaliate. “We call on Iran to show restraint and to use its influence to avoid escalation, and in particular, with relation to the Houthis,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said, but he added: “I don’t think Iran has full control (of) the Houthi decision-making. They have become quite autonomous.” 

Cyprus has about 1,000 tons of aid destined for starving or severely hungry people in Gaza stored on the island. It is being held there following a decision by World Central Kitchen (WCK) to pause and review activity in the territory after the deaths of its workers on April 1st. The US plans to set up a dock, with a target date of May 1, on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast that will enable aid deliveries which will be pre-screened in Cyprus, with Israeli oversight. With that jetty in place, Cyprus expects aid to resume soon, Cypriot president Nikos Christodoulides said. “We are in communication with countries we have worked with from the outset, so that very soon humanitarian aid from Cyprus will resume after the completion of the US project in Gaza,” he said. 6 months into Israel’s air and ground campaign in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel, the devastated Palestinian enclave faces famine and widespread disease with nearly all its inhabitants now homeless. The WCK had been operational in Gaza since October, using land, air and more recently the sea, to get aid into the enclave to supply its network of more than 60 community kitchens. Workers were mid-way into unloading a second shipment of aid through the Cyprus route when their three-vehicle convoy was hit by Israeli strikes. After WCK announced the pause, a convoy of ships taking part in the mission returned to Cyprus on April 3 with undelivered aid. Initially at anchorage, the ship carrying food was brought to port for offloading after bad weather in Cyprus this week. “The plan is to store the aid until WCK decides what it wants to do,” a Cypriot official told Reuters.

Von der Leyen is the lead candidate of the European People's Party (EPP) in the upcoming European elections and is seeking re-election as president of the European Commission. "That is thanks, above all, to the people of Greece, it is thanks to all of you here in this room, and thanks to New Democracy and to you Kyriakos," she added, addressing Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. "Thanks to you all, Greece's story in the last years is a story of amazing recovery and I want to pay tribute to you for that. This is impressive," von der Leyen said to the gathering, pointing out that, not so long ago, Greece had been staring into the abyss but had now become, under the leadership of the Mitsotakis government, an economic frontrunner. "Under your leadership, Greece's economy has outperformed the Eurozone average. Under your leadership, Greece is driving growth and innovation, it is attracting investment from across the world, and it is home to some of your fastest-growing startups. And you have achieved all of this while supporting people where it matters, their wages, their pensions, their daily life...There is no doubt: you have done Greece proud, you have done Europe proud," she said. Von der Leyen then noted that the key to Greece's transformation has been leadership, courage and trust to deliver on the things that really matter, adding: "In this more volatile and unstable world, this is exactly what Europe will need in the years ahead. And we know that we can do it. Since 2019 we have shown what we can do when Europe is united and ambitious. Together, we overcame a global pandemic, ensuring that citizens in every member-state got their vaccines at the same time. Together, we pulled our economies back from the brink with NextGeneration EU." At this point, she thanked the Greek prime minister "for his invaluable leadership in making that happen." Von der Leyen then spoke of the fight against climate change, noting that Europe was leading this together, through the European Green Deal, while at the same time showing true solidarity to those most affected. She noted that more than 10 countries had provided support to Greece in battling the devastating wildfires in the Alexandroupolis region, just as Greece had helped others in their time of need. "This is European solidarity at its best," she emphasised. Regarding migration, also, she pointed out, it was made clear that Europe will decide who enters the Union and on what terms, not the rings of traffickers, while she underlined the threat of populism, saying it was one of the biggest challenges now facing Europe. She referred to the efforts of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to "wipe out" Ukraine and also referred to his allies within the EU, which she said were openly defying European values. These parties may go by different names, von der Leyen commented, but their goal was the same: to destroy Europe. "We will not allow them to do this, we must stand up to them and strike back," she emphasised, noting that the Russian missile attack on Odesa during the Greek prime minister's visit there showed how ruthless Vladimir Putin could be. The European Commission president concluded by saying that the EU must spend more, in a better and more European way, on defence, insisting that cooperation in defence must be "our future priority". She also noted that the EU must strengthen the competitiveness of its economy and social state, stressing that "the battle for democracy never ends."