The debate will resume at 09:00 in the morning and a roll-call vote will start around 20:00-21:00. The 3-day debate on the censure motion in the parliament plenary will conclude with the speeches of the political party leaders and come to a close with the speech of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. PASOK-KINAL leader Nikos Androulakis tabled a four-party censure motion against the government on Tuesday afternoon. Speaking in parliament, he said: "We assumed this initiative to put a final end to anything offending against the rule of law and, consequently, the proud Greek people." The motion was tabled together with the main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, Nea Aristera and Plefsi Eleftherias parties. Moreover, the result of the vote is a foregone conclusion given the majority enjoyed in Parliament by ruling New Democracy. It will be preceded by the speeches of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the leaders of the opposition parties, which are expected to be particularly acrimonious given the first two days of the debate, marking the beginning of a long period of polarization until the European elections. Although the motion of no confidence concerned more than one issue, the speeches of most ministers, MPs and parliamentary representatives, as well as the interventions of some of the political leaders, focused on the fatal train crash in Tempe, central Greece in February 2023. Little time was devoted to the other issues, especially the “rule of law” aspect raised by the opposition. The co-signatories of the motion accuse the government of attempting to cover up responsibilities for the train crash, while the government has insisted that the judiciary will have the final say. What was clear in Wednesday’s debate was the government’s intention to rectify any mistakes made, as the statements by the ministers of foreign affairs and labor, George Gerapetritis and Domna Michailidou, suggested. “This government has the courage to check things, to do the necessary self-control, to look at the issues that arise with vigor, with courage and boldness, and, when necessary, with self-criticism,” Gerapetritis said.

The decision by its new owner, Cypriot businessman Andreas Christodoulides, who bought it along with another Onassis Olympic Airways-era plane, which is now in Lavrio, where it is being restored, is to showcase an era of modern Greek history. “These airplanes are historic for Greece and Hellenism, the Olympic airplanes should be remembered by the world and our children and our grandchildren,” he says. His goal was to buy them for the public to view and appreciate. A great admirer of Onassis, Christodoulides said he bought the planes so that the Greeks would not forget – “so that the world remembers Elliniko [Athens’ former airport), Olympic and Onassis.” “I feel proud of Greece… it is as if I have bought the Acropolis, and I am putting it somewhere for Hellenism to see.” Christodoulides has for the last 18 years been the owner of Zela Aviation, while about two years ago, when he returned to Greece from London after 38 years, he founded its subsidiary, Zela Jets.

In particular, delays are observed on Athens Avenue, from the height of Chaidari, as well as on the road section of the Athens-Corinth highway from Elefsina to Megara. On the contrary, the picture is much better on the Athens-Lamia highway where there is a constant flow. According to the data of Attica Traffic, from 6 am yesterday until 6 am today, 95,867 vehicles left Attica. In particular, 53,835 vehicles passed the toll road to Corinth and 42,041 to Lamia. Due to the increased traffic of excursionists, both the staff and the means of the Hellenic Police, mainly the Traffic Police Services, are on increased operational readiness, while increased measures have been taken throughout the country's road network, with the aim of the safe movement of citizens and the prevention of traffic accidents.

These are for during the period from March 15 to 18th, aiming at the safe movement of citizens and the prevention of traffic accidents. These measures include policing of roads and at the entrances and exits of major urban centers where there is heavy traffic, traffic regulations, and traffic management.

The new flight will operate daily except on Saturdays, leaving Athens at 16:00 local time and London/Heathrow at 19:00 local time. It will be available as of March 6 on booking systems and the new itinerary will begin on March 31, continuing throughout the year, including summer and winter seasons. Similarly, Aegean is increasing the frequency of flights to other major European cities, such as Frankfurt (5 daily flights to and from Athens, Thessaloniki, Iraklio), Larnaca (7 flights to/from Athens and 1 to/from Thessaloniki), Rome, Zurich, Geneva, Paris, Berlin, and the new destination of Dubai.

"Trains will resume operations with safety at the maximum possible level," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said weeks after the crash. One year on, however, crash experts and railway officials say little has been done to significantly improve train safety, despite mounting evidence that system deficiencies helped cause the accident. Remote train control and communication systems, mandatory under European Union law, are still not functioning, officials told Reuters. Railway staff numbers at the main rail operator have fallen since the crash, and those remaining await fresh training. A lack of reform to Greece's fragmented railway management has slowed progress, they said. The situation worries experts who say that Greece's rail network is prone to future accidents if safety is not improved. Meanwhile, grieving families and survivors demand answers. "We haven't learned our lesson and haven't acted," said Costas Lakafossis, an accident investigator commissioned by victims' relatives. "Unfortunately, the railway is not in a better state." The Greek transport ministry told Reuters it is implementing a comprehensive plan to revamp the railway and that there has been significant progress in upgrading railway safety, despite extensive damage caused by flooding in September. Panagiotis Terezakis, head of Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE) which operates the rail network, says it is safe. The OSE had installed 300 infrared cameras in tunnels since the crash and had made progress on the installation of safety systems. He acknowledged, though, that more needs to be done. OSE has 640 employees, according to unions, fewer than 2023 and half the number in 2013. It plans to hire 90 people next month and up to 500 soon, Terezakis said, adding that the OSE employs 0.4 workers per km of rail, nearly half the EU average. "This is a railway system which for the past 15 years has been in decline. You cannot resurrect it within a year," he told Reuters, adding that red tape remained a big hurdle. "I have a degree in engineering. I am not God." SYSTEMS LACKING On Feb. 28, 2023, a passenger train packed with students collided head-on with a freight train just before midnight on a line linking Athens with Greece's second city Thessaloniki. The crash, the country's deadliest in history, triggered protests across Greece, where it was seen as the result of a wider neglect of public services following a decade-long financial crisis. The government promised reform. It commissioned an investigation, seen by Reuters, which found that the crash might have been averted if two key systems had been in place: ETCS, which can remotely control a train's speed and its brakes; and GSM-R, a wireless network allowing communication between station masters, train drivers and traffic controllers. GSM-R is still not activated on all trains, two OSE officials told Reuters. The ETCS has been installed across rail tracks, after a nine-year delay, but is not operational as it has not been added to trains pending certification, four OSE workers and officials told Reuters. An EU prosecutor has charged 18 Greek public officials for over multiple, illegal extensions to the project. Flooding later damaged telecom systems across a 90-km section on the same Athens-Thessaloniki route. The cost to restore it is estimated at 450 million euros by the government. "The situation remains largely the same, unfortunately," said Nikolaos Tsikalakis, head of the workers union at OSE. The EU Agency for Railways completed a safety assessment last year, whose draft findings were seen by Reuters. It said EU regulations were not implemented correctly in Greece, while underfunding and a complex system of overlapping agencies had slowed change. "There appears to be no entity in Greece taking on overall responsibility to ensure railway safety," the draft said. A planned merger of OSE and its subsidiaries will help address administration issues, the transport ministry said. HAUNTING Survivors and relatives are still haunted. Maria Karistianou, who lost her 20-year-old daughter in the disaster, says politicians must assume responsibility for a crash caused also by systemic deficiencies. So far, about 800,000 people have signed a petition to scrap laws protecting ministers from prosecution. "The state is still playing with our pain, our grieving and undermines the entire society," Karistianou told Reuters. Survivors said they were suffering from post-traumatic stress and struggling with haunting nightmares, according to five lawsuits against the state, seen by Reuters. A year later, they are still experiencing the same stress, their lawyers said. Crash survivor Stavroula Kapsali said everything has changed in her life - she cannot sleep and is constantly frightened. She has not been on trains since the crash, fearing they are not safe. "How can you not pay attention to systems providing passenger safety?" she said.  "I feel I left a piece of myself in there...The burden is huge."     (Photo: Relatives of the 57 victims of Greece’s deadliest train crash, react during a memorial service to mark a year from the crash, in Tempi, Greece, February 28, 2024. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis)

The drivers have voiced vehement opposition to the government’s economic policies, labeling them as a catalyst for conflict. They argue that these policies systematically undermine various forms of independent entrepreneurship throughout Greece. Amidst the strike action, SATA plans to convene a comprehensive assembly of the sector at the Peristeri Exhibition Center on February 28th. The aim is to realign their founding principles with the current legislative framework. Furthermore, taxi drivers intend to stage a protest rally and march towards the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. SATA is urging taxi drivers nationwide to participate in this mobilization effort.

According to the Fire Department, all the passengers are in good health. Digging machinery from the Western Greece regional authority are expected to starting removing the soil and fallen rocks. Fire brigade and police forces are on the scene to provide assistance if needed, while the passengers are to be transported by bus.

  More specifically, procedures will resume from Saturday, 24th of February, 2024, at 15:00, the Civil Aviation Authority announced on Friday.

Police representatives said the main concern was to ensure there was no excessive interruption of traffic in the Greek capital. Specificially, tractors will be accompanied by patrol cars from Kastro (Viotia prefecture) and from Megara (Attica Region) as they travel to Athens. Buses with farmers from various parts of Greece will park at the Olympic Stadium. The following will be affected in central Athens: - A temporary stop to traffic will be implemented along the route of Athinon Avenue, Achilleos, and Karaiskaki, for tractors. They will travel to Syntagma Square following the reverse traffic direction, along Agiou Konstantinou Avenue, Omonia Square, and Panepistimiou Avenue. A short ban on traffic will be implemented around Omonia Square. - On Vassilissis Sofias, traffic will be banned from the parliament building, and the incoming traffic will be diverted at Sekeri Street. - Cars using Akadimias Street will be be using only the outbound lane of Vassilissis Sofias. - Bus and trolley schedules will be modified along all the affected routes. Future queries or information is available at police, while updates will be posted on a banner on the police web page and at its social media account: www.astynomia.gr. Furthermore, visitos should be advised that, as evidenced in the past, if clashes break out at any time during the rally, the downtown Metro stations tends to shut down. Therefore, plan your exit carefully.  

In the last few hours, farmers, breeders and beekeepers are organizing every detail for their smooth entry into the capital in view of the huge rally, having on their side labor unions, students and mass organizations of Attica. In most areas, the coordinating bodies of the rural associations have met and decided on the means of transport they will use for their descent to Athens. According to information from MEGA, the farmers will start on Monday from the 2 central blocks, Karditsa (E65) and Platykambos. On Tuesday morning, the blockades together with the farmers of the whole country will start heading for Athens, where a rally at the Syntagma has been set for 18:30. Earlier, at 17:30, there will be a rally in Omonia. The pre-gatherings are scheduled for the afternoon as follows: Omonia: Federations and unions of workers in the Food - Beverage, Pharmaceutical, Press - Paper and Textile industries, Unions of Workers in the Energy, Water and Chemical Industry, Federation of Craft Unions of Attica, Unions and Associations of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants, mass organizations of the municipalities of Attica. Santaroza Square (opposite REX): Unions of workers in Telecommunications, Couriers, Finance, Federation and unions of Accountants - Auditors, Union of Salaried Lawyers, workers in the media, Association of Commercial Employees of Athens, Union of Private Employees of Athens, Union of Artists, Union of Cleaners - Cleaners. Propylaia: Federations and Unions of public sector workers, Student Associations. Employees in the private sector of Health and Education. Associations of Training Students Constitution: Lavrio Labor Center, Piraeus Labor Center, Builders' Federation and Union, Construction Unions, Food - Tourism - Hotel Employees Union, Metal and Shipbuilding Industry Union, Shipping Unions, Dockers Unions and Urban Transport Workers Unions, mass organizations of Southern and Eastern Suburbs, Federations and Unions of Pensioners, Federation of Women of Greece. Meetings upon meetings at EL.AS (police) In the official meeting that took place on Sunday morning under the leadership of EL.AS, the operational plan was discussed, i.e. the way the authorities will manage the descent of farmers in Athens with tractors and buses. The aim is, as police sources say, for the rally to take place smoothly and not to disrupt, as much as possible, the economic and social life in the capital. Care will also be taken for a specific space to park the vehicles that will come to Athens. The thermometer is rising in the government In Maximos, the thermometer has gone up, while official meetings are ongoing at the Police headquarters for the measures to be taken on Tuesday (20/02). According to police sources, uncontrolled movement of tractors will not be allowed in the capital, while there will also be a police escort on the farmers' vehicles, both on the route from the blocks to the capital, and vice versa. Voridis: We satisfied most requests The political leadership, for its part, declares itself ready to continue the dialogue, whenever the farmers want it. On the occasion of the cutting of the New Year's pie of the local organization of the New Democracy, the Minister of State Makis Voridis from the akritic Florina, referred to the agricultural mobilizations, saying: "Most of the demands of the farmers have been satisfied. We would like to satisfy the whole but there is not the fiscal space to do so. The vast majority of farmers know that this government is doing everything it can – and has proven – to stand by the farmers and keep them producing,” improving, among other things, their income, he emphasized. We have said what we had to say as a government, but beyond that, of course every branch and every class has the right, within the framework of legality, to express and formulate their demands". 3-hour blockade of Egnatia In the meantime, the farmers on the Egnatia road, in Halkidiki and Imathia, proceeded to new blockades. Specifically, at 6:00 pm on Sunday, olive producers of Halkidiki blocked Egnatia road from both sides, at the junction of Moudania, while in Imathia, Egnatia was blocked shortly before 7 pm, with a block of farmers at the Niselio junction . The farmers staged a pedestrian protest, while traffic on Egnatia street in both areas were  restored after 8 pm.

Heraklion airport is one of 2 serving domestic and foreign flights on Crete, a popular tourist destination in the Mediterranean Sea. The airport's 2 runways will be off service from 0830 GMT on Feb. 19 to 1300 GMT on Feb. 24 for tarmac maintenance, the Greek civil aviation authority said in a statement. Only emergency helicopter flights for the transport of patients will be allowed over that period, it added. (REUTERS)