German newspaper Die Welt published an article revealing that the northern borders of Greece and Bulgaria are not being guarded sufficiently, leading to more immigrants passing through Greece to Germany and central Europe via the Balkan route.

At the invitation of Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, former President of Iceland, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew delivered the keynote address to the Arctic Circle Assembly before a gathering of 2,000 participants from governments, corporations, universities and ecological institutions.

“I can say with certainty that Greece is back”, said Greek PM Alexis Tsipras in the English language at the reception held in his honour by the Consulate General of Greece in Chicago at the National Hellenic Museum.

The visit of the Greek Prime Minister to Chicago and Washington bears with it strong political, economic and diplomatic symbolism, and on Fridayy Alexis Tsipras leaves with the Greek mission for the United States.