The news that cigarette prices would be raised by 5 eurocents a pack sent many smokers to kiosks to stock up before prices go up.

Samaras and Barroso both sought to strike an upbeat note at an official ceremony for Greece’s assumption of the European Union’s Presidency emphasizing the country’s progress and playing down the fragility of Samaras’s government.

Controversial ultranationalist Nick Griffin MEP has been invited by Golden Dawn mp Elias Kasidiaris to Athens for the presentation of the Golden Dawn appeal to the Court of Human Rights.