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Nikolas Apelaios II described the days leading up to the Italian attack on Greece, from October 23 to 27, 1940, stating that the Greek ambassador in Rome had informed the government that the attack was expected between October 25 and 28. According to him, Italian reconnaissance aircraft were photographing military points of interest, while senior Greek officials considered the attack imminent. Apelaios reported that on October 24, Ioannis Metaxas recorded in his diary rumors of an attack the next day and informed the chiefs of staff to remain in Athens or to notify where they were. On October 25, according to the post, Metaxas informed the Cabinet about the concentration of Italian troops at the border, and the government rejected both substantial territorial concessions and symbolic gestures toward Italy. He noted that Metaxas and his ministers did not attend the premiere of the opera "Madama Butterfly" at the Royal Theater on October 25, in the presence of Antonio Puccini and Curzio Malaparte. From the government, as he wrote, Deputy Foreign Minister Mavroudis and Deputy Minister of Press Nikolidis attended. The next day, Ambassador Politis reported that the Athens–Rome airline had been suspended until further notice. In his narrative, at the reception of the Italian embassy on October 26, Ambassador Grazzi was often absent, while on the upper floor the ultimatum to Greece was being dictated from Rome. Nikolidis called Metaxas early on October 27 regarding reports of incidents at the border. Apelaios noted that the Athens News Agency denied the news at 04:00, following an order from Metaxas. Apelaios also wrote that, on October 27, Greek and Italian officers met to discuss the incidents, while the Greek government was receiving information about the movements of Italian units towards the border. He added that shortly after Metaxas left his office, information arrived from the Italian embassy that a declaration of war was imminent, but it was decided not to inform him. According to him, the Prime Minister's car departed for Kifisia without him knowing the information. #Ιστορία #Ελλάδα #ΔεύτεροςΠαγκόσμιοςΠόλεμος (translated)

The Proper Greek Analyst wrote that, according to a report by the Financial Times on October 16, 2026, Italy had secured a preliminary agreement with the European Commission for an intervention mechanism in wholesale electricity prices when the price of natural gas exceeded 59 euros per MWh. He mentioned that the mechanism was based on the Iberian Exception. The author added that the bill proposed an increase of two percentage points in the IRAP tax for the years 2026 and 2027, with estimated revenues of 1.08 billion euros for the Italian state during the period 2026-2028. According to the post, the additional revenues would be directed towards reducing electricity bills for specific businesses. He also cited a statement from the Italian Prime Minister that the agreement would allow intervention in the way electricity prices were set, in order to address the impact of natural gas costs. The Proper Greek Analyst wondered why Greece was not seeking a similar intervention and criticized Greek journalists for not highlighting the development, as he wrote. In the post, he compared their stance to that of Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the European Council. https://t.co/pAWnS2oBWc #ενεργεια #ρευμα #Κομισιον #καύσιμα #ενεργεια #ρευμα #καύσιμα (translated)

Anavaloglou Georgios mentioned that Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated in Brussels on 16/10 that the government would not distribute money for political reasons. He contrasted the policies of other countries, saying that Italy planned to tax banks with a target of 5 billion euros in revenue by 2027, the Netherlands aimed to impose an extraordinary contribution of 617 million euros, and Austria would extend an additional contribution of 300 million euros for the same year. He added that Slovakia would maintain an increased tax rate for banks in 2027 as well. Regarding refineries, Anavaloglou said that Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland, and Austria had requested a windfall tax from the Commission, while Greece was not among those countries. He cited pre-tax profits of 1.998 billion euros for the two Greek refineries in the first half of 2026, compared to 210 million euros in the corresponding period last year: 891.7 million for Motor Oil and 1.106.4 million for HELLENiQ. He also referenced an interview on ERT on 17/9, where, according to him, Mitsotakis said he preferred money to be returned to citizens through fuel prices rather than collected by the state budget. Anavaloglou noted that the refineries received subsidies of 277 million euros, while the heating allowance increased by only 52 million euros compared to last year. He concluded that this was a political choice and raised the question of whether the Prime Minister sought to be popular with citizens or with those, as he wrote, who profited from the crisis and from whom he sought electoral support. #πολιτική #φορολογία #Ελλάδα (translated)

Emmanuel Macron described the discussion on immigration in the EU as highly politicized and a source of division, as disagreements between member states such as Spain and Italy over the approach to the crisis prevented the support of a common text. #Μετανάστευση #ΕΕ #Διχασμός (translated)

The Rome Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation against two Israeli ministers for operations related to the Global Sumud Flotilla, focusing on violations of international law and the conditions of detention of activists. #Ιταλία #GlobalSumudFlottilla #ΔιεθνέςΔίκαιο (translated)

Amalia claimed that the Bulgarian occupation in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace continued from September 9 to October 26, 1944, with the complicity of the EAM. She wrote that this period was omitted by leftist historiography and that, after the communist-controlled Patriotic Front took power in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian forces did not withdraw from the Greek areas that had been ceded by the Germans. According to her, the EAM followed a "brotherhood" line with the occupiers and had agreed to the annexation of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace to Bulgaria. She also claimed that Soviet officers and soldiers had arrived in Komotini, Xanthi, and Drama, saying they were waiting for units for operations in Thessaloniki. Amalia stated that George Papandreou informed Churchill, who requested from Moscow and Sofia the complete withdrawal of the Bulgarian troops; according to the post, they left on October 26. Amalia added that Bulgaria attempted in July 1946, at the Paris Peace Conference, to claim Western Thrace with the support of the USSR, but the British rejected the request. As sources, she cited works by V. Kontis and S. Sfetas, Andreas Papandreou, Vasileios Kontis, and Chris Woodhouse. #Βουλγαρία #Ιστορία #Κατοχή (translated)

Jordan Bardella compared doubts about the National Rally's budget to the initial criticisms of Giorgia Meloni before she took office as Prime Minister of Italy, noting that the greatest risk for France is to remain on its current economic path. #Γαλλία #ΕθνικόςΣυναγερμός #ΔημόσιοςΤομέας (translated)

The Proper Greek Analyst criticized publications from Kontra, Eleftheros Typos, Political, and Dimokratia, arguing that they presented as a Greek success an exception that would pave the way for a reduction of fuel taxes or investments amounting to 1 billion euros. He described the coverage as misleading and said it confused two different requests. According to him, the government's request for temporary reductions in the Special Consumption Tax or VAT on fuels not to be counted toward the deficit was rejected. He argued that such measures would directly support citizens and businesses and that they had been implemented without requests to the Commission from 11 EU countries. He also cited a Reuters publication regarding the rejection of requests from Greece and Italy for greater fiscal flexibility. On the contrary, he mentioned that a request for exemption from fiscal rules on spending for energy projects had been accepted. In his post, this possibility did not concern only Greece: a Commission announcement dated 18/8/26, with code C/2026/4514, stipulated an exemption of up to 0.6% of GDP cumulatively over two years for countries that would apply. He estimated that this corresponded for Greece to 1.56 billion euros, with an GDP of 260 billion euros at current prices in 2026, and not the 1 billion euros that, as he wrote, the government planned to allocate. The Proper Greek Analyst added that Italy's request, which, according to ANSA, concerned 0.6% of GDP or 14 billion euros, was expected to be approved by Monday. He contrasted this amount with the 0.38% of GDP or 1 billion euros attributed to the Greek plan. For Greek projects, he mentioned grants of 200 million euros for energy storage batteries from renewable sources, 320 million euros for railroad safety and expansion projects, 200 million euros for heat pumps and solar water heaters for 100,000 beneficiaries, 117 million euros for energy upgrades of 109 public buildings and universities, 50 million euros for photovoltaics, batteries, and heating systems for 10,000 beneficiaries, 50 million euros for carbon capture and storage in industry, and 45 million euros for 246 school units. He stated that, beyond the subsidies for households, the remaining projects would not directly benefit citizens. #Ελλάδα #ενέργεια #δημοσιονομικά (translated)