The surprising comeback of the Greek economy after the years of the Troika was highlighted in an article run by the Italian newspaper "La Repubblica", which cited the country's surprising good economic performance in 2024, including a surplus of 1.3% of GDP at a time when the European Union as a whole was recording a deficit of 3.2%.
As it noted in the article on Wednesday, this is "an exceptional performance for a country like Greece, which 15 years ago had its public debt downgraded to junk."
The newspaper reported on the one-billion-euro package of benefits and higher public investment programme spending announced by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis after the surplus was announced, as well as referring to the preliminary agreement announced with the British Museum over the return of the Parthenon Sculptures to Athens.
"A symbolic move, but one that would finally recognise modern Greece as the legitimate heir of that ancient Greece, which was also the cradle of Western civilization," the article said.