Greek PM Tsipras Announces New International University in Thessaloniki

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Saturday announced the creation of a new international university headquartered in Thessaloniki and operating various departments in Thessaloniki, Serres, Kavala, Kilkis, Drama, and Katerini.
The prime minister made the announcement during a meeting with representatives of educational institutions at his Thessaloniki office, before attending the official opening of the first completed metro station in the city.
The new international university will be formed through the collaboration of the Technological Educational Institutes (TEI) of Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia and Eastern Macedonia-Thrace, as well as the current International University.
“It will be a primarily outward-looking university with foreign language courses which, based on the significant work already produced by its personnel in the four institutions of which it is constituted, will cover a range of subjects, linked with both international affairs and local and regional specializations,” Tsipras said.
“A great new university with its gaze turned to the future,” the prime minister added, noting that it is a project that will help northern Greece be part of the new era that the government is planning for Greek universities.
The meeting was attended by Education Minister Costas Gavroglou, Deputy Macedonia-Thrace Minister Katerina Notopoulou, the head of the PM’s office in Thessaloniki and representatives of the four educational institutes involved.
Tsipras inaugurates first Thessaloniki metro station

Later, the prime minister inaugurated the first completed station of the Thessaloniki metro system, the ‘Sintrivani-Ekthesi’.
In statements to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA), the head of Attiko Metro SA Yiannis Mylopoulos commented: “This is the first time that the completion of the Thessaloniki metro appears on the horizon.”
“We picked one of the stations on the main line to take to the final stage, to complete fully, so that it can serve as a reference station, to be a station where any Thessaloniki citizen of this country can see exactly what the metro stations will look like in two years time,” Mylopoulos said.
The Attic Metro president noted that the entire system will be ready for operation and use by Christmas in 2020, while 2019 will be a crucial year for its completion since the trains will be delivered and the first test runs will take place in the summer.
(Source: Athens-Macedonian News Agency)