Greece to formally assume EU rotating presidency

ATHENS — Authorities shut down roads and deployed riot police in central Athens today (Jan 8) as Greece prepared to formally assume the European Union’s rotating six-month presidency with a ceremony to be attended by EU commissioners.
Events kicked off in the early afternoon with a visit by the commissioners, led by Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, to the capital’s Zappeion conference center, ahead of the evening opening ceremony to be held at the Athens Concert Hall.
A subway station near the concert hall was to close for several hours ahead of the ceremony, while a helicopter hovered overhead as Prime Minister Antonis Samaras showed Mr Barroso and the other commissioners around Zappeion. More than 2,000 police were on duty for the events.