The government on Friday tabled a draft amendment in Parliament that exempts Orthodox monasteries on the all-male monastic community of Mount Athos from paying property taxes.
The amendment, in fact, would tax-exempt properties owned by the monasteries outside Mount Athos, a semi-autonomous territory in northern Greece, essentially the eastern-most of three promontories that jut out from verdant Halkidiki prefecture.
The draft amendment was included as a rider in an unrelated digital policy ministry draft bill proscribing an electronic platform for purchasing television advertising time – itself a controversial initiative that the political opposition and broadcasters claim is unique in the western world.
