When a game is out 'in Europe' it generally means it is out in Germany and sometimes in France, too. (sometimes even in Russia, I think?).
Sinking Island has been released in both French and Germany last year - during the fall of 2007.
It really is the publisher who decides where to release a game first. And yes, I agree, that Greece seems to have been fortunate enough to get games released in Greece first
The Scandinavian UK version also seems to be draggin' a bit behind the release of either the German or the US - or even the UK version for England/UK. I can wait with buying the games I need to buy - simply
because I know that I get better games when I buy them later e.g. more
bugs fixed through numerous and varius patches.