Pages

Welcome, 77 artists, 40 different points of Attica welcomes you by singing Erotokritos an epic romance written at 1713 by Vitsentzos Kornaros

Monday, June 18, 2012

G20 summit: Barroso blames eurozone crisis on US banks

EC president says European leaders have not come to Mexico to receive lessons on how to handle the economy

The opening day of the G20 summit was threatening to deteriorate into a fractious row between eurozone countries and other non-European members of the G20, notably the US, as EU commission president José Manuel Barroso insisted the origins of the eurozone crisis lay in the unorthodox policies of American capitalism.

As Europe's leaders came under intense pressure to act decisively to cure the euro's ills, and a campaign gathered pace to relax some of the austerity programmes laying waste to countries burdened with unsustainable debt levels, Barroso insisted that Europe had not come to the G20 summit in Mexico to receive lessons on how to handle the economy.

When asked by a Canadian journalist "why should North Americans risk their assets to help Europe?" he replied: "Frankly, we are not here to receive lessons in terms of democracy or in terms of how to handle the economy.

"By the way this crisis was not originated in Europe … seeing as you mention North America, this crisis originated in North America and much of our financial sector was contaminated by, how can I put it, unorthodox practices, from some sectors of the financial market."

After the Greek election at the weekend, which may have shifted the terms of the debate over how to shore up the euro, world leaders meeting in Mexico focused on the European crisis amid strong signs of big trouble brewing in Spain.

Madrid's 10-year cost of borrowing went through the 7% barrier on the bond markets for the first time in the single currency era, the level at which borrowing becomes unaffordable. The Spanish government demanded intervention from the European Central Bank.

Spain's prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, is expected to ask for up to €100bn in eurozone bailout funds for Spain's stricken banks at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Luxembourg on Thursday, senior Eurogroup sources said. Voicing exasperation with the European response to the debt crisis, Robert Zoellick, the outgoing American head of the World Bank, warned the G20 summit in Mexico of a growing rift between the Europeans in charge of the bailouts and the IMF.

"The world's waiting for the Europeans to say what they want to do," said Zoellick. He predicted a showdown between the IMF and Europe by the end of the summer in the absence of any decisive action.

Barack Obama was expected to press Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, in Mexico on Monday night on the issue of eurobonds – the pooling of liability for single currency countries' debt. But there is no chance of Merkel agreeing to underwrite the debt of other European countries for the foreseeable future.

Fresh from his victory in the Greek election, the centre-right leader, Antonis Samaras, promptly tabled demands for a softening of the draconian austerity programme that Greece has to implement for the eurozone bailout.

Samaras, the prime minister-designate pledged to stick broadly to the Greek bailout terms but added: "We will simultaneously have to make some necessary amendments to the bailout agreement, in order to relieve the people of crippling unemployment and huge hardships."

Politicians and officials in Brussels and Germany appeared to suggest that the new Greek leader's demands could be at least partly satisfied by extending the repayment schedule on the bailout loans or lengthening the target deadlines for cutting the budget deficit.

There were also reports that the terms underpinning Ireland's bailout could also be relaxed, giving Dublin a much longer repayment schedule on the loans. The talk of rescheduling the Greek bailout terms surfaced quickly on Sunday night, with the German foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, suggesting the Europeans could alter the timings. That triggered a row in Germany among the political class over the pros and cons of going easier on Greece.

In Brussels, the respected Bruegel thinktank said: "It is now increasingly clear that the [Greek] programme is severely off track. The [Samaras] victory doesn't change this fact and it has become unavoidable to open a discussion about the shape and form of a new Greek programme. This is a fact now broadly acknowledged by policymakers and in particular by German officials who have openly discussed the possibility of stretching fiscal targets."

Martin Schulz, the German social democrat who presides over the European parliament, added: "The new Greek government will be able to count on our constructive cooperation in possible fine-tuning of its reform strategy and economic targets. If Greece sticks to its commitments, the EU can examine what could be done further to solve the crisis."

From Mexico, however, Merkel appeared to dismiss any easing of the Greek conditions. "The new Greek government has to implement the commitments entered into by the country. The programme framework has to be kept."

The eurogroup source said that Samaras was expected to show up in Luxembourg on Thursday for the meeting of eurozone finance ministers which will grapple with Spain and how to respond to the Greek election results.


guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


To end this impasse, let us tap Europe's vast wealth | Polly Toynbee

Faced with a crisis almost as grave as war, social democrats must act in concert to end the toxic policies of austerity

All these words are Greek: crisis, chaos and apocalypse. Or, if the world was cleverer, this could still end in catharsis, and renewal. Market furies tear the heart out of Europe, first Greece, then Spain, Italy and France, and finally the world; so even beleaguered pro-Europeans give the euro's survival no more than a 50:50 chance. If all that's left is a tight little German and northern league, why would the EU stay together after that? The guttering flame of the European idea is hard to keep alight in this hurricane.

But it's not impossible. Look how decisively the French and Greek electorates reject the austerity economics that is killing growth in most of the EU. The tide of opinion is turning when even Standard & Poor's at last admits: "Austerity alone risks becoming self-defeating". The policy is tested to destruction. A patched-together coalition between old parties that brought Greece to its knees through corruption and cronyism only won because its pledge to get a better deal was marginally more convincing to a despairing electorate, short of food, medicine and fuel. But anti-austerity was the only message. Either default on debt or repay only once solid growth makes it feasible: more austerity leads back down the death spiral vortex.

If the new government gets no genuine relaxation of impossible bailout terms, more cuts may propel such protests that the radical Syriza will find itself in power shortly, after its meteoric rise from nowhere. How comfortable to be opposing, just a hair's breadth from power. It was not sour grapes (courtesy of Aesop, another Greek) for Syriza leaders to claim this is where they prefer to be for now.

In Britain gleeful anti-Europeans gloat "I told you so", with smirks on the faces of Norman Lamont, Nigel Farage and the rest. David Cameron on Monday yet again wagged his finger emptily at Germany, telling it to intervene, a bizarre stance from one who shares its austerity policy. In all the years of behaving badly to its neighbours, Britain has never been so ignored or so irrelevant to the key decisions taken by its vital trading partners. Despite sad reminders of Gordon Brown's worst traits at last week's Leveson hearings, compare and contrast Cameron's vacuity with Brown's finest hour: when no other leader stepped up, Brown galvanised the world to take fast action with a market-stunning £1trn rescue at the G20 in 2009. Cameron couldn't galvanise a flea circus.

Instead, his party wallows in a European crisis that will blow back at Britain. True, the blizzard will conveniently white out George Osborne's egregious economic errors, the zero growth and double-dip. Roll on a referendum, urge the Europhobes, but in or out of what? Their fantasy is that Britain can slip away to the European economic area on pick'n'mix terms, undercutting EU currencies and irksome trade rules: why wouldn't Europe wreak revenge for our obnoxious behaviour all these years?

At today's G20 no leader emerged to take the initiative, Barack Obama being deep in an election campaign, from which he may not return, and each country protecting its interests. Germany could save Greece, but not Spain and Italy. Germany could let the European Central Bank act as a firewall guarantee. It could allow inflation to ease the path, and embrace growth before debt. But faced by a choice between breaking the euro and abandoning German orthodoxy, Angela Merkel and her party would rather let most of Europe go: she has failed to warn her people of the enormous costs of that. Neither Obama nor Cameron could be seen to pay to save Europe – nor China, nor anyone else; and yet they all know the far greater cost of global collapse.

This is a return to the 1930s, Keynesians say: look where that leads politically. Or is this a dark echo of the first world war? Civilised countries thought protectionism and trade wars could never lead to bloodshed. But the world is no saner now than it was then. Countries pulling up drawbridges, undercutting and cheating each other with worsening relations in times of declining living standards, can still lead to European bloodletting. Look at the venom – the sneering at Greeks, Italians and Spaniards, lazy southern layabouts: blaming ineffective governments nastily morphs into blaming whole nations of inferior people. Germans are again represented as spike-helmeted automatons, bidding for a fiscal and political union that would reduce proud nations to town councils under Berlin's thumb. Germany v Greece on the Euro 2012 football field may be a comic coincidence this week, but nobody should dismiss the seriousness of the EU's "never again" founding purpose.

Europe's impasse needs new purpose, after the old economic certainties helped cause this cataclysm. Even if the EU scrapes through, that's not enough. What then? François Hollande and Ed Miliband are calling a summit of social democrats this autumn to challenge dogma and forge a growth and jobs programme for construction and investment. Keynesian parties need to draw Europe-wide strength and credibility by working together. Hollande proposes a £120bn redirection of EU funds to an emergency growth programme: he should throw in the CAP, too.

Abolishing tax havens, co-ordinating fair tax instead of destructive competition, ending secrecy of wealth and property ownership, cutting defence overspending by France, Britain and Greece: politically hard decisions are easier if social democrats can inspire people with the value of standing together, not falling apart.

The G20 may prove that there is no averting imminent calamity. But the rightwing austerians who caused it will have no solutions for its repair. Europe is phenomenally rich, yet has hardly tapped its own wealth. These governments are still in denial over the real depth of the emergency.

Germany imposed a solidarity tax to pay for reunification, taxing incomes, wealth and property. Britain has barely touched the abundance of its vast undertaxed wealth. This government can never rally the nation to unite in a crisis after hitting the weak hardest, with wealthy lifestyles remaining unchanged. The coalition may well fall apart sooner than expected: Labour needs to stand more ready than has yet been the case, with a radical alternative – easier to do as part of a Europe-wide appeal. In wartime bonds are issued to finance a national emergency by encouraging (or, from the rich, coercing) investment in a time of crisis. What Europe needs to escape slump is a war footing – but this time without the war.


guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


Winning Greek party seeks coalition partners, gets early snubs


Winning Greek party seeks coalition partners, gets early snubs
Los Angeles Times
Antonis Samaras, head of the winning New Democracy party, opened talks with other parties on forming a coalition government in politically polarized Greece.

and more »

After Greek Vote, Europe Still Has a Host of Problems


New York Times

After Greek Vote, Europe Still Has a Host of Problems
New York Times
FRANKFURT — After Greek elections eased fears that the country's exit from the euro zone was imminent, attention turned Monday to another unruly political arena: Europe itself. A respite from market pressure early Monday proved to be short-lived, ...
US stocks meander as European debt crisis festersThe Associated Press
FOREX-Euro falls as Spanish yields soarReuters
Eurozone crisis: Spanish debt fears cut short markets' Greek reliefThe Guardian
Christian Science Monitor -Wall Street Journal -ABC Online
all 8,995 news articles »

Greek coalition talks set to continue

Socialist PASOK party says it will only enter coalition with broad support before lending its crucial support.

WORLD: TimesCast | Greek Election Analysis

On Sunday, Greece’s New Democracy party narrowly defeated the leftist Syriza party, which had spoke of tearing up Greece’s loan agreement with its foreign creditors.





Obama: Greek election results offer 'positive prospect' for recovery

US president adopts more supportive tone than most other world leaders, but main decisions unlikely to be made at G20 summit

Barack Obama hailed the Greek election results as offering a glimmer of hope in a eurozone crisis that is threatening to undermine the US recovery and the president's chances of re-election.

In his first comment on Sunday's election, Obama told reporters at the G20 summit in Mexico on Monday that the Greek election offered a "positive prospect".

That endorsement went much further than most other world leaders, particularly European ones, who have been much more circumspect in their reaction.

The White House has been watching in desperation at European leaders have bounced from summit to summit, leaving the crisis unresolved.

Although Obama needs a quick fix to the eurozone crisis, European leaders cautioned against expecting any solutions to emerge from the G20 summit, the gathering of the most advanced economies.

The euro crisis is acting a drag on business and consumer confidence in the US but the Obama administration has opted against injecting into Europe the billions of dollars that might help stabilise it, partly because it would be near impossible to get such a package through Congress.

Obama, at a meeting with Mexican president Felipe Calderon, who is hosting the summit, told reporters it was going to be a busy day and a half: "The world is very concerned about the slowing of growth that has taken place."

He added: "Now is a time as we've discussed to make sure that all of us do what's necessary to stabilise the world financial system, to avoid protectionism."

The White House issued a bland statement on Sunday welcoming the Greek vote and hoping its government would make "timely progress" on the economic challenges it faces. European leaders want Greece to make deep spending cuts in return for a rescue package.

Obama, who had spent the weekend having a break in Chicago, adopted a more positive tone on Monday than the White House statement from Sunday. "I think the election in Greece yesterday indicates a positive prospect for not only them forming a government, but also them working constructively with their international partners in order that they can continue on the path of reform and do so in a way that also offers the prospects for the Greek people to succeed and prosper," Obama said.

"And we are going to be working under your leadership and with our European partners, and with all countries, to make sure that we're contributing so that the economy grows, the situation stabilises, confidence returns to the markets and, most importantly we're giving our people the chance if they work hard to succeed and do well."

The summit will allow the Europeans to take "one important step in a series of steps that are going to be required to continue to improve global economic prospects," he said.

In spite of Obama's words, the main decisions are unlikely to be made at the summit but at meetings later in Europe, where there is remaining scepticism about whether Greece might yet have to leave the eurozone and also about the future of other members, such as Spain.


guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


Europe faces daunting challenges despite Greek vote

Brussels The victory of a pro-bailout party in Athens gives EU leaders space to act against the Eurozone crisis but they still face huge challenges over Greece and Spain, over growth and on EU integration. Relief came for Eurozone governments as the conservative New Democracy party finished first in Sunday’s election, beating the leftist anti-bailout Syriza party and easing the dangers of a euro exit. But the respite was short-lived when markets turned against Spanish and Italian debt, putting the Eurozone once again on the edge of chaotic crisis. “A further lapse into the unknown was avoided on Sunday as New Democracy topped the vote in Greece,” said Erik Nielsen, managing...

Mexican President Calderon praises Obama's immigration move

LOS CABOS, Mexico – President Obama said the outcome of the Greek elections suggested a “positive prospect” for the teetering European nation’s hopes of avoiding further economic turmoil.





Obama: Greek vote shows 'positive prospect' for pursuing reforms


USA TODAY

Obama: Greek vote shows 'positive prospect' for pursuing reforms
ABC News
President Barack Obama on Monday cautiously welcomed the results of Greece's weekend elections, which saw voters award a narrow victory to a political party ...
Obama: Greek election a "positive prospect" for governmentReuters
Obama hails results of Greek electionsUSA TODAY
Obama calls Greek elections 'positive'Fox News
Washington Times -The Guardian
all 576 news articles »

Favorable Greece Election No Salve for Stocks, Analysts say


Favorable Greece Election No Salve for Stocks, Analysts say
Wall Street Journal
NEW YORK--Voters in Greece staved off an imminent euro-zone exit over the weekend, but analysts said Greece remains a potential headwind for U.S. stocks ...


Europe's relief from Greek vote likely fleeting

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's election result has eased fears of imminent financial disaster for Europe, but the continent's leaders are still searching for a way to contain a debt crisis that threatens the global economy.

TIMESCAST: TimesCast | June 18, 2012

Greek voters give victory to pro-euro party that supports the economic bailout. | Egyptians elect an Islamist in its first competitive presidential election.





Greek Bank Deposit Outflows Said to Have Slowed After Elections


Greek Bank Deposit Outflows Said to Have Slowed After Elections
Businessweek
Greek deposit withdrawals slowed today after an election victory by the pro-bailout New Democracy party eased concern the nation will abandon the euro, three ...
Greek Stocks Rally to a One-Month High After ResultsBloomberg

all 5 news articles »

Obama: Greek Election 'Positive Prospect' For Cooperation


Globe and Mail

Obama: Greek Election 'Positive Prospect' For Cooperation
ABC News (blog)
LOS CABOS, Mexico — President Obama Monday morning expressed approval for the results of the Greek election. “I think the election in Greece yesterday ...
G20's relief at Greek pro-bailout vote is short-livedSan Jose Mercury News
Greek election result spares leaders real-time fiscal firefightingGlobe and Mail
Obama calls Greek elections 'positive'Fox News
CBS News
all 3,127 news articles »

Obama hails Greek election results at Group of 20 summit

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, Mexico — As he prepared to meet world leaders at an economic summit Monday, President Obama hailed the Greek election results as a “positive prospect” and called on his counterparts to “avoid protectionism” as they seek to stabilize the global economy.


Read full article >>



Add to Facebook
Add to Twitter
Add to Reddit
Add to StumbleUpon




David Cameron Makes Argentina Trade Jibe At G20

David Cameron took at a swipe at Argentina for undermining attempts to restore global growth through protectionist measures on trade. Relations between Britain and Argentina...

Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party maintains share of vote

Despite predictions of a slump in popularity, Golden Dawn won 6.92% of the vote – marginally down from 6.97% last month

Its members have slapped and hurled water at female rival politicians live on TV, threatened to throw immigrants and their children out of hospitals and creches, been accused of violent assaults on foreign workers in Athens, and arrested for attacking anarchists. But despite polls predicting Golden Dawn's share of the vote would slump following its shock eruption on to the national stage last month, support for Greece's ultra-right party – which preaches ridding the country of illegal immigrants, promotes books on Aryan supremacy and has denied the Holocaust – held strikingly firm in Sunday's general election re-run.

According to official government figures, Golden Dawn collected 425,970 votes compared with 441,018 in the previous, inconclusive vote on 6 May. That gave the party a 6.92% share of the national vote, only marginally down on the 6.97% it scored last month, and secured it 18 seats in parliament – just three fewer than before.

"It really shows the aggression in Greek society right now," said Nikos Zydakis, commentator and editor in chief of the daily Kathimerini. "This is a society not just in crisis, but in depression – like Germany or Italy in the 30s. The EU is pushing too hard, on the economy, yes, but also on society, which is cracking. When that happens, all the barriers to extremism fall."

Golden Dawn collected around 10% of the vote in parts of Piraeus and the Peloponnese, and saw its share between the two polls fall significantly – by between 1% and 2% – in only a handful of electoral districts, including one part of Athens and in Corinthia. Its lowest score nationally was on Crete, where it averaged little over 3%. "Today's vote proves that the nationalist movement is here to stay," the party's leader, Nikolaos Mihaloliakos, who fiercely denies his party is neo-Nazi, said in a televised message on Sunday night. "Golden Dawn represents the Greece of the future."

Polls had earlier estimated that support for Golden Dawn had dipped to between 3.6% and 5% percent before Sunday's vote, with some voters seeming set to take their vote elsewhere after watching assorted party members order journalists to stand to attention, get themselves arrested for violent aggression, and smile next to an Auschwitz oven.

In the most highly publicised incident, the party spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris hurled water at one leftwing female rival then slapped another during a live TV debate, before going on the run. He appeared alongside his party leader on TV on Sunday night. Sia Anagnostpoulou, a historian and political scientist at Athens Panteion university, said Golden Dawn, whose party symbol resembles the Nazi swastika and whose members frequently give Nazi-style salutes, is rooted in a historic current of extreme nationalist neo-Nazism in Greece.

"Combine that with relatively high immigration, particularly Muslim immigration, and the fear and insecurity engendered by the economic crisis, and you have a potent cocktail," she said. "This is a racist party, its language is completely racist. But its support is nourished by fear." Zydakis said Golden Dawn, which opposes the international bailout deal for Greece, proposes mining Greece's borders to stop illegal immigration, and actively works to clean up crime-ridden neighbourhoods, is also part of a broader nationalist, protectionist and anti-immigrant movement across Europe, from Scandinavia through Austria, the Netherlands and France.

Javed Aslam, president of the Union of Immigrant Workers, said the party's score was also a consequence of mainstream political parties repeatedly blaming foreign workers for the country's woes. "Then people start to think: 'That's why I haven't got a job,'" he said. "The police, too, stand by while these people attack foreign workers on buses, trains, in the street. This is a black day for foreigners in Greece."

Golden Dawn voters, however, are increasingly confident about expressing their views. In the central Athens neighbourhood of Ayios Panteleimonas, Alex said he had voted for the party because "they help deal with the immigrants". A 29-year-old unemployed labourer, he said his mother had been attacked twice by men he presumed to be illegal immigrants. On one occasion "they took her crucifix from round her neck", he said.

Was he happy at Kasidiaris televised assault? "They wound him up, called him a fascist and a Nazi. How much is he supposed to take?" he said. "You can say that it's shameful. But, you know, she asked for it."

Party members and sympathisers have become a strong force in Ayios Panteleimonas, lingering outside cafes in black T-shirts. The area used to be solidly middle-class but has in recent years seen a large influx of immigration, mainly Somalis, Nigerians, eastern Europeans and south Asians. Violent crime has risen. Aris, a postman who grew up in the area, said crime was more of a concern than the economy. "When I don't feel safe in the place I was born, when I live just streets from my mother and she asks me to call her at 9pm to let her know I got home safe, it hurts psychologically," he said. "In a situation where we're going bankrupt, we just can't take more hard luck stories from another unfortunate part of the world."


guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


Greece’s New Democracy party seeks bailout coalition

Greece’s New Democracy party seeks bailout coalition

Greek coalition talks to enter 2nd day

Head of Greece's radical left-wing Syriza party Alexis Tsipras waves to his supporters in Athens, late Sunday, June 17, 2012. Alexis Tsipras and his party shot to prominence in the May 6 vote, where he came a surprise second and quadrupled his support since the 2009 election. Syriza party has vowed to rip up Greece's bailout agreements and repeal the austerity measures, which have included deep spending cuts on everything from health care to education and infrastructure, as well as tax hikes and reductions of salaries and pensions. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)Negotiations to form a government in crisis-struck Greece look set to enter a second day, after the head of the country's socialist party insisted on a broad coalition and said negotiations must wrap up by the end of Tuesday.



Obama: Greek election a "positive prospect" for government


Los Angeles Times

Obama: Greek election a "positive prospect" for government
Reuters
LOS CABOS, Mexico (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday the outcome of Greece's election showed a positive prospect for the formation of ...
Obama calls Greek elections 'positive'MiamiHerald.com

all 510 news articles »

Greece decides


msnbc.com

Greece decides - but the markets still aren't sure
CNN International (blog)
Athens (CNN) -- Greece has voted. New Democracy, its pro-bailout party, prevailed in Sunday's election and still market reaction has been decidedly muted.
Greece avoids 'Drachmageddon' but Europe debt crisis remainsmsnbc.com
Investors Look Beyond Greece, Don't Like What They SeeFox Business
Greece: Uncertainty is the only certaintyCNN
BBC News -Businessweek -New York Times
all 10,814 news articles »