Greek politics a la carte by outgoing interior minister
Pages
Monday, August 24, 2015
Media: Palmyra temple blown up by IS
Barbarism continues - What prevents an IS jihadi from showing up on a Greek beach and claiming to be a refugee?
Merkel, Hollande urge unified EU response to refugee crisis
Berlin (AFP) - Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande called Monday for a unified response to Europe's biggest migrant crisis since World War II, as the German leader condemned "vile" protests against refugees."We must put in place a unified system for the right to asylum," Hollande said in a brief statement ahead of talks, calling the influx from the world's crisis zones "an exceptional situation that will last for some time"."Rather than wait, we should organise and reinforce our policies, and that is what France and Germany are proposing," he said.Both countries, like the rest of the EU, have been struggling to find a response to the unprecedented numbers arriving -- from the thousands landing on the shores of Greece and Italy to the hundreds risking their lives to climb onto trucks to travel from France to Britain. Germany, which expects to take in 800,000 asylum seekers in 2015, saw anti-migrant sentiment rear its head over the weekend as violent protests erupted against a refugee home."It is vile for far-right extremists and neo-Nazis to try to spread their hollow, hateful propaganda but it is just as shameful for citizens including families with children to join them" in the protests, said Merkel in her strongest statement to date against a wave of anti-refugee protests to hit eastern Germany.EU border agency Frontex said last week that a record 107,000 migrants were at the bloc's borders last month, with 20,800 arriving in Greece last week alone. - Journey to northern Europe - In what has become a regular occurrence, Greece's coastguard said Monday it recovered the bodies of two migrants who drowned when their boat sank off its shores. Another five were missing. And at least 2,000 more migrants poured into Serbia overnight from Macedonia on their trek north through Hungary to more prosperous northern European countries like Germany or Sweden.Macedonia had declared a state of emergency last week and closed its border with Greece for three days, with police using stun grenades and batons to stop hundreds of refugees trying to break through barbed wire fencing before apparently deciding to let everyone enter.Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, who had travelled to the Macedonia-Greece border, called for an urgent new strategy to deal with the crisis."It's a humanitarian disaster, a disaster for the European Union as a whole, and there is a pressing need for us to focus on the situation in the western Balkans," said Kurz.With asylum-seekers coming not just from war zones such as Syria but also from countries without military conflict in southeastern Europe, both Hollande and Merkel reiterated their calls for Brussels to draw up a list of safe countries of origin.Germany in particular sees this as a priority, as 40 percent of its asylum-seekers come from countries like Albania and Kosovo. - 'Threat to Europe's soul' - Merkel is travelling Thursday to Vienna, where she will meet leaders of Balkan states including Albania and Kosovo to find out why "so many thousands of people are coming from these countries", her spokesman Steffen Seibert said.Other coordinated action sought by Hollande and Merkel include the rapid setting up of reception centres in overwhelmed Greece and Italy -- two countries which have borne the brunt of the crisis -- to help identify asylum-seekers and illegal migrants.Merkel stressed that the centres must be set up at the first ports of call to be administered and staffed by the EU as a whole by the end of the year."We cannot tolerate a delay," she said.Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni has warned that the deepening crisis could pose a major threat to the "soul" of Europe."On immigration, Europe is in danger of displaying the worst of itself: selfishness, haphazard decision-making and rows between member states," Gentiloni told Il Messaggero.Beyond the migrant crisis, Merkel and Hollande will later Monday tackle another issue pressing at the EU's eastern flank -- the Ukraine conflict.The talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko come amid a resurgence of violence in the former Soviet state.Ahead of the talks, Poroshenko accused Russia of sending three military convoys over the border into the separatist-controlled east.Join the conversation about this story »
E-commerce site Groupon pulls out of Greece
The US-based company started operating in Greece around five years ago. Greece's uncertain economic and political climate appear to be the driving ...
Greek PM Tsipras: SYRIZA's Election Goal Is a Clear Four-Year Mandate
Tsipras SYRIZA's election goal is a clear four-year mandate, Greek Prime Minister and party leader Alexis Tsipras said, according to sources, at the ...
Cryptocurrency program to be tested in a Greek island
Greece has been under the weather for a long time but Agistri, a small Greek island widely considered to be a tourist haven, has been one of the ...
Dutch drama over Greek crisis
The Greek crisis may have claimed an unexpected new victim: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. In a five hour debate last week on the Dutch support ...
Merkel and Hollande plan EU-wide response to escalating migration crisis
Two leaders meet in Berlin after Macedonian forces allow migrants through border and up to Serbia, on their way to Hungary – first state in Schengen zone Thousands of refugees were heading towards Hungary and the EU border on Monday, as the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said the union’s member states must fairly share the burden of dealing with Europe’s biggest migration crisis since the second world war.Speaking before talks in Berlin with the French president, François Hollande, Merkel said Europe needed to act together to deal with the chaotic scenes in Greece and the western Balkans as desperate migrants tried to reach the EU. “The current situation troubles us greatly,” she said. Continue reading...
The Route Migrants Are Taking To Reach Europe
The European Union is under increasing pressure to confront the migrant crisis - with many refugees now travelling via Greece instead of embarking on the perilous journey across the Mediterranean which has claimed thousands of lives. Every country along the route they take - referred to as "the Balkan corridor" - is also feeling the strain as they try to provide the humanitarian aid and documentation migrants need to continue their desperate journeys. Turkish authorities claim they have already accepted more migrants than any other country, with a running total of more than 1.9 million people, most of them from Syria.
Artist Gregory Kondos will appear at annual Greek Festival
Labor Day Weekend wouldn't be complete without Sacramento's annual Greek Festival (the 52nd), and it wouldn't be a fest without the food.
Greek Debt Crisis 2015: Monty Python Was A 'Political Influence,' Former Greece Finance Minister ...
Varoufakis' usual irreverence and frank take on Greece's debt crisis came just days after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced his resignation, ...
Around the World: Greece
After 14 years of stability, this summer has pushed Greece into an economic downward spiral. As the crisis unfolds, the chances of a smooth landing ...
How Donald Trump's Rise Explains the Greek Debt Crisis
By David FrancisDavid Francis is a staff writer for Foreign Policy, where he oversees FP's breaking news blog, The Cable. An award-winning journalist ...
Atmosphere Host a Family Reunion at the Greek
When Slug, aka Sean Daley, asked this question of the crowd at Berkley's Greek Theater on Saturday night, he wasn't trying to condescend them.
Greece is entry point for nearly half of all migrants to Europe
For the second time in two days, the ferry 'Venizelos' docks in Piraeus port, Athens, carrying some 2,000 migrants from the island of Lesbos, most of…
Greek stocks plunge more than 10%
ATHENS: Greek stocks plunged more than 10 per cent today, succumbing to a Chinese-led rout on global markets and domestic political uncertainty ...
HRW: Macedonia should end violence against migrants at Greece border
Last week migrants who set up a tent city in Athens, Greece, began relocation [JURIST report]. Many migrants coming from Afghanistan, Syria and ...
Opinion: How Greece outflanked Germany and won generous debt relief
However, frightened of being made a scapegoat worldwide for ejecting Greece from the euro EURUSD, +1.2732% , she seems to have caved in to ...
Stephen T. Hall :Syriza Must Form the Next Greek Government
Without sentimentality, the newfound consecration of the Greek government to enact brutalising austerity measures, so corrosive that even the IMF ...
5 Reasons Stocks Are Tumbling Worldwide On 'Black Monday'
NEW YORK -- Wall Street woke up to, if not a Black Monday, at least a Blackish Monday. Markets around the world tumbled toward historic losses amid a toxic cocktail of financial volatility. As the global sell-off hacksawed European and Asian markets, U.S. traders braced for the worst. The New York Stock Exchange invoked the rarely used Rule 48, allowing stocks to open without any price indications. But don't panic. The market is already correcting the reverse. And as Fusion's Kevin Roose aptly put it Monday morning: If you're more than 10 years away from retirement and you invest your money like a normal human, chill you'll be fine.— Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) August 24, 2015 Here are the major market woes troubling investors. 1. China's stock market is crashing. The Shanghai Composite plummeted 8.5 percent on Monday, its biggest loss since 2007. The Chinese government has scrambled this month to come up with novel ways to allay investors' concerns, most notably by devaluing its currency, the yuan. Over the weekend, regulators took the extra step of allowing pension funds to invest in stocks for the first time. But evidently, the move was dismissed by traders. 2. Europe is facing its biggest losses since 2008. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index, which includes 18 countries in the region, fell nearly 6 percent on Monday morning. London's FTSE 100 stock index has plunged more than 5 percentage points. Germany's DAX index is down nearly 5 percent as technology companies took particularly brutal hits, including Dialog Semicon, Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent. France's CAC 40 index has sunk roughly 7 percent. 3. Oil hit a six-year low. Middle Eastern stocks dropped as the price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate fell to about $40 on Monday and Brent Crude sank to about $45. Stock markets in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar -- all countries or city-states enriched by the fossil fuel -- crashed on Sunday. But falling oil prices should, in theory, eventually have a neutralizing affect on the stock market. As The Huffington Post wrote last October, such circumstances are "both good news and bad news for consumers and the economy. Prices are falling partly because of worries about a global economic slowdown." And yet, falling oil prices provide a stimulus of over a trillion dollars to the global economy. So, "the bad news is that oil is falling just like the stock market. The good news is that falling oil prices can help keep things from getting worse." 4. The market, after years of huge gains, is correcting itself. For the last six years, the stock market has been bullish. Prices soared as buyers, turned off from properties after the real estate market crash and wary of U.S. bonds because of low returns, invested in stocks. And what goes up, famously, must come down. 5. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ All the above analysis aside, we can't really know for certain what causes the stock market to move. It's a reflection of people and algorithms responding to an information set that is, for any one individual, incomprehensibly vast. Yes, the market has been up, up and up for years, but that in and of itself is not a reason for it to have gone down in the past week. Sure, Greece is politically unstable. But that's sort of been its status quo for a while, and the U.S. stock market has done fine. The Chinese economy is probably cracking, but that's not necessarily a groundbreaking revelation (especially to sophisticated investors who have been able to see fissures emerging for at least a year). As for the Fed -- well, fretting about monetary policy's impact on stock prices has been a constant since the financial crisis (remember the Taper Tantrum of 2013?). All of the plausible reasons why the stock market has dived are just that: plausible. But there's no certainty in any of them, and hunting for causality in market movements can end up being an exercise in after-the-fact storytelling. It might not be true, but it can give you a (false) feeling of understanding. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Rebel politicians try to avert election in Greece
A new anti-austerity party formed by lawmakers who quit the governing Syriza in Greece has been given a chance to seek government coalition partners and prevent the country from holding its third national vote this year.
Greece’s tourism set to hit new highs in 2015
ATHENS: Greece tourism is on course for a new record in 2015 thanks to increased visitor numbers from the US, Germany, Britain and elsewhere. According to figures from the Bank of Greece, for the first six months of the year, foreign tourist arrivals ...
Moody’s: Greek PM Tsipras’ Resignation ‘Credit Positive’
“Last Thursday, Greece’s (Caa3 review for downgrade) Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras stepped down as head of government and called for snap elections. The Prime Minister’s resignation is credit positive for the sovereign because it offers the possibility of a new, more cohesive government, which would improve prospects for implementing Greece’s third bailout package and reducing liquidity
Greek Artist Destroys Work Instead of Paying Fine
The “petrified Mermaid,” a statue created by Greek artist Dionysis Karipidis, no longer adorns Portokali beach in Chalkidiki, northern Greece. The artist destroyed his own work with a sledgehammer when he was asked to pay a fine for “destroying the natural landscape.” The mermaid had been an interesting attraction for thousands of tourists that visited
9,000 Syrian Refugees Arrived in Athens in 5 Days
Around 11:00 am on Monday morning, August 24, Greek ferry “Eleftherios Venizelos” arrived at the port of Piraeus carrying some 2,500 people, mostly Syrian nationals from the Greek island of Lesvos, where the situation has gotten out of control. Adult migrants got a 50-euro ticket and children a 25-euro ticket in order to travel to Athens. Upon their arrival at
Two arrested in protest over Greece's closure of Eldorado mine
Police have arrested two union leaders after hundreds of miners blocked roads to protest the temporary closure of a controversial Canadian gold mine ...
Greek coast guard says two dead, five missing from boat wreck
Lesvos is one of several Greek islands overwhelmed in recent weeks by am t0he influx of migrants and refugees, mainly from war-torn Syria.
Greece says lacks infrastructure to cope with migrant influx
By Michele Kambas ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece said on Monday its infrastructure was insufficient to cope with the waves of refugees flowing into the country in one of the worst humanitarian crises Europe has faced since the World War Two. International aid agencies have been scathing about Greece's response. "This is a reception country, and as such we are obliged to have infrastructure in place," Olga Gerovasili, spokeswoman for Greece's outgoing leftist Syriza government.
Refugees cross into Serbia after leaving Macedonia
Having crossed from Greece into Macedonia, about 7,000 refugees enter Serbia in hopes of making their way into EU.
Workers stage counter-protest at disputed Greek gold mine
Workers at a Canadian-run gold mine in northern Greece staged a counter-protest on Monday against its threatened closure, a day after scuffles broke out at a demonstration by activists opposed to the project. About 200 workers gathered at two sites in the scenic Halkidiki region, briefly blocking roads in protest at a government decision which Canadian Eldorado Gold said put all 2,000 jobs at the site at risk. The leftist government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced last Wednesday that it was halting the $1 billion project, saying the company had violated contractual terms.
Cash-strapped governments may soon turn to Kickstarter to raise money
The sustainable development goals will need trillions of dollars to achieve their targets. With traditional aid in short supply, could crowdfunding plug the gap?In July 2015, 29 year-old Briton Thom Feeney attempted to raise the €1.6bn to save Greece from bankruptcy. Though his crowdfunding campaign ultimately failed, the €2m raised in little over a week proved one thing: while no one enjoys paying taxes, there are people willing to part voluntarily with their money to help struggling governments.There are up to 344 million households in the developing world able to make small crowdfund investments Related: Kickstarting the Goat Dairy in Grenada Related: 'Profitability is sustainability': 17 ideas on business and development Continue reading...
China, Greek election, US interest rates are forces behind market selloff
The current Greek government aims to strengthen its position in the election after accepting a rescue deal it once opposed. But that creates more ...
Greek anti-austerity party receives mandate to form coalition government
Former Energy Minister and head a party called Popular Unity , Panagiotis Lafazanis, left , is welcomed by Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, ...
Unionists arrested for closing roads in northern Greece over temporary closure of gold mine
THESSALONIKI, Greece — Greek police have arrested two union leaders after hundreds of miners blocked roads to protest the temporary closure of a ...
Migrants pose for selfies after the first stage of trek across Europe
The three men, refugees from Syria, pose on the beach in Lesbos, before joining the thousands making the long trip through Greece and the Balkans in the hope of reaching western Europe.
Thousands of desperate migrants pour into Serbia
The rush over the border followed Macedonia's decision to lift the blockade of its border with Greece, after thousands of migrants stormed past ...
Greece to leave euro after all? MPs make bid to cut from Brussels and return to drachma
A GROUP of Greek MPs who want to take the debt-ridden country out of the eurozone and bring back the former drachma currency could form a ...
Greece’s newborn babies to get Tax Identification Number as of 1.1.2016
Awa! So cute! As long as a newborn will let its first scream and take a deep breath of tax-evasion-free Greek air, it will get a Tax Identification Number (AFM). The AFM-number is necessary, for the case, the newborn Greek -who may look innocent and guileless today – turns into […]
UNHCR assists refugees at Greece-FYR Macedonia border, where calm is returning
The majority told UNHCR staff that they had fled the war in Syria, passed through Turkey and crossed by boat to Greece. Among them were many ...
In the Kitchen: Traditional Greek Salad with Bovis Olive Oil
We're making Traditional Greek Salad with Bovis Olive Oil with Sous Chef Phil Masotta of Rosalina. Ingredients: Tomatoes Cucumbers Red onion
Greek protesters arrested in clash over Eldorado suspension of 2000 workers
Greek police arrested Sunday 78 anti-mining protesters, mostly foreigners, involved in clashes outside Eldorado Gold's (TSX:ELD) (NYSE:EGO) ...
Tapping into Greece's water supply
The terms of Greece's latest bailout include a commitment to sell off state assets worth some 50 billion euros. Plans to privatize the waterworks in ...
Hundreds close roads in Greece to protest gold mine closure
THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Greek police have arrested two union leaders after hundreds of miners blocked roads to protest the temporary closure of a controversial gold mine in northern Greece.
New Greek rebel party gets mandate to form government
A new Greek anti-austerity party made up of rebels who left the ruling left-wing Syriza has been given a mandate to try and form a government. If it fails, Greece will likely face snap elections next month.
In Europe, a moment of truth at last
If he does succeed in implementing it, this will undoubtedly be the most important project of his term of office. If he fails, it will be remembered as an unsuccessful rendezvous. For it will then have marked the start of the dismantling of the European construction. For a week now, by taking up the idea (that has been raised in L'Express on July 6th, 2015), namely that of a parliament for the eurozone countries - composed of European parliamentarians and/or members of national parliaments, to impose control over a future European economic government, the latter being responsible for organizing fiscal solidarity and compliance with common standards, the French president has crossed the Rubicon: Without explicitly saying so, by calling for the formation of a eurozone government, he recognizes that the European Union must not be allowed to remain what it is, or it will fail and fall apart, and that, in particular, the future of the eurozone is to quickly become a federal eurozone, or else face 'explosion.' Thus, François Hollande acknowledges that he now leads and conducts a federalist project. He assumes, therefore, the responsibility of contradicting the view and philosophy of a large majority from his camp and agreeing with that of a large minority from the opposing camp. In other words: He opposes some of the socialists and is expected to be approved by the Democratic Movement (MoDem) and a number of members of 'The Republicans' party. Therefore, let's await with impatience the Franco-German proposals that should follow and that will refine this project, currently in its inception phase. Germany will most likely, perhaps, emphasize control while France will most likely focus on solidarity. There is nothing wrong with that: Both are necessary. Let's also look forward with amusement to the range of likely responses of the French political parties, which will have to break their deafening silence in order to start this movement and position themselves before it. It is no small task because such an initiative would organize everything in a political project. Let us wait and see how politicians on all sides will try to explain that there is no need for this project, and who knows, that it calls into question national sovereignty. And yet, the Greek crisis should have at least reminded everyone these two obvious facts: 1. A southern European country needs fiscal solidarity and technical assistance to construct a State. 2. A northern European country needs the same thing, because the price to be paid for exiting the euro, in terms of competitiveness, would be unbearable. This is quite well understood by Germany, who was the first to talk about this federalist project. It has become clear for Italy that it will be the next chosen victim. This common sense movement should logically lead to a recomposition of the French political class. Or at least a major national debate on the nature of the federal European project, on the costs of resources and expertise to be pooled together. At this point, we ought not to be neglectful of the fact that there is the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), that will be used for Greece and has a maximum lending capacity of €500 billion. We will see soon that it will no doubt be necessary to triple that amount and finance it using appropriate tax revenues. Unless, once again, the French and European politicians decide not see the choices to be made and keep on procrastinating. As they did for Greece for many months, or as they continue to do for migrants crossing the Mediterranean. The consequences of which are well known. j@attali.com -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Anti-Bailout Greek Leftist Party Gets Mandate To Form Government
ATHENS, Aug 24 (Reuters) - A radical leftist opposed to Greece's new bailout deal won a presidential mandate on Monday to try to form a new government but immediately admitted he would fail, pointing towards a snap election. Panagiotis Lafazanis, whose anti-bailout Popular Unity party was founded only on Friday, got three days to pull together a coalition after the main conservative opposition failed to do so. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who resigned last week after Lafazanis led a rebellion in his Syriza party, has accused the opposition of deliberately delaying an election that he says is essential to ensure Greek political stability. Lafazanis, who formally split from Syriza to found Popular Unity along with 24 other rebel lawmakers, said he would use the full three days allowed under the constitution. However, he said he would merely promote, before the inevitable election, his opposition to the painful economic policies that the euro zone and IMF have imposed on Greece over the past five years in return for bailout loans. (function(){var src_url="https://spshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?playList=519027000&height=381&width=570&sid=577&origin=SOLR&videoGroupID=155847&relatedNumOfResults=100&responsive=false&relatedMode=2&relatedBottomHeight=60&companionPos=&hasCompanion=false&autoStart=false&colorPallet=%23FFEB00&videoControlDisplayColor=%23191919&shuffle=0&isAP=1&pgType=cmsPlugin&pgTypeId=addToPost-top&onVideoDataLoaded=track5min.DL&onTimeUpdate=track5min.TC&onVideoDataLoaded=HPTrack.Vid.DL&onTimeUpdate=HPTrack.Vid.TC";if (typeof(commercial_video) == "object") {src_url += "&siteSection="+commercial_video.site_and_category;if (commercial_video.package) {src_url += "&sponsorship="+commercial_video.package;}}var script = document.createElement("script");script.src = src_url;script.async = true;var placeholder = document.querySelector(".js-fivemin-script");placeholder.parentElement.replaceChild(script, placeholder);})(); "We do not have any illusions that any anti-bailout government can be formed from this parliament," he told reporters. "We will use this mandate to show that the only thing that is in the interest of the Greek people is a new anti-bailout parliament and government." The opposition appears in no hurry to face voters who are returning from summer holidays to find their living standards cut yet further by value-added tax increases and the imposition of a "solidarity" income tax - measures under the bailout deal that may erode Tsipras's popularity. Tsipras, who wants elections next month, lost another former ally on Monday. Tasos Koronakis resigned as secretary of Syriza's powerful central committee. Koronakis, who is not a member of parliament, appeared to be protesting about Tsipras's leadership style and is unlikely to join the breakway party. However, his resignation underlined Tsipras's problems in holding together Syriza, which had 149 of the 300 seats in parliament before the split. GREXIT GHOST Tsipras quit after only seven months when he lost his majority due to the rebellion led by Lafazanis. He had to rely on temporary support from pro-bailout opposition parties to get the 86 billion euro ($99 billion) program through parliament, and is pushing for early elections in the hope of returning to power with a majority. Analysts believe Tsipras is likely to win but without a majority. However, he rejected a post-poll deal with Greece's traditional mainstream parties such as conservative New Democracy. According to a statement from his office, he told senior party officials he ruled out co-operation "with the systemic forces of the old political system." When Lafazanis has exhausted his three days, President Prokopis Pavlopoulos can appoint a caretaker premier and call elections within 30 days. New Democracy leader Vangelis Meimarakis acknowledged earlier on Monday that he could not form a government. He accused Tsipras of taking Greece down a "destructive path" by pushing for polls when its future in the euro zone remains far from secure. "He has acknowledged in parliament that the Grexit ghost is still hovering over the country," Meimarakis told the president, suggesting Tsipras would still need coalition partners after an election. "He thinks he can be the first party in the next parliament - I'm wondering with whom he wants to do this, since he doesn't want to see any of us again." The centrist To Potami party - a pro-euro party that has supported Tsipras in bailout votes in parliament - and the right-wing Independent Greeks party, currently Tsipras's ally, are both considered potential coalition candidates. ($1 = 0.8706 euros) (additional reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Writing by Deepa Babington and David Stamp; Editing by Ruth Pitchford) Also on HuffPost: -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Merkel Hosts Bid to Revive Ukraine Peace as Greece Ebbs
Leaders of Germany, France and Ukraine will discuss how to repair a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine in talks hosted by Chancellor Angela Merkel after a ...
Greek coast recovers five bodies after two migrant boats capsize
Greek and Turkish coast guard vessels recovered five bodies after two boats carrying refugees or migrants capsized in separate incidents off the ...