How the world sees Greece
Greece Must Help Itself to Fix Crisis, Bundesbank's Dombret Says Businessweek “Politicians and the EU are willing to assist Greece, but Greece must, first and foremost, help itself,” Dombret said in a speech in New York today. “Announcing and passing laws is not enough if the administration and the general public undermine them. |
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Eurozone remark prompts criticism in Italy after controversy over Fiat claim and Bain deal for telephone-directory company
What is it about Mitt Romney and Italians? The Republican presidential candidate seems to be possessed of a sublime capacity for, well, pissing them off.
He was at it again on Thursday in Roanoke, Virginia, where he was reported by the Italian news agency Ansa as having asked his audience: "If you're an entrepreneur and you're thinking of starting up a business, you need to ask yourself: Is America on the same road as Greece? Are we on the path to an economic crisis like that we're seeing in Europe, in Italy and Spain?"
Italians, who thought they'd just put the worse of the eurozone crisis behind them, are not exactly thrilled at being mentioned in the same breath as the Greeks. The Republican candidate's remarks were picked up by news websites here and given front-page prominence. La Repubblica ran an aggrieved comment from one of its correspondents in the US:
"The American right needs enemies. Italy, along with Spain and Greece, is the ideal bogeyman … the negative paradigm, the model of all that should not be done in terms of statism and nanny-statery."
If reaction in Italy seems a bit OTT, you have to bear in mind that only four days ago their flagship auto manufacturer was targeted (along with President Obama, of course) in a Romney ad that claimed "President Obama… sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build jeeps in China" – a claim swiftly denied by Fiat's CEO, Sergio Marchionne.
If that were not enough, there is the involvement of Bain Capital in a privatisation deal that would bring cheer to the face of a Russian oligarch. The firm (of which Romney was chief executive) bought a telephone-directory company from the Italian government that it sold two years later for about 25 times what it paid – a coup that left Italian taxpayers feeling they might just have lost out.
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In tough times it is only right that the EU budget be trimmed, but the left must never forget the benefits of membership
Politics is often a rough trade, everyone knows it and the public despises its practitioners for it. It was ever thus, back to ancient Greece and Rome. Whenever two people form a party they must compromise; the bigger the party, the nearer to power, the more compromises are required. MPs of all parties are whipped through lobbies to vote for things that make them queasy.
So it was on Wednesday night that a mournful cadre of Labour MPs found themselves voting with a rabble of 53 Tory Europhobics for whom cutting the EU budget was another triumphant step towards EU exit. Liberal Democrats could, for once, claim the moral high ground as they strode off to vote, as usual, with David Cameron. Labour MPs found themselves ribbed and ridiculed by their new friends, with "Welcome on board!" and "Glad we've converted you!" from the likes of Mark Reckless, Douglas Carswell and Bernard Jenkin. Not surprisingly, some Labour MPs looked hang-dog after they had sat through speeches such as theirs.
Tory rebel Mark Pritchard has said, while "brave forces are spilling their blood in Afghanistan … are we going to continue to ask families throughout this country to stop putting new shoes on their children's feet in order to pay for the very large Mercedes fleet in Brussels?" Sammy Wilson of the DUP denounced the "arrogance" of "the Bisto bureaucrats who think that the gravy train is still running". Bill Cash said: "They are saying, 'We are going to go off and have a federal Europe.' Well, let them have it!" Many of these ultra-rightists who called out for "More, more!" when George Osborne cut state spending, now wept crocodile tears contrasting the plight of shoeless children at home with "an obese Brussels that needs to go on a diet like everyone else".
Labour stands accused of "rank opportunism". John Smith did the same over Maastricht: oppositions rarely miss an exceptional chance to defeat the government of the day. But there was special relish on this occasion: Cameron and his party deserved to be devoured by the Eurosceptic monster they created. William Hague's 2001 battle cry that Britain was turning into "a foreign land" has led to the selection of more extreme Tory MPs ever since, the entire party infected with the Euro-virus. Why should Labour rescue them from themselves?
The symbolism of Labour running with the Europhobic pack was excruciating, but what matters most is the substance of the issue itself. Labour's motives may be mixed – but nonetheless they are on the right side on this. The people of Europe enduring the hardest of times cannot let the EU keep the only protected budget: a public vote across all 27 nations would surely want a cut. Brussels risks looking even more remote if it fails to respond to people's suffering by cutting its own cloth. Labour may be populist, but public opinion is dead right on this.
To be a strong pro-European has never meant supporting whatever Brussels does. Few can justify the extravagant parliament travelling between Brussels and Strasbourg. There is no need for 27 commissioners, each with their own cabinet. Even the reformed common agricultural policy still pays most cash to the wrong farmers – the Queen and big landowners. Every organisation, public or private, needs constant vigilance over its accounts. Finding waste in Whitehall or Brussels is only a good excuse for demolishing those institutions to those ideologues who want to do that anyway.
There is one far more serious charge: the EU's economic austerity has become a "death spiral of deficit cutting", according to Jonathan Portes of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, which this week computed the total impact on growth sucked out of the 27. This is a gigantic failure of its first great economic test. However, that's the one charge against the EU these Tories would never make.
The cost of membership is not high: we pay a net 1% of GDP, the same as France, 85% of it redistributed to poorer countries. What we get back in trade is far greater: let's hope we never get the chance to measure exactly what we lose in cash, influence and trade if we quit. Emma Reynolds, Labour's shadow Europe minister, who worked in Brussels and for Robin Cook before returning to her native Wolverhampton as MP, has no trouble spelling out to her constituents the trading benefits to Jaguar Rover and the aerospace industries where many work. This multilingual pro-European MP plainly enjoyed Wednesday's vote no more than the rest – but how could she look her city in the eye while it faces 30% cuts, with low to middle incomes stagnated for years past and years to come, according to the Resolution Foundation report this week?
Telephones were buzzing today with the shadow cabinet calling every pro-European to impress on them their deep pro-EU credentials. I've been inundated with old articles, speeches and pamphlets dusted down and emailed to prove their various authors' eternal Europhilia. The truth is that there would be little embarrassment over this week's vote if indeed Labour had been roundly supporting the European idea over all the Blair-Brown years.
But the state of national opinion bears witness to their lack of any attempt to make the pro-Europe case – except for the tireless former Europe minister Denis MacShane. Tony Blair, a French speaker and committed European, wrote a shameless "no surrender" article in the Sun to appease Murdoch on the eve of the 1997 election. He never made speeches at home to explain the value of membership. Every Brussels meeting was a "fight" to defend "British red lines". So any Blairites incensed by this week's vote might pause to consider that British anti-Europeanism is also his legacy. Brown was even less inclined to challenge attitudes pumped out by our 80% Europhobic press.
That pusillanimous record, along with Labour's vote this week, puts a heavy onus on both Eds and all the shadow cabinet to start speaking out for Britain's membership. Today I spoke to several who were earnestly pledging that they would. A referendum hangs in the air, though it looks unlikely other countries want any treaty that risks triggering one in any country. Lib Dem and Tory manifestos in 2015 will carry some referendum pledge. If Labour is obliged to offer one too, then it had better start making an earnest pro-European case at every opportunity from now on.
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Greek journalist Vaxevanis, who published names of 2,000 suspected tax evaders, cleared of privacy breach
Kostas Vaxevanis hates being the centre of attention. Moments before taking the stand in one of the most sensational trials in modern Greece on Thursday, the investigative journalist insisted he was not in the business of making news. "My job is simply to tell the news and tell it straight," he averred. "My job is to tell the truth."
Last night, after a trial which lasted just 12 hours, he was vindicated: the court found him not guilty of breaking data privacy laws by publishing the names of more than 2,000 wealthy Greeks believed to be holding Swiss bank accounts.
"Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed; everything else is public relations," he told the three-member panel of judges at the start of the session. "As such it was my duty to reveal this list," he continued. "The decision to try me on charges of breaching privacy laws is utterly ridiculous when none of those on the list have filed a complaint about privacy violation."
The list was first handed to Greek authorities in 2010 by the IMF chief Chistine Lagarde, and with tax avoidance a national sport among the rich elite, the failure of successive governments to act on it – at a time when debt-stricken Greece was immersed in its worst economic crisis since the second world war – has raised suspicions that corrupt vested interests ran to the top of society.
"It is quite clear the political system did everything not to publish this list," he told the Guardian during a recess. "If you look at the names, or the offshore companies linked to certain individuals, you see that these are all friends of those in power. Phoney lists had also begun to circulate. It was time for the truth to be told," said the reporter, who had faced up to two years in jail and a fine of €30,000 (£24,000) if convicted.
"We live in a country where on the one hand tax evasion is rampant and on the other people are eating out of rubbish dumpsters because of salary cuts, because they can't make ends meet."
Three years after the eruption of Europe's worst crisis in decades, Vaxevanis has emerged as an unwitting crusader – a defender of truth in an environment that has become ever more electrified by the perceived menaces of malfeasance and mendacity.
Five days after a public prosecutor ordered the 46-year-old's arrest – dispatching special agents to seize the journalist in a country whose justice system has almost never moved with such alacrity – there are few who do not agree with Vaxevanis that his trial has been "politically motivated".
"In my 40 years' experience as a lawyer, this whole episode has been very unusual, to say the least," opined Nikos Kostantopouloulos, one of the reporter's three lawyers. "We have a schizophrenic situation where on the one hand a journalist is being penalised for revealing a document in the interests of informing public opinion and, on the other hand, the parliament itself is saying the handling of the list should be investigated."
From the outset, said Konstantopoulos, a former leftist politician, the case had defied the principles of justice. "Right down to the way the prosecutor so hastily issued the charge sheet without even bothering to stamp it, it has been handled very badly," he said.
With ordinary Greeks hammered by a fifth year of recession that has left growing numbers struggling with unemployment and poverty, the case has ignited widespread fury. The list, reprinted on Monday by the leading daily Ta Nea, includes politicians, businessmen, shipping magnates, doctors, lawyers – a far cry from those who have borne the brunt of relentless austerity measures on the margins of society.
"While we have been paying our taxes, some out there have been stashing their loot away in Switzerland, not being taxed at all," said Petros Hadzopoulos, a retiree, who had come to the court to get a glance of the journalist he called "his new, best hero". Hot Doc, which normally has a circulation of about 25,000, sold 100,000 last week.
For the prime minister, Antonis Samaras, and his leftist coalition partners, the affair has fast become a political embarrassment, one the fragile alliance could do without as the crisis-hit country fights to convince international creditors at the EU and IMF that it has met the conditions of qualifying for further aid.
As Athens teeters once again on the brink of bankruptcy – its public coffers set to run dry in less than a month – Vaxevanis's arrest has highlighted the pitfalls of press freedom in a nation where this week alone two anchors on state television were also fired for publicly "undermining" a minister.
The presenters' "crime" had been to question the failure of the public order minister Nikos Dendias to act on a threat to sue the Guardian for publishing a story alleging police torture of protestors that he said had "defamed Greek democracy".
For those crammed into the packed court, it was clear that in the birthplace of freedom, democracy itself was at stake. Thursday's often shambolic proceedings, which frequently saw the panel's presiding female magistrate thumping the bench as she demanded "silence" under a statue of Jesus Christ, included court-appointed interpreters being unable to translate with one confusing friend for french and absurd with illegal.
"I am very pained to have to be here in Greece the mother of democracy explaining the obvious," said Jim Boumela who, as president of the International Federation of Journalists, flew in from London to testify at the trial. "This is what I have to do in countries like Uganda," he said appearing at the stand before a wine-coloured Bible.
"Kostas should be applauded for what he has done. It's a very worrying turn that journalists are being suppressed in Greece – and I think we are going to see more of it," said Boumela.
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 BBC News | Accused Greek journalist says rich "untouchable" Reuters ATHENS (Reuters) - A journalist on trial for publishing the names of more than 2,000 Greeks with Swiss bank accounts accused politicians on Thursday of hiding the truth and protecting an "untouchable" wealthy elite. Costas Vaxevanis took the stand ... Greek publisher on trial for printing alleged list of Swiss bank depositors Greek journalist on trial over printing Swiss bank account list Greek journalist calls bank list case political revenge |
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The trial began today of a top investigative journalist who is facing jail for publishing a list allegedly containing the names of over 2,000 Greeks with bank accounts in Switzerland.
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 Irish Independent | Tax Evasion Case Emerges as Latest Headache for Greece's Coalition Wall Street Journal (blog) By Jenny Paris. A Greek journalist at the center of a tax evasion and media censorship controversy has emerged as the latest headache for Greece's fragile ruling coalition. Costas Vaxevanis was already a well known investigative television journalist ... Greek publisher tried over alleged Swiss bank list UPDATE 2-Greek journalist calls bank list case political revenge Greek journalist on trial over printing Swiss bank account list |
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 BBC News | Greek stocks fall 5% on debt talk concerns BBC News The Greek stock market has fallen 5% on concerns that talks between Athens and its rescue lenders are not progressing as smoothly as hoped. Banking stocks were hit hard, with Piraeus Bank down 16%, on fears further aid may not be released in time. Greek Buy-Back Would Require Fresh Recapitalization Of Banks- Sources UPDATE 1-Financing issues main obstacle on Greek talks-IMF IMF Says Measures to Cut Greek Debt Must Be Meaningful |
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INSIGHT-Greek "tax cheat" lists yield one suicide, no convictions Reuters Innocent are being dragged through mud -politician. * Suicide victim earned better life by hard work -family. * Anti-corruption journalist charged while corrupt go free. * Lists creating a sick political climate -campaigner. By Renee Maltezou and Dina ... |
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 Arutz Sheva | As Golden Dawn gains popularity, Greek Jews strategize on how to combat neo ... Jewish Telegraphic Agency With its swastika-like flag, gangs of black-shirted thugs attacking immigrants and its ideology of Greek racial superiority, Golden Dawn's sudden and significant rise has prompted condemnations from around the world. It also has put many of Greece's 5 ... REPORT: A Huge Golden Dawn Mob Led An Assault On Immigrants In Athens ... Neo-Nazi Greek MPs Attack Immigrants in Central Athens |
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His spectacular free fall from the edge of space may have won Felix Baumgartner a place in the record books, but the Austrian sky diver is now threatened with a fall from grace over a court case in which he stands accused of punching a Greek lorry driver in the face.
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 Economic Times | Greek society in free-fall StandardNet Greek society in free-fall. By Elena Becatoros · The Associated Press staff. Thu, 11/01/2012 - 11:33am. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ATHENS, Greece ... Hit by crisis, Greek society in free-fall |
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 Irish Independent | Greek Buy-Back Would Require Fresh Recapitalization Of Banks- Sources Wall Street Journal LONDON--A voluntary buy-back of bonds has emerged as the euro zone's preferred option for Greece to cut its mountain of debt, but it creates problems of its own: If Greek banks don't take part, it will generate fewer savings for the country. If they do ... UPDATE 1-Greek Socialist deputy quits in opposition to austerity IMF Says Measures to Cut Greek Debt Must Be Meaningful Dissent hits Greek coalition before austerity vote |
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 CNBC.com | Euro Retreats as Greek Pension Ruling Stokes Fear CNBC.com The euro slipped against the dollar on Thursday after a Greek court ruled the country's pension reform demanded by foreign lenders may be unconstitutional, stoking worries about Athens' ability to implement austerity measures needed to secure aid. |
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