Dear Mr President
I am taking the liberty to address to you as a European Citizen (I am of Greek Nationality, living for the last 30 years in Belgium) and as a former European Commission Official (1987-2010).
As you already know, the Government of Greece decided, without any warning or public deliberation, to stop the Greek Public Radiotelevision Broadcasting Service. Since last Tuesday (11/06/2013) a black curtain has been thrown over our three main public networks (ET, NET, ET3), the Satellite which was broadcasting internationally (ERT World), several radio stations with public information and entertainment and the relevant internet sites.
I do not want to enter into the economic, managerial or quality of the ERT services. This is for the local specialists. I do not even want to enter on how millions of Greek citizens of Greece or of Diaspora get their information and entertainment. I want to keep to one symbolic thing: The black screens within Europe.
Many European countries, among them your homeland, fought against totalitarianism, dictatorships, fascisms and all sorts of extreme governments that, among other inhumane and uncivilized practices, prohibited freedom of expression and the right to be informed.
Right now, the average Greek citizen can get his/her information from networks and sites of private companies. The symbolism is huge: the public good is black, dark and silent and the only colour, light and voice comes from private institutions. Is this Europe? Is this what our fathers had in mind when they fought against totalitarianism?
I am addressing to you, Mr President, knowing your political strength and its symbolism as the President of the main European Institution. I am addressing to you, Mr Barroso, as a European citizen, sensitive to the principal European and democratic values. I am addressing to you reminding you that in the country that invented democracy, democracy is for once more at gunpoint. I am reminding you that in the cradle of European civilisation, where light and music was worshiped in the face of God, Apollo is violated with a black curtain and a dead silence. Now the average Greek citizen is in fear, disappointment and despair.
Mr President, the government of Greece, despite the fact that is democratically elected, acts in several instances, and in this case in particular, like a totalitarian government imposing measures against the will and the well-being of the people.
In the case of the ERT, I believe that the government trans-passed any democratic frontier. It also ignored the decision of the Highest Court to reopen ERT till its reform in the near future. Believe me, Mr President, the black in my screen, it hurts me as a European citizen and it forecasts the black of fascism-like governance, I am afraid not only in Greece. The black and silence from our TV and radio is not only a Greek particularity. It is a European subject. It is a universal subject.
This is a plea to you, as President of the European Commission, to get personally involved and remind the Greek government that it is a European State and it ought to respect European values. These totalitarian actions are far from the European civilisation.
I apologise for taking from your precious time and your important duties. However, the European Institutions are our last hope to solve the issue in peace before any civil unrest disrupts with unpredictable results.
With great respect
Ioannis Economidis
Better a black screen than porn broadcasts
Normally, this newspaper prints replies to issues, preferring to wait a week and let our readers have time to draw their own conclusions.
However, this time I will make an exception by asking you, dear Mr. Economidis, what makes you think that Jose Barroso cares about ERT or any other public broadcaster in Europe?
As to the black screen, it is surely better than what the European Commission did on 1 March, 2007 with Europe by Satellite, the public broadcaster of the European Union. Will remind you that at the time, in reality since 22 November, 2004, Jose Barroso was already President of the European Commission.
On 1 March, 2007, after a press release of just six lines, issued by the European Commission which was not read not even by the doorman of Berlaymont, Europe by Satellite stopped broadcasting on the Eutelsat satellite and was moved to Serious 4 (later renamed to Astra 4A), a satellite requiring a dish of 1.80 meters diameter and a different orientation of the dish (more than 6 degrees which in the height of telecommunication satellites makes several thousands of miles difference). Eutelsat, which covers all over Western Europe requires only a 25 centimeter dish for quality reception.
Indeed, since 1 March, 2007 the EbS frequency began broadcasting porn films as it was let free by the Commission and… coincidentally, immediately taken by a private Turkish porn broadcaster. I remember that at that time I gave pictures of the porn broadcasts with the EbS sign in the bottom, to the then responsible Commissioner Margot Walstrom. Yet, in vain.
That was a game of the Commission “system.” Indeed, I remember at the time, since I wrote many articles on this matter, I was invited to testify over the issue for more than 4 hours (plus a 17-page memo) by the Internal Audit of the Commission (IAS) and despite my testimony the issue was buried.
How did the Commission gave this atrocity a legitimate appearance? Very simple.
When EbS signed the first broadcasting contract, Eutelsat was represented in Belgium by Belgacom. Every time the contract was renewed by Belgacom, but when in late 2006 the contract was to be renewed once again, Belgacom informed the Commission that was not representing Eutelsat anymore and they should be contacting the supplier directly. Instead of this, the Commission opted to go to a tender, without much publicity, without informing Eutelsat, and the tender went to a Swedish provider.
As prove of how correct I was, the Commission, after the contract with Serious 4 expired, silently and over-night like a “thief,” returned to Eutelsat 9A (not to Eutelsat 7A where it was before).
I will explain this and much more, including ten flagrant scandals involving the European Commission in my book “The Deep State of Europe” which I am considering publishing in the near future. If you are interested to understand better how the “system” manipulated the “death” of Europe by Satellite, a far more important public broadcaster than ERT, you may read three articles published by this column, on February 2007 (New Europe issues 715, 716 and 717 all in page 48) pre-announcing the premeditated “death” of Europe by Satellite.
Finally, who has benefited of this scandal, remains to be seen.
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