Welcome, 77 artists, 40 different points of Attica welcomes you by singing Erotokritos an epic romance written at 1713 by Vitsentzos Kornaros
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
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ECB board member plays down new Greek bailout
Joerg Asmussen says eurozone will consider measures to support country but no plans to review situation before the spring
The eurozone will consider measures to support Greece as long as it implements its latest bailout, but has no plans to review the situation before next spring, European Central Bank executive board member Joerg Asmussen said on Wednesday.
Asked to comment on a statement by German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble that Greece would need a new bailout package, Asmussen said the issue was not discussed at talks with Greek finance minister Yannis Stournaras during his visit to Athens. "We have not discussed this, we have focused on making the current programme a success, more growth and jobs," he said.
He declined to be drawn into discussion of a third package, saying he had nothing to add to a Eurogroup decision last November that pledged additional assistance to Greece until it regained access to financial markets, as long as it implemented its bailout and generated a primary surplus.
Spokesmen for both Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and Schäuble tried to play down the significance of the remarks, telling reporters that the German position had not changed.
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ECB officials arrive in Greece amid talk of third bailout
The European Central Bank is checking up on how well Greece is meeting its international bailout obligations today, a day after Germany's finance minister said a third aid programme would be needed to keep Athens afloat.
Global football union warns of unpaid wages if players join clubs in Cyprus, Greece, Turkey
HOOFDDORP, Netherlands (AP) — The international footballers' union FIFPro is advising players not to sign for most clubs in Cyprus, Greece and Turkey because of unpaid wages and bonuses.
FIFPro says it cautions players "about the bad behavior of clubs" in those countries which have not qualified for UEFA competitions. Clubs entering the Champions League and Europa League face UEFA sanctions for unpaid wages.
The warning was issued Wednesday as the summer transfer window approaches its hectic final days.
FIFPro says the Netherlands players' union estimates that at least half of its members moving to Cyprus, Greece or Turkey will have "serious problems" with non-payment.
FIFPro says some clubs promise "fabulous wages, a luxurious home, ambitious plans, a bonus for signing a contract, a bonus scheme or a percentage of a future transfer payment."
News Topics: Sports, Athlete compensation, Men's soccer, Professional soccer, Soccer, Sports business, Men's sportsPeople, Places and Companies: Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Western Europe, Europe, Middle East
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Med Gas To Alter Energy Dynamics
ATHENS - The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on 20 August that offshore natural gas field discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, and the energy sectors of Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories and Syria “would significantly alter energy supply dynamics in the eastern Mediterranean region and could spur natural gas exports in the near future”.
However, the EIA noted in a brief that uncertainty over the location and configuration of export infrastructure persists. “But several proposals are making progress despite complications posed by regional security problems, territorial disputes, and macroeconomic uncertainty,” the report said.
One of the primary contributors to the report on the Eastern Mediterranean, Mark J. Eshbaugh from EIA’s International Energy Analysis, told New Europe on 20 August from Washington DC that, regarding liquefied natural gas (LNG), there could be around 350 million cubic feet (9.9 million cubic metres) per year available in the next five-seven years via proposed LNG facilities in Cyprus and Israel.
“OECD Europe’s 2012 demand for natural gas was approximately 17.9 trillion cubic feet (506.87 billion cubic metres) in 2012, so adding 350 billion cubic feet (9.9 million cubic metres) in five-seven years will not overwhelm the European natural gas market,” Eshbaugh said. He was asked by New Europe about the potential of EU gas discoveries in the Levant Basin and eastern Mediterranean for EU energy security.
“There are a few pipeline proposals at varying levels of feasibility, but they are unlikely to provide significantly more than the proposed LNG facilities, at least initially. Volumes from the eastern Mediterranean would be just one part of a broader gas mix for most countries,” he said, commenting on the best way to export these resources to potential markets.
“Another factor that could impact the European gas market is how other potential destination markets develop over the next several years. For example, if the price differential between Europe and East Asia persists, LNG exporters will have an incentive to send cargoes to Asian markets to capitalise on the higher prices,” Eshbaugh said.
A large share of the newly discovered energy resources will help meet domestic demand in the countries of the eastern Mediterranean region, but there could be enough surplus natural gas to spur exports from Cyprus and Israel. Determining how and where to export natural gas remains a topic of continued debate, with several proposed export routes competing for political and economic support, the EIA report said.
Israeli sources told New Europe that Tel Aviv doesn’t see gas as a strategic put purely an economic issue. They added though that if all gas fields -- Israel, Egypt, Cyprus and Lebanon -- are united then there is strategic potential. Greece is also looking for gas supplies south of the island of Crete.
The EU, which is also keen to reduce its gas dependence on Russia, is also eyeing gas reserves from EU-member Cyprus and close-partner Israel as an alternative. With the advancement of the EU Southern Gas Corridor through the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and Interconnectors, gas from the Eastern Mediterranean could find its way to European markets.
ECB in Greece amid talk of third bailout
The European Central Bank is checking up on how well Greece is meeting its international bailout obligations today, a day after Germany's finance minister said a third aid programme would be needed to keep Athens afloat.
Europe can't take four more years of Angela Merkel's Thatcherism
The privatisation of public assets across the continent is destroying the European social model. Die Linke would protect it
The EU remains mired in the biggest economic mess since its foundation and the response to it has been nothing short of a catastrophe. Angela Merkel has spearheaded a disastrous re-enactment by EU leaders of the structural adjustment and austerity policies imposed on developing countries in the 1980s and 1990s – policies that discredited the IMF and the World Bank. Today, austerity and the large-scale transfer of public assets to the private sector are inciting widespread disenchantment with the entire European project.
Next month's elections in Germany will be crucial for the future of the whole EU. Europe, under the unmerciful influence of Merkel and her government, is treading a dangerous path as intensified deregulation and the privatisation of public assets (industries, infrastructure and utilities) across the continent are demolishing key elements of the social model and challenging the notion of the common good itself.
This has been chiefly apparent in countries such as Greece and Portugal, where bailouts are pushing towards the privatisation of services such as water provision. Privatisation's apostles claim that selling public assets stimulates the market competition that prevents monopolies from fixing prices, benefiting both state coffers and consumers. What we have seen instead are higher costs, increased inefficiencies, service deterioration and redundancies.
Angela Merkel vision is of a Europe of shrivelled public ownership and a minimal welfare state. The overarching conception of European integration here is competition among member states for the lowest wages, pensions and benefits. There can thus be little doubt about what is in store for all Europeans if the current German government is not thrown out in September.
The crisis has led to immense pressure from the German government on bailout countries to sell off pubic bodies. As state assets are bought up at low crisis prices and banks involved in reckless lending have been bailed out at taxpayers' expense, the shift from public to private that has taken place in Europe constitutes an attack on democratic governance and the sense of social solidarity and community that healthy democracies require. The next round of this everything-must-go clearance over the coming months is set to include a chunk of the Madrid region's hospitals and health centres, the Greek national gas company, Slovenia's main telecoms provider and Cyprus's national electricity outfit.
British people are all too familiar with the consequences of fanatical neoliberalism. Hypocritically, right now with re-election in mind, the chancellor tends to refuse to impose on Germans what she is pushing on other countries. But, with the risk of four more years of Merkel at the helm, Thatcherism on a continental scale – Germany included – is a serious threat.
But the European left has learned a lot from British experience. Today, the importance of common goods is gaining traction as a key concept as people react with smart, controlled anger to the selling off of efficient and profitable public agencies while financial sector losses are socialised. Against this theft of public property, local initiatives have been springing up and often halting the privatisation of municipal utilities such as water services and hospitals. Water provision is being put back under local administration control in Berlin and a return to public water services in other big European cities such as Paris has certainly helped progressives to put the costs and downsides of privatisation on the agenda in the current German federal electoral campaign.
Five years of crisis under Merkel's leadership have set the scene for an unprecedented and dangerous transfer of power from the public to the private sphere in Europe. The Left (Die Linke) in Germany, together with our allies throughout Europe, is advancing a vision of economic democracy, equality and sustainable growth in Europe. This includes campaigning for fair taxation systems, closing down tax havens, a financial sector at the service of society, a genuine education and investment plan to tackle youth unemployment, and an accountable European Central Bank.
Defeating current and future waves of privatisation must be at the heart of any efforts to re-establish the primacy of the citizen within a democratic Europe. This is how we can offer an alternative to Merkel's rotten vision for the future of the continent. Next month, the German electorate can strike a blow for all Europeans.
GermanyEuropean UnionEuropePrivatisationEconomic policyAusterityEconomicsGabi Zimmertheguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds