How the world sees Greece
On the second day of the trial of former Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou, who is accused of tampering with the so-called Lagarde list of wealthy Greek savers, a prominent professor of constitutional law claimed that the charges have expired under the statute of limitations.
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The government must quickly reach a final agreement with its creditors and reforms must continue, Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras said on Thursday, also predicting that if the uncertainties are lifted the economy could remain on the path to growth this year.
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The Euro Working Group discussed Greece’s imminent funding problems on Thursday amid mounting concern about how the country will meet its obligations next months.
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The possibility of Greece postponing the repayment of any debt tranches to the International Monetary Fund is seen as “exceptionally complicated” with “many obstacles,” according to officials familiar with the subject. They stress that such a move would constitute a “clear default,” with consequences for a large number of other loans Greece has received.
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More immigrants and asylum seekers were released from detention centers across Greece on Thursday as the government seeks to make good on a campaign pledge to close down such facilities, citing “inhuman” living conditions.
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Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is to decide in the next 48 hours whether he will allow Parliament to vote on a four-month extension to Greece’s loan agreement or whether he will bypass the House altogether after signs of dissent within his party.
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Instead of extending Greece's credit line for another four months, European officials should have cut Greece off from the financial lifeline it's been ...
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Alas, approval for Greece's bailout extension could not sustain National Bank of Greece's (ADR) (NYSE:NBG) price for very long, as its share price ...
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Markus Schreiber/AP PhotoGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel laid out the cold reality to Greece Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Feb. 19: There ...
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Yet another provocative article turning against Greece was published today by German tabloid Bild, which intensified its anti-Greek campaign ahead of the four-month loan extension agreement voting to take place in the Bundestag (German Federal Parliament) tomorrow. The newspaper urges German citizens and officials to say “Nein” (No) to financial assistance for Athens, as agreed in a Eurogroup teleconference on Tuesday. Under a bold written “Nein” in white letters and blue background, reminding the Greek flag colors, Germany’s largest circulation newspaper called its readers to give “No money to the greedy Greeks.” In addition, it called Germans to apply the following three steps instead of financing Athens in the Eurozone framework: First, to print the controversial article that says “No money to the greedy Greeks.” Second, to make a photo of their own and attach it to the relevant article. And third, to take a selfie with the controversial article and email it to Bild. Those who respond to the call will also have to enter their name and their cell phone number under the “nein” selfies. Moreover, the tabloid also hosted German economists’ statements who called the governing coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel to vote against the Greek loan extension request. Furthermore, as it highlighted, it is not the first but the fifth time that the Greek government is requesting financial support and cited controversial economist Lars Feld who, referring to Athens, has said that “audacity should not be rewarded.” Finally, the newspaper reminded former Greek Prime Ministers Antonis Samaras’ and George Papandreou’s statements that Germany will get all its money back. Reactions Apart from the reactions caused in Greece and other European countries, the provocative article caused the German Journalists Association’s (VDJ) condemnation. Additionally, numerous unnamed internet users have also reacted to the unprovoked anti-Greek campaign. VDJ stressed that the tabloid’s campaign is beyond any form of civilized debate, even the one expressed by similar type of newspapers, while it underlined that it is turning against an entire nation for the mistakes of its politicians.
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A group of antiestablishment individuals, who had earlier marched in downtown Athens, Greece, were involved in violent incidents around the National Polytechnic University late on Thursday, police said. Around 300 people, who had rallied in downtown Athens around 6:00 p.m., marched to the Greek Parliament, but some of them damaged the front window of a bank on Stadiou Street and broke two store windows as they were returning through Panepistimiou Street. Followed by Greek riot police, they marched to the National Polytechnic University and damaged more stores on Stournari Street, adjacent to the academic institution. They also burned a car and set trashcans on fire, which they had used to block the street. (source: ana-mpa)
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As Greece was struggling to synthesize a whole new list of harsh reforms in an effort to ask its creditors for a bailout extension earlier this week, Arcade Fire‘s indie rock group member Will Butler composed his brand-new song named “Clean Monday,” in support of the Greek negotiations. The Texas-born multi-instrumentalist has committed his talent to compose a new song every day this week inspired by British newspaper Guardian news headlines. His debut song, which was released last Monday, was dedicated to the Greek people, inviting Europe to gaze into the real conditions Greece is facing due to its recent debt crisis. Its title “Clean Monday” is stemming from Greece’s homonymous national holiday that coincided with the song’s release. In his small blurb in the Guardian, Butler’s exact words were: “I’m rooting for Greece. I mean, broadly, who the hell isn’t rooting for Greece? Even if you’re super right wing, or super German, or super capitalist, you probably don’t want Greece tumbling out of the Euro and defaulting on its debts.” Arcade Fire’s core member continued by praising Greece’s new Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, not hesitating to call him a “straight shooting rapscallion,” hinting that he is probably the ideal person “who might – just might – be crazy enough to, um, responsibly manage the Greek financial situation.” Enjoy “Clean Monday” below: Lyrics: “You know it’s 9 am And I, and I’ve been waiting for you wondering where you might sit I got the guards out just in case it’s true But you know I know you wouldn’t do it Why don’t you sit down and take, and take a breath And if you think you’re headed for the cross But take your robe off Take out, take out your thumbs It’s just about some money loss And if the children, they keep crying And if they stumble out into to the streets And if the old men grab the sailors And mumble something about how they would never retreat You tell them: It’s just, it’s just the winter turning into spring And when the sun comes When you keep them waiting Now just waiting for the bell to ring And if the streets begin to crumble And the poor begin to wash away And the children lose their culture Well, it’s happened before and it will be okay You know we’re not scared Of what, of what is coming Of what is coming from the streets You know we’re not scared Of what, of what could happen If you leave us standing on our feet But if I gave your number [?] And if I gave you a dollar [?] And if I sell my first born son to the Pharaoh Do you, you think that we could stay [?] I’m just, I’m just waiting for the bell to ring I’m just standing here in my corner Waiting for the bell to ring I’m just lying here, oh, on the floor Just waiting for the bell to ring I’m just standing here, oh, in my corner Just waiting for the bell to ring I’m just lying here, oh, on the floor Just waiting for the bell to ring I’m just sitting here tied up in the corner Just waiting for the bell to ring
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Greek main opposition New Democracy on Thursday accused the government of inaccuracies and blatant lies, underlining that the agreement reached with loan partners is, in essence, an extension of the Memorandum but under worse conditions for the country. New Democracy sources pointed out that contrary to SYRIZA’s claims, there is no separation between the loan contract and the Memorandum. What the government requested through Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis’ email on February 18 and the Eurogroup approved, was the extension of the existing Memorandum for four more months but on conditions. “The Greek government has not only failed to ‘tear up’ the Memorandum, but cosigned it instead,” New Democracy said, citing relevant announcements by Greece’s creditors (European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund), which underline that the country’s fiscal program review will be based on the existing Memorandum. Regarding government statements that it has put an end to the outrageous primary surpluses, New Democracy referred to the Eurogroup agreement and accused SYRIZA of “pledging to secure the primary fiscal surpluses needed to guarantee debt sustainability.” (source: ana-mpa)
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Greek banks suffered an outflow of €12 billion in January, according to the European Central Bank. Figures for February have not yet been published, but the indications are that money continued to flow out of the country’s banks.
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Athens promised to go after wealthy tax evaders, but that’s the easy part. Harder is reshaping tycoons’ domination of parts of the economy.
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A Greek man has been convicted of a racist verbal assault on a Nigerian-born doctor who gave him emergency treatment. A court in the northern town ...
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FRANKFURT--Greek depositors withdrew nearly EUR13 billion from their bank accounts in January, data from the European Central Bank showed ...
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Think about it; the Greeks have lived beyond their means for decades and the world has continued to pay for it. For a country that produces not very ...
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The actor once struggled to move on from American Pie-type roles, but now he is digging deeper as he costars in the Broadway revival of The Heidi Chronicles On a face-freezing morning in New York, the actor Jason Biggs surveys a midtown cafe perched on a desolate strip of 11th Avenue. “A- coffee,” he calculates. “C+ patrons. D location. I’m being generous with the D.” Biggs isn’t usually so judgmental about where he buys his Greek yogurt and coffee with extra shots of espresso. (“I don’t fuck around,” he said, pointing to his cup.) But he’s assessing the place through the eyes of Scoop Rosenbaum, the character he plays in The Heidi Chronicles, the Broadway revival of the 1988 Wendy Wasserstein drama. A play about a woman’s search for happiness and fulfillment, it won both a Tony and a Pulitzer. Continue reading...
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“I find it very hard to imagine that Europe and the IMF will allow us to trip over what is a relatively small cash problem”, said the Greek Minister of Finance
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Worried Greek savers withdrew €12bn from Greek banks in January Continue reading...
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Painful experience is seen to have damaged the financial institution’s credibility
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Turkey’s Ambassador in Athens Kerim Uras on Thursday received a delegation from the Greek Defense Ministry for talks that are said to have focused on improving bilateral relations.
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The German Federation of Journalists (DJV) on Thursday condemned Bild newspaper for running a campaign calling its readers to take a picture of themselves next to a front page reading: “No more billions for the greedy Greeks.”
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Not the hardest of hard-liners -- he was to a certain extent the middleman between Germany and Greece in the negotiations of the past few weeks ...
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BERLIN (Reuters) - An overwhelming majority of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives supported an extension of the Greek bailout in a ...
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New Democracy MP and parliamentary spokesperson Kyriakos Mitsotakis revealed today that the main opposition party will vote in favor of the four-month loan extension agreement, when this comes to the Greek Parliament. As he highlighted in an interview with Greek radio station “Parapolitika,” a third bailout is imminent but at the same time “it is not good for the country.” In addition, Mitsotakis noted that the leftist SYRIZA list of reforms sent to the country’s loan partners and institutions is not genuine. “A large part of the Varoufakis’ email has been ‘copy/pasted’ from the ‘damn Memorandum’,” he characteristically said, explaining that it includes “reforms that existed and were implemented, and it is good that the government will continue to implement them.” At the same time, the New Democracy former Minister urged that a third bailout is imminent, even though it is “not good for the country.” “The recent agreement includes common sense reforms that will allow the country to set the false bailout-versus-anti-bailout dilemma aside,” he underlined. “However, it should be noted that there is a significant diversion in the budget, already from the first month, which will make achieving the set goal extremely difficult for the government,” he added. Finally, Mitsotakis pointed out that from March “there will be substantial financing needs, which the government has not yet explained to us how it aims to cover them.” Mitsotakis was absent from last week’s Presidential Ballot as he refused to vote in favor of the new President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, nominated by the ruling SYRIZA party. In a statement issued after the process, he explained the reasons he did not vote for Pavlopoulos, who is also a member of New Democracy and former Minister. “I honor Prokopis Pavlopoulos as a Professor and an excellent jurist, with deep scientific knowledge. Through his political path, however, I am not convinced that he is the most appropriate for the Presidency of the Hellenic Republic for three reasons.” As Mitsotakis further said, Pavlopoulos, during his term as a Minister, failed to resist the citizen-state “client relation,” he appeared deficient to deal with one of the country’s greatest crises of recent history (the one of December 2008, after the assassination of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos) and finally, his position in regards to Greece’s place in the European Union does not reflect Mitsotakis’ views. His decision spread unease among the former governing party, which agreed to support the new President’s candidacy.
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Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said he relies on the European Central Bank (ECB) financial assistance to help the country avert a possible default, when liquidity and bank deposits are projected to be over by next month. In an interview with Bloomberg Television in Athens, Varoufakis highlighted that ECB owes Greece some 2 billion euros from the return of profits from its program of buying Eurozone bonds in order to support the market. At the same time, the Greek government must make a 2.2-billion-euro payment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), one of the institutions supporting its bailout program. “So it could hand over this money to the IMF as partial repayment. I am giving you examples, nothing has been decided. This is money we are owed. This is our money, an overpayment to the ECB,” Varoufakis explained. On the flip side though, ECB President Mario Draghi, addressing the European Parliament yesterday, said it is a misconception that it is his institution’s duty to return profits from the Securities Markets Program (SMP), arguing that it is rather a governments’ responsibility as they are the ones in charge of the funds. “You still believe that the SMP profits are owned by the ECB and are kept there? That is not so. The SMP profit, like any other profit, has been distributed to all the central-bank members of the ECB. And the central-bank members of the ECB have transferred their profits to their national budgets,” he stressed. In November 2012, the Eurozone agreed to transfer an amount equal to any profit on SMP holdings of the country’s debt to Greece as long as it complies with the conditions of its bailout program. On Tuesday, the single currency member-states’ Finance Ministers and the institutions approved a list of Greek reforms in order to grant the country a four-month extension on its previous loan agreement. That day, some 700 million euros that have been withdrawn from Greek banks returned to the country, Varoufakis underlined. Since early December, when the early presidential election -that led to the snap January 25 general elections- was announced by then Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, some 20 billion euros fled the country. “There was a deposit flight back into the Greek banking sector. It is a question of direction. Once you turn the tide, you hope,” the Greek Finance Minister explained. The Greek government’s list of proposals, among others, includes commitments on tax policy, public finance management, revenue administration, public spending, social security reform, public administration and corruption, installment schemes, banking and non-performing loans, privatization and public asset management, labor market reforms, product market reforms, judicial system reforms and the humanitarian crisis. The above bought Athens’ newly elected government time to settle its new measures, while the next hurdle will come in April when the progress review is scheduled. “I am pretty confident we would not have a cash-flow problem because we all struggled very hard through long hours of discussions with our partners, with institutions, to come to this stage. I find it very hard to imagine that Europe and the IMF will allow us to trip over what is a relatively small cash problem,” Varoufakis concluded.
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Greek banks are considering offloading part of their shipping debt portfolios worth billions of dollars in a bid to shore up their capital, Reuters stressed citing banking and ship-financing sources. Earlier this week, Athens has secured a four-month extension of its existing loan agreement but the danger of it ending up in a wreck and the threat of a hurtful Grexit still in existence, raises the risk of Greek banks facing further deposit loses in the future, the news agency estimated. “There are several portfolios being shopped around at the moment, including shipping loans,” an unnamed banking and ship-financing source said, adding that “it makes sense for the Greek banks, which face a huge liquidity problem, to transfer these assets to third parties because they do not have the structures in place to collect bad debt.” According to the same source, such debt could be attractive for private equity players due to the shipping sector’s continuing downturn. “If they can find buyers, certainly one way to raise cash is through distressed deals. If the pricing is attractive enough, this would be private equity and hedge fund territory,” the source explained to Reuters. At the same time, another source highlighted that Greek banks were themselves approaching shipowners, offering them to sell their performing loans back to them at a discount: “Even at a slight discount, this will help bolster underlying capital and buy some breathing space for the banks. It’s also a good way of getting loans off their books. For shipowners who have cash, it would be a good option too.” The four Greek systemic banks (National Bank of Greece, Piraeus Bank, Eurobank and Alpha Bank) currently hold shipping portfolios estimated at around 10 billion euros in total. When questioned, National Bank of Greece and Alpha Bank officials ruled out such scenarios, while Eurobank declined to comment on the issue. On the opposite, a Piraeus Bank executive said this could happen if interested buyers approach the bank, although such a move is not imminent.
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A Nigerian doctor who has been living and working in Greece for the last 14 years was the victim of a verbal and racist attack from a patient in Kozani, northern Greece. Dr Solace Akpevwe Godwin was on call when the 57-year-old patient arrived at the hospital complaining about breath shortness. After a quick examination, the 29-year-old doctor decided to admit the patient who appeared bothered and started shouting. When he calmed down, with the administration of the necessary medication, the patient told Godwin “you need a Hitler and soap” referring to Hitler’s horrific practices during World War II. The 29-year-old woman was speechless and rushed to contact authorities. When authorities arrived, the 57-year-old patient denied the allegations, but in the end he admitted his racist verbal attack and apologized. Medical Association of Kozani president Charalambos Tsevekidis stated that Godwin is a great woman from Nigeria, adding that she grew up in Greece, receiving the Greek nationality. “This is an unprecedented event in the region and we are all saddened by it. Things like that cannot be said even as a joke.” The public prosecutor in Kozani filed charges against the 57-year-old patient whose case was tried on Thursday, February 26. The man was sentenced to six months in prison with a three-year suspension. He was also asked to apologize to the doctor. However, this is not the first time the doctor has attracted media attention. In 2014, during the Medical Association’s election, she was told that she could not vote, which led her to write a formal notice expressing her bitterness and disappointment. In her notice, Godwin said that even though she a Nigerian native, she has obtained Greek nationality and has been living in the country for 14 years. She went to school in the country and studied at the Medical Department of Democritus University in Thrace. She also stressed that she was not able to vote in the Medical Association election due to a Greek legislation -passed in 1957- which stressed that foreign doctors do not have the right to vote and elect. Godwin noted the irony of the situation, since the anti-racism law had recently been tabled in the Greek Parliament. “Instead of hiding behind our fingers and saying that in theory we are all equal, we need to act. We are all equal and I invite all clubs, societies and associations to show that in practice. As a doctor I gave an oath to treat every person as equal and I live in accordance with it, inside and outside my work space. I therefore urge those who agree with this to ensure the abolition of this unjust law, not just for my sake but to show the Hippocratic oath’s true meaning.”
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Former Greek Finance Minister Giorgos Papakonstantinou is being tried for tampering with the Lagarde List. The first day of his trial began today, Thursday, February 26. During the process, it was revealed that over the last three years, the Greek Financial Crime Unit (SDOE) had only audited 30 out of the 2062 people who were under investigation due to the List. Following a SDOE investigation, it was revealed that Papakonstantinou’s relatives had failed to pay taxes on assets amounting to 6 million euros, which correspond to 1.93 million euros. However, the tax office had not yet issued any fines against them. At the same time, the country is constantly bleeding, requesting liquidity, while since 2009, the fight against tax evasion still remains a pre-election promise for all Greek governments. “We are planning on disclosing our findings to the people involved over the next few days,” said Dimitris Massinas, director of Taxation Audit Center for Great Wealth, who checked all the assets, adding that the tax accounting for the family’s income over the last 15 years reaches 8 million euros. In regards to the audit process, he commented that it was a “lengthy process” since they were looking at data from a 15-year period. “We don’t have many qualified employees,” he added. Furthermore, the judges were also interested in finding out how the Lagarde List CD went missing. Papakonstantinou’s former office director Chrysi Hatzi testified that the former Finance Minister received a “confidential letter” containing the Lagarde List from the Greek embassy in Paris. He then proceeded to inform the SDOE head at the time, Yiannis Kapeleris, to carry out an investigation. The trial will continue tomorrow at 3pm when the court will respond to the defense counsel’s request asking for former Laundering Authority president and current Minister of State against Corruption Panagiotis Nikoloudis to take the stand.
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The official statements after each occurrence of football violence remind one of Groundhog Day: The same condemnations of violence, the same vague threats against vague recipients, the same proclaimed good intentions, the same pledges to stop violence here and now. Today, Deputy Sports Minister Stavros Kontonis spoke to Greek radio and repeated the same things. Ad nauseam. Listening to him was as interesting as watching paint dry. Not because the things he said were wrong, but simply because he was repeating the words of every previous Deputy. With the same pomposity, the same pretended determination, the same sweeping under the carpet. Yet, it is amazing how a politician can talk for 15 minutes without saying absolutely nothing of essence. Kontonis imitated his predecessor in deciding to suspend games for a week! Wow, like Yanis Varoufakis would say. It must have taken him hours of hard thinking to decide. This football season, games were suspended twice by the previous Deputy Minister. One because a fan was killed in the stands by rival fans, during a third division match nevertheless. The second suspension was because a referee was brutally beaten by thugs. Of course, the violent incidents that followed those two suspensions were more brutal. It beats logic to think that a violent personality would change his attitude if he can’t watch his favorite team one weekend. Or two. The new Deputy said that the league games will be suspended until football clubs install electronic ticket systems and surveillance cameras, and fan clubs should be dismantled. Probably the Deputy’s aides forgot to inform him that all football fields of major clubs already have cameras and electronic ticket systems. The Panathinaikos football stadium where all hell broke loose on Sunday has both. He took it one step further saying that he won’t hesitate to ban Greek teams from playing in European Championships in order to stop violence. Of course this is the most ridiculous thing anyone has ever heard, but that threat was also a repetition of a “measure” other Deputy Sports Ministers had proposed in the past. Every logical person in tune with reality would say that there were never serious incidents of violence during games of Greek teams against European clubs. When under the watchful eye of UEFA, Greek football fans behave like altar boys, for the most part. It is funny that no Deputy Sports Minister ever mentioned that. Every one of them though has “threatened” fans mentioning that measure. Let’s say then that next year Greek teams are not allowed to play in Europe. And let’s say that it is Sunday and there is a scheduled game between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos. The troublemakers of Panathinaikos will think: “Well, Olympiakos is banned from playing in Europe. Instead of flares and stones, this year let’s throw gladioli and roses at them.” There is also the misconception that the owners of big football clubs like Olympiakos, Panathinaikos, AEK, or PAOK use hard-core fans as an army of hooligans, therefore they don’t want them out of the stadiums. However, team owners pay hundreds of thousand of euros in fines and lose about the same from lost ticket sales because of violence. Why would they want troublemakers in their home field then? The same misconception dictates that team owners only care about winning the championship so they get millions of euros in bonuses for participating in the Champions League. If that was the case, then there wouldn’t be any violence in smaller leagues or in games of “poor” teams. Isn’t it suspicious though that no Deputy ever mentioned the role of police in such incidents? In Sunday’s derby between arch rivals Olympiakos and Panathinaikos there were people injured, lives put in danger, yet there wasn’t a single arrest. One would expect the Public Order Minister to comment on the issue. Again, he was conspicuous in his absence. As if police have a decorative role in sports events. It is an oxymoron that felonies and crimes of the penal code are not viewed as such in Greece when happening inside or outside a football venue. On Sunday there were shootings, albeit with flare guns, throwing of rocks against individuals and personal assaults. Hundreds of troublemakers invaded the field. Yet, as far as police are concerned, it was as if nothing happened. Public prosecutors probably failed to notice. The whole Greek state washes its hands and throws the ball to sports authorities and football clubs as if they have the power to arrest, prosecute or punish.
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The anonymous street artist Banksy released a series of new works Wednesday in Gaza, all commenting on the dire situation of the 1.8 million Palestinian residents confined to the area. One of the works is a short documentary posturing as an advertisement for the region, sarcastically framing the desolate territory as the next hot tourist destination. The doc, allegedly shot by Banksy himself, begins with the artist traveling through a "network of illegal tunnels" to enter Gaza, where he proceeds to create stencil artworks among the ruins and rubble that mark the locale. "Make this the year YOU discover a new destination," the film flashes, interspersed with images making the brutal reality of life in the Gaza strip painfully clear. "Gaza is often described as ‘the world’s largest open air prison’ because no-one is allowed to enter or leave," Banksy's website explains. "But that seems a bit unfair to prisons -- they don’t have their electricity and drinking water cut off randomly almost every day." Along with the short film, Banksy scattered a variety of artworks around the region, one which reads in red ink, "If we wash our hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless we side with the powerful -- we don't remain neutral." Other images depict children swinging from an Israeli surveillance tower, and an image of the Greek mythical figure Niobe -- the Queen of Thebes whose 14 children were murdered in a jealous rage. A third image depicts a kitten playing with scrap metal like a toy. via Banksy.co.uk "The cat tells the whole world that she is missing joy in her life," a Palestinian man explains in Banksy's documentary. "The cat found something to play with. What about our children? What about our children?" Banksy supplied a second explanation on his website. "A local man came up and said ‘Please -- what does this mean?' I explained I wanted to highlight the destruction in Gaza by posting photos on my website -- but on the internet people only look at pictures of kittens." Banksy has been vocal for years about his support for the Palestinian cause. In 2005, he created artwork on the Israeli West Bank barrier, explaining the sentiment to The Independent. "The segregation wall is a disgrace. On the Israeli side it's all manicured lawns and SUVs, on the other side it's just dust and men looking for work. The possibility I find exciting is you could turn the world's most invasive and degrading structure into the world's longest gallery of free speech and bad art. And I like to think I can help with that bit." See Banksy's new Gaza pieces below and let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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A Greek man has been convicted of a racist verbal assault on a Nigerian-born doctor who gave him emergency treatment.
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General Secretariat of Public Revenue plans to "sweep" bank accounts, loans and brokerage products - Off Shore register gets activated -Checks on 900 well off - Great Wealth Taxpayers Control Center aims on recovering an additional 77 million euro of Greek “tycoons”
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The data was announced by DW in an article previewing next month’s influential ITB tourism exhibition in Berlin
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The first anti-government protest has been launched in Athens on Thursday afternoon. A month after the left-wing/nationalist SYRIZA-Independent Greeks coalition took office, a week after the Eurogroup agreement in Brussels. With anti-EU banners and red party flags, members of Anticapitalist Left Cooperation for the Overthrow (ANTARSYA) took to the streets […]
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The eyes of the financial world are on the high drama playing out in Greece right now, and for good reason. Greece's attempts to renegotiate its debt ...
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Greek banks were well-capitalized but faced the twin challenges of a high level of bad loans and "considerable strain" on liquidity in the last few ...
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The fire started at approximately 4 a.m. in the bathrooms of the Greek Orthodox seminary, located near the Jaffa Gate of the Old City. The walls of the ...
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That coalition comprises Tsipras' Syriza party, and the populist right-wing party Independent Greeks. The two parties have little in common except their ...
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The Greek/German governments have surprisingly well-aligned policy agendas. But will this be enough to help Greece?
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The pressure is off Greece - for now - after signing a deal with international lenders to extend bailouts the new government said it didn't want. The post World Press View: Greece Playing For Time, New Hope appeared first on The National Herald.
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The government's tax crackdown plan forecasts extra revenue of €1.7 billion for 2015, according to plans drawn up by the General Secreatriat for Public Revenue. The plan calls for tax inspectors to audit the books of some 900 companies and 900 ...
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Patience with Greece is running out in Berlin. It is also turning to exasperation because of what is seen as the intemperate tone of Tsipras and his team ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com |
ATHENS, Feb 26 (Reuters) - More than 850 million euros in deposits returned to Greek banks when they reopened this week after Athens secured an ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.reuters.com |
(Bloomberg) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel faces increased dissent as her governing coalition prepares to extend Greece's bailout, backing her policy of ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.bloomberg.com |
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli police say a fire has damaged a Greek Orthodox seminary in Jerusalem in what they suspect is a hate crime. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said "anti-Christian" slogans were scribbled in Hebrew on the seminary's walls. He said the fire Thursday damaged the building's bathrooms but that no one was injured. The incident follows an attack on a West Bank mosque Wednesday. Mosques, churches, dovish Israeli groups and even Israeli military bases have been targeted by vandals in recent years in so-called "price tag" attacks. The phrase is used by Jewish extremists to protest what they perceive as the Israeli government's pro-Palestinian policies. The attacks have been condemned across the political spectrum, but critics say Israel often fails to apprehend and prosecute the assailants.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.huffingtonpost.com |
The first official gathering and pro-cannabis legalization celebration has been organized by collectives and citizens in Greece. The festival called Athens Cannabis Protestival will take place on Saturday, May 9, at Syntagma Square in Athens. According to the organizers’ Facebook page the last ten years of pro-legalization festivals and events have shown that the society is now ready for change. “We have sent any useful information to politicians so that they can make informed decisions,” giving an end to the struggle. “Now we open another chapter to the legislation of cannabis in Greece so that it can take a form suited to our civilization and culture, in regards to addiction and substance abuse treatment,” wrote the organizing team. “Users are not criminals, but the implemented policies are criminal. The use and abuse of substances is not a matter of public policy, but a matter of public health. Pinning for the prohibition and repression of substances instead for prevention and treatment, shows support to corruption and organized crime. Drug prohibition has overstated the problem of substance abuse rather than solve it. We have not managed to reduce the demand, nor the supply of substances which are more abundant than ever. Alternative decriminalization models have been tested in dozens of countries around the world and have provided positive results such as stabilization or reduction in the number of users, increase user’s age average, crime reduction, increased revenue from indirect and direct taxation, increase in job position and reduction of unemployment, better public health etc. Scientific facts and proven practices of other countries suggest that the prohibition and repression have failed. Unfortunately, Greek policies and legislations continue to be based on obsessions and moral panic.” Finally, the organizers noted that it is important to legalize cannabis, particularly to help people suffering from serious illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, epilepsy or cancer, who are in dire need of treatment and the right medication for their condition. “It is criminal and inhumane to deprive patients and families their right to treatment with cannabis, which has been used since antiquity for therapeutic purposes, while there are hundreds of modern scientific studies supporting its effectiveness,” they concluded.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
In addition, whatever transpires will depend on what other options Greece has. So it is a good time to think about what would happen if Athens didn't ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ft.com |