How the world sees Greece
The irony of the Greek election is that even as most people are turned off it's one of the most critical, and Evangelos Meimarakis gets our vote. The post Greeks Must Vote, Take Responsibility appeared first on The National Herald.
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When you land on the Greek islands, the last thing you expect is to be surrounded by thousands of people living in cardboard boxes and tents. However, that's just what I saw when I landed in Lesvos, Greece - a small island of 85,000 that has almost 20,000 refugees, now living on the streets, "stuck" on its island. Syrian doctors, lawyers, teachers are amongst those now homeless. I stop to speak with some of the men and women trying to find shelter from the sweltering sun, and gasp at the sight and smell of human feces on the street. The Greek island of Lesvos all but refuses to install any portable toilets or permanent sanitation options, afraid that the refugees will then become permanent too. Hence, there is no option for these Syrians except to urinate and defecate in surrounding parks and hills. I imagine myself in their situation for a moment. If I was born in the "wrong" country, this could have been me too. The words of those I speak to strike me. When I ask a 13 year old refugee I meet what his goals is, he says, "most people in Syria don't have a dream, they just don't want people to shoot them anymore." I remember my days studying Arabic in Syria in 2006; and how so many Syrian people had helped me, an American student, in my times of need. Now, these same people need our help. With their homes and cities demolished, most of the Syrians I see hear have escaped war and spent their life savings to pay unsavory Turkish traffickers to send them to Europe. They are given a false sense of security with fake life vests, and lose most of the few possessions they have left at sea - where their rubber rafts are over-loaded and often capsize. Many refugees are told they are landing in Athens and will be warmly received by Europeans, especially after Angela Merkel of Germany "invited" them to come. A very generous offer indeed - but unfortunately, she didn't think about "how" they will get to Germany- relying on traffickers, xenophobic border police, and opportunistic business people to somehow make the 3000 mile journey. The anxious refugees do not land in Athens; instead, those on Lesvos arrive to the north of the island, where there is a strong "Golden Dawn" presence (a neo-Nazi group) that uses knives and other intimidation tactics to usher them out. One can imagine how the story continues... This is particularly sad situation when one considers Syria's historical "open border" policy that welcomed many refugees into Syrian homes. Syria was in fact home to many refugees from Greece, escaping attack from the Ottomans near the time of WWI. Unfortunately, this fact has been quickly forgotten... Refugees are so excited to see Europe - a land that represents peace and freedom to them - that some jump off their rubber rafts and literally break a bone. But soon, they quickly discover that they not on welcoming territory and nowhere near Athens. In fact, they will need to embark on a 50 mile walk to be "processed" at the island's capital before taking a ferry to Athens. It is illegal for these refugees to hire a taxi (if they have the funds). And thus the refugees embark on a 50 mile walk in over 100 degree (F) weather, without a map or the ability to read and write Greek. While many refugees anticipated that their arrival on European soil would be the end of a long journey escaping war, they do not realize it is not even the beginning. Most of these refugees will spend about ten days on this island alone, depleting the last of any financial resources they have living on the streets and urinating in hills. It is illegal for them to stay in hotels. The police beat many of them unprovoked, an atrocity I witnessed with my own eyes. By the time the refugees finish their long walk to the island's capital, they and their children look weak and thirsty. The women and men look helpless as they try to make sense of the chaos. Each day the rules of where and how to be "processed" are changed - with little information conveyed to the refugees. They are psychologically broken down, yet they retain an inspiring will to survive despite new found destitution and humiliation. It's remarkable. This despite the fact that the journey will only get worse as they journey through Hungary and Serbia, who have displayed increasing levels of brutality against refugees. One young man I spoke to from Syria said "My city is being bombed every day. My home is gone. Many of my relatives are dead. But if I knew it would be like this in Europe, I would have stayed in Syria and taken my chances." His story could have been your story, or my story, if we were born in the wrong place at the wrong time. In fact, this is the story of many of our ancestors and forefathers who survived because there was a country willing to host them, my mother included. As we hand out water and food to some of them, their faces light up with beaming smiles. Expressions of thankfulness which will remain etched in our memories - it is not the water or food itself that touches them but it's the hope that there may be someone out there who still cares and that may even be willing to welcome them during their struggle to find a new life. I believe it's our duty as Americans, as children of people escaping war, poverty, and persecution to help the over 4 million Syrian refugees now - by opening our borders, our wallets, and most of all, our hearts. -- 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.
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Thousands pour onto the Greek island every day. But a turn in the weather could make it far riskier.
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After a tumultuous eight months, the leftist Syriza party is seeking a new mandate.
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Former finance minister and SYRIZA candidate Euclid Tsakalotos expressed his concern over post-election alliances saying that the pro-Europe parties are corrupt and reactionary. Tsakalotos gave an interview to Kathimerini daily newspaper stating that his party will not agree on a wide coalition that would include New Democracy, SYRIZA’s main rival in the electoral race. The
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Alexis Tsipras wound up his campaign to be re-elected Greek prime minister by declaring his victory would strike a blow for Europe’s left, as final polls on Friday gave him a slim lead. The return of his SYRIZA party to power after today’s vote would deliver “a key message for Europe,” Tsipras told thousands of supporters in Athens during his final electoral rally. “Do we want a Europe of austerity or one of solidarity and democracy? The result [of the vote] will be a key message for...
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Several thousand migrants and refugees spend Friday (September 18) night in an open-air sports arena after another failed attempt to walk to Turkey's…
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Greece is heading for a cliffhanger election with radical former prime minister Alexis Tsipras taking a slight lead in the race against the conservatives ...
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Thousands of refugees and migrants are landing on the Greek island of Lesbos each day. USA Today reporter Kim Hjelmgaard witnessed some of them.
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ATHENS — For once, Greek politicians are not bearing gifts. Six years into the country’s worst post-World War II financial crisis, Sunday’s early parliamentary election is not being fought over austerity, promised debt forgiveness, public sector jobs or tax breaks. If anything, it’s about the — dim — prospect of political stability that might help restore […] The post Amid Hope and Despair Greeks Head to the Polls appeared first on The National Herald.
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Voting is officially compulsory. Fraud accusations are almost unheard of, as are reports of voting difficulties of any significance
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Tsipras's Syriza party just ahead in opinion polls; winner must oversee deep economic reforms under bailout
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Edirne (Turkey) (AFP) - Tensions rose Saturday in the northwestern Turkish city of Edirne, where around 2,000 migrants have been blocked by police from reaching the ...
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Six weeks after settling a third bailout package, Brussels' attention to Greece has waned, even as Sunday's vote looms. Everyone hopes that a new government will implement the aid program without any more conflicts.
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Thousands continue to pour into Greece, most en route to Germany or points north. Germany has agreed to take in 1,000,000 refugees, by far the most in the EU. After Hungary announced a significant tightening on border security, many refugees are finding themselves stranded, unable to use Hungary as a pass-through on their way to Germany.
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As it is customary, the Saturday before election day, candidates relax with friends and journalists drinking ouzo, wine and snacks (mezedes) to release the campaign pressure. After the exchange of heated arguments, harsh remarks, accusations, debates, rally speeches and interviews, party leaders unwind waiting for the big day. Alexis Tsipras chose to meet with the
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Greece heads into its third elections in eight months with opinion polls foreshadowing a tight race between New Democracy and SYRIZA on top, a struggle for the third place and the presence of new political parties, like Popular Unity and the Union of Centrists, in the Greek parliament. This year 9,836,997 Greeks are eligible to vote
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A girl believed to be five years died on Saturday while 13 other migrants were feared lost overboard after their boat sank in choppy seas off the GREEK ...
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For the third time in nine months the Greeks are being asked to take their future in their hands in Sunday's general election amid signs of voter…
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Greeks are heading to the polls for the third time in one year. People have grown weary of Alexis Tsipras but it would be worse for the country if Syriza became the opposition, writes DW's Spiros Moskovou.
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After all, he has spent the entire election campaign advocating a coalition of all parties that support the €86bn bailout agreed last month with GREECE'S ...
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While an official welcome from GREECE may not be forthcoming, Athens is preparing for a new wave of migrants crossing the Maritsa river that divides ...
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Thousands of refugees and migrants are landing on the Greek island of Lesbos each day. USA Today reporter Kim Hjelmgaard witnessed some of them.
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_Every week, The WorldPost asks an expert to shed light on a topic driving headlines around the world. Today, we speak with Chad O'Carroll, founder of NK News, an independent news and analysis site on North Korea._ North Korean officials sent a defiant message to the world over their nuclear and missile programs this week, as the reclusive regime gears up to celebrate the ruling party's 70th anniversary. The head of Pyongyang's space agency said on Monday it was preparing to send a new earth observation satellite into space on a long-range rocket. The U.S. has warned this would violate United Nations resolutions against Pyongyang conducting ballistic missile tests, because of the similarity of the technology involved. Meanwhile, analysts and South Korean officials are skeptical of the announcement, saying there is little sign that Pyongyang is readying a satellite launch. A day later, the director of North Korea's Atomic Energy Institute announced that the country's main Nyongbyon nuclear complex was fully operational again and reiterated threats to use nuclear weapons against the U.S. The complex was closed in 2007 during six-party talks with the U.S., China, Russia, Japan and South Korea. But the talks collapsed, and North Korea said in 2013 that it would resume nuclear enrichment. Tuesday's announcement accords with recent analysis by 38 North, a project of the U.S.-Korea Institute at John Hopkins University, which concluded, based on satellite imagery, that North Korea is "expanding its capacity to mine and mill natural uranium." The WorldPost spoke to Chad O'Carroll, the founder of specialist news and media service NK News, about what's behind the latest warning signs from Pyongyang. DID NORTH KOREA'S ANNOUNCEMENTS THIS WEEK ABOUT THE ROCKET LAUNCHES AND NUCLEAR REACTIVATION COME OUT OF THE BLUE? The statement about the satellite launch did not come out of the blue. North Korea has made at least two or three announcements this year about upcoming satellite launches, leading many analysts to suggest that there will likely be a satellite launch to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the ruling party. This has been a narrative building up to those events. The nuclear announcement did not necessarily come out of the blue either. Pyongyang had already announced that they would reactivate the nuclear processing plant, and that's been underway for a while. This week's statement was potentially triggered by 38 North recently publishing satellite imagery that shows activity at the NYONGBYON NUCLEAR COMPLEX. THE NORTH KOREAN MEDIA MAY BE RESPONDING TO THAT, AMID THE GENERAL BUILD-UP TO THE OCT. 10 ANNIVERSARY. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE CURRENT STATE OF NORTH KOREA’S NUCLEAR AND MISSILE PROGRAMS, AND HOW CONCERNED SHOULD THE WORLD BE ABOUT THEM? The technology for long-range ballistic missiles has not been fully mastered yet. It takes North Korea several weeks, if not months, to set up a satellite launch. So this is not much of a military threat because that's a long window of time for the U.S. to take that threat out. The real threat is two-fold: usage of short-range to medium-range ballistic missiles -- which North Korea has a lot of and have been proven to work -- and low-end applications of nuclear technology, like their recent announcement of a submarine launch delivery system, or even using a cargo ship. The problem is that as long as the status quo continues, the better North Korea's technology becomes. Five or six years ago, no one would have thought that in 2015 North Korea would be showcasing submarine technology to launch ballistic missiles. The problem is that as long as the status quo continues, the better North Korea's technology becomes. The announcement that they are restarting the nuclear facility is concerning. When nuclear enrichment was previously frozen there were estimates that North Korea had enough weaponized plutonium for somewhere between five and 12 nuclear devices (depending on the size). It's also possible that there are other uranium enrichment facilities which would be harder to detect with satellite imagery, so the announcement about Nyongbyon could just be a red herring. IT’S ONLY BEEN A FEW WEEKS SINCE HOSTILITIES RAPIDLY ESCALATED WITH SEOUL, BEFORE ENDING IN AN AGREEMENT TO EASE TENSIONS. HOW DOES THIS SQUARE WITH PYONGYANG’S ANNOUNCEMENTS THIS WEEK? That's the thing that is puzzling -- all of this is comes really soon after an agreement with South Korea to ease tensions. It may signal a repeat of the events of 2012. Early that year, the U.S. and North Korea made the Leap Day agreement, which was a promise not to conduct long-range missile launches or further nuclear tests in exchange for food aid. Yet a few months after that agreement was made, North Korea launched another satellite. The test was a failure, but a lot of observers were really puzzled by it, because on the one hand North Korea had just made an agreement, and very soon after, they were conducting activity that really undermined the agreement. I wonder if that's a precedent for what may potentially occur in this situation with the agreement with South Korea. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS PYONGYANG'S STRATEGY HERE? It's hard to say. What happened in 2012 surprised a lot of people. However, North Korea has a surprisingly multipolar system, and sometimes that can be the root of what appears to be hypocritical diplomatic strategies. A lot of people think of North Korea as this pyramid structure where power comes from the top and that's it -- a monolithic system. But the reality is that within North Korea there are various stakeholders, and those stakeholders do oftentimes act very independently of each other. It's also possible that this is all media posturing and that we're not going to see a satellite launch in October. And in fact, that's what the satellite imagery of the launch base suggests right now. There have been several threats from North Korean diplomats of almost imminent nuclear tests in the past year or so which never occurred. It can be a way of ratcheting up tension to try and barter some sort of positive diplomatic outcome from the international community, especially South Korea and the U.S. North Korea has a surprisingly multipolar system, and sometimes that can be the root of what appears to be hypocritical diplomatic strategies. NORTH KOREA SAID IT’S NOT LOOKING FOR AN IRAN-STYLE DEAL. DO YOU THINK THE IRAN DEAL HAS AFFECTED THEIR CALCULUS IN ANY WAY? Only to the extent that they are really trying to emphasize that they're not interested in any deal like that. North Korea has said consistently since Kim Jong Un became leader that nuclear weapons are an essential part of the country's future trajectory, in sync with economic development. With that coming from the top, it wouldn't make sense to try and replicate the Iran deal any time soon. They also don't appear to be in need of any kind of relationship with the U.S. right now. Back in the day of [late North Korean leader] Kim Jong Il, there was a lot more diplomatic activity between North Korea and the U.S. and that came after North Korea's great famine in the mid-1990s. By many measures, North Korea is a lot better economically [now] than it was then. YOU’VE PREVIOUSLY DESCRIBED NORTH KOREA’S ONGOING CYCLES OF ESCALATION AND DE-ESCALATION AS GROUNDHOG DAY. WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN TO BREAK THE CYCLE? I was just re-reading that piece, which I wrote in 2012, and it really shocks me. Nearly everything I wrote there seems to have happened, just a few months later than I had thought. The fact that it was that predictable says a lot about the broken nature of diplomacy surrounding North Korea. We have seen that the way that world leaders are currently responding to North Korea leads to Groundhog Day: complaints to the U.N., limited sanctions on North Korea, complaints from Pyongyang that it has been unfairly singled out, followed by further tensions and a new nuclear test, and then we're back where we started. Understandably, democratically elected leaders need to be seen to be responding to things, but having seen the cycle repeat itself so many times, it seems that there does need to be some fresh thinking. And there are only really two options on the table: one is military -- and there doesn't seem to be much appetite for that -- and the other is of a different diplomatic response. If you want to reduce the threat that North Korea's weapons pose, the best solution is some kind of settlement and diplomatic agreement. Unfortunately, everything seems very far away in that regard right now. _This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity._ > MORE FROM THE WORLDPOST'S WEEKLY INTERVIEW SERIES: > > - What History Can Teach Us About The Worst Refugee Crisis Since > WWII > > - Why China's Economic Woes Are Causing Alarm in Africa > > - What's Behind Greece's Spectacular U-Turn On Austerity _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.
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With Syriza and New Democracy effectively tied in the polls, a once marginal issue takes on added significance in Sunday's election, writes Pavlos Zafiropoulos from Athens.
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LESBOS, Greece, Sept 19 (Reuters) - A girl believed to be five years died on Saturday and 13 other migrants were feared lost overboard after their boat sank in choppy ...
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The GREEK tragedy Medea has been re-written for the modern age. Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles is set in Southern California and involves a ...
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An absolute majority in the GREEK parliament (151 seats or more) would allow the winning party to control the legislative process and to streamline ...
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They condemn him for accepting austerity and want GREECE to quit the euro instead. They have taken a lot of Syriza's former voters with them, ...
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Whichever party or coalition of parties that emerges as the new government in GREECE following tomorrow's elections will be dedicated to imposing ...
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It's a fight to the finish for both Syriza and New Democracy in the upcoming elections in debt-ridden GREECE, where the votes for the new parliament ...
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Hundreds of thousands of mainly Syrian refugees have braved the short but precarious crossing from Turkey to GREECE'S eastern islands this year, ...
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Lesbos, GREECE: A girl believed to be five years died today and 13 other migrants were feared lost overboard after their boat sank in choppy seas off ...
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… parties, including the once-dominant socialist PASOK party and the new centrist … run Greece? I think no one is capable of running Greece. The … raft of coming investment in Greek roads. “Greece will never be Switzerland …
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“He is the worst president ever! He tricked us into supporting a senseless war that has claimed the lives of thousands of our troops. He is a war criminal who should be impeached and convicted.” These may sound like words hurled at George W. Bush during the height of the Iraq War, or toward Barack Obama for removing troops […] The post In Midst of Civil War Calamities Lincoln Appoints Benachi Greek Consul in New Orleans appeared first on The National Herald.
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The icon was in the altar at St. George GREEK Orthodox Church, along with other artifacts that remain mostly undamaged. (SAUL YOUNG/NEWS ...
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NPR's Peter Kenyon sends this postcard from the Greek island of Lesbos, where he met a Syrian woman whose relatives were killed by ISIS, and an Iraqi man who worked with U.S. forces.
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A five-year-old girl who drowned and six more refugees missing is the count of a new maritime tragedy off the island of Lesvos on Saturday, adding more victims to the long list of refugee lives lost. Among the missing there is an infant and two women who were trapped in the boat’s cabin, one of
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ATHENS, Greece – For once, Greek politicians are not bearing gifts. Six years into the country's worst post-World War II financial crisis, Sunday's early ...
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Greek voters casting ballots for neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn in Sunday's election would become "accessories to murder," the mother of a left-wing rapper killed by a party supporter said Saturday.
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ATHENS, Greece (AP) — For once, Greek politicians are not bearing gifts.
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BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Thousands of migrants flooded into Austria on Saturday, seeking refuge after shuttling for days in bordering countries that were unable or unwilling to offer them shelter. Austrian police said some 6,700 people traveled to the central European country from Hungary after being trapped Friday in a vicious tug-of-war as bickering European governments shut border crossings, blocked bridges and erected new barbed-wire fences in a bid to shut down the flow. On Saturday, the Greek coast guard said they failed to save a 5-year-old girl found in the sea off the island of Lesbos after the boat she traveled on sank, also leaving 14 others missing. Asylum-seekers who headed westward into Croatia after being beaten back by tear gas and water cannons on the Hungarian-Serbian border just days earlier found themselves being returned to Serbia or to Hungary, after Croatia declared it could not handle the influx. The EU's failure to find a unified response to the crisis left Croatia, one of the poorest countries in the European Union, squeezed between the blockades thrown up by Hungary and Slovenia and the unending flood of people flowing north from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Greeks head to the polls on Sunday for their eighth election in 15 years; here’s an overview of the votes since 2000.
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… the real economy Fitch Ratings Greece’s paymasters are reluctant to … Athens in July Photo: AFP Greek banks have suffered from unprecedented … liquidation” safeguard”, said Mr Fabo. Greece is set for a future …
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When the GREEK people vote in Sunday's election they are being asked to offer their judgement on former prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, and his Syriza ...
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For a moment during the summer, he was the absolute master of the GREEK political scene having marginalized his rivals to both his right and his left.
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A girl believed to be five-years-old has died and as many as 13 people may be missing at sea off the GREEK island of Lesbos on Saturday, the GREEK ...
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Syrian refugees hoping to cross the Turkish border into Greece or Bulgaria can leave, but neighboring countries are not taking them in, Turkey's Trade Minister Cenap Aşçı said on Sept. 19.
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A girl believed to be five years old died and as many as 13 migrants may be missing at sea off the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday, the Greek coastguard said.
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I was last in GREECE in 2006, during the twilight years of the boom that peaked during the Athens Olympics. Back then, GREECE was notable to ...
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